To date I have minimal experience with riding with a pillion - once with a friend of Anne's and twice with Nia (once to Sidmouth mostly on the motorway and once to Abergavenny). So, in view of the imminent tour, a practice day way required.
I was invited to ride with Anne's ladies only motorbike group, the Curvy Riders with Sue (leading), Julie, Anne and Al ( invited too).
The goal for the day was twofold - firstly, to get used to riding with Nia and to see how the bike handled on the corners etc and secondly to test what kit to wear to France.
The weather was meant to be cloudy with no rain, so I kitted up with jeans and my summer jacket, as did Nia, but as we prepped the bikes, it started to rain, so Anne opted to change for her waterproof textiles. Nia and I resigned to wearing the all-in-one waterproofs which kept us dry, but were uncomfortable and we both felt like we were in boil-in-the-bags!
No motorways on the route today - A470 up to Brecon and the the A40 to Llandovery. We stopped at the Owl's Nest Tea Rooms for the first stop (http://www.owlsnesttearoomdiner.com/). This cafe is a great little biker cafe in a bit of competition with the West End Cafe in the main part of Llandovery. Incidentally, just in case you were wondering I didn't actually see an Owl or a nest!
The rain stopped so the boil-in-the-bags were removed as we continued towards Newcastle-Emlyn to see a fellow Curvy Rider, who like Sue, is also an artist - Helen Elliott as she had an open day at her studio. From Newcastle-Emlyn we headed for a late lunch at Aberaeron (by the sea) where fish an chips were on the menu.
It was decided that we would blast it back to Cardiff with one planned stop for fuel which we dutifully took not far from Aberaeron. The inevitable started again not long after - rain (London had the hottest day of the year). So a second stop was required in order for Nia and I to don our boil-in-the-bag suits again.
Summary:
The ride went well - speed, cornering, overtaking were performed according to plan. The anti-slip seat did what it said on the tin and stopped Nia shooting forward every time I braked - which protected the Crown Jewels from getting crushed against he fuel tank!!
Nia getting on and off the bike seemed to improve as the day progressed - phew!
The boil-in-the-bag suits worked well with the jeans and summer jacket, but it was a pain putting on and taking off and wearing it made us so hot in the sedate 18 degrees. As a result, we have decided to use waterproof trousers and a kagoule instead of the all -in-one style waterproof.
All told, today was a great test for pillion riding and kit. We did 220 miles all on A and B roads.
