Its time!

Summer is slowly sneaking up on us, the time where I turn into a 16 year old addicted to:

• the smell of a bike running rich
• the smell of fresh chain lube
• the coffee whilst waiting for the bike to warm up in the mornings
• the slip sliding on the Teflon tyres on the wet Scottish roads
• the two fingers waved aggressively in the bus driver’s face
• the time to mock Mauro for not having his big bike license yet
• the conversations with Jamie about how loose his helmet fits on his new hair style
• the 3 hours spent with Ann cleaning the bikes late Sunday afternoons

Look the blue boxes are turning yellow!

TL;DR; its f’ing time to plan road trips!

The time is coming….

Time to get back on the road!

It is that time of the year where all the horrid negativity of winter is starting to subside and the people with a passion for biking wants to get back on the road.

In Scotland we don’t usually have a problem with snow, but this year it surpassed our expectations… One instance I can mention is that fact that I was stuck in traffic for 6.5 hours, trying to get home, a total of 30 miles… It was a Monday…

Chris, the above greenery in our garden will hopefully recover from the shock of snow

Basically what this means is that my girly bike was under the covers for at least 8 weeks now… I am shaking, my valves are bouncing, I am ecstatic about the fact that it is getting light earlier in the mornings…

Soon it will be mating season and people will behave like idiots on the road, including me… I can’t wait!

This year is a particularly big year for me, in regards to biking off course, Jamie has a new hairstyle and his helmet might be a wee bit big for him… (http://www.justgiving.com/hairyjamie), make sure you donate, it is for a worthy cause.

 

Mauro will have his his big boys’ toy soon which means we only need to stop for petrol when I need it, every 5 miles. Also, Mauro will be a testosterone junky… we need to get him an inflatable…airbag?…

The four of us did have a few short conversations about what is going to happen and we have to make a decision soon as Visas/Passports come to mind.

We are talking about something a lot more exciting than last years’ wee runs, we are talking distance, stamina, dedication, focus and probably a flat or two.

We are talking about doing a trip, not necessarily an epic trip, but a trip with an epic experience. We are considering either an extensive UK trip or a wee poke at the main land (Europe), Europe is rather big so a lot of research is required, especially, where do we get spares for Ann’s bike…

What is very likely to happen is that we will revisit last years’ routes in Scotland with addition of a few changes, however this time round we will make sure we can capture video footage… Big foot’s video camera was a bit temperamental last year, however I have been told the minor glitches will be resolved, I will add a rig to my bike as backup, just to show how his marshmallow helmet bobs around on his heid.

I will make a conscious effort this year to post plans and follow up with results so you can see what we wanted to achieve and what we actually saw, last year we did a lot more than planned on each trip and it was absolutely awesome… 2010 was a turning point in my life where I realised what the difference between dreams and reality is, I know it wasn't that spectacular to outsiders, but it was what I lived for in summer!

Weekend runs are the baws!!!

Lets summarise last year:

Kelso run

West Coast of Scotland

Electric Brae, what is says on the tin, the day the hooligans bikes overheated!

Hamish, my buddy!

Another prick in the wall

Scotland – Glasgow to Glencoe (A82)

The West Coast of Scotland always delivers, Ann and I have done this route loads of times before, either by car or bike and we just cannot find words to describe the scenery and surroundings. I mean, we are talking lochs, big hills, wee hills, waterfalls, caves, classic cars, sport cars, pretty people, ugly people, anything you can think of. One of the most scenic roads and best parts of Scotland if you ask me. I have never taken the train from Glasgow to Fort William, but I heard that it is an unbelievable experience, this is something I will do next year.

Anyway back to business. This week’s bike run started in Glasgow. We missed a few weeks of runs, mainly because of illness etc. so I was very excited to get out and about on the bike again. We didn’t have too much excitement like we usually do, the only thing was that Jamie’s onboard video was acting like a teenager that had to get up for school, then it would work, then it wouldn’t work, then we had video, then it stopped again, after pulling and prodding a few wires and bits it just completely stopped working.

Ann on the other hand has brand spanking new Bridgestone Battleaxe O23s on the bike, lightly scrubbed in and I actually did some stuff to clean out her carbs, I used the typical office based approach and bought some carb cleaner and ran two tanks with this stuff mixed in it through the engine.

I seem to be off topic again, anyway we started in Glasgow and headed over the Erskine bridge to Milton for our 1st fuel stop. The queue for petrol was like the M8 on a rainy day, this should have given us a clue that the road might be a wee bit busy, which it WAS.

