Ever had one of those days, well I have just had a few of
them.
And then for me to head on home.
I planned the route on Garmin Basecamp, I would head up to
Worksop (Rhodesia) and then carry on north to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Perth.
Do the NC 500 down to Glasgow and then head on home back down the middle of UK.
The week before the trip the bike was all loaded ready
to go, I took her out for a quick shake down run, not happy with some straps so
went and bought some ROK straps. Put bike away. Ready for Monday idea being
drop Sandy off at her usual respite care ST Georges, come home change, jump on bike and off.
Woohoo
Woohoo
Day 1
So Monday comes drop Sandy off at St Georges, drop the dog
off, on way home call in cashpoint get cash for week, get home get changed,
there’s a phone call from St Georges they have a query now about Sandy's Meds
No query when I was doing the hand over but now.
Why is Sandy on such a high dose of insulin and it is slightly higher than when I discussed it with then last week. They now want clarification from her GP that the dose is correct, have to go through all the reasons why and give them all Sandy's details so they can contact the GP.
I cant leave until this is sorted, they cant get hold of me with the helmet on and I don’t want to be 200 miles up the road then have to turn round to sort this out.
Finally an hour later its all sorted GP has told them just do as TIM says he knows better than anyone else.
Now I am behind schedule, and a little bit pissed off to say the least. Calm down time to on the road, yippee I am off.No query when I was doing the hand over but now.
Why is Sandy on such a high dose of insulin and it is slightly higher than when I discussed it with then last week. They now want clarification from her GP that the dose is correct, have to go through all the reasons why and give them all Sandy's details so they can contact the GP.
I cant leave until this is sorted, they cant get hold of me with the helmet on and I don’t want to be 200 miles up the road then have to turn round to sort this out.
Finally an hour later its all sorted GP has told them just do as TIM says he knows better than anyone else.
NAH!!!!
Push bike out of garage and the front tyre is flat as a
pancake.
Now do I spend time inflating it and hope it isn't a puncture or just unload bike, put on centre stand and whip out tube and swap for one of the brand new ones.
Swap out is the best option especially with long trip ahead, really don't need the possibility of a blow out playing on my mind. By now it is gone 2pm was hoping to of left at least 2 hrs earlier.
Now do I spend time inflating it and hope it isn't a puncture or just unload bike, put on centre stand and whip out tube and swap for one of the brand new ones.
Swap out is the best option especially with long trip ahead, really don't need the possibility of a blow out playing on my mind. By now it is gone 2pm was hoping to of left at least 2 hrs earlier.
Finally get on the road heading for the highway.
2 miles up the road the Sat nag wants me to take a slip road
past the chinky in Holbury. I ignore and ride on but now for the next few
miles I have the nagging sat nag women telling me to turn around and go back to
the chinky.
Pull over gloves off cant access sat nag with gloves and cant access sat nag with it still in its waterproof case. So out it comes hit the route and just programme it to take me to the end of stage one of my trip. Get back on road. Now with so much time lost with St George’s, puncture repair sat nag the idea now is to just get as far north as possible today and find a camp when time comes and continue the onward journey in the morning.
Pull over gloves off cant access sat nag with gloves and cant access sat nag with it still in its waterproof case. So out it comes hit the route and just programme it to take me to the end of stage one of my trip. Get back on road. Now with so much time lost with St George’s, puncture repair sat nag the idea now is to just get as far north as possible today and find a camp when time comes and continue the onward journey in the morning.
Only had the one little shower today, pulled over in time and decided it was time for a quick toilet break and a coffee, well fuck me £3.80 for a coffee at Costas's services, not again, would rather go with out, stop brew my own or find a little cafe.
Fuel light came on at 190miles not too bad mpg, filled up and was on my way again , stage 1 completed
Found a nice little camp site near Melton Mowbray (the home of the Pork pie) got tent set up about 8pm the park manageress came over and offered me a couple of blankets as it was supposed to be chilly in the night I said I should be alright, she would leave them in office if I wanted them.
Had something eat and hit the sack.
