Wales doesn't always get the credit it deserves as a biking destination. Many of us bikers regularly head up to the Lakes or Scotland in search of biking Nirvana, but there are plenty of good roads and natural beauty to be found in Wales. The National Parks of Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons are the best-known areas to visit, but scratch a bit deeper beneath the surface and you'll find miles of roads and tracks just waiting to be discovered.
The best way to get to know the ideal places to ride is to follow someone who knows their way around the area. This time it just so happened that this person was the record-smashing round-the-world rider Nick Sanders, who runs his Expedition Centre on the outskirts of Snowdonia National Park. The centre is a place for bikers to meet fellow adventurers and plan their next trip. Nick offers food and accommodation, and as you might expect from a man who has ridden around the world seven times and up and down the Americas eight times, it's not your average Premier Inn that you find nestled in the hillside.
Nick has had his hand in organising motorcycle tours for years, and in addition to travelling around the world, he knows the Welsh countryside like the back of his hand. Who better to follow on the roads then?
Riding with Nick
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Honda CRF1100L ES Africa Twin
Without panniers he was adventuring nowhere - so at least Bertie's got something sorted now
BMW R 12 nineT
Chad gets a track day surprise when BMW's R 12 nineT turns out to be surprisingly fun on track
Test fleet: VOGE 525 DSX
After testing the Voge's abilities on a long ride, it was time to take it to the Cotswolds and see how it would manage on the rougher stuff
Portuguese Perambulations
Nearly over before it had begun, a brief workshop stint allows Spain and Portugal to be explored
Highway to Heaven
Three friends take on the challenge of riding the length of Canada, from Vancouver in the southwest to Inuvik in the north. The road is long, the conditions merciless, and wildfires are tearing through the country. To top it all off, the final leg of the journey is the ultimate test of gravel riding skills, nerves, and courage - it's the legendary Dempster Highway...
Battlaxes at the ready!
We tend to take tyres for granted, never really looking at them in any detail, or at how they work, just hoping that they keep us shiny side up at all times. Even in the wet
Ducati Riding Experience
When I rode the Ducati DesertX to France last year, I did have a bit of an explore on some easy fire roads and gentle green lanes in the wilds of the Médoc area, but was left with the feeling that, had I the experience, the DesertX would have been capable of taking me along some more extreme trails to some even more exciting places. If only there was a way of finding out just how well the Italian adventure bike could cope with some more extreme terrain...
Four pot flyer
Many said that sports bikes, and particularly bikes in the traditional Supersports class that was populated by 600cc inline fours, were dead. Maybe they spoke too soon?...
Eastern adventurer
With an increasing interest in smaller capacity adventure bikes, the market expands with a new entry
First Time Lucky?
It's ironic that the first all-new MV Agusta model to hit the marketplace right after Italy's No.1 trophy brand was acquired by Austrian giant Pierer Mobility, owner of off-road titans KTM, should be the company's first dual-purpose model of the modern era, powered by MV's all-new 931cc three-cylinder engine that's destined to form the basis of a whole series of new models in coming months and years.