Steve T
Well-Known Member
Where to begin. Well, with packed bikes and full fuel tanks usually.
With Dent set as our destination, eldest son and I headed south via a slight de-tour thanks to Aberdeenshire council deciding that this was a good week to start repair work on Gairnsheil bridge.
Without one u-turn (there would be plenty of those throughout the weekend) we found ourselves on the Braemar road and heading south in most un-seasonal sunny weather. “Un-seasonal” I hear you say, “Iit is nearly summer don’t you know!” Well, sun is un-seasonal in Scotland, don’t you know.
Without any drama we wended our way past Perth and Edinburgh (via the new shinny bridge), only stopping in Edinburgh for fuel – for the bikes and us.
We paused In Langholm to phone a friend, then headed for Cumbria University in Carlisle after receiving directions from the caller. Spent a very pleasant hour chatting with a man I’d not seen for too many years, then emptied my wallet into his and took ownership of a very large and un-used Vango Omega 350 tent. Now I could go camping at Dent . Cheers Jim – Ace tent.
What followed was a wandering, u-turn infused ride to Kirkby Stephen for more fuel for machines and man, then a very enjoyable ride down to Dent where next to no-one was there to greet us.
This was the size of the gathering once we had set camp:-
A very sociable evening was had with Lowflyer and Rickskye, both of whom had found their way south via a route neither of them can remember – nothing new there then!
Lowflyer reflecting on his favourite liquor
The evening ended with Rick being the sole occupant of one of the village pubs, supervising the staff as they cleaned the beer pump pipes, taking every opportunity to quality check the beer as the task progressed. Apparently there are two 2 o’clocks in everyday – Rick knows – he saw both of them.
Friday is Riding day
Having welcomed yet another un-seasonally bright and shinny day, Rick surfaced and declared that he was visiting the cheese factory in Hawes, to continue his window licking saga – the one he started on his last visit to the cheese factory.
I was nominated as front gunner for a little ride into the Lake district, with an assault on Wrynose and Hardknot passes briefed before we headed out into the brightness. Now, I had selected Big Bird, my V-Strom, for this trip south, as I really had no intention of doing any dirt riding. So set on NOT doing any dirt riding on the Strom was I that before leaving home I removed the homemade alloy sump guard and fitted the plastic exhaust cover.
Bet you can guess what we did before we got to the passes! Yep – we did a short, dead end trail that eldest & I had done last year.
Lowflyer decided that his bike needed a wash on the way off of the trail . . . .
Eldest declared, after we got back to the tar, that it was far easier last year on the F800GS!
No shit, Sherlock!
We did, eventually, get up, over and through Wrynose and Hardknot passes. They don’t get any easier, do they, those passes! We had to stop for a selfie on the way though – seems to be the “in thing” to do just now, apparently.
Eldest declared, after we had ascended and descended both passes, that he most definetly does NOT LIKE downhill hairpins. Me, I don’t like any of the bloody things on either of those passes!
Had a very interesting chat with a couple of German biking tourists at the Roman fort parking area (who knew, Roman forts had parking areas), one of whom showed impeccable taste in riding machinery, just like myself. Yep, he was riding a Strom.
“Food” shouted my stomach.
“Whisky” shouted Lowflyers.
Found sustenance at a little choo choo stop that nestled under the trees at the base of Hardknot pass and partook of some solids – much to Lowflyers disgust. This ickle choo choo paid the station a visit whilst we were munching . . . . .
A very loose plan for the ride back to Dent was formed whilst we filled our bellies, so off we set, following the loose plan. Part of that Plan stupidly involved yet another trail – Yes, I know, I wasn’t going to do any trails on my road tyre equipped bike on this trip! Eldest wisely decided to give this little dirt trip a miss, electing to meet us at the village at the other end of the trail. Did he know something Lowflyer and I didn’t?
So I find myself facing downhill on a grassy trail, with Lowflyer following behind. A little too close behind as it turns out.
The grass gave way to dirt, then gravel, then rutted gravel, then rutted grass and gravel and peat! All of this whilst being dragged ever onwards by gravity. “Oh Feck" flew through my tiny cranium several times as the going got tough. Well, on a road tyre equipped 1000cc V-Strom with no sump guard, it seemed tough. Lowflyer was doing what he does on the loose stuff – playing fast and loose. A couple of picture paint a few words apparently . . . .
Lowflyer claiming a bit of England as his own . . . .
A trail with a view – who knew!
