met up with andy "rossendale rider" at the tickled trout preston on saturday 1st september at 9.00am. steve "Mr wolf" wanted to go, but could not get a pass :sad: tuff look steve.. anyway back to the trip :grin: headed off through the lake's stopping off at windermere and various other places on the way to loch lomond, got to the hotel at loch lomond at 4.30 pm got settled in, then had a few beer's and a very nice fish and chips then a few more beers to wash it all down :smiley: also took a walk to the local pub called the "village inn" where we had a few more beer's :smiley: early next morning had a nice full breakfast then set of to tour the loch's also visiting oban,fort william, then headed to our second night b&b in "Ayr" arrived at 6.00pm, where the owner allowed us to put ours bike's in his garage :smiley: a quick shower and out for a few beer's and a very nice home made Angus steak pie, chips and 3 veg washed down with a few more beers. next morning had a very nice full english breakfast then set off at 9.00am heading back home through castle douglas, windermere,kendal,ullswater,carnforth,morecambe, joining the M6 at lancaster waving "bye bye" to andy as he branch off on the m61. excellent time :smiley: covering 811 miles, must do it again soon.. ho! :yes:
first pics at windermere
entitled "thorn between 2 roses.. sorry winston :whistling:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5666.jpg)
suppose this beemer look ok on it's own.. till the gtr's turned up, that is..! :grin:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5664.jpg)
view of windermere
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5668.jpg)
another view of windermere
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5667.jpg)
view of the first night hotel Arrochar situated on "loch long"
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5674.jpg)
view of the water fall at loch long
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5687.jpg)
view of loch long just out side the hotel
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5673.jpg)
just leaving the hotel at loch long
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5686.jpg)
andy getting ready for the off..
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5683.jpg)
pic of the best colour gtr with a very nice view of loch long.
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5685.jpg)
met theses 3 guys who had 3 very nice gold wings
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5684.jpg)
few pics around the lochs and of various places :smiley:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5694.jpg)
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5692.jpg)
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5693.jpg)
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5672.jpg)
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5699.jpg)
another nice view and the "black mount" background scenery isn't that bad either :smiley:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5700.jpg)
andy getting the brews in..
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5697.jpg)
we get wet :sad: but soon dried out :smiley:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5698.jpg)
stop off for a brew.. andy trying to work out how to remove his helmet :wink:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5702.jpg)
another nice view and the scenery isn't bad either :grin:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5701.jpg)
second night at b&b in ayr
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5707.jpg)
bikes put to bed..
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5705.jpg)
my good self and andy enjoying a few beers :smiley: I'm the one with slightly more hair on top :whistling:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5711.jpg)
theses are what the beers look like before the previous pic of us enjoying them :grin:
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5713.jpg)
view of ullswater lake
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5719.jpg)
another view ullswater lake
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5717.jpg)
yet another view of ullswater lake..
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5721.jpg)
last stop off at morecambe for a break..
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5724.jpg)
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/DSCF5725-1.jpg)
Dave/Andy, welcome back. :clap:
It wasn't that I couldn't get a pass from home but I couldn't get released from work. There will be other times and other trips, (hopefully).
Wheres the rest of the photos? Did your camera break? :whistling:
Scotland has been muted by mates down here for a weeks ride around next year, these pictures make it more interesting, we shall have to give it serious consideration.
Alan
Well Dave/Andy ... that looks like a cracking trip ..all the usual scenery with plenty of beers with fish and chips too ..... doesn't get any better than that then !!! :smiley:
A bit wet at times but it doesn't look like you got cold at all.
Windermere looks magical .. just so vast and still.
Glad to hear and see that clearly enjoyed yourselves and thanks for sharing it all with us .. love it ! :laugh:
Rusty, calm down, calm down. Its all in hand.....next year will soon be here!! :mfr_lol:
Quote from: Lonewolf on September 03, 2012, 09:08:46 PM
Dave/Andy, welcome back. :clap:
It wasn't that I couldn't get a pass from home but I couldn't get released from work. There will be other times and other trips, (hopefully).
Wheres the rest of the photos? Did your camera break? :whistling:
I'm sure andy will be along soon with some more pics :smiley: I don't want to "hog" the moment :grin:
Very, very nice indeed. It is a biking paradise, and scenery that is as good as it gets. Great pickies. Can I put my name down for the next one ?.
And a 1600GT too - Lovely.
Go all that way and you can't get away from them ! :mfr_lol:
Top weekend 2Kwacks so thanks very much.