Luckily no more dramas today.
Bloody freezing good job I had the Exped Synnmat didn’t feel any ground temp coming through, sleeping bag was okay and had the spare sleeping bag as well as, my long johns, thermal shirt thick socks and beanie hat (Transkei tea cosy) all in all not to bad a night
Fuel light came on at 190miles not too bad mpg, filled up and was on my way again , stage 1 completed
Found a nice little camp site near Melton Mowbray (the home of the Pork pie) got tent set up about 8pm the park manageress came over and offered me a couple of blankets as it was supposed to be chilly in the night I said I should be alright, she would leave them in office if I wanted them.
Had something eat and hit the sack.
Luckily no more dramas today.
Bloody freezing good job I had the Exped Synnmat didn’t feel any ground temp coming through, sleeping bag was okay and had the spare sleeping bag as well as, my long johns, thermal shirt thick socks and beanie hat (Transkei tea cosy) all in all not to bad a night
Next morning thick frost and brilliant sunshine.
Day 2
Now I am still at least 2 hrs behind schedule so break camp and decide again to get as far north as possible hopefully in to Scotland fancied trying the Forth bridge in Edinburgh, that would depend on the weather had heard it may be closed to motorbikes if the winds were to high.
Well that was the goal for today any way.
But first a little stop for a photo opportunity, more of a giggle for my brother and a few others on Facebook. so key in stages 2-3 on the the satnag and we're on the road towards Worksop and the little village of Rhodesia
It was here the Sat nag had a real brain fart moment, now I
am on a straight road no other roads about and suddenly my little car symbol
is heading of westward across country, the pink route tracker suddenly
does a figure of 8, loop the loop and fuck knows what else. then my little car
catches up me on the road. Really unsure what happened there. Maybe a new
section of road and it hasn’t updated the Garmin mapping only did it a couple
of weeks back. ??????????????
(on reflection using a car satnav on a bike in extreme cold and the added wind chill it was probably just to damn cold for it to operate properly)
(on reflection using a car satnav on a bike in extreme cold and the added wind chill it was probably just to damn cold for it to operate properly)
Get to Scotch corner and I can see major rain ahead, pull in
at services have a quick coffee and decide to put on the wet weather gear, then
it starts the wind really picks up and it starts to hail not normal hail but
the sideways hail, every one dives for cover, except me I’ve not quite got me
wets on, nearly go ass over tit trying to put the trousers on, and my
helmet on the floor is slowly filling up hail stones. Finally it stopped,
but the roads are a mess, wait another 10mins brilliant sunshine roads clear
and I’m sweating my bollocks of too many layers. Decide though it is probably best to keep the wet weather gear on in case it comes down again.
Time to get on the road let
the wind cool me down, hit the road figure I will ride for another hour
or so an then stop for the night.
About an hour down the road suddenly see a sign that
says Carlisle 29miles, What the Fuck not supposed to be coming this way, from Scotch
corner it should of been north not north west, the SatNav has had another episode.
Then the hail starts again and the wind picks up and the temp has dropped and lorries blast past me buffeting me and blowing and sucking me every which way but loose, (Haha song there)
Then the hail starts again and the wind picks up and the temp has dropped and lorries blast past me buffeting me and blowing and sucking me every which way but loose, (Haha song there)
I am
beginning to feel cold very cold, to my very core I am frozen, time to call it a day
I am way off course no idea why and frozen.
Time to find a bed for the night, decide not to camp I am that cold and with the rain, hail and sleet reckon I need a hot shower and warm accommodation to try and defrost, soon spot a Premier Inn on the right that’ll do. £90 for the night (fuck me but I am too tired and cold to carry on any further) right that’s a major part of budget blown, I will now have to camp for the rest of the trip.
Still according to the long range forecast I saw on Monday today was supposed to be the worst, why couldnt i of come away last week when we unusually high temps across the country.
