Scotland and home
Durness back through Glencoe to Tyndrum: written from Bates Motel
Well not really Bates Motel but it might be. It’s a guest house in Tyndrum with a number of little rooms. I’m in number 6. Despite the moment of beauty last night at Durness I woke to drizzle and heavy skies with the forecast for heavy rain all day. So I abandoned my plan to get the ferry over to Cape Wrath and packed up instead, dressed in rain gear and warm scarf I headed south aiming for Glencoe. And it rained and rained. For a strange reason my visor misted up inside and I couldn’t clear it whatever I tried. This was really maddening. There was nowhere under shelter to stop to try to dry things out. I tried tilting my head and going fast to get a breeze going but nothing helped. Eventually I stopped to fill up with petrol and lingered as long as I could under the canopy of the petrol station. Early in the day I vowed not to camp tonight. I had no heart for puitting up a tent in the rain in wet clothes having been riding for a total of 5 and 1/2 hours in rain. So I tried a few hotels near Glencoe. The first wanted £145 for bed and breakfast. The second looked much more down to earth staffed by young Australians but they had no room though they invited me to camp in their grounds. The third also was full but phoned through to this guest house. A South African woman answered but she is nowhere to be seen instead a very helpful man who keeps stuffed birds everywhere. He lives over the way with the mysterious woman. It’s deathly quiet or that could be the result of not wearing earplugs for today’s 5 and a half hour ride. There’s a toasty drying room complete with dehumidifier which I would have loved to stay in all evening. (My shower could do with a bit of a clean as there seem to be some bloodstains in the corners.)
Bertha will turn 20,000 tomorrow. There are no photos from today as it was too wet to get the camer out of my pocket.
Stats:
| Miles 218.3 | Average 40.2 | Max speed 75.1 | Hours ridden 5.5 |
Tyndrum to Gallows Hill Campsite, Cumbria
Another five hours or was it four - it’s impossible to tell though my knees and right index finger were painful - ride took me safely over the border back to Cumbria where though it’s blustery (a breezy day is what BBC news said on the large tv at the M6 service station where I surrendered to batter and chips and beans - the TV also showed the infamous London riots where people looted sportswear and TVs) the sun is shining brightly. But there are dark clouds and those vertical lines way off on the north that tell you it’s raining. It really is blowing here. I’ve put the tent up against a low wall and some bushes in the direction of the wind and banged those pegs in hard with a rock from the wall.
I don’t have the energy to drive down to buy some dinner. I have enough here and some beer and lovely coffee for the morning assuming I can get the stove to light in this gale.
My thought about Scotland is that it is so rugged. It is rewarding but you have to pay a high price and with travelling by bike, living in a tent and solitude there is little to bulwark you against the rain and midge attacks. Maybe I would go back but in a decent car and with company. (I keep telling a BIG fly not to keep coming back in here (my vestibule) but he won’t listen. Tomorrow is simple; 12 miles on the A66 to Scotch corner then straight down the A1 almost to home. Let’s hope it’s not too gusty.
Stats:
| Miles 225.3 | Average 45.2 | Max speed 85 | Hours ridden 5 |
Last day Cumbria to home
This is such a good campsite. Its just a field with some basic facilities and it can only make a small amount of money for its owner but it does a good job. Its on a gentle slope and had a beautiful view over the valley. Chickens scratch around the site and in the next field are sheep and horses. On my two visits its not been crowded and reminds me of the Wee Campsite up in Scotland that was hopeless in terms of noise and disturbance as everyone was packed so close like terraced housing. Gallows Hill has so much space. Its also perfectly placed for a journey from the south up to Scotland.
Traveling back home was easy. With earplugs in I sat in the outside lane for much of the journey and thundered back home. Out of curiosity I left the A1 to see what Grantham had to offer, assuming it would be a pretty coaching town like Stamford. If it was I didn’t see it. Tired after just over two hours on the bike I tried to park in a car park there but it was built on such a slope that it was impossible to get off the bike and put the bike on its stand so I headed off – without earplugs. Already I can’t believe how I used to ride without them. They make you go faster! The trip was 1400 miles with 33 hours of riding.
So now I’m back home and thinking about the next trip. Lets chose somewhere a little more exotic and somewhere with better weather. Suggestions?
Stats:
| Miles 204.7 | Average 58 | Max 86 | Riding time 3.5 |