Inspiring
Prince of Wales
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
Inevitably, I’m early. It’s tempting just to linger at the controls and admire the VXR8’s crafted cockpit and finely detailed controls, or perhaps lounge about on the cavernous rear seats, but Llangorse’s multi-activity status leaves little reason for such inertia. Indeed, it’s certainly a place to inspire the soul while flexing your limbs. Take the Sky Trek, for instance. Well, take it once you’ve been girdled up in a safety harness, comprehensively helmeted and shown how the (apparently) fail-safe mechanism works. You’re given an industrial-strength mitten before you lean back, step into thin air and let your weight act as propulsion, jetting through the ether with nothing but the buzz of the twin pulleys to distract you from the eagle-eye views over Llangorse lake.
You really could get carried away with this ultimate economy flight. So much so that you only remember the use of that mitten – as a brake – in time for the landing point. Had I more time, I would certainly try the apparently popular pursuit of Dingle Scrambling. It sounds like the ultimate training programme – a trek along a stream bed, climbing up and abseiling down a 20-foot log wall and sliding down a semi-submerged 40-foot drain tube. Hold me back, I cry, but it’s too late: it’s time to head over to the stable yard. Suits me, I say, as I’m measured up for more boots and a riding hat in the tack room, where I meet Biddy, my riding companion.RIDING UP A STORM
Once on board my superstar horse (the delightfully named Catherine Zeta-Jones), we storm over a jump that’s all of six, maybe seven inches high and she tolerates my grim-death clasp without so much as a whinny. Next we canter along at a cavalry pace and never once does she complain about my monumental lack of rhythm (think scarecrow in a tumble drier). “We’re doing an extreme sport!” I inwardly shout, though when I dismount and try to walk in a straight line, I wish I’d perhaps enquired about some other less impactful multi-activities, like brass rubbing or birdwatching.
And besides, for seat-of-pants thrills without the tenderised undercarriage, I’d find a closed and dedicated stretch of mountain track and let the VXR8 provide the entertainment.
The drive here had already shown that no amount of bitter and twisted tarmac is likely to throw this car’s razor responses off-course. Even on the Brecon-conquering Llangadog to Brynaman road, amid its hairiest hairpins, the front-engine, rear-wheel drive balance is, unlike my riding seat, balletically balanced.
