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Well, off to Wales
again for some of our W&H RAT pack members; this time to the Metropole hotel
in Llandrindod Wells for the 2003 Dragon Raid. Richard & Kym, Les & Yvonne,
Graham & Hilary, Dave & Helen (Dave's been to a couple of our monthly
meetings) and newcomers Mike & Liz, all went along. This was all arranged at
the last moment but it was so enjoyable that the bookings for next year may be made
very soon!
 The
week-end started with an exclusive preview for Richard and Les of Triumph's
latest model which was personally delivered by of all people Wylie and
Holland Motorcycles. Andy, from Triumph, was to be the week-end test rider
and with full co-operation from our RAT pack they disguised it as a Triumph
Sprint ST, painted it Sapphire Blue and used the number plate from Richard's
old bike.
 The
Saturday started well with Simon wearing a large T on the back of his jacket
to make sure that everyone knew that he was the Teacher and we were to do
what he said. Here you can see him addressing morning assembly on the
Saturday and just like in real life a surprising number of women insisted in
getting in the front row close to him whilst he spoke. This was noticed
through out the week-end as many of the female attendees vied for his
attention (could this be the reason why Simon left his beloved wife at
home?).
Unfortunately the sun did not last
long and conveniently after 10 minutes the first shower appeared. This was
convenient because those of us who had decided to leave their route maps
behind and leave at the end to follow those in front were met by two large
groups on the side of the road all trying to get their waterproofs on. The
result was that us late starters couldn't get in the lay-by's and had to
carry on. Where to? Goodness knows as none of us had a clue. I have to say
that us Shropshire RATS miraculously somehow found the right route but 2
hours after we got to Aberystwyth there were still RATS arriving and during
the morning we passed Triumphs going in all different directions. What a
hoot!
 At
our first brief stop we got our ace photographer, Graham, to take a picture
of Richard & Kym which is shown here in all of it's splendour and artistic
talent. However Richard did suggest a slight improvement on his technique
and suggested that if he turned the camera to face the other way he might
get a better shot. Graham commented 'I wondered why I couldn't see anything
in the lens........'
We finally arrived in Aberystwyth
after nearly three hours and it actually didn't really rain. This resulted
in a magnificent display of around 80 Triumphs on the promenade. After a
good stop to stretch tired legs we were off again and headed for the Elan
visitor centre. On the way we lost Graham but thought he knew the area. How
right we were! After going to the visitor centre he saw all the bikes and
decided 'that we must have gone off to the reservoir'. So it was bye
bye Graham for the day.
Exhausted we managed to get back
to the hotel and spend well over an hour in the pool, sauna, steam room and
hot tub. On the Members Only Page you can view all of the secret photos we
took there. Click here to go straight there. The
facilities at the hotel were excellent and allowed everyone to unwind on
Friday and Saturday. Saturday night was party night, even if Les & Yvonne
were party poopers by going to bed at 12.30 a.m. Prizes were given out for
various things
 with
the star prize being a track day at Cadwell. The question was 'How deep was
the first reservoir that we stopped at?'. The answer, of course, depended on
whether it had been raining or not. However a huge group of RATS can be seen
here all measuring the exact depth on the Sunday morning.
In summary a great week-end and
the hotel and location was perfect. Simon (and Andy) managed to organise the
week-end perfectly (even if there was a slight exaggeration on the
seriousness of the Devil's Chair) and it was obvious why so many RATS infest
this hotel every year. Well done Simon for organising the week-end, well
done Graham for his photographic skill, well done Metropole for the
facilities and service and, of course, well done to all of our fellow RATS
for making the week-end so enjoyable.
If any fellow RATS
would like to add any comments for our Dragon Raid page please send them to
Richard. |
Go Your Own Way 
