BC6 - The Foggy One! Review and Pictures

BC6 – The Foggy One!

Hard to believe that another year has rolled by and once more I was squeezing the contents of our family home into my Givi box as Mrs Radar and I got ready for the off. Mrs R had no less than 3 pairs of shoes with her! Apparently one pair were sandals and so don't count...little wonder then that as we wafted gently through Worcestershire and into Shropshire the trusty old Thundercat was steering like a shopping trolley with a wheel missing! Like last year the weather this Friday afternoon was just about perfect and the glorious countryside that surrounds Bishops Castle looked truly amazing. What a beautiful part of the world. I have said it before, but on a day like this there is little to touch Britain for beauty. Ominously the weather forecast for tomorrow however was not so promising...at all.

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Not good

That was forgotten for now as I rolled into the car park at the Boars Head and parked up outside in what is now our usual slot. Pete and Fred were already here, but sadly the 636 was not...Fred's back was not good and Pete had very gallantly turned down the chance to come on his own and they were here in the car. We joined them outside, sunning themselves in the beer garden with a long cool drink in hand and watched and listened as the Thundercat clan gathered in the wilds of  Shropshire once more. Team Scotland were not here this year, flying the flag at the TT but still they came from all points North, South, East and West...Hampshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire and more.
I was always enjoy this part of the weekend, after all the build up, it is great to be here and feel that sense of anticipation of a great weekend ahead. Nick and Ellie rolled up on their matching pair of new Z1000 and Nick's lurid green example even attracted favourable comment from the lass in the petrol station. It is the same colour as her Kitchen apparently...
We even had our first incident and very early bid for the coveted Numpty award as poor old Prime had managed to use Snowcat's Fireblade as an extra brake at an island...He tapped the back of the Blade as he left his braking a touch late and that then promptly hit the back of the Ducati in front! A Fireblade sandwich! That would make a great 'Subway'...can I have a 6" Blade please?!.  Luckily nobody was hurt, no bikes fell over and damage seemed relatively minor. Let's hope we don't have another BC4 on our hands!  

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The crew gathers 

As is now BC tradition The Boars Head (aka ‘The Pink Palace’) was the venue for the first night and in no time the bar was filling up with faces both new and familiar. As ever the atmosphere was great as everybody got chatting and looked forward to the adventures tomorrows big ride would bring. As ever a good night was had by all and we met some new faces too such as Duncan, Alleycat's Dad...people are even bringing family along now!
The food seems to get better each year and the meal was excellent. So yet again we all had a stonking evening, rounded off with viewing the TT on the big screen and it felt like moments before we all headed back to our digs to get some shut eye ahead of the big day and not think too much about the weather forecast for tomorrow

6am Saturday and I was suddenly woken by a thunderclap of biblical proportions, sure enough it was pouring down too. It would seem that BC, so often blessed with great weather was going to be a little more challenging this year...Hey ho. By the time we are started to form up the rain had stopped and we hoped for a better day. We gathered outside the pub and it was good to see some more new faces, Henry the Cat had braved the epic storm on his Thundercat to join us for the ride out and Lonecat, who lives relatively local had come along to say hello and wave us off. Bishops Castle is a interesting little place and we all grown used to some of its' oddities...knitted covers over lamp posts...so this year the town provided us with a man dressed as an M&M...only in Bishops Castle. As in previous years the town came to a standstill and in the end around 28 bikes, 6 of them Thundercats, lined up ready for the off. However the lad who travelled down with Snowcat had decided not to join the run, so he had graciously offered to miss the ride too and hang local with him. Top marks to Snowcat for doing that.

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The annual take over of Bishops Castle

The first session went steadily, but while the roads were very wet at least it wasn't raining. The roads were good as we made our way through Welshpool  and headed out into the wilds. As we climbed over past Llanfyllin and our first tea stop at Bala the fog and low cloud started to roll in and the ride took on a slightly surreal feel. Riding over mountain roads where shear drops were looming ready to reward any mistakes, while barely being able to see the bike in front is an interesting experience. Mrs. R loved it and said it felt like being in Harry Potter(!)...I know...bless her. We had been using the two marker and two tail end Charlie system again and it was working well keeping the long stream of bikes together.

