Mystery tour

Had a great weekend of the 14/15 June when we organised a "mystery tour" for members of the MCMC. We were few in numbers but big in heart as we set off into the rain from Huntly on the Saturday morning! I, of course, knew where we were going having organised the thing but the small band of intrepid travellers threw themselves into the spirit of things and headed for the hills! Following a set of clues which involved jigsaws, crosswords, poledancing, the Prime Minister, bacon rolls etc. we all finally made our way to Inverarnan near Loch Lomond where we had a great night of revelry with much frolicking and hooting! Prizes were presented for the best photo (above left with runner up on the right) and the person who spotted the most tins of Heinz Spaghetti en-route.

The next day saw us return via Killin, Pitlochry and Glenshee. Surely this must be one of the most scenic routes in Britain! What a fab road for biking on.

Finally though, a warning. IF you are thinking of going to the Crianlarich/Loch Lomond area of Scotland in the summer take heed. The midgies were truly atrocious! I am thinking of promoting this method of weight loss as I am pretty certain that the little gits must have eaten about two stones off me over the course of the weekend. The much advocated Avon "Skin So Soft" was powerless against such an onslaught - the only real defence against them seeming to be a ridiculous looking but effective protective midgie hood (which none of us had). We adopted the traditional Scottish method of midgie avoidance and made a b-line for the pub where we were forced to spend several hours awaiting the disappearance of the murderous little sh*tes after dark. Whilst there we consoled ourselves with samples of the local produce. We were nearly all well the next day.......

West Coast Trippin'

Jings, it's been so LONG since I posted anything on here! Just goes to show how little I've got going on just now eh? Ah well.... I resolve to resolve that issue. Eh?

So, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the bike has been tucked away but this is not the case. I’ve been a-travellin’ mateys, around this fantastic country of ours. There are some truly wonderful roads in Scotland and the old FJ has been making short work of hundreds of miles of them.
Let me take you back to the May weekend, when my better half and I packed our panniers and headed for the west coast. A beautiful Friday run across by Grantown, Newtonmore, Spean Bridge and Corpach finally saw us cruising up the road to Mallaig where we stopped for some of the best fish and chips I’ve eaten! I don’t know what I expected of Mallaig having never been there before. I assumed that because it’s the ferry terminal and still a fairly busy fishing port that it would be a bit of a dump but I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather nice wee town. Functional certainly, but not unattractive and arguably in one of the nicest locations anywhere in Scotland! Have I already mentioned the fish and chips?.....

We camped on the Friday night at a little campsite on the beach just outside Arisaig. What a find that place was! Our tent was about 10 yards from the beach with views out over the islands of Rhum and Eigg. It was a beautiful evening and at this time of the year the midgies are minimal so we had a lovely time walking on the beach and enjoying the sunset.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed for Lochailort where we met up with a few more bikes – friends of ours from the MCMC – for a quick lunch before launching into the main focus of the weekend! A trip to Mull, via the Ardnamurchan peninsula!
Six bikes of assorted types & one trike set off down some of the narrowest, most winding and most uneven roads on the British Isles! Oh what fun we had - loose gravel, sheep, potholes that you could… well… pothole in! I discovered that a fully laden FJ with two bodies on-board is apt to touch down every time you go round a particularly tight bend at the bottom of a hill! Of which there were many of course….

Anyway, fun was had and we all arrived via the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory. We then spent the weekend alternating between glorious sunshine and torrential rain, most notably on the Sunday when we dedided to ride from Tobermory to Iona and back. Now, Mull is a big island with many single track roads. Consequently, the ride to Iona from Tobermory involves “single tracking” for some 60 miles in each direction! Iona is one of my favourite places – peaceful, beautiful etc. but when it rains it’s as miserable as everywhere else. We had to buy every pair of Marigolds on the island to stop our hands dissolving on the way home! On the plus side, we did see a Sea Eagle that afternoon! The first one I’ve ever seen in the wild!

On the Monday the sun was glorious and we made our way home via the hilariously named Fishnish and across on the Corran ferry to Fort William, stopping at regular intervals for ice-cream, coffee, pies, ice-cream etc.

All in all the old FJ performed fantastically! Comfortable, fast, good handling on winding roads and just enough ground clearance to get on and off all those ferries! Can’t wait to go back!

For more photos CLICK HERE!

