Road trip!! (part 1)

[repiV]

As I'm sure I must have mentioned a few times, I went on a bike trip a couple of weeks ago with a good friend of mine up to the Lake District in north-west England and then on to the Scottish Highlands.

I was expecting it to be fun and memorable, a good holiday. In fact it was so very much more than that, a genuinely life-changing experience that was, for reasons I hope to articulate, much more than the sum of its parts.

I've been waiting to get my hands on the pictures (and a couple of videos) from the trip to write about it, but it's my friend's camera and he's very busy studying for an important exam retake, and he lives 200 miles away so I don't know when I'll be able to get them. I'll just use pictures from elsewhere of some of the places we went.


Day -1

I say day -1, because by chance I started my trip a little early for other reasons. I had a call from my cousin a few days earlier, saying he was in Devon for a while (Devon is like the Florida of the UK, for the benefit of non-Brits). He works in films so he goes where the work is and never knows when he's going to get time off. He was going to come down from his campsite at Woolacombe and visit me on the Friday night before I left.

Unfortunately, some twat decided to vandalise his car and wreck his windscreen, so he was stuck there until the middle of the next week when they could come and fix his windscreen. I decided to pack all my stuff for the trip and go up and stay with him for the night instead, then leave straight from there.

A couple pictures of Woolacombe:

What with getting home from work, eating, packing, getting lost (as always), I didn't get there til about half 9. I met him at the holiday park reception...a pretty chavvy place on first glance, one of these really naff package resort type places. Smartly, he was staying right at the other end away from the entertainment and the lodges and in a really quiet corner with just the tent and the car, overlooking the beautiful coastline above.

I stuck the bike next to the car on the grass and it was bizarre really, definitely had a sense of adventure to it and being "far away".

We took a cab to town and had a few pints at this great but obviously touristy pub which had an amazing Muse cover band playing. You could close your eyes and think they were Muse. The rest of the night was spent sitting in the car drinking JD and smoking weed. Which is the first time I've ever done that, but man it's great. And had practically the whole bottle between us aswell. I was supposed to get the comfortable bed in the tent, but I was happy to just drift off to sleep in the car. A brilliant start to the trip, kind of a warm up to the adventures ahead...


Day 1

Unfortunately, despite it being the month of June, we chose a shite week to go away and I woke up at about 5am, quite cold. The weather up north was forecast for rain or showers and max temperatures between 9 and 16C all week, which had me on quite a downer before we left.

Sure enough, even down south, the weather turned as soon as I went away. The previous week was amazing. After dozing for a few hours I got up, not hangin' at all fortunately - felt fine from the night before.

Took me three hours to get breakfast, get ready and get out...I wasn't particularly motivated to leave, as I enjoyed spending time with my cousin, it was fairly cold and grim out, and I had a 386 mile ride to face on dull, dull roads. Unfortunately, coming to Woolacombe first added an extra 40 miles to the journey. So I finally got going just after 11.

I brought my expensive summer race gloves, and my cheap, warm, waterproof(ish) winter gloves. Unfortunately I don't own anything that's a happy medium. Today I decided to wear the race gloves, because they offer much better feel for the controls and are far more comfortable. It seemed to be dry.

What happened literally five minutes up the road? I got caught in a torrential downpour worse than anything we've had since...probably last November. The rest of my kit is waterproof, but my hands were soaked and it's a horrible feeling. And even though the kit is waterproof, when it gets drenched, I get cold. I was cold. I slogged it down the North Devon Link Road to Tiverton (near where I live), and pulled in to get petrol.

From under the shelter of the forecourt, I watched in disbelief at the rivers at the side of the road, the ferocity of the rain and the spray so intense it was like fog. How could I be so ****ing unlucky? We just had three weeks of clear blue skies, blazing sunshine and beautiful weather. And it was forecast to continue being cold and rainy for the entire length of the trip. I was soaked, cold and miserable - and I hadn't even left Devon yet.

Thoroughly fed up, I wasted no time - petrol in, pay, get on with it. As luck would have it, the rainstorm seemed to be a local thing and as soon as I got out of Devon it was dry. Unfortunately, a delay to my journey was necessary in that I needed to stop at Fowlers Motorcycles in Bristol (110 miles or so from Woolacombe) to pick up a couple of bolts that were missing. Bristol is a fairly large city so even though it's off the motorway, it cost me a lot of time. Over two hours in the end. When I peeled off my soaking wet gloves, my hands were purple. It was gash. Those gloves, in the end, took three whole days to dry. At this juncture I changed to my winter gloves, even though the weather had improved - they were dry.

A largely uneventful trip until I reached Birmingham, where, quite fittingly for such a miserable place, I got caught in another torrential rainstorm. Got to Stafford Services in the midlands, where I met Danny - who took about 45 minutes to get there after me. This is about half way to our destination. We were thoroughly wet, cold, and miserable. And we had Burger King.

After that, the weather improved again, and we had a fairly pleasant ride from that point. Stopped once more at Lancaster services for fuel, and got chatting to a few other bikers - there were loads of people heading for the ferry to the Isle of Man as, of course, it was TT week.

The last leg of this oh-so-long journey, was very worth it. As the M6 enters the Lake District you start to see these mountains on the horizon, and then you're amongst them and the motorway snakes through what is an incredibly beautiful and striking scene, definitely the best motorway I've ever been on. It felt like we had accomplished something to be there. We spent as much time admiring the scenery as we did watching the road.

