A 'rough' weekend
Baked alive in glorious sunshine, route malfunctions, climbing Welsh walls with a bike in tow, sleep deprivation, bog trotting…
What a bloody brilliant weekend that was!
The Wayfarer Centenary get together was wonderful. To have played a small part was a very special experience, a MASSIVE thank you to all involved.
Steve had toyed around with the idea of joining other RSF members at this years Easter meet, but based on cost and time it just wouldn’t be doable for me. Luckily for us this year just happened to be 100 years since Wayfarer’s infamous ‘Over the Top’ snowbound epic and there would be an RSF gathering to commemorate.
We’d talked about visiting the Wayfarer memorial, high up on the Bwlch Nant Rhyd Wilym pass, on numerous occasions. Now we were presented with the perfect opportunity to stop talking and get stuck in! The decision to ride there from home was made immediately, agreeing that to do so would be suitably respectful to the theme of the weekend.
Great weather, amazing location, incredible hospitality, spending time with friends (new and old), supporting the RSF, riding bikes, good food, good beer, slide shows, history lessons and more than a few giggles… I will forever treasure the memory.
There really is too much to process to be honest! I don’t think I would ever be truly happy if I sat down and wrote a dozen drafts of this blog post, I’d never be able to do the weekend justice and I’d end up having to edit again and again…
I’m content with the words above and I’ll let you all sift through the photos below, they will hopefully say more than I ever could…
Safe to say, it won’t be the last time that the #grassupthemiddle crew visit the memorial and pay our respects to the Wayfarer. We’ve already agreed that returning every year on the last weekend in March should be something that people are of a mind to do. I personally can’t wait to have another go at shaking the fillings out of my teeth on that rutted track! ;-)
One last thing - If you aren’t doing these things already… Please join and support the RSF , and follow the archive on Instagram @rsfarchive
Words and pictures - Paul Rance