As Dave has already aluded to the route, food and beer so no need to mention that. The weather was a mixed bag, no heavy rain but sadly some low cloud in the west of Scotland making the roads a little damp and slippery as I led out on the A83 from Arrochar to Lochgilphead. I had a couple of front end twitchy moments on my standard BTs with 4k on them. Dave had the same tyre but no issues. Interestingly, we kept comparing average mpg, I was showing a mere 45ish whilst Dave showed an average of 52ish, we were both putting in roughly 22 pounds of fuel at each of our 4 stops.
Heading back across Glen Coe on the A82, the weather improved and we had a hoot on the brilliant sweeping bends. We stopped off on The Black Mount and had a cuppa and a chat to a lone piper whom Dave recognised from about 40 years or so ago! Making our way back south from Tarbet we somehow managed to cross the Erskine bridge 3 more times and then headed to our Sunday nights accommodation at the very nice Coila Guest House in Ayr. The owners Charlie and Hazel were very friendly, the rooms big and comfortable and the breakfast was to restaurant standards. Dave managed another full Scottish whilst I had the smoked haddock and poached eggs. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend the place.
On Monday we set off from Ayr to Castle Douglas on the A713 which I can only describe as the best road I've ever been on. I would even consider a ride up there just to do that road again. It was a combination of great scenery with long open bends and some twisties which had the bike flicking from side to side. The weather at this point was fantastic and the road surface was tops.
We were soon back in the Lake District and having a good tour around the usual places but with a bit more traffic then we had been used to. Both our bikes were beyond reproach (of course) and we had covered around 800 miles.
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/IMGA0053.jpg)
The Japanese obviously know the best colour!
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0706.jpg)
So you're off swanning around Scotland for 2 days?
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0682.jpg)
View from Arrochar Hotel
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0684.jpg)
Dave (the older one)
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0687.jpg)
Waterfall on Loch Long
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0694.jpg)
Loch Linnhe
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0690.jpg)
Sound of kerrera Oban
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/IMGA0061.jpg)
Dave on Glen Coe working out how to cross the Erskine Bridge 3 times without me noticing.
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0698.jpg)
Coila Guest House Ayr.
(http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/rossendalerider/DSCN0707.jpg)
Ullswater
ok andy.. fair enough :surrender: I did make a booby or 2 :whistling: crossing the erskine bridge :smiley: but the 3rd time we meant to :grin: suppose subconsciously I didn't really want to leave scotland :smiley: defo had a great time.. ho! :yes: and the gtr's were pushed to there limits a few times on them twisties :smiley: all in all.. excellent time :clap: must do it again soon :smiley: next time maybe a few more will go :yes: and even the wolf may attend :whistling:
Great photos...
Makes me want to jump on baby and disappear for a few months around europe again.. :grin:
Did you get to the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge?
Quote from: Lonewolf on September 04, 2012, 07:28:43 PM
Did you get to the Commando memorial at Spean Bridge?
unfortunatley we never :sad: would of liked to have visited more than we did, but needed to make our way to our second b&b at Ayr :smiley: we didn't arrive there till 6.00pm :grin: we lost 30 minutes going back and forth over the Erskine bridge :whistling:
Great Pics, we have the best places to go - if would only stop raining. Thanks for posting the story
Donald
Dave, thats the problem with Scotland.....no matter how much you actually explore it there's always so much more that you didn't get to visit. It's just so vast.
Pretty sure I saw you guys in Keswick (I was bike-less unfortunately), didn't see the BMW though
Great trip & pics :clap:
Quote from: Bondu on September 05, 2012, 06:53:27 PM
Pretty sure I saw you guys in Keswick (I was bike-less unfortunately), didn't see the BMW though
Great trip & pics :clap:
Mr bondu.. let's look at the odds of it being us then! you seen the best colour magnesium gtr :rolleyes: and one of those greenie gtr's :grin: together, riding through keswick on saturday morning the 1st september :whistling: I was going to say, why didn't you say hello..! but just rememberd, we were only riding through keswick :smiley: the reason you never seen the b.m.w 1600 gt is because the photo of the b.m.w was taken in windermere :wink:
despite disagreeing with your colour preference (GREEN looked faster standing still!), both bikes sounded the mutts, great muted exhaust notes
:biker3:
Very good chance is was us two. We rode around 5 times looking for somewhere to park probably getting a bit throatier each time! :clap:
Excellent pics, beautiful scenery only spoiled by the 'odd' beemer :mfr_lol: thanks for sharing :clap: