Well what was going to be a quick sprint down to porthcawl for a bag of chips and some sea air (ok channel air then) turned into another blast into the rhondda valleys, as i approached the M4 turn off for Llantrisant which turning left gives me some great village lanes to the A48 then porthcawl and of course the yummy chips but alas there was this nagging naughty voice saying mikey boy be a man and go right which of course will eventually (1hr lol) lead me to the awesome and skill pushing Rhondda and Ogmore Valleys, of course the missus was expecting the left turn but alas the naughty mikey got the better of me and I headed right, now trust me an hour don't seem long but when you have an upset and hungry missus that hour can be very very long indeed, damn I need those hills n mountains fast, cos once the other half saw the beauty and the sheep she would calm down as I know she loves that scenery as much as me ), here is a pic of one very dirty R26 and of course a now happier missus and yes I am glad I got that the right way round too lol. Well I was not hitting those amazing roads for no more than 10mins when I not only got picked on by a kwacker 1400 but also later on the 2nd leg by a very gentlemanly driver in a matt black stealth evo, now don't get me wrong the 1400 kwacker is a monster on then straights , wow awe inspiring power, but what he was not expecting once that straight had gone and he had caught me up was this little blue sport had the cheek to not only get away from him at every bend and there are over 150 of them , but to also get a lovely little lead, enough for me to get out quick and pretend I was waiting at the little hotdog stand for ages lol, I love doing that, so childish I know but I cant help it lol, once the hot dog was eaten and the missus was even happier then we set out again for the 2nd half of the leg, but not before a few pics to share with you this mountain roads and then you will understand what I put the poor kwacker thru, he did give me a very polite and friendly beep tho as he passed the hot dog stand .... bless him Well the 2nd half of the leg went well for most part, some great straights and super tight downhill corners to test even the best brakes and especially my 53yr old bottle, both of the legs were very quiet in general for a sat so I could really test the ole motor more than usually and safely of course, remember ive still got the missus and I don't wanna spoil her mood, and in come the stealth evo with the gentleman driver, now why gentleman I here you ask , well no matter how many god damn straights we hit he refused to overtake, all he did was stick on my little blue arse, now I know for a fact he had the power so I could not understand why, then it all made sense real soon, we were coming up to the Afan Forest Mountain Park route, full of the most tight downhill bends and gradients a track car could wish for, he was not overtaking me cos he wanted to test the metal of his car and using me to do so, now sadly as I said I had the missus with me so I was not going to fall for this and sadly pulled over to let him pass (( no sooner as he went past smiling smugly the missus says to me "your not going to let him get away with that are you" now at 53 I could still have kissed her all over but cmon I had an evo to catch up and show what our renaultsport can do on the twisties lol, all I want to say is for the next 5 miles with a huge grin on both our faces we had a great time watching the evo try as hard as he might to leave us behind until he ran out of bends and out of mountain roads, a nice flash of lights and hazards and a new found respect for the R26 was given by the evo...... I would like to add that all this fun was had on very quiet roads and all within the speed limits and causing no bother to anyone except my tyres and gearbox , it was then a quick blast home on the M4 and out with the chocolate n strawberries "cough cough", hope you read this and have as much fun as I did......
Great read!! and those roads look absolutely fantastic! Never driven in Wales, prob going down to North Wales hopefully at somepoint during the year. Nothing like having the meg on these A and B road networks through hills. Looks like they keep the undergrowth in good shape along the side of the road also - makes for a far more enjoyable drive when you can get that little bit extra vision ahead. I'll need to do a trip report in the next couple of weeks!!, I'll prob go for the Selkirk - Moffat Valley in the Scottish Borders, its a 'belter' as we say up here
Hey papps your always welcome to visit my neck of the woods ) look forward to that write up of yours amigo
Well that's bloody charming that is lol cradle snatching hahahahaha, don't let her 80's sunglasses fool you and my amazing photography skills, she is 47 rofl, but I will pass on the compliments chaps )
Feirny I will pass that on and I am sure you will be welcome for sunday dinner anytime by the missus , I was hoping the roads would get more attention ....next road trip I am going to bin her off lol..... god don't tell her tho
At least she's not like my mates Mrs, you have to fight her for the keys or chase in a separate car. Nightmare, as she can drive too.
Hey James if you think the missus looks good for her age then check the mistress out, she is the one about to nibble my ear lol.....glad you liked the story too
Great read mate, sounds like a great time on great roads. Nice work with the evo, there handy little tools on those sort of roads so must have been a cracking giggle chasing it
Cheers mate, I was just polishing those roads for when you visit in your R lol, chasing it was putting it mildly, thank god for downhill bends where I can see whats coming is all I will say on the matter , but it was a brill afternoon.....:cool:
Sounds like you came across an Evo driver who respected other road users.. rare! Any idea what Evo it was?
Hi Jock, def not a newer one, if I was to guess I think it was a 5 or 6, pretty hard to tell cos it was all blacked out like a stealth plane lol, but it certainly moved
Can't wait mate. Any Evo is an impressive twisty's weapon so hats off for keeping him honest. Very enjoyable read, must have been a blast bud.
Jesus Christ half you lot on here need to get out more, sound like you've never seen a female before roads look great pal and good write up too
Hey Joeh atlast someone that appreciated the witeup and the roads instead of my bloody missus lol, cheers amigo
Hi john and cheers amigo, hey you are welcome to join us anytime and try them twisties out yourself, great fry up at the end of it too lol
Ho mate, those pictures bring back so many brilliant memories for me, Many times in my Impreza and E46 m3. Ain't been up since I have had the r26. These roads are literally 20 min from my town, many battles with high HP cars and also getting smashed by smaller HP cars funny world. Great Write up mate.
Cheers mate, well when your home next gimme a shout and we will take both the megs up them there hills and down again, bigger horse power hunting lol
Used to take my 106 gti down there years ago! Fantastic write up Havent been down there in the rallye or the meggy yet though
