England invaded!

[alfalfa]

After hosting our British buddy, Chris Jones in the US several times now, we thought it was time to return the favor and head over to Merry Ol and see what was so horrible about it that our forefathers snuck out a couple of years ago.  First, it was time for language lessons, but the only ones offered seemed to be in English.  We were confused as to how it was going to work out but soldiered on anyways.

 

First order of preparation was to get some fancy stickers done up, memorializing the trip:

 

These were especially designed by a buddy of ours so as not to irritate anyone still harboring hard feelings about that whole tea thing in Boston.

 

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the English have airports and roads and things.  However, we arent too sure why their cars appear to be manufactured backwards:

 

(how do you all not run into each other!!)

 

We arrived in London the day before the hottest temps ever recorded, 104 F, which is something like 40, or 50, or who knows in that whole C thing.  Bet you now wish you were as addicted to ice in your drinks like we are! .

 

It was interesting to see how everyone was reacting to the heat like we do when it finally rains in Southern California - no one knew what to do.

The guy in the backwards driving van took us to Woking, where we were going to pick up the rental bikes from RoadTrip Motorcycle, UK.  As that wasnt going to happen until the next day, we had booked rooms at The Station hotel and pub, our first time at a real pub.

 

 

(couldnt find the air conditioner, unfortunately)

 

 

 

 

 

Our buddy, Chris, who had ridden down from the Lake District.  

 

They dont look that heavy, even wrapped in plastic.  Was sure glad you laminate your bills, especially when it was as hot as it was!

 

small cars, small streets, buildings close together.  it was time to find some countryside!

 

[alfalfa]

After picking up the bikes, we headed out of town.  At our very first roundabout, I was quickly reminded why we were glad Chris was there to lead the group.  We have some here but have been trained to look left as we enter them, not right. .  (I'm happy to report that in 9 days or so of riding all over England and Scotland, we maybe only had one or two "incidents" with traffic circles.  And our whole time there, we only heard two car horns.  Once at us, and once at someone else.)

The first part of the day was on the motorway, thru Birmingham, as we had to get to Hagg's Bank that evening.  Living in a desert area, it was really nice to ride thru all the green countryside, with large rolling fields.  Stopping for drinks in the heat was an eye opener as most places claimed their ice machines werent working.  And, what cold drinks we got were slightly chilled at best.  Probably due to the huge demand by everyone, vendors couldnt keep the drinks chilled long enough to get cold.

 

A little north of Birmingham, we finally got off the motorway and onto the fun roads.  It was quickly apparent why European riders enjoy races like the Isle of Man and the Northwest TT.  The secondary roads are narrow, curvy and have no sight lines!  However, they have excellent tarmac and very well trained drivers.  We quickly got comfortable enough to maintain our speed around basically blind corners, reminding ourselves to stay LEFT!  I just love the fact that you all just paved whatever cart path served the little villages we rode thru, with no attempt to widen or straighten them.  Definitely my type of riding!

After our indoctrination to TT riding style, we finally stopped to do some touristy stuff:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After stretching our legs, it was time to head up further into the hills to the site of the highest pub in England (I'm told).

 

 

 

 

We then headed back down off the mountain, finishing the first day at the Haggs Bank Bunk House.  It was a great first full day in England.  Weather was very warm, but nothing we dont have back home.  The scenery was incredible!  The cold drinks werent , and we made all the roundabouts ok!

[XTreme]

Looks great Rick.......and you got decent weather so far!

[boboneleg]

I've never seen Tan Hill in the sun, it's usually shrouded in mist and pissing down when I go there 

Good start @alfalfa   

[Six30]

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

Looks great Rick.......and you got decent weather so far!

you do realize , this was a couple of months back

[Buckster]

12 minutes ago, Six30 said:

you do realize , this was a couple of months back

For fucks sake, don’t confuse the ginger twat.

[alfalfa]

6 hours ago, XTreme said:

Looks great Rick.......and you got decent weather so far!