A goodly bit further on and the going was still loose and rutted and peaty and grassy and, eventually, really quite steep. At really quite steep point, the track disappeared off to the right at 90 degrees. Self preservation kicked in and I lost some speed, choose my line and trundled through the left – right bends . . . . . only to hear a crunching sound from behind.
Lowflyer, apparently cos I was going toooooo slooooow, lost the front end and had to step off of his bike. I briefly caught sight of him jumping up before I had to look ahead down the ever downhill steepening trail. I managed to safely park the bike about 2 thirds down the hill, then started walking back to see how Lowflyer was getting on. As I got to the bends, he appeared round the last corner, holding his bike back using the clutch as a brake via the non running engine. Nowt broken, so downwards we went, then steeply upwards and off of the trail, much to the surprise of a trial bike riding local, who gawped as he held the last gate open for us.
Found eldest son at end of lane, waiting and wondering where the feck we’d been - we’d taken some time to do a little downhill track.
Ride back to Dent was, thankfully, un-eventful – I’d had enough events today to last me all weekend, thank you very much.
Many more tents had sprouted from the grass by the time we got back, making a very nice spectacle as the sunset . . . .
Here endeth Friday.
Saturdays dawn over a field of sleepy campers . . . .
Saturday was always going to be a mixed bag for me and mine, as eldest had a hospital visit scheduled for mid-day. Being the good dad like wot I am, I waved him goodbye as I set off for a trundle round some roads local to Dent. Can you guess where this picture was taken? (no prizes)
Short ride over some of the great roads that fill this part of the country and only got bounced by low-flying sports bikes once.
Back to the campsite before mid-day, then sat and chewed the fat with Austin who’d ridden up from Preston. Great to see you Austin and catch up - hows the new wheels?
Sunday, and surprise surprise, eldest is up before me! Even Lowflyer was out of his pit before the village clock rang out 7 bells. We got fed, got packed, said our farewells and were on the road by 8am. Un-eventful and very pleasant ride back along a route I’ve done several times, only taking in the dual carriageway sections around Edinburgh and the road to Perth.
847 miles placed enjoyably on Big Birds odometer, with eldest having covered another 120+ on top of that with his trip to hospital.
Can’t wait till the next trip to the Yorkshire Dales.
Steve T
With Dent set as our destination, eldest son and I headed south via a slight de-tour thanks to Aberdeenshire council deciding that this was a good week to start repair work on Gairnsheil bridge.
Without one u-turn (there would be plenty of those throughout the weekend) we found ourselves on the Braemar road and heading south in most un-seasonal sunny weather. “Un-seasonal” I hear you say, “Iit is nearly summer don’t you know!” Well, sun is un-seasonal in Scotland, don’t you know.
Without any drama we wended our way past Perth and Edinburgh (via the new shinny bridge), only stopping in Edinburgh for fuel – for the bikes and us.
We paused In Langholm to phone a friend, then headed for Cumbria University in Carlisle after receiving directions from the caller. Spent a very pleasant hour chatting with a man I’d not seen for too many years, then emptied my wallet into his and took ownership of a very large and un-used Vango Omega 350 tent. Now I could go camping at Dent . Cheers Jim – Ace tent.
What followed was a wandering, u-turn infused ride to Kirkby Stephen for more fuel for machines and man, then a very enjoyable ride down to Dent where next to no-one was there to greet us.
This was the size of the gathering once we had set camp:-
A very sociable evening was had with Lowflyer and Rickskye, both of whom had found their way south via a route neither of them can remember – nothing new there then!
Lowflyer reflecting on his favourite liquor
The evening ended with Rick being the sole occupant of one of the village pubs, supervising the staff as they cleaned the beer pump pipes, taking every opportunity to quality check the beer as the task progressed. Apparently there are two 2 o’clocks in everyday – Rick knows – he saw both of them.
Friday is Riding day
Having welcomed yet another un-seasonally bright and shinny day, Rick surfaced and declared that he was visiting the cheese factory in Hawes, to continue his window licking saga – the one he started on his last visit to the cheese factory.
I was nominated as front gunner for a little ride into the Lake district, with an assault on Wrynose and Hardknot passes briefed before we headed out into the brightness. Now, I had selected Big Bird, my V-Strom, for this trip south, as I really had no intention of doing any dirt riding. So set on NOT doing any dirt riding on the Strom was I that before leaving home I removed the homemade alloy sump guard and fitted the plastic exhaust cover.
