Part 2…. Saturday…. Yes it was already wet all round, although it almost stopped raining as we got ready to set off it was still an easy decision to put the waterproof trousers on from the start, as we were expecting more rain throughout the day.
- Setting off 1
- Setting off 2
- Eating off 3
Off to Dalbeattie to gas up, and as i was on my storm, i knew I was needing petrol every 100 miles, i had planned the stops at that frequency…. So I should be the weak link …. But NO!
Off out of Dalbeattie with Little Chris as Back marker but when we get to Dumfries he is missing! Check the WhatsApp and he says he has broken down 2 miles out of Dalbeattie, so we turn round and go back.
On my way back i am thinking what could cause his bike to die so soon after filling up, and the thought that he filled with Diesel crosses my mind, but it cant be that surely ….. open the filler cap and yup, that’s what it is ….. OOPS
- Should i use the black pump?
Some piss taking as he arranges for BMW recovery to come and get him, then we abandon him in a lay-by where he was later adopted by a car full of women who were hoping he might have been a big rough macho biker. To cover their disappointment they fed him tea and cakes till the rain storm passed over and they kicked him out to wait 4 more hours for the tow truck.
So off we go to Moffat where we will start the really fun roads, and just as we leave our Aprilia rider pulls up beside me and says he only has 30 miles left in his tank ….. I am going “why the feck didn’t you fill up when we all did!!!”, but he thinks he can get to Peebles where i know there is a petrol (or diesel if that’s your thing). So off we go up the A708 past where Edward crashed a few years ago and off up the great crests and curves through the valley going past the Grey Mares tail waterfall and St Marys Loch on initially dry roads. Knowing how much he likes this bit of tarmac, it’s no surprise to see that James has discovered that Adrenalin is a great pain killer and is playing “catch the VTR” like normal.
Although it started to rain half way along it was still a bloody fun ride
This time I turned left at the end and this was a new part of the route over a bit of a single track towards Innerleithen and then main road to Peebles. Iain didn’t even make it off the single track so Pete went back to keep him company and the rest of us went to Peebles where Steve bought a petrol can and took 5ltrs back to rescue the stranded Ape.
It looks like Innerleithen is normally a MTB Mecca with the one of the 7 Stanes Forrest parks on their doorstep, but this was amplified by the fact that the UCI cycle world championships were set up half way between there and Peebles for the cross country event, so it had a really cool vide as we had a bite to eat in the BP Forcourt.
Eventually Iain turns up and we are now all full of gas for the next bits off towards the A701 Devils Beef Tub road back into Moffat.
I keep forgetting how good that road is before you get to the actual beef tub, so there was a very fast run to our usual stop at the top of the valley.
- Beef tub1
- Tub 2
- Tub 3
From there it started raining properly and as we rode up alongside the m74 the rain got so hard it was hurting even through leathers! But as soon as it started it stopped, so we carried on to what I have decided is my new favourite road, the B740 down towards Sanquhar.
Even though the road was wet, the road crews had used a course gravel with the tar, so there was good confidence in the grip and off i went with the white husky in chase. I am not sure how best to describe the road, but the 1st half goes across open hill ground, almost full visibility of what is coming, and has a lot of elevation changes combined with relentless constant radius bends as it follows the hillside contours. The next 1/4 is fast, open visibility, flat sweepers beside the river (only marred by the sheep sleeping on the roadside and my fear that the VTR on open pipes is going to frighten the sh1t out of them as it flys past causing them to bolt under my wheels). The final 1/4 is now in the woods, so visibility is less and the curves can be more technical, some tightening up and some with bad surfaces so you have to be fully focussed.. my kind of road, and it sounds like I wasn’t alone when we get to the end.
A bit of a link stretch of the A76 to get to the next hill pass, the B741 over the hill to Dalmellington. Again a bit technical especially in the wet, but at least going SW direction I knew the crazy multiple manhole covers going into the bends were in the other lane ( I reversed the whole route direction to make sure we didn’t have to face them in the wet again this year).
A petrol and piss stop then we turned towards home down the A713 towards Dalry. I went slowly past Normans crash site and by the various bits of front grill there, it looks like an Audi had also come to grief at the same spot in the last few weeks.
From Dalry, the roads were dry and next stop was Corsock church to see Normans grave. RIP mate
Then a final razzz to Crockeford and back to base with 30 mins to spare before our table was booked for supper…… still no sign of Little Chris though!
At 9pm Chris arrives and get absolutely no sympathy from anyone even though he has had to spend 5 hrs at the road side, then when they couldn’t fix it, leave his bike at BMW in Carlisle and get a £95 taxi to come back to be humiliated by his mates.
We are not sure who should get the virtual d1ckhead T shirt (we are going to start bringing a pink T shirt with a D1ck head logo on it to be worn by the recipient till somebody else does something more stupid) for the day, it’s a close call between him and Iain. Who would you vote for?
To be continued