We headed off past Loch Lomond, turned off at Tarbet, on a road that seemed to be part of the Dakar rally, heading set for Glencoe, yes the road was busy, but this was a great excuse to take in the awesome Scottish countryside, roundtrip of 192 miles.

The three of us were on form this weekend, I tried to get my timing right for overtaking so all of us could get past fairly easily. Apparently I am shit at it as my timing sucked and Jamie was swearing and cursing at me when I only overtook 1 or 2 cars when there was the opportunity to do more. Lesson learnt I wont do that again. Ann drove exceptional, I think it might be the tyres giving the bike a lot more stability in corners and gave her bags more confidence, either that or she is just awesome, I was gonna say lets stick with the tyres, but I might get pummelled with a helmet in my sleep.

The Route:

View Larger Map

Stops:

Milton for petrol

The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum

The waterfall outside Glencoe, that is what I call it

Glencoe for petrol

King House hotel for some photos

Tarbet to rest the ol’ bottom

Verdict:

The scenery on this route on the west coast of Scotland is just phenomenal, yes we took an up and down approach and came back the same route as we went up on, but the experience coming down was completely different, less traffic etc. We took it very easy, there were just too much to take in, I would strongly recommend doing this route, the road conditions on the other hand was not fantastic, the A82 from Tarbet to Crianlarich was very bumpy with a lot of patchwork and grooves in the road surface, not great but a good excuse to go slow and take in all the awesomeness of Scotland.

Dropping down into Glencoe is just an amazing experience, you are riding down a valley with cliffs on both sides echoing the sound of the bikes giving an artificial feeling of mine is bigger than yours.

Photos:

I am waiting for the other two…

Jamie

Lawrence -  just look at me, I should be on Glencoe’s next top model…

The wall

Glencoe

Buachaille Etive Mòr

Scotland – Stirling to Loch Earn (A9, A85)

What a great day to be out and about, overcast, warm, dry and in Scotland. We have been good doing our weekly motorcycle trips, the route we took in Scotland this time is one Ann and I discovered with friends of ours a couple of years back. We always said we would go back up to Loch Earn to have a braai (BBQ) for lunch. Unfortunately we never made the time to do this, fortunately we remembered it and decided this weekend would be perfect for it.

The trip started extremely eventful, I drove 10 miles before I noticed I didn’t have by specs on, I stopped next to the road to look in the rucksack, as I got up, guess what, YES they fell from under my big fat arse onto the scorching exhaust. I was absolutely fuming and annoyed with myself, unfortunately Ann asked me a question at the exact time and I might have snapped at her. Apologising didn’t help, bribing with chocolates didn’t help, meeting up at Stirling with Jamie finally cheered Ann up again. Anyway the specs are in one piece, a couple of pulls and pushes on the frame got it roughly to it’s original shape.

Enough of the specs. We met up at Stirling services for a run up on A9, Crieff, A85, Loch Earn for lunch and back down to Stirling on the A85, A84 via Callander. Roundtrip roughly 75 miles, a short run with annoying traffic but great roads.

I wont mention the fact that Jamie nearly drove into me, blaming the engine braking on the V-twin, nor the fact that Ann nearly threw her helmet at some arsehole (put politely) and that her personal mechanic didn’t check her tyres as he usually does before we headed off.

The Route:

View Larger Map

Stops:

Not as many as last time:

Loch Earn for a BBQ: Absolutely gorgeous, tranquillity is not a term to be used lightly here, some people fishing, some people camping some people having a braai (BBQ) and others are just there.

Hamish: Ann and I try to visit Hamish once a year, we met him for the 1st time about 5 years ago when he was actually a different bull, anyway we are both glad to see he now has his own hoose with an ensuite.

Toilet for the gorilla pet we take along on the runs

Verdict:

The A85 and A84 in Scotland are just exceptional roads, you run through long sweeping corners with no surprises in what feels like a tunnel through a forest. Occasionally when there is a gap in the forest you see the spectacular lochs and hills for split seconds, however that is enough to make an impression that will stay with you for a lifetime. I would strongly recommend that everyone should do this route by foot, car, bicycle, motorcycle or even skateboard if it is only for the surroundings and natural beauty of Scotland.

Photos:

Some dude’s tackle

Triumph, Sportster, Bandit (400) or at least their headlights

Ann with our porta-braai

 

Jamie having coffee

Jamie & Ann chilling out next the massive fire

Lawrence going caveman on the porta-braai

Loch Earn

Scotland - Linwood to Electric Brae route

Our 3rd run, and I have to admit a fantastic day out, we were quite lazy and did short runs and stopped way too often, saying that it was such a nice day we had to soak up some of the August sun. I have personally never been around this part of Scotland, at least not on these roads, it was an absolutely fantastic experience. We met up at ASDA in Linwood from where we headed for petrol 1st.

