890miles, 2 days, Scotland and back..... mmmmmmm

[Posh Tourer :P]

This is going to be probably a multipart report on my trip to Scotland last weekend.

I had 3 days off form work, and I hadnt really had a decent ride on the bike for about 2 months, just the 10min commute to work twice a week or so. I dont think I'd really realised exactly how much I missed being on a bike. Perhaps the commutes kept the feeling at bay...

Anyway, I'd decided to go for Scotland and see if I could find any good roads up there. I suppose I didn't really have huge expectations - as some of you will know, the only corners you get in Norfolk are the occasional times a straight road has to go round someone's house or field.

The bike also was in dire need of a good long run to get it warm and clean it out (it had 65,000miles on the clock (now 66,000 )) as it was not starting on all 4 cylinders, and also idling a little rough.

So, after spending Saturday doing the things I had to do around the flat, and waiting for the torrential rain to clear from the midlands, I packed a few little things in a tankbag and tied the sleeping bag to the back.

I left the house at 6 on Sunday morning, to pick up my tent and bedroll from work, and then got on the road proper. The first roads were necessarily boring, up across The Wash and towards the midlands. The A47 and A17 were quickly dispatched, and after 3 or so hours I had my first fuel stop. That dispatched with, things got a little more interesting.

[Motu]

That dispatched with, things got a little more interesting.

It better get a little more interesting,because at the moment it's not! Wot bike? The XJ?

Oh,....Hi.

[zadok]

You've left us hanging there......

[Flyingpony]

I left the house at 6 on Sunday morning, to pick up my tent and bedroll from work, and then got on the road proper. The first roads were necessarily boring, up across The Wash and towards the midlands. The A47 and A17 were quickly dispatched, and after 3 or so hours I had my first fuel stop. That dispatched with, things got a little more interesting.

890 miles in 2 days and then things got interesting ... okay, my guess as to what happened next is:

So you went across through "The Wash" aka car wash on the bike, then headed over towards 'midlands' but noticed that meant no petrol stations for the next 250km so stopped at the nearest Challenge.

That's when things really got much more interesting because you filled up with diesel but only discovered after your bike sputtered to a stop three miles up the road ... right?


Man you must have had heaps of fun on this ride. Acutally, riding a bike from England up and around Scotland is one thing I want to do in my life. You lucky guy ...

[Posh Tourer :P]

I knew that was going to happen.I ran out of time to type the rest.... If you are desperate to get something interesting from the first post, the highlights were passing signs to Clenchwarton and Nun Monkton

Anyway, as I can see you are all bored on a Thursday night, I'll let you know the slightly more interesting next part...

Oh and Motu? You see on my bikes list, I have 3, one in New Zealand and one 'bung'. I didnt want to feed it all to you on a plate, but yes, it was the XJ600.....

So, after buying a map, I headed for the nearest wiggly line I could see, the A161. With signs all over the place warning of a blocked road ahead,I did what anyone would do, and ignored them. It was a Sunday, so I figured I'd go up and have a look and see if it was passable. Unfortunately the road was actually blocked, and there were people working on it too. Ah well.
As I came back out to the main road, I noticed a group of about 12 or so sportsbikes heading west. I managed to catch them (urban area, so they werent speeding or anything...). I tagged along until they stopped, and found out they were trying the A161 too, on a morning ride up to Goole. So with me on my little 600 hanging on to a dozen bikes (RSV Mille, SV1000, GSXR1000, Monster, and a few others) at about the ton, we flew up the 161. Luckily by this time it had started raining, which I think put enough of a damper on their speed for me to keep up. We stopped at a Goole truckstop diner for breakfast, which was quite leisurely. I didnt really get on with these guys, but I took the time to actually plan a route, just looking for wiggly lines again.

More boring stuff up to and through York, although the weather had cleared over breakfast. Then I managed to pick up the B6265 and the A6108, and consequently the A684 across to the Lake District. This proved to be an inspired choice, and was the first of the great roads I encountered. The B6265 had a few nice warm-up corners but it was still fairly open, similar to parts of SH1. The A6108 tightened up a little, with corner after corner, through some great farmland and rolling hills. Doing about 60-70mph, it was challenging enough to get the adrenalin pumping, and I began to feel like I was really getting into it. I picked up the pace as much as I dared - it isnt the most comforting thing to be flying along an undulating road, with stone walls either side of you. By now, it was sunny, and I thought of the other guys I'd left at Goole, probably heading south into the drizzle again.... The A684 crosses towards the town of Windermere, well over hour's worth of short but flowing corners, plenty to keep you interested at 70.