We paid extra to have sun on our trip!

I would like to apologize for that whole 104F/40C thing we brought with us, tho.  

[alfalfa]

By the end of the day, we had made it to Hagg's Bank Bunkhouse, where we met Danny Taylor, the owner.  Great guy, for an Irishman! 

 

The man rides the hell out of a GoldWing, too!

Danny runs a great biker friendly hostel/campground.  The last couple of years he has also been hosting March Moto Madness for those brave and willing enough to chance snow.

His place is an ol mill that he has remodeled into a multi-room bunkhouse, with kitchen and shower rooms.  His pride in his own handiwork shows the quality of the place.  While we were there, he was busy fighting city hall to come back and fix their shoddy road works.  Great man, Danny!  We cant wait to go back and see him again, or get him to the US.

The meals were on another level, too:

 

 

 

[alfalfa]

On the second day of the real trip, we kept heading north into Scotland.  First stop was Hadrian's Wall:

 

 

 

Coming from a relatively young country, it has always been exciting to me to see all those places only read about in school.  Its even more interesting to hear the true story from the locals to see how it jives with our school books.   One thing the books dont mention is that the wall keeps all the midges in the north .

I have to say, I loved the English countryside and back roads, but it was Scotland that has really stuck in my mind.  I've always liked places that are sparsely populated as the people tend to be friendlier and the scenery more intense.  Scotland didnt disappoint  (England really didnt either)

 

Crossing into Scotland:

 

Coffee stop:

 

 

 

Got to talking to a lady rider in the plaza.  Bikes have a tendency to break down communication barriers.   You get to find out those great motorcycle roads!

 

 

Some other travelers we crossed paths on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our buddy, Chris, kept the wick turned up so there arent many pics along the way, just when we stopped for coffee or the night.

 

This night's BnB:

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, the weather continued to stay nice!

 

(i'm going to have to pick his brain to get the route info and which towns we stayed in.  will update these when i get that)

 

 

[XTreme]

1 hour ago, alfalfa said:

On the second day of the real trip, we kept heading north into Scotland.  First stop was Hadrian's Wall:

 

 

 

Coming from a relatively young country, it has always been exciting to me to see all those places only read about in school.  Its even more interesting to hear the true story from the locals to see how it jives with our school books.   One thing the books dont mention is that the wall keeps all the midges in the north .

I have to say, I loved the English countryside and back roads, but it was Scotland that has really stuck in my mind.  I've always liked places that are sparsely populated as the people tend to be friendlier and the scenery more intense.  Scotland didnt disappoint  (England really didnt either)

 

Crossing into Scotland:

 

Coffee stop:

 

 

 

Got to talking to a lady rider in the plaza.  Bikes have a tendency to break down communication barriers.   You get to find out those great motorcycle roads!

 

 

Some other travelers we crossed paths on:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our buddy, Chris, kept the wick turned up so there arent many pics along the way, just when we stopped for coffee or the night.

 

This night's BnB:

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, the weather continued to stay nice!

 

(i'm going to have to pick his brain to get the route info and which towns we stayed in.  will update these when i get that)

 

 

Great pics Rick!

[boboneleg]

Great photos @alfalfa     I've camped for a trail riding event at Haggs Bank , like you say it's a great venue.

[alfalfa]

working has interfered with my retirement and completion of this RR, which I will correct soon.

 

Then, there is writing up the trip just finished - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alfalfa]

sooo, back to the England trip...

 

pics from the BnB:

Salmon scrambled eggs!!

 

Kids on their fones

 

Everyone have their own tea cup?

 

Let's ride!

 

Found this biker hangout:

 

Then, up into the mtns:

Riding in Scotland is incredible!

 

 

 

 

you might recognize this one from Skyfall?

 

 

 

 

 

[boboneleg]

Nice tea pot

[Buckster]

Been to the Green Welly Stop many times, great if you are taking in Loch Lomond.