Well, I'm getting ready for a summer of biking Nirvana. The FJ has got over it's teething troubles (minor electrical niggles which saw me having to start it by shorting out the starter solenoid with a screwdriver), and is now eager and willing! Took a spin out yesterday but had forgotten that it is still only the beginning of March so I am still awaiting the return of feeling to my hands and feet. It really is time to get those heated grips you know....

Cleared out the garage last week and put the various bits and pieces on ebay so I have now raised enough to fund my new top box rack. Might have enough left over to get the grips too! Wouldn't that be spiffing....

Ah well, still haven't bought the map but I'm compiling a list of places I'd really like to go. So far I reckon I'm going to need the best part of six months and about ten thousand quid to fund this trip! Maybe I should calm down a bit.....

I just never seem to get around to things do I? I'm not just talking about this blog either! So far the "to do" list was fairly short - buy a map. That was it! And I haven't even done that! Good grief.....

Over the past couple of years I've done a fair bit of trundling around on my trusty old 600 Suzuki Bandit and thoroughly enjoyed myself in the process. Aaaahhh the bandit.... faithful steed, willing workhorse, reliable old friend. Unfortunately though she was less than up to the task of lugging my rather bulky bod and my wife and all our camping equipment around. The 600 Bandit is a great bike but it struggles somewhat when used as a pack animal. Riding around the West coast of Scotland had become a rather less relaxing activity than I had imagined. We were arriving at our destination wearied and sore, knackered and grumpy and with sore backsides due to the fact that the Bandit had a rear shock absorber which was apparently made out of marshmallows! Two up, it took on the demeanour of an overexcited trampoline and provided us with a few "exciting" moments (nearly exiting moments on a couple of occasions).

The long and the short of it is that the Bandit and I had to part company. It was a sad moment, as I said, it has been a steed both faithful and true, and in an ideal world I would have kept it and cherished it and possibly mounted it on a plinth in the garden. I am a man of slender means, however, and the motorcycle dealers made me an offer I couldn't refuse and so the Bandit has gone on to provide someone else with a heap of fun on the twisties.

In it's place there now sits a venerable but shiny Yamaha FJ1200! Holy green underpants, what a difference! No more squirming round the corners or kicking it down three gears to perform a dangerous overtake. Not for me the half hour of hand thawing when you get home from a ride, nor the constant shoulder ache from having to perform constant manual "windscreen" wiping duties on my visor. No, no.... peace, power, comfort & luxury are the watchwords now.
Ya beauty...

So I intend to make good use of this beast over the summer. A set of hard luggage should ensure ample space for my camping equipment, food, pipe, slippers etc. and I'm really looking forward to getting some miles under my belt this year. Hopefully the weather won't be as lamentable as last year! Might have to buy some heated grips though....

In the beginning...

Travel.... Adventure.... Discovery.... (self or otherwise). These are the philosophies behind this blog. We'll see how the actuality turns out!

I've always dreamed of getting out there and taking on the world, turning down a road and following it until it runs out, seeing what the world really looks/smells/feels like. For many years I've tortured myself reading books written by those who have done it for real. Some of them have been the hardy, rugged, adventurous types that you would expect, some the mystical, spiritual types who are intent on self discovery as much as anything. Recently, however, there have been a new wave of explorers who are just ordinary people like you or me who have decided that they are fed up with their 9 to 5 drudgery and want to see if the world really is as small a place as we keep telling ourselves.

All this reading gets a guy thinking you know. Could I do that? Is it just as simple as packing a bag and going for it? Am I for ever destined to read other people's exploits and never to experience the real thing for myself? Surely not.....

I am resolved to have "an adventure". I wil record the processes that I go through on the way for my own amusement as much as anything else but you never know, maybe I'll do something truly exciting and end up writing a book about it! Never say never etc...

I should point out that at this stage the only decision that has been made is to go by motorcycle. I have been riding bikes for a few years now and have never gone further than the North of England (although the West coast of Scotland can provide some pretty good adventures - ask me sometime about the night we tried to camp in Durness!). Motorcycles are by far the best way of seeing the world though. It really puts you in touch with the countryside that you pass through but I'm not going to wax on about that just now, it's not the point of this post.

So! I am going on a motorbike and I'm going to go off now and buy a big map of the world. That's the story so far. It's absurd how excited I am just posting this into my blog! It feels like I'm finally starting to take this idea seriously! We'll see.....