Some pictures from the motorway:

We discovered that the Lake District is quite a vast place, as we were staying at the northern end and this entailed about 50 miles of motorway straight through the middle from where the Lake District begins. Coming off the M6, dusk was well and truly setting in and as we followed our route through the Cumbrian countryside, we saw some striking scenes - cavernous lakes that looked like oceans, surrounded by mountains, and with the lights from residences reflecting brightly off the surface of the lakes.

Equally striking was that it was now 10:30pm and there was still light in the sky. We were most definitely up north.

The town we were staying in is not actually in the Lake District, but just north of it (cheap B&B, convenient for getting to Scotland). Arriving in the town on a Saturday night, it seemed like a slightly dead place...except for a couple of small groups of teenagers, and a very eccentric man who we asked for directions. Impressions were definitely...odd.

But we found the place, chucked the bikes in the barn, and went to bed as soon as we could. The B&B itself was very grand, and with a very nice Dutch owner. Arrived at 11:15, almost exactly 12 hours after I left in the morning...very tired. This morning when I was at the campsite in Woolacombe...felt like a lifetime ago. We were a long way from home. But happy, and at peace with the world.

 

[repiV]

Day 2

Today we looked forward to getting more up close and personal with the spectacular scenery we had only passed at a distance the night before. Danny had brought along a map he printed off the intarweb of a 100 mile motorcycle route around the best of the Lake District. Ideal. That was today's mission, then.

We set off for Lake Windermere, the start point of the route. As we headed down the little lanes that took us into the Lake District, the striking mountains up ahead edged closer towards us. First point of interest - it really is colder up north. We got lucky with the weather here, it was mostly sunny although a couple of brief, light showers. That said, it didn't get warmer than about 10C all day. In June. Partly this is attributable to a cold weather front, but according to the people at the petrol station it's usually about 16C in Cumbria at this time of year. In Devon the week before, it was 20-24C. Winter must be bloody miserable up north.

Windermere is the most famous of the great lakes - not that I knew this beforehand...I had never been to the north of England before, and knew little about its countryside before I started planning this trip. Because the north is shit, right? Why go there?

The landscape up here is completely different. It's mountainous!, striking, grand and utterly beautiful. Devon is nice, but this is something else entirely. Now Windermere - this is the largest natural lake in England:

I finally understood why the UK has such a reputation for its beautiful countryside. The Lake District, surely, must be one of the most wonderful and striking places on earth. Too bad it rains nearly 300 days a year. It actually saddens me that so few people from down south bother to come up here, and just go abroad instead. Hands down, it's nicer up here than anywhere you'll find in Europe. So long as you get lucky with the weather, anyway. Lots of foreign tourists here, but no southerners!

We had to take a ferry crossing across Windermere in order to follow our route. A short affair, but quite interesting - and we met a guy from Edinburgh who was going to cycle up Hardknott Pass. He's clearly insane - more on that later.

Some more of the kind of scenery we saw along the way:

Next stop on the trip were the infamous Wrynose and Hardknott mountain passes. One is steep...the other ridiculous. I admit to being slightly nervous at this point.

In truth, Wrynose wasn't that bad - very scenic, nothing too dodgy. Some pictures of the Wrynose Pass:

http://www***ral-roads.co.uk/lakes/hardknott.jpg

Which leads directly on to Hardknott pass. Which is...the steepest road in the whole of the UK. Single-track, narrow, 1 in 3 hills and hairpin bends with dodgy camber. Locals also informed us that there is loose gravel in places.

At this point, I was pretty worried. We pressed on. It started innocuously enough, but further on the road becomes absolutely ridiculous. Absurdly steep, with really, really nasty bends, and parts of the (narrow) road with such a dodgy camber that I had to avoid that piece of tarmac, and keep rolling on the power for fear of just falling over. And what if I meet a car coming the other way?!?! You can't stop a bike on a 1 in 3 hill in a sharp bend! I was actually shaking at points. Very scary.

Here is a video of some guy riding the Hardknott pass...although, the video really doesn't do it justice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIpTNkiljZI

At the top, we left the bikes, climbed up to the summit of the mountain...and just sat there for over an hour relaxing and admiring the view. Where the cattle grid is, in the middle of the video, there just before the descent - that mountain on the left. It was truly something...and so peaceful. But then, we had to come down.

The first bend was so sharp and so steep I just bottled it and hit the brakes, stopping at the entry. I had to actually paddle the bike around (just about made it on full steering lock), committing to that bend just felt like a kind of do-or-die sorta thing...after that it got easier, and going down actually wasn't as bad as coming up.

Our route back took us through a couple other relatively tame but very scenic mountain passes. Although at one point I didn't see Danny in my mirrors for a while, stopped...still nothing. Went back to find him examining the bike - apparently he hit a crater of a pothole at speed and nearly came off. The tail unit of the bike had actually cracked...we would need to get that examined at some point.

Getting back onto the main road, riding felt so piss easy after all those dangerous, tricky mountain roads. Needless to say we were in the zone and absolutely hammered it back "home", and much fun was had.

An interesting night, as we discovered what a shithole the town we were staying in was. Tried to get a meal in a pub, only to discover that they didn't want outsiders in their pub. Got cat-called and harangued by groups of teenage girls wherever we went (in this place, it was just plain weird). Met a guy in the kebab shop (the only place we could find to get food) who didn't know what the Lake District was (!), had just got out of prison for burglary and was due to go on trial for assault. And was staying in our B&B on the council's money! Also, the car park opposite where we were staying was the boy racers' meeting ground every night. Chavved up shitty cars galore.

