Help MCN reclaim North Wales

MCN is to reclaim North Wales from the region’s anti-motorcycle police force by staging a mass ride to Snowdonia National Park.  

• MUST READ: what to do if you’re stopped on the ride-out 

With your help we plan to defy the force’s treatment of motorcyclists – described as an “enforce and displace” policy by police elsewhere – by descending on the scenic region in our thousands.

Support the cause with our ‘reclaim North Wales’ t-shirt. All profits go to Riders for Health. NOTE: orders placed now will not arrive in time for the ride out.

North Wales Police discourages innocent motorcyclists from entering the region by indiscriminately stopping as many riders as possible. Led by Deputy Chief Constable Clive Wolfendale, who has proposed banning motorcycles from national parks, the force admits officers stop around 400 riders every summer weekend including 350 who have committed no offence.

MCN’s aim is to remind the force whose roads they are by exercising our right to enjoy them within the law. 

Reclaim North Wales – how you can get involved

• MCN will meet readers at two points at midday on September 13. Go to whichever is easiest for you to get to:
• The first is the Dragon’s Rest Cafe, at the Caerwys Junction of the A55 in the north of the region. The second is the Ponderosa Café on the A542 Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen, LL20 8DR.
• We’ll then meet you again at 4pm in the car park of Swallow Falls Hotel, Holyhead Road, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, LL24 0DW. The site, in Snowdonia National Park, has a restaurant and tavern and is near stunning waterfalls. 
• In the clamour to support our campaign, additional biker-friendly venues have offered to welcome you. Two are within spitting distance of the Dragon’s Rest. They are the Whistlestop Cafe, HTM Business Park, Abergele Road, Rhuddlan, Denbighshire LL18 5UZ, and Sam’s biker cafe on Rhyl Road, Denbigh, Clwyd, LL16 5TQ. A third, in Snowdonia, is Eric Jones’ Café, Bwlch-y-Moch, Tremadog, Gwynedd, LL49 9SN. Eric Jones said: “As a biker for 55 years may I invite MCN readers to continue their journey from the Swallow Falls through beautiful Snowdonia to my car park where they will be welcomed with unlimited free teas and coffees.”
• The route you take from one meeting point to the other is up to you. Our plan isn’t to lead you there but simply to encourage you to enjoy the region’s roads within the law by turning up. 

Our Reclaim North Wales campaign has the backing of the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) and Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), both of which has agreed to join us. We even have the backing of serving and former police officers.

North Wales Police denies it wants to drive riders away but a motorcycle officer in the road policing unit of another force said: “From the outside it certainly looks that way. Four hundred is an enormous number of riders to stop in a weekend. We stop about 1,000 a year.”

A North Wales Police spokesman refused to answer when asked if the force’s strategy could discourage riders from entering the region.

We’d like to invite you to exercise your right to enjoy the region’s stunning roads within the law on September 13.