Bet you can guess what we did before we got to the passes! Yep – we did a short, dead end trail that eldest & I had done last year.
Lowflyer decided that his bike needed a wash on the way off of the trail . . . .
Eldest declared, after we got back to the tar, that it was far easier last year on the F800GS!
No shit, Sherlock!
We did, eventually, get up, over and through Wrynose and Hardknot passes. They don’t get any easier, do they, those passes! We had to stop for a selfie on the way though – seems to be the “in thing” to do just now, apparently.
Eldest declared, after we had ascended and descended both passes, that he most definetly does NOT LIKE downhill hairpins. Me, I don’t like any of the bloody things on either of those passes!
Had a very interesting chat with a couple of German biking tourists at the Roman fort parking area (who knew, Roman forts had parking areas), one of whom showed impeccable taste in riding machinery, just like myself. Yep, he was riding a Strom.
“Food” shouted my stomach.
“Whisky” shouted Lowflyers.
Found sustenance at a little choo choo stop that nestled under the trees at the base of Hardknot pass and partook of some solids – much to Lowflyers disgust. This ickle choo choo paid the station a visit whilst we were munching . . . . .
A very loose plan for the ride back to Dent was formed whilst we filled our bellies, so off we set, following the loose plan. Part of that Plan stupidly involved yet another trail – Yes, I know, I wasn’t going to do any trails on my road tyre equipped bike on this trip! Eldest wisely decided to give this little dirt trip a miss, electing to meet us at the village at the other end of the trail. Did he know something Lowflyer and I didn’t?
So I find myself facing downhill on a grassy trail, with Lowflyer following behind. A little too close behind as it turns out.
The grass gave way to dirt, then gravel, then rutted gravel, then rutted grass and gravel and peat! All of this whilst being dragged ever onwards by gravity. “Oh Feck" flew through my tiny cranium several times as the going got tough. Well, on a road tyre equipped 1000cc V-Strom with no sump guard, it seemed tough. Lowflyer was doing what he does on the loose stuff – playing fast and loose. A couple of picture paint a few words apparently . . . .
Lowflyer claiming a bit of England as his own . . . .
A trail with a view – who knew!
A goodly bit further on and the going was still loose and rutted and peaty and grassy and, eventually, really quite steep. At really quite steep point, the track disappeared off to the right at 90 degrees. Self preservation kicked in and I lost some speed, choose my line and trundled through the left – right bends . . . . . only to hear a crunching sound from behind.
Lowflyer, apparently cos I was going toooooo slooooow, lost the front end and had to step off of his bike. I briefly caught sight of him jumping up before I had to look ahead down the ever downhill steepening trail. I managed to safely park the bike about 2 thirds down the hill, then started walking back to see how Lowflyer was getting on. As I got to the bends, he appeared round the last corner, holding his bike back using the clutch as a brake via the non running engine. Nowt broken, so downwards we went, then steeply upwards and off of the trail, much to the surprise of a trial bike riding local, who gawped as he held the last gate open for us.
Found eldest son at end of lane, waiting and wondering where the feck we’d been - we’d taken some time to do a little downhill track.
Ride back to Dent was, thankfully, un-eventful – I’d had enough events today to last me all weekend, thank you very much.
Many more tents had sprouted from the grass by the time we got back, making a very nice spectacle as the sunset . . . .
Here endeth Friday.
Saturdays dawn over a field of sleepy campers . . . .
Saturday was always going to be a mixed bag for me and mine, as eldest had a hospital visit scheduled for mid-day. Being the good dad like wot I am, I waved him goodbye as I set off for a trundle round some roads local to Dent. Can you guess where this picture was taken? (no prizes)
Short ride over some of the great roads that fill this part of the country and only got bounced by low-flying sports bikes once.
Back to the campsite before mid-day, then sat and chewed the fat with Austin who’d ridden up from Preston. Great to see you Austin and catch up - hows the new wheels?
Sunday, and surprise surprise, eldest is up before me! Even Lowflyer was out of his pit before the village clock rang out 7 bells. We got fed, got packed, said our farewells and were on the road by 8am. Un-eventful and very pleasant ride back along a route I’ve done several times, only taking in the dual carriageway sections around Edinburgh and the road to Perth.
847 miles placed enjoyably on Big Birds odometer, with eldest having covered another 120+ on top of that with his trip to hospital.
Can’t wait till the next trip to the Yorkshire Dales.
Steve T