Total contrast with the almost magical nature of the surroundings. This was like one of those old mining towns, where nobody had a job, and their fathers had never had jobs, and their kids will never have jobs. No hopes, no aspirations, no experience of the wider world...a very depressing place. And I'm glad we stayed there, it really added to the whole experience and we saw Cumbria for what it really is and not just what's in the tourist brochures. There's just no industry up there.

I really noticed that the people are very different up north. It's a total different culture to down south. And by virtue of our accents, instantly everyone knew you weren't from around these parts.


Day 3

Today we had no set plans, it was just a day to spend in the Lake District as we chose. I quite appreciated this, as tomorrow we were heading up to Scotland and we were going to be staying in different places each night, so long days on the bike meant that relaxation time might be at a premium from here onwards. Today, we were just going to bimble around, see stuff and chill out.

Some highlights from the day:

Kirkstone Pass

Very surreal. One moment you're in a town, then you turn left and follow the sign for Kirkstone. A reallysteep climb up, still in town, and then all of a sudden you're out on a mountain pass in the middle of nowhere. Which then climbs nearly 1500ft, views on a monumental scale and breathtaking from the summit.


Buttermere

The photos speak for themselves.


Honister Pass

Very interesting landscape. There's a slate mine at the top. You could almost imagine there being an active volcano.


So that was the Lake District. An incredibly beautiful place, it almost seems fake...as if someone had drawn it. It's too picture-perfect. Everyone has to visit there at some point in their lives. It's just spectacular.

But this was just the beginning. The real adventure - the true soul-searching experience - comes when we head off to Scotland...

 

[DEATHMASTER]

We got ourselves another Dan

 

[SamuraiKenji]

'cept Dan is cooler

 

[knut]

We got ourselves another Dan

Fine by me - these stories are very interesting to read.

Cool stuff rep, glad you had a good time. :thumbs: I adore the Lake District, it might well be one of my favourite places in the UK. We've rented two big houses in Coniston for all of our family in the last three years and I've loved it each time. Great place. Would like to explore more of the surroundings that make up that vast place some point within the next few years.

 

[repiV]

We got ourselves another Dan

Don't think I'm quite that ambitious.

Fine by me - these stories are very interesting to read.

Cool stuff rep, glad you had a good time. :thumbs: I adore the Lake District, it might well be one of my favourite places in the UK. We've rented two big houses in Coniston for all of our family in the last three years and I've loved it each time. Great place. Would like to explore more of the surroundings that make up that vast place some point within the next few years.

Ah, awesome. Yeah, it's pretty amazing...I bet it's a really nice place for a winter holiday too (not on motorbikes!). Lakeside chalet with the log fire going...

We wanted to go and see the sand dunes at the south of the lakes but we got lost trying to find them and ran out of time. Have you been there?

To be fair though, it was nothing compared to Scotland. The writeup probably looks pretty dull so far, I have much more interesting things to say about the land of haggis. But that took me a couple of hours as it is, so the rest can wait a while...

 

[Raziaar]

Cool pictures bro.

EDIT: Nevermind... lawl.

I thought something looked off about them.

Different sizes, different copyright symbolization on them...

 

[repiV]

Yes I know. Things are starting to fade from memory by now so I wanted to put it to paper, but I don't have the pictures yet. He was supposed to put them up when he got back but didn't and then got too busy studying. Should have just got him to post me a CD. :|

We did take lots of cool pictures though...

I am aware this lack of pictures makes the thread less interesting!

 

[Eejit]

Looks cool, but you ain't seen nothin till you've been to N.I. - the North Coast > rest of Europe

 

[Dekstar]

Good read so far Rep, loved the end bit when you were talking about the town, sounds almost exactly like my home town (weird pubs, chavs with chav cars, weird slutty girls--all in a 1-mile big town).

Keep going, I wanna read Scotland!

 

[repiV]

Given the dire situation with the exchange rate, I might end up there next year...

The plan is to do Spain & Morocco but I've heard the prices of everything are an absolute pisstake.

The north/west coast of Scotland was incredible. Now for that I really wish I had the pictures we took to hand! On reflection it seems like I'm kind of wasting my time writing about it without having them. I don't think I could ever really explain what it's like up there though, its something you just have to experience for yourself.

 

[Eejit]

Given the dire situation with the exchange rate, I might end up there next year...

Where?

 

[repiV]

Good read so far Rep, loved the end bit when you were talking about the town, sounds almost exactly like my home town (weird pubs, chavs with chav cars, weird slutty girls--all in a 1-mile big town).

Cheers.

Is your home town in Wales too? Done numerous day trips there from Gloucester with my cousins. Only made it as far as the Elan Valley and Aberystwyth so far, I'd love to go to north Wales but it's too far for a day trip.

Keep going, I wanna read Scotland!

Ok, I'll find some time later.

 

[repiV]

Where?

Northern Ireland.

 

[CR0M]

Looking forward to reading about Scotland too. Went up to Ennerdale in the lakes and Glen Nevis near Fort William in the 90's, awesome awesome places and people. Got another mountain walk planned later this summer for the Great Gable horseshoe, might document that and post but no promises...

Keep it up, neighbour.

 

[Eejit]

Northern Ireland.

Cool. You should go just before the start of the NW200 and stay a while after or something. The place is biker-crazy at that time of year, and the weather is usually decent.

 

[Tyguy]

sounds like a great time Repiv, be sure to post the pics when you get them. I'd love to do something like that but my friends don't do shit except drink and work.

could will you be a my friend?

 

[repiV]

Looking forward to reading about Scotland too. Went up to Ennerdale in the lakes and Glen Nevis near Fort William in the 90's, awesome awesome places and people. Got another mountain walk planned later this summer for the Great Gable horseshoe, might document that and post but no promises...

