2/3/4/Aug.. Op Storm Northumberland

[uk13iker]

I clearly missed this as don’t come on very often , would have attended had I known. Is this happening again next year?


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[AMCQ46]

I clearly missed this as don’t come on very often , would have attended had I known. Is this happening again next year?


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We plan to make it an annual occurance, so keep an eye on the forum


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[sirch345]

Sunday pm and we are all done and dusted for the inaugural Northumberland OP storm.

Great hosting by Ian (Kermitlefrog) and his tynedale lads (Edward, Wellgroomed and Big Steve), all those who came were very impressed. So much so that we will likely add this to the schedule every year in place of the now defunked Yorkshire trip.

Big thanks to the home team

The roads up here are technical, so a lower mileage is a good idea to keep everybody from getting too fatigued.

Of the 12 bikes that came, they were heavily representing the European manufacturers, with KTM and BMW leading the popularity, then 1 Ducati, 1 Suzuki, 1 Yamaha and me on my old Storm making all the noise and forcing us to stop for petrol more often.

All bar 2 of us got here Thursday night, so a few drinks were had and we agreed a Friday ride would be a good idea.
Ian took us on a nice 80 miler and we were home in time to get set up for the BBQ and more beer.

Saturday, despite a few hangovers saw more good weather and a nice 160 mile route taking us north and east including a brief stint in Scotland. Then back to a team meal in the travel lodge where more beer and baldrocks were shared.

Sunday was planned that we would ride the Yorkshire group south on some good roads and then drop them onto a main road to see them off down the A1 and home, but we suspect they kept drinking after the rest of us left on Sat night and by morning they said they would just go home on the main roads. That left Pete and I plus the 4 locals to have a 90 mile blast on some good and some bumpy trips across the various moors and valleys to be home to watch motoGP


A good weekend on the bikes and I am glad i brought my storm, we had a lot of fun.

Thanks again to Ian for taking the lead in setting this up plus his bbq hosting ont the Friday night.

It sounds like you had another great weekend, a good turnout 12 bikes, and the weather behaved itself

Thanks for the update Al

Chris.

[KermitLeFrog]

And a big thanks from me. Everyone (mostly...) behaved themselves and also kept the rubber side down. It was a real pleasure and I enjoyed myself immensely. Special thanks to Edward who took over the front when I got tired. The roads are a little bit different to the other places we go to and quite tricky and technical in places. One road was more bumpy one way than the other. I still haven't figured that one out. Anyway, thanks to everyone who attended, you made it a great weekend.

[AMCQ46]

OP Storm Northumberland - 24

Chapter 1 of 3

Brought in as an alternative to the Scotland meeting that we normally have at the same time of year, this was going to be our first time to experience the roads that Ian (Kermitlefrog) had been telling us about for the last few years.
So here is the extended tale of the fun we had……

Our base was going to be the picturesque market town of Hexham, and Ian was going to be our guide and master of entertainment, aided by his “gentlemen of tynedale” team Edward, Wellgroomed Andy and Big Steve.
One difference from our normal OP storm set up, was that we weren’t all going to be based at a single location like a bunkhouse. Most of the out of town visitors had sorted a room at the Travel Lodge in the centre of town, and Pete and I had Bunked up at Ian’s, with Pete on a camp bed in the living room and me in my van at the back of Ian’s yard.
This worked really well as it removes the number1 problem associated with being the organiser of an OP storm, namely the hassle & financial risk of sorting out the bunk house 12month in advance only for people to drop out leaving the organiser out of pocket, or everybody else paying more…… so this could be the ideal model to use for the future.

The original numbers showed at least 14 attending, but in the 2 weeks before kickoff we lost Husky James from NI (he was still trying to plaster his new house) and Grumpyfrog (Stuart) as he was otherwise occupied being grumpy. ……… so that left 12 of us.

The bikes here were as below:
The local tynedale team:
Kermitlefrog - Ducati 950 Multistrada
Edward - BMW S1000R
Wellgroomed- KTM 890 duke
Steve - BMW GS1250

Then Budds group:
Budd - KTM 1190SMT
Little Chris - BMW S1000R
Mick - KTM1190SMT
Huw - KTM 1290SuperDuke
Chris sukie - Yamaha MT09
Mick Curly - BMW GS1200

PeteL - Suzuki GSX1000GT
AMcQ46 - VTR1000

Van loaded

So as I mentioned before, 4 each for BMW and KTM as the most popular brands and only 3 of us on Japanese bikes and a stray Ducati to keep European bikes at 75% vs Japan 25%, and that was a similar ratio to anywhere we stopped and saw other groups of bikes!