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Tron joined us at the first tea stop...

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Taking a breather before the rain came down...

By the time we mounted up and headed for the fuel stop at Dolgellau the rain was coming down, but it didn't seem to dampen spirits too much. After a short delay while Littlecat sorted her visor out the ride made for Tywyn, home of the worlds slowest chippie, those veterans of BC1 will remember it fondly! Thankfully though we peeled away and instead had lunch at the beautiful, haunting lake at Tal-y-Llyn. A much needed break in a beautiful setting where the staff in the pub were super attentive and constantly re-filling coffees for people. Here we re-enacted the BC1, all Thundercat shot, with six bikes making the line-up this time. My bike and Mr.Nutt's have featured on all six BC runs now.

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Haunting beauty

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The lunchtime halt

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The traditional all Cat shot, down to 6...but still the most numerous bike on the run

From here it was Machynlleth and then to Newtown on the epic A483 to Crossgates (tea/fuel). Up front much fun was been had by all on the fastest sections of the day. The A483 in particular is perhaps the best quick riding road in Wales. Stevecat and I were back marking still and it was amusing to note just how long this section really is. Normally it sort of flashes past and it was a different experience to ride it at a more gentle (legal!) pace. Crossgates is another local haunt of mine and not wishing to let Bishop Castle get all the weird action to itself, here we witnessed  a horse in the petrol station, with a rider looking for all the world like they was trying to buy diesel for it!
This was also the scene of the traditional on route maintenance as the VFR Alleycat was riding now sounded more like a tractor as he had lost an exhaust stud. But without Rosco and his spares department top box, all we could do was watch as poor old Ally struggled to fix the old girl.

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Its great to have helpful friends...

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The diesel Horse...

From here I moved to the front of the line and enjoyed a quick blast back to BC. The rain had stopped by now and the roads were dry. I was impressed by Mr.France who now rides a Pan Euro as he was hustling along at a decent old clip. It was like watching somebody water-ski behind the Queen Mary...Wrong, but so right! Meanwhile Stevecat and Pam diligently remained back marking with Alleycat and his Dad joining him.  Stevecat deserves a medal and he is not to be on Tail ender duty next year!! On this section poor Prime and Thundestu had a bit of moment and decided to go and do a little ploughing. No harm done luckily, new pants only...

So that was that another superb ride out and overall I thought the riding from everybody was excellent this year in tough conditions.  For my part I didn't get much quick riding in, but it was great just to be out there with an excellent group of people and see how some who were new riders a couple of years back have progressed. As ever Terry Lees and his Dads Army platoon put on a great demonstration of how biking came remain fun for many (many...) years, I was just hacked off that I didn't a picture of YZFJohn with them, his surname is Pike...and I was laughing my head off at the sight of the last few bikes rolling back into BC respectfully behind a motability scooter at 6mph...classic stuff

No BC gathering is complete without  final evening social in the The Three Tuns, with some great food and some proper beer brewed on site. It was a another record turnout this year and yet again the  meal was superb. Claire, Mrs RichRich telling  of how he managed to slip down a motorway embankment into a bed of thorns, will live with me for many a year!

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Captain Mainwe...Terry enjoys a tipple

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Twin headlamps...

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If the devil could cast his net...

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MrNutt struggling with concept of chairs...

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Ellie's late bid for the Numpty Award, setting fire to the list of what meal people had ordered. Could be worse she could be an Admin now...

Even my speech wasn't enough to dampen spirits as I handed out a few awards:

Indicator left on award: Big fight for this one this year, Nick, Cheshirecat but in the it was Alley's Dad Duncan - 4 miles...which may be a new record!!