Keep it up, neighbour.

Oh yep, Fort William etc. Stunning round there, but it just gets better and better the further north you go. Do let us know, it'll be interesting to see.

I'd love to get into hiking if I can sort my leg out. Will be doing a walking/camping trip on Dartmoor sometime this summer, great to have that on the doorstep. We would do it more often but two of my friends work Saturdays.

Cool. You should go just before the start of the NW200 and stay a while after or something. The place is biker-crazy at that time of year, and the weather is usually decent.

Sounds like a plan. I bet it's a hell of a lot cheaper and less commercial than the TT aswell.

sounds like a great time Repiv, be sure to post the pics when you get them. I'd loe to do something like that but my friends don't do shit except drink and work.

could will you be a my friend?

I will. A lot of my friends are the same, but I think you could have just as much fun going by yourself too. It worked out quite well with me and Danny, because we both ride at a fairly similar pace and had fairly similar ideas about what we wanted to do and where we wanted to stop, but even then we bickered about things here and there. He takes forever to get up in the morning so we always ended up getting everywhere at stupid o'clock!

I wouldn't want to do it with a group of people, it would be a nightmare. The thing I found, especially in Scotland, is that everybody talks to you. We met great people everywhere we stopped and made a couple of lasting friendships too. I think if you travel alone people would be even more willing to talk to you, so in the end I reckon you would have more than enough company and you would get to do exactly what you want to do aswell. Even if you had friends that were willing to come along, how many compromises would you have to make?

If you want to go, IMO, just save up a bit of money, pack the car, book the time off, and just go. It's great to do these types of trips. Most people go on holiday to relax and have fun. This wasn't always fun - tiring and difficult, but very rewarding. From this, I've learned something about myself, and something about the world. You never know what you'll find next. And really, what more can you ask for than that?

 

[Gemma]

Looks cool, but you ain't seen nothin till you've been to N.I. - the North Coast > rest of Europe

You're kidding right?

 

[repiV]

Day 4

So...Scotland. Today the plan was to ride to our pre-booked Travelodge in Dumbarton, a town about 20 miles west of Glasgow, up the A75 coast road via Dumfries, Stanraer and Ayr. About a 280 mile trip. Dumbarton being very convenient for the Highlands, as the A82 towards Fort William starts in the town.

This was definitely a turning point in the trip, as up until now it had more of a holiday kind of feel, as we were staying in the same place for three nights and had no set plans. In truth, we didn't actually do a massive amount of riding in the Lake District. We were happy to stop everywhere and chill out and admire the experience of just being there. And just go and check out the places that looked interesting on the map.

With this in mind, I wondered if we were being too ambitious as we had a lot of miles to cover every day and all the accomodation pre-booked. Had I made a grave error in planning?

We needed to get Danny's bike checked out anyway, to make sure he hadn't wrecked his bike hitting that pothole a couple of days ago. We had to pass through Carlisle so we stopped at the big dealers there. A good thing we did, as somehow neither of us had noticed the massive buckle on his front wheel. The rim had bent round so far back you could actually see the inside of the tyre slightly. Oh shit. This is the kind of setback we really don't need with such a tight schedule.

They said they could straighten the rim, but that requires removing the wheel, sending it off to a specialist facility to be done and then getting it back a week later. That's no good. So we thought we'll find a new front wheel and get them swapped. They cost 400 quid new, which is seriously bad news. This was looking like a potential end to the trip.

They were extremely helpful in the dealers, and contacted various bike breakers in the area on our behalf to try and find a second hand wheel. Then we had some luck - a breakers in Newcastle had what we needed in stock, and if we rushed over there, they could fit it this afternoon. £150. Great.

About 50 miles east of Carlisle and we were going north-west, so it was a bit of a detour but not a total disaster. We spoke to the guy to arrange everything and get directions and then...realised they were in the Newcastle in Staffordshire, not Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Sigh. Why so hard to get parts?

So we thought we'd try and find something in Glasgow to get it done tomorrow morning. Some friends we spoke to thought the wheel would be ok for the time being as long as the tyre wasn't losing pressure and we kept an eye on it. Found a place with the wheel in stock, so we would get that done tomorrow.

When all is said and done, Carlisle seemed like a pretty grim place and kind of an unwelcome interlude to the places we were going to. Boiling hot sunshine though, for once we actually had good weather. Excellent. We wanted directions to the A7 over the border and to pick up the A75, so asked this couple who pulled up in the car at the dealers.

Turns out this guy, Alex, lives in Annan just over the border, along the route we were taking. And he's just come to pick up his bike. So he said if we follow him back he'll take us there. Change of plans indeed! It's funny, the random things that happen and the chance encounters you have.

As we saw the "welcome to Scotland" sign, again it felt like another milestone. And instantly you could sense a change in the mood of the place, and the surroundings. It's hard to pinpoint, but it felt more quaint, more relaxed somehow. We pulled over in his town and had a chat for a little bit, and then he said if we're not in a rush, why not come over for a bit? So we did.

Annan:

And we ended up spending about three hours there in the end, chatting with Alex and his wife Liz. They were really great people. Alex grew up in the east end of Glasgow, and Liz is from Bournemouth. They'd lived in all sorts of different places which was quite interesting - including the Isle of Man, Belfast, amongst others...and now they had young kids so found this a good place to settle.

He told us lots of great places to see in the Highlands, including Loch Eriboll on the north coast which is apparently "the loneliest place in the world". But he said he wasn't going to try and explain it to us, because we just wouldn't understand it. We'd just have to see it for ourselves.

