‘Everywhere you turn are brilliant roads’
RIDE reader Chris Pierce takes us for a spirited ride on his favourite loop around the Welsh Marches between Shropshire and Powys
AS WE CHILL over a morning coffee from the café at the Churchstoke Shopping Centre (an ambitious title for a village garage, café, Co-op and wildlife park), RIDE reader Chris gives us a heads-up for the day. “I’ve been riding around midwales for about 25 years,” he says. “I brought a map to show you where we’re going but it’s not as if I need one!”
Chris’ familiarity with the roads in the Shropshire and Powys region goes right back to his days tearing about on a Kawasaki ZX-9R but it didn’t end well — a serious accident led him to switch from riding sportsbikes. “I ended up on an Africa
Twin, the old one. I absolutely loved it and it made me ride in a completely different way. Then KTM brought out the 950 Adventure and I felt that it was just better in every department.”
Chris now hammers about on KTM’S best-kept secret, the excellent, underrated 1090 Adventure R. “The route we’re going to ride is just part of a bigger one. This is the short, basic version, taking a couple of hours. Everywhere you look on this loop, there are roads coming off it that are brilliant to ride. You can take a turning anywhere and ride for longer if you like.”
But today, we’ve got 70 miles and the afternoon to do it in. So let’s go...
The Ride
We leave the village and immediately cross the border back into England even though we’re heading west. I’m a bit disorientated but then the border swings by once again and we cross back into Powys. It’s confusing but, over here, the border wanders around haphazardly.
“For all my life it’s not been something anyone really thought about,” says Chris. “People obviously just moved back and forth without a glance. But Covid changed that – there were different rules for England and Wales, which made no sense when some villages are split in half; you’d have a village with two pubs, one of which was allowed to open, one that wasn’t. In lockdown there were Welsh police on the border stopping riders from England.”
But as soon as the national speed limit signs appear, Chris is away, arcing through corners with the easy pace of someone who knows the road well and isn’t afraid to use it. It swerves deliciously, alternating between 40 and 30 zones through tiny clusters of houses, and national speed limits – the landscape is all high hedges and fields. “It’s not usually this busy on a weekday,” says Chris. “Maybe it’s because it’s Friday before a Bank Holiday and people have packed up early.”
We join the Newtown bypass and jump off straight away, heading south on the A483. It’s a fantastic stretch of road – although designated an A-road, it wriggles more like a B-road. Many of the bends are long and fast, eyes fixed on the vanishing point to see what comes next.
We stop at the Devil’s Elbow, a fairly famous bend on the A483. In fact, RIDE has photographed road tests on this corner before. The U-shaped bend is situated in a hollow in the hillside. Wide and specious, it was laid with Shell-grip once upon a time but the surface has been chewed up and worn away. “I was told the wear pattern on the surface is caused by HGV rear differentials,” says Chris, looking at the regularly-spaced degradation. Seems logical. It’s not bikes!
The A483 has a fantastic momentum to it – it ebbs and flows as it feeds down towards Crossgates and the café just after the left turn onto the A44. With its large car park and location at the gateway into
Wales coming from the Midlands, Crossgates’ café is a popular biking stop.
We’re at the halfway point of the route but it’s not taken long to get here. Chris likes to keep his average speed up.
I wonder if Chris, as the owner of a 1090 Adventure R, does any off-roading? “I used to do a bit but not really any more,” he says. “It’s nice to have the option with the KTM but the thought of dropping my expensive road bike off-road... besides, it’s such a good road bike and there are so many good roads around here!”
Chris points out this is a much shorter part of many longer routes. “This is for afternoons, when I can jump on my bike and get out. But if I want to do a longer ride, I can easily add 50 miles on.”
Crossgates is right on the edge of Rhayader and the Elan valley, so Chris isn’t kidding when he says they’re some of the finest roads and scenery in the UK.
We set off from Crossgates, follow the A44 briefly, then turn left at Penybont and pick up the A488. It immediately opens out into moorland, sheep wandering aimlessly into the road. After the hedgerows and trees, the sudden expanse of sky is unexpected. It doesn’t last long — soon we’re back to winding along between fields and farms. But the A488 is still like a generous B-road with plenty of width, and plenty of back-and-forth. We arrive at Knighton, which looks like a good place to stop and wander – but we dodge the town centre and head out on the final leg of the ride, north towards Clun. The A488 passes through a village called New
‘Although designated an A-road, it wriggles more like a B-road’
Invention, which is actually a few houses that reputedly took its name from a farrier who fitted horseshoes backwards on Charles I’s horse to confuse his enemies.
By the time we reach Clun, we’re ready for carrot cake and a pot of tea. Chris tells me about Clun castle, just up the road: “It’s got a fascinating history,” he says. “The English and the Welsh fought over it down the centuries; first one side would occupy it for a few years, then the other side would take it back, and so it went on.”
Thankfully, Covid permitting, there’s no such impediment to enjoying a spot of Welsh riding in 2021 — and Chris knows how fortunate he is to have these kinds of roads on his doorstep. “Oh, I know how lucky I am – when I lived in Birmingham, I was back here as often as possible.” And with that he’s off again, leaving pretty much everything in his wake.