Llandudno

May '08

Write up

With Bos's foot still in plaster we weren't sure about going to Llandudno, after all one of his main sources of enjoyment is dancing and there wouldn't be any of that going on. On the other hand, the alternative was to sit at home and think about what a good time everyone else was having, and we had managed to book a B&B earlier in the year. So Friday morning I went off to work for a few hours before coming back home and loading the scoots up. We set off at around 2.30 and went A628 (Woodhead), A560 to Stockport, M60, M56, A494 and A55. It started well with Woodhead as it's one of our favourite roads to ride, but things soon deteriorated as we hit Friday afternoon traffic, thank god for filtering! As we got onto the M56 the heavens opened, so we pulled over and put on our waterproofs. Kitted up we set off once more, only for the skies to clear a few miles down the road, tut!

We pulled off the A494 and into an Asda for a coffee break, only to be told by some yellow vested jobsworth that we couldn't park the scoots outside the window and would have to put them in the bike parking on the other side of the store - no chance we were leaving them there with all our kit on, so we set off for the next services. As we got closer to Llandudno the scenery improved greatly and one of the best sights I saw was as we reached the top of a hill to see a valley spread out in front of us, bathed in sunlight and with the sea glistening off to the right - perfect!

We arrived in Llandudno at about 7.00, 4.5 hours - but as I have only just finished running in and therefore didn't want to thrash my scoot, I don't think that was too bad. We found our B&B and parked up the scoots - what a lovely place, with really friendly hosts - much, much better than some of the flea pits we have stayed in! A quick shower and change and we set off to find some food - running into some of the Armed Forces and B5000 for a quick gossip along the way. After we had eaten it was getting on, so we decided to take a walk along the sea front and make our way to the do.

Inside it was like the Marie Celeste - empty! About 60 people were sitting around tables, but as the night wore on and kicking out time approached it began to fill up, just in time for The Jam'd (yawn!) We chatted with some of Bradford 606 and got the full rundown on Larrys (Sparkright Technologies) accident - get well soon mate! Talking of accidents, Loiuse (Jinxed) came a cropper about 10 yards outside the campsite, dislocating her kneecap- so near yet so far. However, she didn't let it stop her fun, and spent the weekend on crutches and pain killers before getting a very nice man to take her home on Sunday - attagirl! We finally called it a night at about 1 and took a stroll back along the seafront.

Saturday dawned dry and sunny - hurrah! After a fabulous breakfast we went for a walk along the pier where we spotted a road running up around the coast. Upon further investigation we found it was a toll road around the Great Orme and decided that we would try to go for a ride later. As we walked along the seafront to the "parts fair" we saw people dressed up as Victorians and loads of old cars - apparently Llandudno was also hosting a Victorian weekend and a Transport Rally as well as our rally - no wonder the town was so busy!

The custom show was being held outside the venue so we stopped to take a look around, but there weren't many offerings that we hadn't seen before. Inside the "parts fair" was a huge disappointment. We know that it is a good place to go for a handbag or t-shirt, but you can usually pick up a couple of parts - and as I needed a couple of bits for the VBB and a rally pin we paid our money and went in. Well, all I wanted were a couple of nipples for some cables, a pair of stand feet for my daughters scoot, a front fork cover and a kick start - we got the stand feet - total crap, and I really pity anyone who needed parts to get them home! We did have a good chat with a few people including Disco Dave, Titch, Armed Forces Simon and the Proclaimers so not a total waste of time!

By now it was lunch time so we headed off into town and after stopping countless times to gossip (Bos can talk for England) we finally got fed at around 2! After eating we made our way back to the B&B to pick up the scoots. We paid our £1 and rode up the hill and round the Great Orme - what a fantastic road!! We stopped halfway and found some other scooterists who had had the same idea. After stopping for yet more gossiping we got going again and headed for the top. We had just pulled up when the others followed us in and parked up next to us. One of the young kids asked Bos how to adjust his clutch cable as it was biting really low - so Bos showed him how to do it - but when he tried it, it snapped, doh!

Fortunately he had spare cables - unfortunately, he needed a nipple (and we know there weren't any of those to be had!) luckily we found one lurking in the bottom of Bos's tool bag and without too much drama the young kid had an impromptu lesson in changing cables! Good deed for the day done, we decided to have our dinner before setting off round the other side of the Orme, finshing a fantastic ride which made the rally for us.

After relaxing back at the B&B for a couple of hours we got changed and headed out for the evenings fun. We took a slow bimble through town, stopping at pubs along the way as we saw people we knew. We ran into some friends from Nottingham and walked with them to the do. This time there were two rooms open so we went to the northern room first before making our way upstairs where we found Mick (I don't do Welsh rallies) and Micheala, Andy and Dawn, Sanderson, Donna and too many others to mention! We ended the night in the northern room, before wimping out at about 12.

After breakfast on Sunday there was nothing left to do except load up the scoots and head off home - which we did - in the pouring rain (well, I suppose it was too much to ask for a dry run home!) eventually arriving at 1.30, wet, but happy as scoots had made it there and back and mine is now definitely fully run in! Hurrah!!

Taxii xx