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25th July 2008 - The "old
men" ride great roads to Fort William,
Scottish Highlands. |
Tail pack, check.
Bungee's, check. Smokes, check. Right, all prepared
for our overnighter to Fort William.
With the BBC forecasting heavy
showers and at one point, thunder, I invest in waterproofs
to make sure and when we all meet up it's looking
cloudy. But after a quick shot on Spark's KTM Adventure
(B'Jesus, its quick), the sun is out and Geordie,
me and Spark head off in search of the Scottish Highlands.
It's familiar territory (A68, Gala etc) until we get
to Peebles and the magnificent A72 heading for Glasgow.
Twisty corners, perfect tarmac and to top it off,
the sun is beating down - we could be in Italy and
I'm sweating like a fat lass at a rave. Life doesn't
get much better - apart from suicide flies that decorate
out bikes like a back-street paint job. We pick up
the A82 riding to Loch Lomand where the roads just
seem to get better and better. Magnificent views of
the Lochs and mountains as we continue north west
to the famous Green
Welly Stop at Tyndrum. Stunning Glencoe is next
on the list as we continue in this great weather,
busy with tourists (ahem) but the bikes are perfect
for swift overtakes, looking more like Middle Earth,
Glencoe is stunning (in the dry anyway).
We descended on Fort William early evening in need
a Stella refreshment as we're all aching in places
from the ride here (yes, we're getting old), so after
the accommodation had been cocked-up by Best Western
(more like Shite Eastern - long story) we take our
beer outside in the evening sun overlooking Loch Eil
and the hills of Trislaig. Ahhh......
In true Motoeuro style we'd left it until 10pm for
food and the pubs stopped serving at 9pm. Joy. Chinese
anyone ? 86 courses later we try to squeeze in more
beer but we've had our fill for the night, we retire
late. Day 2 sees us stumble through breakfast and
back on the road by 10.30am. We're now heading for
Oban on the A828, another superb road along the Loch's
edge. Getting cloudy but the weather is still on our
side for now, as we pass Oban and ride the A85 back
to Tyndrum. Continue on the A85 to the A84 through
Callander. Thanks to the Highland Games Championships
its way too busy for our liking but we stay with the
traffic for a few miles and manage to break loose.
We're well on our way back to Tyneside now but as
Spark hasn't seen the Falkirk Wheel, we head there
for a late lunch. 3 paninies, 3 drinks and 3 bags
of crisps sees us fleeced for £25 at the Wheel,
but it was impressive sitting next the the wheel munching
in the sun. Mind you, looked like a bomb had gone
off when we left.
In no time we're on the A7, back to Gala then down
the A68 and the A696 to our usual meeting place in
Belsay. All home for about 8pm with 545 miles gone
off our tyres. A marvellous weekend of great roads,
dry and sunny weather and of course, being with your
mates on your bike. If you haven't been to the Highlands
you should go, it really is an experience.
In the darkest corner of my twisted mind I cant help
but think how the hell am I gonna manage 300+ on the
first day of Motoeuro
2008 in September ? My legs were killing me after
the 545 of this trip, am I getting that old ???? I
kid myself that its because we haven't done a long
trip for ages and we're simply not used to it, as
I am not the only one who's feeling dodgy. When did
my VFR turn as uncomfy as a Blade ? With a sprinkling
of luck and a dash of cash, we were aiming for the
East Coast soon. (wettest August on record didn't
help so we never got there. Pap.)
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