For the last few years several WBVC members plus associated idiots have dragged a motley selection of mainly British trials(ish) irons out and loosely followed the Lomax Trial from Llansilin to Glyn Ceiriog with the odd track detour and Pub stop.
This year proved no exception with eight of us turning up at Brian Jones’ in Dolywern for tea and biscuits at about 10.00am.
This year’s crew consisted of: -
Brian Jones BSA C15
Johnny Phillips BSA B40
Richard Jones Triumph Cub
Hu Williams Something modern (!)
Brian Williams BSA C15
Bernard Morris Greeves B40
Rob Morris BSA B40
Neale Pryce-Hughes Matchless G3C
The Day started cold, dismal and damp and finished the same way!
From Dolywern we rode through Llwynmawr towards Cae mor and up a stony track to the Selattyn Road and then to Llechrydau. From here we rode over the moors (un-made bi-way) to Rhydycroesau. This proved wet, muddy and very slippy.
From here we rode the back lanes to Rhydleos and watched a couple of sections of the Lomax.
Having been suitably humbled by the skill with which the ‘Pro’s’ tackled these sections we hung our heads and rattled off through Rhiwlas and onto another bi-way heading into the Berwyn’s. Now things got seriously wet and muddy!
We came across a couple of four wheel drivers near a gateway, one was up to his axles and stuck while the other was attempting to winch him out! We laughed at their plight and nimbly picked our ways around them through a ‘shallow’ puddle just to the side of the gateway. Well, at least most of us did!
Supremely confident in the superiority of my Matchbox over these four-wheeled monstrosities I deigned to follow the gang through the puddle and took my own route through some dry’ish looking mud. The Matchless suddenly ceased all forward progress as the rear wheel dropped through what proved to be a thin crust of crap into bog! Settled on its bash plate with the mud covering the rear sprocket, the Matchbox was going nowhere.
I scrambled off it, mud over my boots, and the Matchbox just stood there – upright - a memorial to stupidity!
Could I pull it out, I could not! I couldn’t even stand up by the bloody thing.
Meanwhile my ever-helpful colleagues had pulled up on a grassy bank to enjoy the view of my plight – B------s! Brian Jones had gone a little further than the rest and was by now heading back to photograph/film my little problem, with no thought of assistance in mind – Even bigger B-----d!
Fortunately a Good Samaritan in the form of Brian Williams came over and lent a hand and we managed to extricate it whilst the less helpful Brian struggled to get his gloves off and camera into action.
Moving once again, we left the four-wheel drive lads to their mud-pies and left the track on the road between Maengwynedd and Llanarmon DC, stopping here for a group photo.
By now it was midday and time for a beer!
We called at the ‘Hand Llanarmon’ for chip butties, a pint and a warm – all of which were needed and welcome. Big thanks to Richard and Bernard for buying the grub.
Warm and refreshed (?) we re-mounted our muddy machines and rode back towards Rhiwlas. We left the road above Tregeiriog and got onto another track heading towards Llechrydau. This particular bi-way boasted some impressively deep ruts that proved difficult to leave. Those that become railroaded into them soon developed a technique of winding the throttle open and just ‘going with the rut’. This method soon proved troublesome for Richard Jones, whose Cub got into a fairly severe speed (?) wobble and cast him sideways into a ditch. Rider less the Cub, slowed up, stopped and remained upright in the rut. Fortunately Richard survived pretty well unscathed.
A little further on and Bernard’s rather nice Greeves B40 ground to a halt, but this proved to be nothing worse than a loose wire so all made it back onto tarmac at Llechrydau Farm.
At Which point! Brian Jones’ C15 and Rob Morris’ B40 simultaneously ran out of fuel! Both had been fitted with Sammy Miller alloy tanks, which look great but don’t hold a lot. A root around in the farms wheelie-bin produced a pop bottle, which enabled fuel to be robbed from my Matchbox and Richards Cub!
We then rode to just above Pandy and dropped down a steep stony track to watch the Lomax Hill climb. At which point Brian’s C15 ran out of fuel again! – Good job my bike had a large tank (or was it?). Further use of the pop bottle got him moving again but he reported the C15 to be ‘running like a bag o S—t!’
Later we found that the throttle needle had come adrift and was stuck topside of the jet – hence the high fuel consumption etc.
Following a strut around several more of the Lomax section’s at Pandy we made our way to the Glyn Valley Hotel for a few refreshments to round off a fun, though cold wet and muddy day.
Neale Pryce-Hughes.
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