[alfalfa]

So, finally dusting the cobwebs out of the old grey matter, i recalled that iphone photos are geotagged.  Found a quick little routine to plot them in Google Earth and finally figured out where the heck we went

The BnB above was on A84, north of Loch Lubnaig.  We came into the Green Welly from the south and then headed out A82 afterwards.

 

We pulled over at the Three Sisters Viewpoint to get a great look at the valley, and listen to bag pipe music!

 

 

Still continuing along A82, amazed at the beauty, we pulled over again at the Commando Memorial.

 

There is an additional little garden with memorials to recently fallen soldiers

Looking at some of the ages just reinforced my belief that wars should be fought by the old fucks that send the young into battle. 

 

 

[alfalfa]

In Invergarry, we turned off A82, onto A87, running alongside Loch Garry for a bit.

 

 

 

 

A87 turned out to be a nice, little race track running alongside Loch Cluanie!   We pulled over at the Cluanie Inn for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, it was time for qualies as we continued down A87, stopping at the Eilean Donan Castle, near Dornie

 

Gary and Chris were our top to qualifiers for the afternoon.  They look happy with their time:

 

 

 

[boboneleg]

Nice one @alfalfa  , it even looks like you got decent weather

[alfalfa]

On 01/04/2023 at 13:42, boboneleg said:

Nice one @alfalfa  , it even looks like you got decent weather

out of about 9 days, we had one afternoon of rain while in Edinburgh.  Rest of the time it was really nice!!

 

[Sir Fallsalot]

When me and specs camped by that white building in the image a few years ago it was far from decent weather 

[alfalfa]

On 03/04/2023 at 09:49, Sir Fallsalot said:

When me and specs camped by that white building in the image a few years ago it was far from decent weather 
 

I was really expecting to spend the whole trip soggy, based on what your hear and what some friends had reported.  So, we were more than pleasantly surprised to get such excellent weather when we were there.   The first day, with record temps in London, it was interesting to see how the locals reacted.  104 degrees is not a big deal to us here in Southern California.  We end up riding in those temps several times a year, in California, in Nevada, Utah and AZ.   Not fun, but doable.

 

We did get a really good rain storm leaving Edinburgh, which gave me lung congestion and lost voice.   I bought a rain jacket when we got back to the Lake District, which of course guaranteed we wouldnt ride in the wet again 

[alfalfa]

We had a BnB reserved in the small village of Plockton, so after pics at the castle (gotta love castles!!), we did a quick lap of the Isle of Skye.

 

 

 

Guess this was the only way to dress to protect yourself from the midges!

 

 

 

 

Someone missing a Tartis?

 

Another shot of the bridge.

 

 

[alfalfa]

Running along the A87 on the Isle of Skye:

 

 

 

 

 

Plockton is on the backside of a peninsula, on Loch Carron and is really cool little fishing village.   On the way there, we stopped off and took some photos of dinner:

We normally only see these at the Golden Arches, between two pieces of bread.   

 

As you can tell, the Amuricans were confused:

 

 

We checked into the house we had rented, changed and walked down to the main "block" for dinner.

 

 

I guess y'all dump old Tartis's just anywhere:

 

 

 

 

Hungry Amuricans wondering if they should get the Fish n chips, the fish, or the chips......

[alfalfa]

One of my favorite things to do when traveling outside the US, is to see what cars the locals get that we dont.  Station wagons (Estates?) arent very popular anymore in the US.  People have been brainwashed into thinking you will only be safe if you drive some big, hulking SUV.   Which is true, to a point.  But, mostly for when the other SUV idiot runs into you.

 

Our Plockton accommodations:

 

 

The beginnings of some fun we would have with Gary.   A little bee sting was going to mess his face up for a few days <G>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, we continued around Loch Carron on a fun, twisty road - A890.   We stopped in LochCarron for breakfast and to track down drugs for the one-eyed beast above.

 

[Buckster]

I do find it terrible being forced to ride around in Scotland, it is so bland here.

The only midge repellant that works to any degree.