Check in and I am at the other end of the hotel. Run a hot bath go across to the pub have a hot meal a large whisky and I am still shivering. Get into bed and look at the sat nag try to figure out what went wrong today. Well it would seem that during her little brain fart, hissy fit moment she reset herself from the shortest route preferred by bikers to the fastest route. So the sat nag thought it was faster to send me from scotch Corner to Carlisle then back across country to Edinburgh than to just carry on the 100 odd mile straight up.
Time to find a bed for the night, decide not to camp I am that cold and with the rain, hail and sleet reckon I need a hot shower and warm accommodation to try and defrost, soon spot a Premier Inn on the right that’ll do. £90 for the night (fuck me but I am too tired and cold to carry on any further) right that’s a major part of budget blown, I will now have to camp for the rest of the trip.
Still according to the long range forecast I saw on Monday today was supposed to be the worst, why couldnt i of come away last week when we unusually high temps across the country.
Check in and I am at the other end of the hotel. Run a hot bath go across to the pub have a hot meal a large whisky and I am still shivering. Get into bed and look at the sat nag try to figure out what went wrong today. Well it would seem that during her little brain fart, hissy fit moment she reset herself from the shortest route preferred by bikers to the fastest route. So the sat nag thought it was faster to send me from scotch Corner to Carlisle then back across country to Edinburgh than to just carry on the 100 odd mile straight up.
Check the weather and it looks like more bad stuff headed in
to Scotland from the north and significant snow fall on the eastern coast
exactly where I wanted to go.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm need now to consider my options
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm need now to consider my options
Change of plan, time to chase the better weather. Best of which seems to be west coast of UK in particular Wales, that’s ok some good roads and decent scenery, so 2 hrs down the M6 and into Wales, again the satnag started doing some strange little things, it just wont let me programme a a basic route in, best to the mapping on satnag and my atlas in tank bag had a basic plan head to wards Bala and Aberystwyth down into Black mountains Swansea area maybe call in see some friends and Aunt Jess
Day3
Lovely ride good sunshine most of the day, feeling revived
and refreshed after yesterday. Saw a nice site by a river near Dolgellau
pulled in made camp next to river bonus was able to have fire.
I went to the local market got a few supplies, some sausage and eggs and small dram of whiskey and couple of cans of lager. cooked up a veritable feast of Spam, sausage and eggs washed down with a can.
I new it was going to be cold down there by the river, but with fire and a couple of hot toddies, I should be alright till bed and my sleeping set up wasn’t too bad I would be warm over night.
Brilliant clear skies most the night, it was still nice and clear at 3am when I got up to add to the water course levels, at my age having lager in the evening means i have to get up at least once. thankfully though I rarely drink am not a heavy drinker.
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| Spam and sausage |
I went to the local market got a few supplies, some sausage and eggs and small dram of whiskey and couple of cans of lager. cooked up a veritable feast of Spam, sausage and eggs washed down with a can.
I new it was going to be cold down there by the river, but with fire and a couple of hot toddies, I should be alright till bed and my sleeping set up wasn’t too bad I would be warm over night.
Brilliant clear skies most the night, it was still nice and clear at 3am when I got up to add to the water course levels, at my age having lager in the evening means i have to get up at least once. thankfully though I rarely drink am not a heavy drinker.
About an hour later we had a rain shower, the wind whipped
up. Still roll over back to sleep no worries.
Woke in the morning found that my tent inner was soaking wet
and in several places had stuck to the tent outer ?????. What? How? why?
Now if I could of stayed there another day I would of gone out for the day and let the tent air and dry out, but more rain was predicted and it was going to be a wet day in wales. And anyway the site was fully booked from that day on.
I know what you’re thinking maybe tent wasn’t tensioned properly, may be I missed something but no the cross tensioners actually seem a little short so it pulls the tent in more than it should, thought these should be adjustable will need to get it up in garden and have a proper look if not a new tent
Now if I could of stayed there another day I would of gone out for the day and let the tent air and dry out, but more rain was predicted and it was going to be a wet day in wales. And anyway the site was fully booked from that day on.
