well, headed from stranraer down to cockermouth on friday, very warm but very enjoyable. hit really well with traffic and messed about here and there before landing in cockermouth , by that stage heat was really getting up and my mates sv1000 was getting way too warm so stopped up about 6/7 ish and all into the travelodge there. it does what it say's on the tin, slept pretty well, bikes parked at the door under camera just a few yards from the police station...happy with that.
next day into the dales, absolutely beautiful scenery and decent roads... then hardknot pass and wyrborn (i think) well......why oh why. maybe it was the heat, the traffic or the crowds of people walking but this was the most unenjoyable bit of road i think i have ever been on. i've been on roads like that before but not as long, maybe that was the problem, i had thought i should have been on a trallie but decided no, if i get off this road/pad whatever it is, i'll never be on it again.
once we got off it a few seconds later the wind hit us and cooled us and bikes like a little bit of heaven...aaaahh still remember it.
lovely run on down to ambleside and a look at how the ordinary tourists do it and decide whats next.
well of course we decided to hit kirriemuir. cruised up a good bit and then hit the motorway near carlyle to make up a bit of time.someone here will know it, theres a corner up there somewhere thats bound to get the engineer the sack.....it's awsome we went round it at well over....mmm...60 and it went on and on..and on. and so did we, up into moffat where there was a party in full swing, by the time we got lodgings and sorted out the party was over...everything closed at 10...bar the local rave type hotel which stayed open to 11, at 11 we went back to the lodgings.
and on to kirriemuir .probably the busiest roads we encountered but still not too bad, over a lot of mossy ground which just reminded me of home, and booked into the airlie arms, a nice quaint hotel in a very nice quaint town. went out for food and a drink...this was depressing, the town is so quiet, we decide we made the wrong call by coming to scotland with all the restrictions in place and call it a day, home tomorrow.
headed cross country to the falkirk wheel (by chance spotting and stopping into glamis castle...what a spot lovely.) spent a while watching the wheel operate..i like that sort of engineering thing but the guys with me though it more "worth seeing but not going to see" then down between glasgow and edingburgh to avoid traffic...theres some huge towns there...watch the average speed cameras approaching the boat and let loose for the last run in....have you room on your boat?...yes we do, onto the boat and home at horrible oclock.