And it was time to leave, sadly. Late afternoon by this point, Alex suggested we just take the motorway to Glasgow and then pick up Dumbarton Road, as the route we picked was pretty boring anyway and he recommended we spend the night in Glasgow. And they invited us to come and stay with them on the way back down, which was lovely. Danny wasn't that keen on the idea because he thought they didn't really want us there and they were just being polite (I guess that's living in London and Liverpool for you). I thought it would be great, though.

So we picked up the M74. The scenery so far was a bit dull compared to the Lake District, but it was very green. And the locals drive fast. Passing through Glasgow, we were quite impressed. It looked very elegant and clean, but also happening. A bit like London, but without the scum. Dumbarton wasn't quite so impressive, it was just a bit industrial really. It has a massive rock, which is about the only point of interest. We wished we had just stayed in Glasgow - but it probably would have cost us twice as much anyway.

Dumbarton rock:

It was fairly late by the time we checked in, so we just quickly got changed and left to catch the train to Glasgow. The train station being about a two mile walk. Apparently, Glasgow is the only UK city other than London to have an underground system.

This guy got on the train at the stop after us, sort of mid-20s, lanky, baseball cap, four bottles of beer in hand. "Hey guys" he says, as soon as he gets on. He just broke the unwritten taboo of public transport. You don't make eye contact with strangers, let alone talk to them. Obviously, the rules are somewhat different up here.

"Fookin' midgies!". Apparently the bastards don't normally come out in force until July, but they've been a right pain this year. He also insisted we each have a beer, and then continued to tell us about the midges (the favourite topic up here). When it was his stop, he just got off and told us to have a good night. The people here are really cool.

We got off at Queen Street, in central Glasgow, and were bowled over by the place. Impeccably clean, pleasant, but with a sense of scale too. I didn't realise, but Glasgow is the third largest city in the UK. Unfortunately it was 10:30 when we arrived, and being a Tuesday night, we had great difficulty finding somewhere to eat. Although we settled on this great little Italian place on Buchanan Street, ended up spending £25 a head but it was worth it. Had a platter for the start including things like chicken wings, and breaded jalapenos with cream cheese (wow). And a great pasta dish. Couldn't finish it all, tasted great.

Soon enough we had to catch the last train by midnight, and regretted that we weren't able to spend more time there. We both remarked that, based on our impressions, we could definitely live in Glasgow, and we will be going back there - just on the train, to spend time in the city.

So we got back in the early hours, sad that we had to leave so soon, but excited about the great places to come tomorrow as we were heading right up into the Highlands - the pinnacle of the trip, and what we really came to see.

 

[Adabiviak]

Cool, thanks. I'm always interested to see pictures from other countries like this. The only images I have in my head of England are some shots of London. Those mountain passes look like the area where I live.

 

[SimpleAssassin]

Awesome pics and stories mate. Good stuff

 

[Eejit]

You're kidding right?

North Coast, not your crappy part
The Glens of Antrim are pretty awesome too.

We got off at Queen Street, in central Glasgow, and were bowled over by the place. Impeccably clean, pleasant, but with a sense of scale too. I didn't realise, but Glasgow is the third largest city in the UK. Unfortunately it was 10:30 when we arrived, and being a Tuesday night, we had great difficulty finding somewhere to eat. Although we settled on this great little Italian place on Buchanan Street, ended up spending £25 a head but it was worth it. Had a platter for the start including things like chicken wings, and breaded jalapenos with cream cheese (wow). And a great pasta dish. Couldn't finish it all, tasted great.

Soon enough we had to catch the last train by midnight, and regretted that we weren't able to spend more time there. We both remarked that, based on our impressions, we could definitely live in Glasgow, and we will be going back there - just on the train, to spend time in the city.

Next time you head to Glasgow let me know, I can give you a whole list of nice restaurants.

 

[Mellish]

North Coast, not your crappy part
The Glens of Antrim are pretty awesome too.


Next time you head to Glasgow let me know, I can give you a whole list of nice restaurants.

DiMaggios should be at the top.

 

[Eejit]

Nah, Thai Lemongrass, Manna, Wee Curry Shop, Cafe Andaluz and a few others are better.

 

[Tyguy]

ugh, i hate being jealous

I'll be here in my shoulder sling watching tv...beat that!

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I miss home now

 

[repiV]

Cool, thanks. I'm always interested to see pictures from other countries like this. The only images I have in my head of England are some shots of London. Those mountain passes look like the area where I live.

No probs. Sorry they're just stuff from Google and not authentic pics. I'll rectify that as soon as I can!

I'm from London, but I couldn't go back there to live. That whole corner of the country is a hostile, overcrowded, depressing hole. This is actually a really beautiful country so long as you keep west...

Next time you head to Glasgow let me know, I can give you a whole list of nice restaurants.

Nice one. Cafe Andaluz...I thought I recognised that name. I swear we tried to go there but they were closed. Are they in the shopping centre on that floor with all the other restaurants, somewhere near Buchanan Street?

Where we went in the end was just called "Pizzeria", and it was right opposite Queen Street station. Not to ruin my story or anything, but for lunch the next day we went to the University Cafe in York hill. Cool guy, good food.

Awesome pics and stories mate. Good stuff

Thanks.

ugh, i hate being jealous

I'll be here in my shoulder sling watching tv...beat that!

Know the feeling, all too well. I had six months of that. The trick is to think of it as a holiday where you don't have to do anything and you have no responsibilities. It can actually be quite enjoyable if you put your mind to it.

I miss home now

Home? Cumbria?

 

[DEATHMASTER]

moar pics brah.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Home? Cumbria?