I know what you’re thinking maybe tent wasn’t tensioned properly, may be I missed something but no the cross tensioners actually seem a little short so it pulls the tent in more than it should, thought these should be adjustable will need to get it up in garden and have a proper look if not a new tent
So decisions decisions
Do I carry on my trip hopefully find some where with decent
weather and try to then dry the tent out or carry on sleep in wet tent, in the
freezing cold, or just call it a day and head home still have a few days off
but at least there is a warm bed waiting for me at home.
Day4
So Homeward bound set in the course on satnag shortest
route, that should really of taken me down towards Bristol,Bathe and Salisbury.
Instead I ended up on the M6 again and stuck in traffic 10 mile tail back, even though the KTM has a fat arse she can filter well, well most of the time,, she only killed one guys works van wing mirror apologies and drink for the night and all was happy.
Funny how people in BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes really take offence that a dirty bike laden to the hilt can filter past them in standing traffic and they just sit there like they own the road not wanting to budge one inch. Spoke to some lads in a big transit they had heard on the radio that the M6 was closed in both directions due to a major incident, time to get through Birmingham rather than go round.
it was really quite eerie when i got back on the M6 just after Birmingham as it was totally deserted not only the southbound carriage way but the northbound aswell I had it all to myself. After a mile or so I could see the police rolling road block coming north (Ah well i wasn't the last person alive on the planet after some apocalyptic event)
Instead I ended up on the M6 again and stuck in traffic 10 mile tail back, even though the KTM has a fat arse she can filter well, well most of the time,, she only killed one guys works van wing mirror apologies and drink for the night and all was happy.
Funny how people in BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes really take offence that a dirty bike laden to the hilt can filter past them in standing traffic and they just sit there like they own the road not wanting to budge one inch. Spoke to some lads in a big transit they had heard on the radio that the M6 was closed in both directions due to a major incident, time to get through Birmingham rather than go round.
it was really quite eerie when i got back on the M6 just after Birmingham as it was totally deserted not only the southbound carriage way but the northbound aswell I had it all to myself. After a mile or so I could see the police rolling road block coming north (Ah well i wasn't the last person alive on the planet after some apocalyptic event)
So final stretch home ignoring the satnav again I head the way I
wanted but again it played up and played up it would ask me to turn right then
if I ignore it re calculate and come up with alternative route but here is
the crux the alternative route would give me an earlier ETA at home??????
Then it would suddenly go in to computer mode, come back on
line give a different route and different ETA. It did this several times on way
home the difference in ETA was at one stage 1hr.
What have I learnt from this trip, my tent isn’t that good,
glad I found out closer to home an not in the high of Scotland, I bought the tent second had when i got home from this trip i put it up in the garden to dry out and found the previous owner had for some reason shortened the stays at the rear of the tent, this basically pulled the inner tent to far back into the main tent a couple of clips and all was sorted, I am quite happy now with the although it is great for Europe with all the rain we get it is a bit big and bulky.
The Satnag Garmin Nuvi is fucking useless on a bike time to upgrade. (Have since upgraded to the Garmin Montana.
My sleeping bag is okay but could with something warmer and more compact.
Need decent baselayers otherwise end up like Michillin man with to many layers on. KTM is absolutely awesome if a little tall an heavy, she only had one little lie down bless her.
The Satnag Garmin Nuvi is fucking useless on a bike time to upgrade. (Have since upgraded to the Garmin Montana.
My sleeping bag is okay but could with something warmer and more compact.
Need decent baselayers otherwise end up like Michillin man with to many layers on. KTM is absolutely awesome if a little tall an heavy, she only had one little lie down bless her.
Next year I will take my break later in the year say end of
MAY early June.
Rhodesia? - sad but long gone are the old Rhodesia, hope the New South Africa doesn't go that way
ReplyDeleteI like your writing style, I tend to speak with photos, not a writer at all
Thank you glad you enjoyed it. This Rhodesia is a little town in UK I visited just for the photo op for friends and family. I grew up in Rhodesia as it was then but left Zimbabwe. I too hope that SA will endure the present storm i still have many friends and family in Southern Africa, sadly I don't think i can ever go back to live but will definitely be visiting
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