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Post by Deeps on Sept 23, 2014 23:03:21 GMT
Well its that time of year again, following a disappointing run of poorly timed shift work over summer and then an illness I have not managed as many miles on two wheels this year as I would have liked. I aim to put that right with a trip north of the boarder. The fist time I did this trip it was with one other riding companion, the next time we went there were three of us. This year the number has increased to 6, it was 7 but one of the group broke his leg at work 2 weeks ago. As in the Highland run Pt II, due to work patterns we find ourselves doing this trip on the fist weekend of October, let's hope the weather gods are as good to us this time as last. Outline routes for days 1 to 4 below. A full trip report will follow. Accommodation booked at the following www.clachaig.com/ , www.overscaighotel.co.uk/ and www.garthhotel.com/
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
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Post by billywhizz on Sept 24, 2014 16:24:25 GMT
ooohhhaaa,
that day four looks awefully long ! Done day one, that is long ! and a bit bum numbing, so to speak!
i'm sure you will enjoy, what looks a fab trip.
look forward to report and pics
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Post by Deeps on Sept 24, 2014 17:51:55 GMT
ooohhhaaa, that day four looks awefully long ! Done day one, that is long ! and a bit bum numbing, so to speak! i'm sure you will enjoy, what looks a fab trip. look forward to report and pics Day four is long, but once we get to the A1 its a stright blast. We did Bridge of Cally Hotel to Muskham on the last trip and arrived early to mid afternoon. To make matters worse, i will have to travel, probaly by car (numb bum),down to London in the evening as i start shift Tuesady morning at 0600. But very much looking forward to the trip. |
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Post by Deeps on Sept 29, 2014 5:29:28 GMT
Just spoken to the weather guys at work, as usual they won’t commit to a firm forecast more than 48 hours out, but the general gist is, there’s a front coming in on Friday. Guess I best make sure the waterproofs are handy.
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Post by Deeps on Oct 4, 2014 21:17:27 GMT
Day one, good ride up to Penrith, truly horrible whether between Penrith and Glasgow, dry with sunny spells up to about 20 miles from Glencoe then the heavens opened again. Still we all made it safely to the hotel and then the bar.
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Post by Deeps on Oct 4, 2014 21:23:31 GMT
Day Two started with a ten minute shower as we made our way to Fort William. Then the sun came out and stayed out. The run down the A87 was sublime, as usual, and we have 4 new converts to the "Wow I can't believe that road was so good" club. We the made our way to Applecross again in the bright sunshine. Final for to Overscaig by 6 in the evening, to be meet by the landlord bearing a tray of whiskeys and a shortbread each. Looking forward to day three.
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Post by Deeps on Oct 5, 2014 17:20:02 GMT
Day three was dry and sunny, lots of fun, although the party is down to 4 tonight as one has had to stay in Inverness until he can get a new trye in the morning, he is trying to meet up sometime tomorrow. Looking at the forecast for tomorrow with high wind and rain in the hills the trip through the cairngorms may have to be altered.
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Post by teejayexc on Oct 5, 2014 21:24:10 GMT
Sounds a good trip Dave, although as you say forecast for tomorrow is interesting oop north!
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Post by Deeps on Oct 6, 2014 9:54:43 GMT
Bikes parked up in a Lay by on the A9 far to dangerous to ride at the moment, other bikers, cars and vans have also pulled over. A very kind local has ferried us to a local cafe where we can wait out the Gale force winds and driving rain.
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Post by m40man on Oct 6, 2014 10:33:13 GMT
Is number 5 with you, scrubbing-in his new rear tyre  ? (Or did he have sense to stay in Inverness  ?) |
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Oldie
Scooter Rider
Posts: 53 
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Post by Oldie on Oct 6, 2014 10:36:10 GMT
Looks like the rain will last until circa 5pm followed by widespread dry weather for the next 48 hours.
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Post by m40man on Oct 6, 2014 19:20:10 GMT
We need an update: How many all-day breakfasts did you get through before the rain stopped ? |
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Post by teejayexc on Oct 6, 2014 21:36:33 GMT
Bikes parked up in a Lay by ....... Tends to happen a lot in Scotland I find  |
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Post by Deeps on Oct 7, 2014 10:07:13 GMT
We need an update: How many all-day breakfasts did you get through before the rain stopped ? OK, here is the update you requested, sorry its taken a little time, I was kind of busy for a lot of yesterday. 1. No ‘All Day Breakfasts’ were consumed whilst we were waiting, the café was only open when we turned up because he was waiting for his weekly food delivery, he was not officially open until 11:30. Strangely enough, his delivery was running late. This limited what food was available, he did however managed to rustle up egg sandwiches before running out of bread, his later customers had to wait. It never stopped raining. 2. Number 5, having failed to get a new tyre on Sunday, elected to wait in Inverness overnight and arranged via a phone call to a local bike shop to get his tyre fixed first thing Monday morning. The rest of the party met for breakfast in the hotel in Grantown on Spey at 07:30. We were on the road by 08:15, Number 5 was also on his way by 08:30 sporting 2 new BT 23’s, he was in fact only 25 miles and 15 minutes behind us. He too decided it was too bad to continue along the same stretch of A9 as we had, so ended up in the same lay by wondering where the owners of the 6 bikes he could see were. It was at this point that he dug out his phone and found a message, about our whereabouts, waiting for him. He was duly collected and brought to the cafe. After about 3 hours we made our way back to the bikes and continued south to Edinburgh now as a group of 7. It was still very wet and windy and progress was steady. Our 2 waifs and strays departed at Edinburgh as did one of the original party, he was going to the Lancaster area, the rest of us were heading back south to the village. We arrived back at 20:45, by 21:45 I was showered, changed had had a meal and said hello and goodbye to the family. It was then put the bike away, get into the car and drive to London as I had to be at work by 06:00. I finally got to my room at 00:10 this morning; it had been a long day. |
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Post by m40man on Oct 7, 2014 10:17:38 GMT
Not the finest finish to your trip, but seems you had some good riding before the rains came. So good riding with a bit of adventure added-in at the end, overall not so bad . |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2014 12:02:35 GMT
Nice to see the Navy retreat to a nice warm café at the first sign of rain.  Though to be fair it was a bit breezy. |
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Post by Deeps on Oct 7, 2014 14:48:52 GMT
Nice to see the Navy retreat to a nice warm café at the first sign of rain. Though to be fair it was a bit breezy. "Nice to see the Navy retreat to a nice warm café at the first sign of rain".  "Though to be fair it was a bit breezy".  |
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Post by Deeps on Nov 10, 2014 13:52:48 GMT
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Post by DahDit on Nov 11, 2014 10:10:12 GMT
Nice little set of pics.  |
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? (Or did he have sense to stay in Inverness 
?)
