Got bored - Drove North Wales - Enjoyed Evo triangle

The weather was touch n go in Brum, it hadn't decided either to rain or shine. I gambled and decided to head off towards the (in)famous Evo car test route near Betws-y-Coed in North Wales. The TomTom worked flawlessly guiding me past Telford and other towns, progress was good until I arrived at the 'A' roads - so many damn artics and blind corners - Even with the S3 I was hesitant to blast down these roads. So the final section towards Betws took quite a while (about 50mph). Soon enough the roads freed of lorries and trippers and progress picked up a bit. There were some great mid-speed sweeping corners where the road was cut from a side of a hill with a severe drop to the right!
Eventually arrived at B4501 a place called Cerrigydrudion. Not much of a village, a few amenities but little else. Tip-toed thro at 30 and went right at the junction - so far it was a bit of an anticlimax. However, looking ahead I could see the road stretch into the moorland, this could be motoring Nirvana?!
The B4501 was lightly trafficked out of the village, a farmers 4x4 sped off in front of me whilst I dawdled waiting for a clear road ahead. Within a minute the 4x4 had turned up a farm track. The road was empty and now flowing up the hillside as did my speed. That is until I took a look at the view to the left.....
Woooahhh.
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5017a.jpg"][URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5017a.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
Time for a coffee, a smoke, and get ready, this could be the closest driving experience in the UK to the Nordschleife...
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5019a.jpg"][URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5019a.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
Speeds weren't that important, what was immediately apparent was the amount of punishment the S3's suspension was taking..With blacktop like this, no wonder drivers come far and wide...
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5031a.jpg"][URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5031a.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
What traffic there was, was infrequent and fairly quick. A biker was clearly doing a rekkie and stormed past me at some speed.
The moorland merged into a forested area, tall pine trees left and right, a couple of reservoirs too.
The road continued to snake, up and down until opening into a sweeping left hander where the trees created an avenue (very like that german toll road)
The corner had a perfect bend radius and the S3 felt sweet as I powered round into a long straight section. Looking back...
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5036a.jpg"][URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5036a.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
A cattle grid and a right turn was the signal that this 6 or so mile section was over as I turned left onto A543. I have no pics of this section, for the simple reason that this section of road was superb. The forest had receeded just open moorland with fantastic sighting lines, the road bumped and bucked at speed. Climbed and fell. As it decended towards a hamlet of houses, there was one final sweeping right hander, whooah superb... And that was it, 12 or so miles in total.
I went thro the tourist stop of Betws-y-Coed (dull) and the roads opened up to reveal vistas like this
[URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5049a.jpg"][URL="http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/IMG_5049a.jpg"][/URL][/URL]
Time for another stop, more coffee and retrace my tracks taking the Evo triangle, this time in reverse. Yes, it really is great. Flashes of shots from the magazine became instant recognisable.

A perfect antidote to boredom...

If you have a TomTom, this itinary file is all you need for the Evo triangle
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~hornsey/as/Evo_Triangle.itn


Cheers,
Ed

Must mention the inspiration came from this Pistonheads thread - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=304051&f=45&h=0

Thanks defratos - It was a great day, completely indulgent. Just shows that you don't need to go abroad to find the best roads...:thumbsup:

fingermouse said:

did you see the uglyhouse or whatever its called just on the top side of Betws-y-Coed ???

Click to expand...

Yea, I think I passed right by the ugly house. Only caught a glimpse of it, looked like it had 4 walls and a roof. Also remember seeing signs for Ffestiniog (train?) which is close.