Well, the North-West. But mostly I was referring to the British Isles!

 

[VirusType2]

Cool photos. Must be a blast riding those scenic roads. Be careful.

 

[repiV]

Well, the North-West. But mostly I was referring to the British Isles!

Ah, where are you living now? And is the grass actually any greener?

My aunt will soon be emigrating to Saskatchewan in northern Canada, with her wife who is from there. But she's never been there in the winter, which lasts a full half a year and sees temperatures below -40. Cold enough to make plastic disintegrate. I don't think she'll be able to cope with it. She loves the fact that strangers say hello to you and things like that, but doesn't seem to grasp the fact that there are plenty of parts in the UK that are just the same.

I hated this country too when I lived in London, but nowadays I think it's actually quite cool. America for example seems awesome...until you realise the bulk of it is either deserted, or collections of totally identical suburbs miles from anywhere...and the food is shite. I love how in the UK every little town or village has its own feel and character, and history.

Cool photos. Must be a blast riding those scenic roads. Be careful.

Cheers. It is, especially right up in the north-west of Scotland. Wide open fast, well-sighted bendy roads that wind through the mountains, perfectly smooth tarmac, NO traffic and no police for miles and miles and miles...nor any signs of civilisation. It's like having the whole world to yourself.

I'll hopefully put the rest of the trip (by far the best part) up at the weekend. Pretty busy this week.

 

[repiV]

Day 5

So today we had arranged to go to a bike breakers' in Glasgow to pick up the new front wheel for Danny's bike and get it fitted. Unfortunately the earliest they could fit us in was at 11am, so it was going to be a long day. And irritatingly, Glasgow is 20 miles to the east of where we were staying - and we had to come all the way back there to then go north-west. At least it would be a lazy morning.

Unfortunately, after measuring the brake discs, it turns out the wheel is for a slightly different model and there's nothing they can do. The tyre hasn't been losing air too quickly, so with consultation with various people, we decide to just carry on with the trip and keep a close eye on the tyre pressure. If the worst comes to the worst, it might involve calling breakdown and being recovered over to Inverness.

Meanwhile, I got him to have a look at my chain, which although wasn't in the best condition to begin with, had over the past day become very loose, so far as to start slapping the swingarm. A very, very bad thing - a badly looked after chain can snap - at any decent speed, this will cause one of three things to happen. Either it will lock the back wheel and catapult you to your probable death, it will spit itself out the front and rip the engine and crankcase apart, or it will be spat out the side and amputate your leg.

What had happened is that the chain had developed a bad tight spot in one of the links, long and short of it being I would need to replace it ASAP, but I could keep on using it for now although not ideal. It was adjusted correctly at the tight spot, hence the looseness elsewhere...I tried to get it replaced here and now but they didn't have anything in stock. We needed to get going, and once we got past Glasgow, there wouldn't BE anywhere to get a bike fixed, so it was really a case of hoping it lasts the trip.

By now it was lunchtime so we asked the guys for a good place to eat (if you want to know a good place, ask the locals right?). He told us to go to the University Cafe and ask for Gino, tell him they sent us.

We spoke to Gino's son - turns out they're really into their bikes too, and having been recommended, we got the VIP treatment - and shown photos of their classic bikes.

Sat outside in the blazing sun (a rare treat on this trip) and enjoyed a lazy lunch. I can't remember what I had, but it was very nice. Standard greasy spoon fare, done very well.

Past 2pm, we finally dragged our lazy selves away to start our ascent into the wilderness. It wasn't that we didn't want to go, we did - it's just that this constant travelling creates a certain weariness. In a sense, it's almost like work in that you're going because you have to go. The timescale is pretty inflexible.

At this juncture, I was starting to regret setting ourselves such ambitious mileage to cover each day. We planned this trip to ride, but the riding was becoming almost an inconvinience - something that got in the way of enjoying being away. So here I learned - obsessed as I am with motorcycles, as much as I adore riding them - a road trip is as much about the experiences as the riding, perhaps moreso. We should have given ourselves more time to experience the places we were going. A day to chill out and see Glasgow, no riding at all, would have been perfect.

Today's route: Glasgow > Dumbarton > Loch Lomond > Inveraray > Oban > North Ballachulish > Fort William > Invergarry > Kyle of Lochalsh > Lochcarron.

Well, well over 200 miles. On roads that are not the straightest. North of the Skye Bridge - a long way up. It's pretty difficult to convey the sense of scale in writing - Scotland is a huge place, practically the size of England. Glasgow is a fair way north of the border, and the north coast is another 350-odd miles up. Over half that distance we were covering today.

People don't realise just how vast Scotland is. The thing is with the place, the vast majority of the population is centred in a few major cities in the south. Once you get north of Glasgow, it's incredibly unpopulated - and the further north you go, the more deserted it gets.

Our mileage targets would have been ok assuming we were up and out by 9 in the morning each day. But it was 2 o'clock. Somehow, gearing up to leave felt like a chore.

On the move, we threaded through the city traffic back to Dumbarton and picked up the A82 towards Loch Lomond. The adventure truly began now - it was as if we had just passed the gates of civilisation and became true explorers.

Some pictures of Loch Lomond:

I pulled over to check the map in the town of Tarbet, at the northern edge of Loch Lomond. Dilemma being that our original route was to take the A83 along the coast, but the A82 is a more direct route and we were short on time. Fortunately, there was a tourist information centre so I took the map in and asked the woman for some advice.

She said the A83 is "unmissable", but it would add 75 miles to our journey. A dilemma, at this point. So I enquired about the A82 - apparently that's just as spectcular, but different (why not tell me this before? We can't do both!). The A82 actually passes Glen Coe and Ben Nevis so I was glad we asked. With that knowledge, I would rather go that way anyway.