Brown Trouser Award 1: Mr France...somehow he managed to lock his own keys under the seat of his bike
Bown Trouser Award 2: Thunderstu...for following Prime on his ploughing expedition!

But the highest forum accolade, the much coveted:

NUMPTY OF THE DAY AWARD

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Well there could only be one winner – Prime and the creation of the 'Fireblade' sandwich! He he was duly awarded the traditional T shirt! Secured in record time, even before the main ride out...class!

Special mention also muat go to Snowcat, his mate buggered off home and left him high and dry and with nobody to ride with.  He did at least get a ride in a Ford Focus.

We all wobbled down the hill, filled with fantastic food and great beer and rounded off another superb event in the Boars Head, watching more TT races until they chucked us out in the wee small hours

So that was it for BC6 and as ever  big thank you to Nick and Ellie for a superbly organised event.

ROLL ON BC7!!!

A great right up again tony. Amazing to think it has come and gone for another year. Bit like christmas.

Heres to everyone having a great years riding and to looking forward to BC7.

Thank you nick and ellie for a great weekend.

Well done Radar, as usual an excellent write up x

Brilliant Tony, that was like a good book that I didn't want to put down & I was dissapointed when it ended lol.
I personally felt under the extreme conditions the day went well & was probably one of the best Welsh rides yet, I actually enjoyed riding in the wet & can't praise the Michelin PR4 enough.
Massive thanks to all of you who TEC'd & BC wouldn't be half what it is without Radars awards speech & review.
Thank you to everyone, it's become a pleasure instead of a chore  

By the way who has the photo of Mr M&M?

I think the highlight of the ride for me was looking up from under the seat of my TT and seeing two horses waiting at the petrol pumps. Surreal really. The one rider had a confused look on her face. Not sure whether it was which fuel to use or where she was going to put the nozzle. Im just great full rich rich helped me cover the alarm speaker on the TT otherwise it could have been a different picture.

Smashing write up as always Tony, I always very much look forward to this and can't have closure without it! On that note, now BC6 has officially finished for me, roll on BC7

Excellent write up as ever tony & really wish I could of made it. Will try to next year for sure. 

It's great to see there are still a few cats on the ride outs, I'm seriously thinking about an r1 but intend to keep the old cat too. 

Paul

great write up tony, enjoyed the day despite having probably my worse day on the bike in a while... the fog and then lack of visibility with the visor problems did me in... still glad we came and wouldn't have missed it for the world

It was a tough old ride in places, but no less enjoyable for that.

The social was superb as usual. Hopefully I can get to S&T, ToL etc over the next couple of years

If I may add to the review, the speech opened with an acknowledgement of the site leader, 0ldcat, seconded by a hearty round of applause.

Excellent write up Tony, appreciate your comments and thanks, might just heed your advice/instruction for next year. My thanks to you for keeping me company most of the day.

Excellent write up Tony and thanks for the mention, as previously said if I had the decision again the outcome would be the same, never leave a man behind. Good to hear more about the rest of the rideout and here's to BC7, as Arnie said I'll be back

Yet another superb write up Tony, I really enjoyed the rideout/weekend again, great bunch of people!!

Got to say this is a great group of people, must do more ride outs next year

Radar wrote:Got to say this is a great group of people, must do more ride outs next year

The year is young Tony

Snowcat wrote:

Radar wrote:Got to say this is a great group of people, must do more ride outs next year

The year is young Tony

Indeed it is, lets see how things pan out

Another great article Tony. Almost as if I had been there . . . Almost   
Thanks for the applause   

I think for future events I'm likely to be in Pete n Fred territory. Anyway glad everyone had a fantastic time.

Epic write up as usual Radar.

Glad it went well (in the main)

Cheers
Rosco

Rosco wrote:Epic write up as usual Radar.

Glad it went well (in the main)

Cheers
Rosco

Cheers Rosco! Just when instance where your on board spares department would been welcome!