Holyhead Via ?????

Yes the urge was upon me again a bit of sunshine and the panic that it'ii be far to cold soon to "go out playing".
And the fact that there's far to much cleaning to possibly be done in one day! so hey why waste the day...........

I should have known ! i should have realised ! when my turquoise babe wouldn't start and i had to opt for the green ebay bargain, It is much faster than the other but it has no back box [essential ] and a very hard suspension but hey hooo needs must...
I was sweating in all my gear , Yessss biggest knickers and longest vest and padded waterproofs and knee pads and spare gloves and fleeces under the seat.'' An unreconisable mitchlin man is me.
I choose to head for the a5 via llanrwst rather than the boring a55..But what a weather change as i got closer to snowdonia and the beautiful conwy valley. The valley was like a lake and as i passed over the humped back bridge i saw the road closed signs but ignored them . Gwydir castle [read Castles in the Air by judith corbett] was surrounded by water and and looked for all the world like something from a fairy story with the mist riseing off the trees behind and the low autmun sun making everything golden and mysterious.. The road was flooded but not to much so i headed off up into the Gwydir forest the road was like a river and there where springs spouting out of walls and tree roots, up up i travelled jarring my spine everytime i forgot to stand up when ever i went over a bump .. Theres a stream up here thats so full of iron you can taste it and all the rocks it passes over are ochre coloured, well it was in full spate today and was rushing down the road past me taking its yellow stones along with it , out of the forest now and on to a more ancient landscape of bogs and mountains i passed a few cyclists feeling smug in the fact i had an engine . This road brings you out at the UGLY HOUSE which isnt its gorgeous. It dates from when if you could have four walls and a chimney built overnight and a fire lit in the grate it was yours and if you stood and threw your axe where it landed was your boundaries.

Then on to capel curig and the ogwen valley the scene of many films WILLOW , MERLIN, TOMB RAIDER. Etc Etc.....But bloody hell its windy and Hailstone made me get off and park up until it stopped ....

On the way home coming down this valley my visor blew off !! and it was horizontal drizzle the type that finds every button hole and gap.. I deliberatly took a different route back to check out the ghostly cycle [ghost forum] Well it wasnt an advertisment it was a memorial to a cyclist killed there, but it was white and hanging in a tree ! sooo the confusion was easy.

Then guess what ?? A Fawn greyhound [that contradicts itself] came out of the hedge and ran alongside me on the opposite side of the road hhhhmmm what to do??
So i kept calling it and it followed me then of course duurrr i was back at Gwydir castle it's one of theirs gone walkabout..... so i popped it in and continued on my way to collect nell from school. I'd gone beyond cold to a numb warm the type you knows going to hurt when you start defrosting.....
Poor Nell her face when shes sees me arrive on the bike but she doesnt refuse the lift.......
A lovely in all but i think the getting home to a warm house and a brandy make it more worthwhile............. PS why did i go to holyhead ?? Well colins there so worthwhile..