With everybody except Pete and Wellgroomed available on Friday, Ian had planned a little 90mile ride to get us into the groove of the local roads. Before we set off, Ian gave us a pep talk about the local risks (sheep on the open hills, blind bends that tighten on you without warning, hairpins you dont expect, bumps and narrow roads in some places), then off we went to find all the above.

Friday route

Ian set a sporty pace as we went over the top of some wide open moorland and eventually dropped down into Middletown for a tea stop.

Middletown

From there we turned towards Alston out past the high force waterfall. I knew this road from many years ago, and it is fast and technical, so once we got past the various tourist hazards, Ian waved us past so any of us who wanted to could go play. Not needing to be asked twice, I set off to open the road and a few of the others gave chase as we headed towards some ominous black clouds that fortunately kept their contents away from where we were riding.
Once we dropped down into Alston we agreed that it would be fun to head over Hartside pass and the twisty technical drop down to Melmerby, even though we would have to do a U turn and come back up to Alston to work our way back to Hexham.

For this section Ian delegated leadership responsibility to Edward and he set a cracking pace over the top past the missing cafe and down the twisties. Once we hit Melmerby we turned round and went back up even faster.

Gas and snacks in the petrol station in Alston and then more great roads back to Hexham to get ready for the BBQ at 7.

Back at Ians house and having a beer we hear Pete arrive having done his 300 mile meander up from Bristol…… He needs a beer too.

BBQ, beer, talking baldrocks and music fill the rest of the night

Bbq

[sirch345]

A great read that Al, many thanks for taking the time to post and for adding the photo's
Good on you for taking the Storm

Chris.

[AMCQ46]

Part 2

Saturday dawns bright & sunny, although the same cant be said for a couple of the guys in the travel lodge :0 ;) !!!!! So with Pete and Wellgroomed now riding with us, we set off north this time to indulge in more fun riding.

Route Saturday

Ian again sets a sporty pace and we set off down some cracking technical roads before stopping for a fag break at Keilder reservoir.

Kielder dam

A quick petrol stop for my thirsty firestorm at the self service pump in Kielder village then more twisty B roads crossing the border into Scotland before the village of Saughtree. A right turn there now took us up a stunning road towards Bonchester Bridge, with a conflict between looking at the views and playing on the bends.
Left here on a small and fun A road and we find ourselves in Hawick where we start heading south again.

I can see on my satnav that we are about to get onto the B6399 heading down to Newcastleton, I have been told good things about this road so I push my way forward in the group so I am 2nd man behind Edward when we start to exit the town.
The road doesn’t disappoint, although narrow, it has a good surface and good visibility for much of the way, and its a pleasure riding behind Edward who combines local knowledge with a fast, flowing and smooth riding style.

Everyone else fills up with petrol in Newcastleton, so I top the storm up again so I know I will be able to make the final segment back into Hexham.
Once the bikes are filled we stop at a cafe on the Main Street and fill our bellies as well.

Newcastleton

From here it is a blast down another great B road taking us to Canonbie where we head south back into England at Longtown.

Once we get to Brampton we jump onto a fantastic A road that takes us east through the hills before curving south following the river Tyne (south) back towards Alston (again, its our favourite place ;)).

Alston again

Before Alston we stop at the Nook cafe near Slaggyford, but Ian is confused as to why it is not rammed with bikes as normal for a sunny weekend, but it turns out that there is a big motorcycle demonstration taking place in Newcastle because the council is banning bike parking on the famous Westgate Road, so they are all there.
A cup of very mediocre coffee there and we are an our way again arriving in Alston from a different direction to yesterday. From there we go north east over the tops of the moors on a technical A road, then Hayden Bridge and turn east to get back to Hexham.

We drop Budds lot off at the Travel lodge and then Pete, Ian & I go back to Ians where we crack open the beer left over from the BBQ.

At 7pm we head back to the Travel Lodge where Ian has arranged for a table for 12 so we can eat and drink to celebrate the successful completing of the 1st Northumberland OP storm.