However, the real fun started when I turned right at Windermere, up the A592. This road leads north through some stunning scenery, with some real hills and walled paddocks stretching on either side. There were plenty of bikers out, both on the 684 and the 592, although none seemed to want to go as quick as I was.

Perhaps I'm mad, but I think more likely that I was suffering from extreme withdrawal.... Anyway, by the time I'd reached Windermere, it was mid afternoon, and the roads looked lovely. I climbed up through some stunning twisties, to a summit overlooking Lake Windermere. I didnt really feel like stopping, despite having been riding since 11 (minus a very short fuel stop). The ride down to the lake was the most fun I've ever had on a bike.... The road was almost 22-esque, with twists, turns and bumps, although probably a better road surface. Downhill, with stone walls either side, at 70+, it was incredibly challenging. You had to watch that you didnt get too airborne and miss the corners, something that could have happened almost every corner, with the big undulations. All this in spectacularly pretty surroundings, looking down on a long blue lake.

Well, I've run out of time again, but that takes you to one of the highlights of my trip.... Happy now?

[Posh Tourer :P]

The A592 left me pretty drained, and I picked up the A686 from Penrith towards the A68. While the A686 is still a good road, it was about 4pm-ish and I was starting to think about finding a place to stay... It took me until then to work out the last vestiges of a commute-only, motorcycling-deprived 3 months. The A686 is more open and less interesting than the A684, and I relaxed a little and began to feel the tiredness that happens when you spend 10 hours riding fairly fast. I avoided Newcastle and headed for the B6320, in an attempt to find another twisty road to finish off the day. I daresay the B6320 is a good road, but once you start to think about stopping for the night, weariness tends to set in and I figured I'd better slow down as my riding got rougher. Just as I was heading for tourist information I passed the Brown Rigg campsite, just south of Bellingham. Only £5 for the night, with good facilities, I whipped the tent up and made my way into town for dinner - not particularly cheap, but there was lots of it, which I kinda needed, considering I hadnt stopped for lunch, and I'd been working hard all day.... With a good steak (and a pint) inside, I slept like a baby....

Day 1...
0600hrs - 1730hrs
420 miles
not quite scotland....

The gates didnt open the next morning until 7:30, with no noise allowed before then. So, at 7:30 on the dot, I was out the door, and off up the road again..... The B6320 opened up beautifully, open undulating road through tussocky rolling hills, just the thing to get me warmed up in the morning, with great views, the early morning greyness just lifting. As I made my way up the A68, the morning turned into a lovely day, with just a few white puffy clouds around. At some point up the A68 I'd crossed into Scotland. Left onto the A698 into Kelso, where I'd been earlier for work (an agricultural show, with a 2CV world conference across the river - they came for the cobbled streets - and the place I'd been heading for, as the roads around Kelso, and across to Selkirk and Galashiels had looked perfect from the comfort of the dealer's car), and then out again on the A699 towards Selkirk. The roads didnt disappoint, but I think I'd been spoiled a little by the previous day's ride, and I was still a little tired. That, and they went by rather quicker than in the car
Here I turned back south, down the A7, another open flowing road, through some lovely gorges, to Harwick for breakfast (a quickly wolfed down apple pie) and the A6071, just north of Carlisle.
I joined up with the A689, expecting another road like the A686, as it crosses the latter. All I got was a nice looking road with far too many uncomfortable dips and bumps in it to make it any fun at all. Back on the A68, well south of where I'd been earlier in the morning, I'd decided to by-pass my intended route back through the Peak District, and go back via some less challenging roads. I knew I was still tired and I didnt trust myself not to push it too far when I got to a good road.
So, I decided to make up some mileage back southwards, and play later on, when I was closer to home. The A1(M) and A1 took me quickly down towards Leeds, where I picked up the A61 (another wiggly line on a map). This was similar to the A7, though through lesser scenery (I was back in England after all :P), and didnt really offer any challenge to a bike doing 70mph. Back on the A1 / A1(M) to get me past Leeds, Doncaster and Rotherham, and I came onto the A614, straight and boring, but not as bad as the A1. I was heading for another nice set of roads I'd been to on a job, around Melton Mowbray, which I had done in a 7-series, and enjoyed (only a bit mind, in an £80,000, brand new car that wasnt mine...). A quick Zig-zag around Nottingham, via more dead straight boring roads (A6097/A46) took me to the A606 into Melton Mowbray. Yet another flowing road that wasnt too challenging, it was enough to put a cap on the trip as I enjoyed a more gentle cruise into town, and out again on the B676.