Ann and I was late due the the fact that Rangers decided to schedule a football match around the same time our run was meant to start, it took us an additional 30 min to get to Linwood, filtering through traffic on the M8 from J10 onwards.

The Route:

View Larger Map

Stops:

Irvine - We stopped all over the place, our first official stop was in Irvine for lunch at the The Ship Inn, again an exceptional lunch, I had the Lamb shank, Ann and Mauro had Steak Pie and Jamie had Haggis, desert was sticky toffee pudding with ice cream all round.

A719 - Our 2nd stop was just outside Ayr on the A719, a fantastic view, we had great weather and probably spent 30 min faffing about next to the road.

Electric Brae - Our 3rd stop was at the Electric Brae, unfortunately I didn’t experience the effect, I put it down to the new specs and maybe the fact that i was concentrating on not falling off.

 

Wind farm - Our 4th stop was at the wind farm just off the A77, very impressive indeed, I have to say the road markings on the way up there confused the shit out of me and Jamie, if traffic decided to use them all over the country nobody would even consider speeding, eventually we figured out it was actually markings to indicate bicycle lanes and the middle part was for traffic going both ways, very interesting indeed, especially when cars are coming towards you.

Glasgow BP - Our final stop was back in Glasgow at the BP garage (helping them recover from the oil spill) for a quick refuel so Ann and I could get home.

Verdict:

Mauro suggested the route, it was absolutely fantastic, we did do a lot of town driving through Prestwick and Ayr which put some strain on the 2 hooligans in the group, Mauro and I on our sensible motorcycles were more than happy doing low speed stop and start activity, no fans blowing constantly, no wrists pains from silly handlebars, no sore shoulders from leaning forward all the time.

The fun really started when we left Ayr and took the A719 to the Electric Brae, fantastic scenery and views as you ride on a road with decent surface and corners to keep us all entertained. The wind farm was a really nice place to stop, it is very impressive to see those gigantic wannabe helicopters turn over making virtually no noise.

Photos:

 

Alternative transport

What are you smiling at, you …. so and so!

Happy as a pig in shit

A719

The bikes

Mauro

Ann

Scotland - Milton to Rest and be thankful route

We decided to do a run starting in the Glasgow area, this was Mauro’s 1st run with us and I came up with this route to make sure we don’t go to quick, the traffic made sure we didn’t. We met up at the services in Milton next to the Little Chef, Ann was chatting up the other bikers that came through while we waited for Jamie. Roundtrip of 78 miles.

The route:

View Larger Map

Stops:

Parking on Glenfruin Rd, overlooking Faslane.
Rest and be thankful
Various times behind temporary traffic lights
Lunch was @ the Crown Carveries in Milton, carvery for £2.95, great lunch!

Verdict:

Great wee route, if it wasn’t for the cars on it, the traffic on the A82 was annoying so we turned off on Glenfruin Rd, a couple of miles with great surface, no cars, fantastic! We continued on the A814 to Arrochar, another blast up the side of Loch Long and around to Rest and be thankful. The scenery was just spectacular, making it harder to avoid getting too much air and hitting the wee stone wall stopping you from driving into Loch Long.
We hit some rain on the way back, and numb nuts (aka Lawrence) thought it would be advisable to go down and drive through Cardross on the way back for lunch, bad idea, there were so many temporary traffic lights we had to occasionally switch the bikes off to stretched our legs waiting for it to turn green. At least the views of The Clyde made up for it.

Photos:

Lawrence

Mauro & Jamie, Faslane in the background

Mauro

Food!

I am tired

Scotland - Livingston to Kelso route

For our 1st run we decided to go to a BMF event in Kelso and met up in Livingston once the torrential rain in the West subsided. We actually never entered the event as they were packing up just as we arrived, so decide to spend the £20 per head in a local pub on some nice lunch.

Roundtrip of 110 miles.

The route:

View Larger Map

Stops:

Smoke break at the windfarm on the A68
Had lunch in Kelso @ The Cobbles Inn, awesome lunch I have to admit, I would definitely recommend it
Smoke break at the windfarm on the A68

Verdict:

A very enjoyable run, once you hit the A68 you are just enjoying the ride, the road surface was good, the corners were great, the traffic was lite considering we went to attend an event.

Photos:

Jamie

Jamie & Ann

Jamie & Lawrence

Lawrence, Jamie & bikes