Everybody is impressed with the roads and the pace that the leaders have set, so Ian has a success on his hands.

[AMCQ46]

A great read that Al, many thanks for taking the time to post and for adding the photo's
Good on you for taking the Storm

Chris.

On these roads you dont want too much bike ….. weight and power can become a handicap! So a flat barred Storm (with extra braking and suspension) is a very good option, as is a Ducati V2 Multi, a KTM 890 or an MT09. I think they were the bikes to have most fun on, although Edward was using dynamic pro setting on his suspension to good effect on the BMW M1000R

[AMCQ46]

Day 3 - the aftermath

During the meal on Saturday night we talked about options for riding on Sunday.
Pete & I weren’t leaving till Monday, and although the Travel lodge boys were heading home Sunday, their trip to South Yorkshire could be incorporated into the start of our ride to take them the fun way to the main roads.
All the Gentlemen of Tynedale were also keen to have a ride out, so when we parted company on Saturday evening this was the plan. However, in the cold light of Sunday morning, the Yorkshire crew were feeling a bit shabby, and had decided to main road it home, so we changed plan to do a highly modified and reversed version of Fridays direction.

With Wellgroomed now leading, we left Hexham via a new road onto the smooth sweeping Langley bends section before getting back onto the tops to head once more to our favourite petrol stop in Alston.

From Alston we were going to do an out & back to Middleton for a cuppa, so if you had been paying attention in chapter 1 you would know I like that road having had a good thrash on it on Friday.
This time going in the opposite direction and in much duller & colder conditions, I was back on the type of road I love, and just like Friday, I decided it was play time again……. so I went past Edward and Wellgroomed to let the VTR stretch its legs.
God that was harder work than I remembered of Friday, it felt much bumpier, and at the speed I was going, I was out of the seat a lot, but that just added to the fun.
As I waited in Middleton I was already thinking I needed to soften off the suspension to find a better setting, but talking to the rest when they arrived, they all said the same thing about how bloody bumpy it was, so I left it alone….. it wasn’t just me or my bike.

Coffee and a sausage bap at the same tee house as Friday then turn round and go back the way we just came, and although i wasnt full attack this time, the road didn’t feel as bumpy going south as it did going north!…. Go figure!

As we got to the outskirts of Alston we took a right turn taking us east on the A689 before a crazy tight, up hill, off camber left turn onto the B6295 up into the historic lead-mining villages of Allenheads and Sinderhope. As we crested one hill we could see the road winding into the valley below…. It looked like a fun snaking road but we could see 1 problem already… there was a mile long string of old bikes working their way along the road in the distance, and when we set off to overtake them we found the second problem……. This road was as bumpy as a MX track so there was no graceful flowing overtaking round the outside of bends, it was point squirt and bounce!! There was a few old Jap bikes in amongst the vintage ride out, so the VTR almost fitted in!

From there we worked our way back to Hexham to start on the beer again before watching the replay of Silverstone MotoGP with a Chinese meal in our laps. …. The perfect way to end a cracking weekend.

Monday morning I got my van changed from sleeping mode back to Bike carry mode ready for my trip back down the M6 to Worcester. Meanwhile Pete was packing his Panniers ready to continue his trip north taking in 4 days more touring. His loose plan was to head up close to Aberdeen on the east coast then across the Grampions to Ullapool before returning down the west coast.

Not sure he is home yet but when he is I expect him to update us with his extra trip.


So a sum up of a great weekend is a big thank you to Kermit and his tynedale team for the hospitality, route planning and ride leading…..it was great to be riding technical empty roads in fantastic scenery with skilled riders round you.


No doubt we will do this again

[sirch345]

A great read that Al, many thanks for taking the time to post and for adding the photo's
Good on you for taking the Storm

Chris.

On these roads you dont want too much bike ….. weight and power can become a handicap! So a flat barred Storm (with extra braking and suspension) is a very good option, as is a Ducati V2 Multi, a KTM 890 or an MT09. I think they were the bikes to have most fun on, although Edward was using dynamic pro setting on his suspension to good effect on the BMW M1000R

I get where you're coming from there Al

What a cracking Operation Storm meeting by all accounts, thanks for the follow up Part 2 and Day 3

Chris.

[KermitLeFrog]

We are planning to do this again in 2025. 29 to 31 August 2025. Main communication via WhatsApp. Let me know if you want an invite (to the group).