Camping Venue
The Old Swan at Montford Bridge. Here are the details.
Ask for Steve Parker
Map is here
Friday - Campers arrive on the 7th. Drink and make merry (this includes B&B peps)
Saturday
Morning -Try and shake off hangover. Get some breakfast either at Dinkies or preferably the campsite.
10:30-11:00 - Daytrippers and Campers make their way to Dinkies Diner, get something to eat if required and get fuel from the BP station half a mile east of Dinkies on the A458.
11:15 - John starts to panic. Try's to round people up and get them on their bikes.
11:30 - We start the ride.
12:30 - We arrive at Churchstoke. Take a break, have a bite to eat if not done earlier.
13:10 - Leave Churchstoke and re-start ride
13:50 - Arrive Clee Hills
14:20 - Leave Clee Hills
15:30 - Arrive Quatford. Take another break
16.20 - Continue ride to Shrewsbury and back to Dinkies for 17:00
Evening - Get an evening meal. Probably in the Swan and have a few more drinks and tell ever more exaggerated stories about the days events.
Sunday
Nothing planned as such. Improvise. If anyone wants to go for another ride then let me know.
Please remember this IS NOT an organised event by a professional body (and therefore carries no event insurance). All riders and pillions attend and ride at their own risk.
Ride-out details
The start point is a place
called Dinkies diner on the A458 just outside a village called Ford,
which is just a few miles from the camp site. As you enter enter Ford
you'll notice this large pub and petrol station on the left hand side.
Good place to
fill up
and reset the trip. Start point proper is
Dinkies Diner which turns out to be 0.6 miles further down the A458 but
this time on the right. It's easy to go straight past as the diner is
located in a lay-by that's obscured by trees. Didn't stop for a cuppa,
instead I carried on down the A458 towards Welshpool.
Welshpool
is only 13 miles further down the road, I didn't bother to look for
any useful stopping points although there were a few cafes that would do
if you're desperate at only 15 mins of riding. Turn south onto the A483 and
pushed on to Newtown arriving with a total distance of 28 miles
covered.
The
section from Newtown to Churchstoke is more of a back road, this will
have far less holiday traffic. A couple of villages to go through, Ceri
and Sarn. Had an interesting moment when oncoming cars started flashing
me. A farmer was moving a herd of cows up the road towards me . More
twisty on this road but little greenery to obscure the path the road
takes.
Got
to Churchstoke after 55mins. Covered total of 40 miles. Stopped at Harry Tuffins,
which is a Petrol station and Supermarket combined. Nice big car park
and a Cafe on the corner of the store. First rest and break.
The
next section to Craven Arms was covered in 14miles. Much more demanding.
Lot's of tight twisty stuff and the odd corner did get over cooked
Next
it was a blast down the A49 to Ludlow. This again is a main traffic
route and speeds are higher with wider flowing bends. Turn off at
Ludlow onto the A4117, This road twists and climbs all the way to the
Village of Clee Hills. No idea how high up this place is but the view
south over the Hereford plains is superb. I then carried on the A4117 and started to
descend again coming to a small town called Cleobury Mortimer. A quaint
place that time has forgot. Soon after turn north onto the B4363
which takes you into Bridgnorth town itself.
Bit
of a pain this, as I'd prefer to be on the ring road. Turned right and
headed through and out of the town back onto the A442 and followed this for a couple of miles until I hit Quatford.
Stopped here at a well known Biker/Truck stop. Total distance now
covered 90 miles and two hours since Time for another break.
Headed back along the A458 to Bridgnorth,
around the by-pass and straight back to Shrewsbury. This is a great
road. Not as busy as the A49, lot's of fast sweepers plus plenty of
elevation changes at the same time (think of Eau-Rouge at Spa). There's
also the 2 mile Cressage straight (think of the Mulsanne straight at
Le_mans). This road also goes through Much Wenlock and drops down the
side of the Wenlock edge.
Back at Shrewsbury and I've
covered 114miles I think this is a
perfect route, just long enough to satisfy most people. It will take
longer to do on the day. Trying to get people on their bikes and
sticking to a schedule is like herding cats, the bigger the turnout the longer it takes. So I reckon a with start
time of 11:30-12:00 and a couple of longer breaks plus factor in the cat
herding variable and the 'I got lost' syndrome and we'd probably finish
comfortably at 17.00 ish.
- start at Dinkies Diner
- A458 towards Welshpool (13 miles)
- At Welshpool turn onto the A483 towards Newtown (28 Miles)
- At Newtown turn onto the A489 Towards Kerry and Churchstoke (40 miles)
- Break for refreshments 30-40 mins.
- At Churchstoke take the A489 towards Lyndon
- At Lydon take the A488 for 1 mile then back onto the A489 then A49 towards Craven Arms (54miles)
- At Craven Arms take the A49 towards Ludlow
- At Ludlow take the A4117 towards Kidderminster
- Break in Clee Hills (67miles)
- At Cleobury Mortimer take the B4363 towards Bridgnorth.
- At Bridgnorth turn east onto the A442 towards Kidderminster
- Stop at the Truck stop in Quatford for more refreshments (90 miles) 30-40 mins
- At Quatford take the A458 towards Bridgnorth passing through Much Wenlock and Cressage
- Arrive Shrewsbury (114 miles)
- Head back to Campsite.
Maps
Montford Bridge and Dinkies start point Dinkies to Church Stoke ChurchStoke to Clee Hills Clee Hills to Bridgnorth Bridgnorth back to Shrewsbury
- The ride
out will start at 11.30am. Before we leave ensure the following has
been done.
- Ensure that you have a full tank of fuel
- You have a copy of the route
- You have the emergency mobile numbers (07764 236371 John-Admin )
- Bladder is empty
- Nicotine levels can cope.
- Marker
system
- Admin will lead and will have a hi-vis waistcoat.
- Ed will ride as tall gun Charlie also wearing a Hi Vis waistcoat.
- Everyone else should ride between us.
- At junctions, forks and Islands, the lead rider will indicate to the second rider to stop and act as marker the exit/junction (usually by pointing to ground
- Every one else passes the marker rider. There is now a new second rider.
- Once the tail rider passes the marker, the marker can resume the ride and over take the tail rider.
- The process continues, with riders rotating within the lead and tail riders.
- Etiquette
- Don’t tailgate (beware SV engine braking)
- Don’t undertake
- Try and park line astern at traffic lights and junctions to avoid congestion.
- If it’s your turn to mark, make sure you stay until the tail man has come through. Don’t wander off because you’ve got fed up waiting, otherwise the whole this falls apart.
- Give other riders plenty of space.
http://www.caravancampingsites.co.uk/shropshire/shropshire.htm
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/townlisting.asp?town=Shrewsbury
http://www.ukcampsite.com/heart-of-england/cartref-caravan-and-camping-site.htm
http://www.farmhousebedandbreakfast.co.uk/cfbeshro.htm#SHREWSBURY2
Forum link http://forums.sv650.org/viewforum.php?f=38&sid=651eb177c55a014ecdfd781fea05e050
Shropshire Tourist http://www.shropshiretourism.info/
Virtual Shropshire http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/
Shropshire info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shropshire
Photos from the day
From Kwak_ZZR
From Falc
From Quiff
From Blueflame
From Nic B