I remarked that the people were exceptionally friendly up here, to which she explained that it's ingrained in Highland culture because "we had to march for weeks and months in the driving rain and harsh terrain, and when we came across another clan, they would offer their hospitality and care". This was all very interesting, but she had an English accent. What do you mean "we"?!

Anyway, off up the A82 towards Glen Coe we went. At this point the traffic dropped off majorly and, although we didn't have the road to ourselves, it was more than empty enough. Wide, open, fast...and spectacular.

Two mile straights and long sweeping bends with the racetrack-smooth surface made this a right laugh. Where I'm used to riding - the badly-surfaced, winding roads of Devon, the traffic-clogged streets of London, and more recently, the tricky mountain passes of the Lake District, made this all too easy. Pushing 150 on the straights and hooking into the bends at 120 made for quite a rush, although it didn't feel as fast as it was because it was so open. The bike felt like it was in its element...steering accurate, suspension utterly composed and tracking every bend with total precision. This is what sportsbikes were born to do! Sadly, I soon tired of it due to the turbulence that dragged my head in every direction. My screen happens to create such turbulence around that general area, which is very annoying. It should direct the airflow above the head, but no such luck.

I pulled into a layby to admire the view, which was simply breathtaking.

At this point Danny bollocked me for failing to heed the signs saying "unmarked police motorcycles in operation". He had a very good point there. Sorry dude. Fortunately, we got away with it. Ended up stopping here for quite a while to just soak it all in.

Regrettably, this resulted in us being accosted by a poser numpty on a bicycle who pulled in. He told us he was an officer in the Essex police force (so what? for benefit of non-Brits, Essex is east of London, several hundred miles away), and he showed us a badge (no ID or anything, just a crest and "Essex Police") - in case we didn't believe him. Do we look like we give a shit?

He came to tell us that they have no tolerance for speeding bikes up here, and that old chestnut "I've had all these kinds of machines before, we all enjoy a bit of fun, I know what it's like". Apparently he regularly works with the Scottish police (right...) and I quote, "be careful of Sgt MacCloud in Inverness, you don't want to mess with him!" (**** off you sad, old, deluded poser). He finally left us in peace after telling us to "pass the message on" to any other bikers we come across. What a knob.

 

[repiV]

Next stop - pass of Glen Coe (at much less silly speeds, although I made sure to wave to the twat on the cycle as I passed him at a primal-screaming 16,000rpm). Pictures do best:

It's so dramatic, so severe. Despite the beauty of it, you appreciate that it's best enjoyed at a distance, or in small doses - and how harsh the landscape and the weather here is. We were lucky to catch Glen Coe on a sunny early summer's day - but I can't imagine living here before the advent of technology was much fun at all.

At this juncture, I have a theory. Broadly speaking, people in the south of England are unfriendly, selfish and reserved. They won't necessarily go out to harm another person, but they don't give a shit about you either. They live in their own little bubble.

Northerners, however, and Scots even more so, are friendly, welcoming and open. Talking to strangers is the done thing, and the hospitality afforded is quite something. Even in Glasgow, the third largest city in the UK - the people are friendly and chatty.

The climate in the south is very mild - temperatures frequently hit 25-30C in the summer, and average several degrees above 0 in winter. Rainfall is not as frequent as people would have you believe. Snow - almost non-existant.

The climate in the north is much harsher. In the Highlands, you're lucky if the temperature ever exceeds 20C in the height of summer, and the winters are very cold. It rains over 250 days a year (I believe it's about 80 in south-east England), and worst of all, the weather changes at the drop of a hat. In northern Scotland, as we discover, you can pass through several different weather systems in the space of 20 miles. You simply cannot predict the weather. It goes warm/cold/warm/cold/warm/cold wet/dry/wet/dry/wet/dry. You can look up at the sky at any given moment and see two distinct weather fronts battling each other for supremacy.

Point being. Historically, perhaps it's a much more hostile experience living in the north, and the people needed to look out for and support one another much moreso than they do in the south - hence the hospitality is culturally ingrained over centuries? I find it interesting to ponder these things.

At Glen Coe, I got chatting to this Australian couple who had come on holiday purely to drive around Scotland. Very nice people - and an illustration of just how spectacular this place is, that people come from all over the world to see it (meanwhile, Danny was chatting with a couple of Dutch bikers...). Why does noone ever bother to come here from England - or often, even southern Scotland?! I couldn't imagine that anywhere else in Europe would be as spectacular as where we were right now.

Eventually, we had to make a move. We stopped here for fuel and to check Danny's tyre pressures...bizarre place. It's literally a shopping centre/restaurant/petrol station in the middle of nowhere. People come here from hundreds of miles in every direction to buy stuff. Now that's remote.

Approaching Fort William, unfortunately, the sky was looking distinctly grey. We stopped in the town for a slash, and as I was waiting for Danny by the bikes, it was a lot colder than in the glorious sunshine earlier - and it started to drizzle. And then it started to absolutely piss it down. Good old Scottish weather. Waterproof gloves on, ride it out...annoyingly, looking back to where we came from, I could see blue skies. But only miserable weather further on.

Instantly noticeable was the total lack of traffic north of Fort William. It's basically the last settlement of any size or relevance on the west side of Scotland. From this point on, it just got better and better. Completely deserted - and the roads were so smooth, so open, it didn't even matter that it was pissing it down. It was great fun all the same, and didn't hinder the pace much at all! If anything, it was part of the adventure. That feeling the nature still rules up here. You're at the mercy of its whims. Tough shit. Just get on with it. We picked up the A87 towards Skye, and at this point it was late evening but still very much daytime. A bizarre experience.

