Well done to everyone who Reclaimed North Wales

I was late leaving Newbury on my way to Reclaim North Wales and then made a BAD choice; taking the M42/M6 round Birmingham instead of my usual M42/M5 as it was one huge speed limit, but hey, this was meant to be an enjoyable day out!

I waved to the gaggle of bike cops on the bridge over the M42 and got a couple of nods in return, maybe they were going to Reclaim North Wales as well!

Overtook a few bikes on the A5 and one followed me in convoy as we headed West; a couple more bike cops on a roundabout in Shropshire, another nod and another in return!

Not bad so far! We ground to a halt just short of Llangollen and bikes coming the other way said the police had closed the road, but hey, we came all this way to go to the Ponderosa and if it took all week, that is where we were going (but if you are reading this Neil, overtaking a stationary queue of traffic by crossing a solid white was not in the spirit of the day!).

I stuck with it, chatting to other bikers who were trapped in the queue and I think we owe at least ten thousand apologies to the guy on the sportsbike who asked me ‘Is this a rally or something?’

He had just come out for a thrash and wondered why the roads were choked with bikes!

It took me an hour from 1230 till 1330 to get through Llangollen and up the hill to the Ponderosa and I honestly thought every bike in the country MUST have been there; and this was over an hour after most people had probably left.

I managed to get a sandwich and a cream scone and then headed out into the hills to get some mud and gravel under the tyres of the GS and by the time I got through Betys-y-Coed and up to the Swallow Falls hotel at 1530, the place was already heaving and packed from end to end with bikes of every colour, creed, make, size and purpose.

The only thing in common was the riders, all friendly, knackered, chatty and determined to not be cowed by the heavy handed police, of which I saw only one representative all day (manning a laser gun at the end of a long straight).

By the time I got home, with over 600 miles on the clock, I realised that North Wales really did belong to me and from the lack of police presence on the day, I think that the constabularies of North Wales realised it too.

Thanks to everyone who turned out and queued and queued and queued all day long with only the odd example of lunacy to remind us that not everyone is a good biker.

To the other 9,995 of you, you should feel just as proud as I do of the way you turned up and rode in support of our rights to ride anywhere we like.

Great day, great roads and lanes and a great example of why the North Wales police are plain and simply WRONG!

And, finally, if the numbers of bikes who were still struggling to get to the Ponderosa at half past one were anything to go by, I reckon the turn out on the day was more like 15,000 than your estimated ten!

Many thanks to one and all.