The first stretch of the A151 from the A1 into Bourne is a cracker, apart from the traffic and lowered speed limits (50mph). The road is very similar to Whangamata-Waihi, but set amongst farmland, with some lovely 70mph (at a push) corners.

From there, the route was fairly boring again, down the A17 and A47 back the way I came, to Norwich.

6pm and I was back at home, 890 miles further on, and absolutely shattered, with a rather sore arse.

Still, it was great to be able to 'break the drought' of motorbiking in such a dramatic and worthwhile fashion...

[scumdog]

Born in Scotland, they had no motorbikes then...

[Fordy]

Next time your around Melton you could try the B6047 to Market Harborough. More twists and undulations than Alton Towers' Corkscrew

Nice write up, funny how you wake up really early on a bike trip when the road beckons. It gets better further up but its a long trek from Naarfuck.

[jazbug5]

Very good. Now turn around and do it again, properly this time.

Tch. Look, if you want to have a proper look, then PM me, and I will fix you up with a couple of places to stay. One of my closest mates moved from Scotland to a traveller's site somewhere in the Lake District (I think) where you'd be more than welcome to pitch up; my folks are in the Highlands, and I can pull strings for a couple more places, too. There's a few old-school bikers in the far north as well, we could put you in touch with. Oh, and you should go check out Skye, Lewis and Arran, although around May is best because there are fewer Septics and their ilk. The hostel on the west coast of Lewis is particularly excellent, from what I remember- an old Blackhouse with bunks in one room and an old range in the kitchen that you feed with driftwood from the beach next to it. It's been a few years, I hope it hasn't changed...

[RiderInBlack]

Awesome write-up Posh Dam I want to do a Bike tour of Scotland (with a side trip over IOM of cause ) now, but have less than no money (bugger it all ).

[Rainbow Wizard]

Awesome write-up Posh Dam I want to do a Bike tour of Scotland (with a side trip over IOM of cause ) now, but have less than no money (bugger it all ).

BooHoo it was in rented Nissan Micra. The sod who designed the seats for that should be forced to sit in one for the rest of his life!
I reckon I'll go grab my UK AA map and give y'all a run down on some oustanding roads in the highlands.... Edinburgh, Dalwhinnie, Skye, Plockton, Applecross, Torridon, Sheildig, Ullapool, Clachtol, Durness then sort of boring on the east but fun again around Loch Tay & Lomond. Tomorrow OK?

[Milky]

6pm and I was back at home, 890 miles further on, and absolutely shattered, with a rather sore arse.

Is the rider location spigot on the XJ in need of a bit of an uprgade?

Bloody good to hear you getting out there again - I haven't been for a non commuting ride for about the same period... I must do so though as I think I have forgotten what 100kmh feels like

[Posh Tourer :P]

Next time your around Melton you could try the B6047 to Market Harborough. More twists and undulations than Alton Towers' Corkscrew

I think i know the road, I did a test drive day for the BMW 7 series at Melton, so saw some of those roads. Took the 676 because I had a sore bum and wanted to get home though :S

They would probably be the closest nice roads to where I am tho.... It does get a bit frustrating when the only good road in the county is the coast road

[Posh Tourer :P]

Very good. Now turn around and do it again, properly this time.

Tch. Look, if you want to have a proper look, then PM me, and I will fix you up with a couple of places to stay. One of my closest mates moved from Scotland to a traveller's site somewhere in the Lake District (I think) where you'd be more than welcome to pitch up; my folks are in the Highlands, and I can pull strings for a couple more places, too. There's a few old-school bikers in the far north as well, we could put you in touch with. Oh, and you should go check out Skye, Lewis and Arran, although around May is best because there are fewer Septics and their ilk. The hostel on the west coast of Lewis is particularly excellent, from what I remember- an old Blackhouse with bunks in one room and an old range in the kitchen that you feed with driftwood from the beach next to it. It's been a few years, I hope it hasn't changed...

Thanks for the offer

When I have more than 2 days, I'll try and see the rest of Scotland..... I was originally going to try for a bit further north, but by the time I'd been sidetracked into the Lake District, I simply didnt have the time (not for lack of trying though.... )

[Posh Tourer :P]

Is the rider location spigot on the XJ in need of a bit of an uprgade?

Bloody good to hear you getting out there again - I haven't been for a non commuting ride for about the same period... I must do so though as I think I have forgotten what 100kmh feels like

I knew I should have taken that spigot off....... Ah well, you live and learn....