Total isolation. We didn't see a single car for 20 miles at a time, and we hadn't seen a petrol station, a house, or any signs of civilisation whatsoever for god knows how long. Truly, we had this world to ourselves.

It had gone 9pm and we were still some distance from Lochcarron, our destination for the night. With that in mind, we stopped at this hotel to get dinner:

Which was a bizarre experience in itself. We had just spent the last couple of hours travelling through a completely deserted nowhere, and hear, in the middle of that nowhere, stood this hotel - and loads of cars parked around it (where did they come from? I didn't see any cars!). How do they power this place? Where the hell does the plumbing come from? It was quite surreal to walk inside and find the place bustling.

An example of the Scots friendliness - we went to a quiet corner of the bar/restaurant and sat down on the table next to this couple from Edinburgh, who we ended up chatting to the whole time we were there. Wouldn't happen down here.

The midges really were out for us up here too. Outside, where it was still spitting with rain and pretty damn cold for summer (I would say sub-10C, whereas here today it's 25...), I got swarmed in the face by the bloody things. You have to try and bat them away, and you end up swallowing them whenever you open your mouth...they really are awful.

After dinner, the final slog to Lochcarron. Ridiculously late, but amazingly still daylight. Not too far now. Some of the places we passed:

And we arrived, distinctly in dusk. An incredible ride this evening...a shame we had to focus on getting there, rather than being there at any particular moment in time.

Lochcarron:

It was 11:15pm when we finally arrived at the B&B, but it was still twilight. It never got any darker. At this latitude, it never gets dark at this time of year - an incredible sight to behold. Far away from home we certainly were.

An eccentric English guy owns this place. I remarked that it was very quiet up here. He said "it was until you showed up".
Which set the tone for many further sarcastic remarks.

A little whiskey we had stashed, and it was time for bed. No rest for the weary as tomorrow morning we were riding the legendary road to Applecross, the highlight of the trip as we saw it, and then we had to make our way all the way up to the most north-westerly point of the UK.

What a day. It felt like a lifetime ago that we were in Glasgow. To experience such a diverse range of places in one day is nothing short of remarkable. Truly, this was a different world.

 

[SimpleAssassin]

I really envy you, you are doing what i want to do, im not old enough and i dont have the money quite yet, but thanks for this is really great.

 

[Eejit]

About the tourist info girl sounding English; some people from Edinburgh have fairly neutral accents and can be mistaken for being English. I've done it the odd time.

 

[Adabiviak]

Beautiful country - a little short on trees, given how green the rest of many of those areas were? That seems weird. Is there a speed limit for bicycles?

 

[repiV]

I really envy you, you are doing what i want to do, im not old enough and i dont have the money quite yet, but thanks for this is really great.

Hey no probs. I forewarn you, the money (and time) for these kinds of trips will always be hard to come by. If you factor in the wear and tear on the bike, the servicing and maintenance I had to get done etc. and a couple bits of kit I needed, it cost me over £1000. And four days of the nine were just boring motorway miles to get where we wanted/needed to be. I'm sure you could get a foreign holiday a hell of a lot cheaper.

I found it hard to come back too. I had to go to work the morning after I got back (at nearly midnight) and I didn't really do any work that day. Or much for most of the week. It really makes normal life seem so depressing. It's kinda been fading into the distance over the weeks and I'm used to it again, but still...

Would love to just live on the road for however long, but christ knows how people afford it. I might have to resort to backpacking, but it just wouldn't be the same. I do have a TEFL qualification I've never used...

About the tourist info girl sounding English; some people from Edinburgh have fairly neutral accents and can be mistaken for being English. I've done it the odd time.

Ah right. She sounded like a fairly posh southerner, if that helps. A Surrey or Kent sort of accent.

Beautiful country - a little short on trees, given how green the rest of many of those areas were? That seems weird. Is there a speed limit for bicycles?

You mean motorcycles? Yeah, but there's noone around up there to give a shit or enforce them. North-western Scotland (starting north of Fort William I would say) is the least densely populated place in the whole of Europe. Any time of the day and you're met with almost totally deserted roads, even in tourist season - it's quite something.

Even the local car drivers hoon it everywhere. I suppose if you grow up in such a remote place, with such incredible roads and scenery and not a lot else to do, you're going to see a big car culture spring up. In one place we passed a learner driver who was gunning it in his little Corsa. That was quite amusing.

You couldn't break the speed limit on a pedal cycle if you tried, if that's what you meant!

Similarly down here in Devon there's a big motorcycle culture. I assume it's because we have perfect biking roads everywhere and the climate is much milder than anywhere else in the UK. A lot more people into bikes here than anywhere else I've been.

I think it gets too windy for trees up there. If you look at the surface of some of the mountains you can see how they've been assaulted by ferocious winds over the years. Where we stayed on the north coast (the next night), you could really see this effect. Apparently it can get so windy there in the winter that it's almost impossible to stay standing.

 

[Adabiviak]

Neat, thanks. Could you do a big favor and show on a map about where this trip took?

 

[repiV]

Sure. Here's the trip from Woolacombe to the Lake District, and we just rode around there for a couple days. Just have a look around the area under Lake District National Park on the map.

Clicky

And here's the trip from the Lake District, up and around Scotland, and back home. The map crosses over in points which looks quite confusing, basically it goes from Aspatria up to Annan and then up and around the west side, coming down the east side, via Annan, then back down to Devon.

Clicky