My ABR Highland Rally

MarkN
Posts: 1603
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:40 pm

My ABR Highland Rally

Post by MarkN »

Well, first of all I want to say a big thank you to Craig and everyone else that helped in any way in making this rally happen. I also want to say well done to everyone that made it to Ullapool.

For me personally the rally started on Wednesday morning when I set off 24 hours later than planned due to work. I rode from my home on the south coast of Dorset the 550 miles to Loch Lomand, where I was given a great spot to pitch my tent.
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From my tent I enjoyed the view out over the lake and then watched the sun set.
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In the morning I was woken up by lots of quacking but none of these guys owned up!
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My plan for Thursday was to ride to Skye via Glencoe, Fort William, Mallaig and then the ferry to Skye. Having never been to Scotland I wanted to see as much as I could and I couldn't get over the sheer, natural beauty of the Highlands. It's difficult to not stop every couple of miles to take pictures. As it was, the 250 miles to Skye took me the best part of 6 hours as it was! I stopped in the village of Glencoe and had a very tasty breakfast in the Glencoe Cafe - it's well worth a visit if you're in the area.
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I even found one of these on one corner! :woohoo:
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Finally, I made it to Mallaig
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I had a look around and bought a ticket to Skye, £15 for me and the bike
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The bike tied down it was off for a coffee in the ship's cafe.
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We were then underway.
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It was then another couple of hours to my campsite where I was advised to use the fence as some shelter from the storm that was forecast for that night. As someone who'll listen to local advice I pitched up in a very sheltered spot.
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The morning was quite bright and I stayed in my pit and cooked my breakfast B)
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The route to Ullapool on Friday was going to take me over the bridge from Skye, over the pass to Applecross and to follow the coastal trail to Ullapool.
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Going over the Applecross pass, this was a great surprise, not quite the Stelvio Pass but a very good effort.
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The views from the top were stunning.
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I finally made it to Ullapool, a total of 880 miles from my house.
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At a very windy camp site I joined many others in trying to peg down my tent and wondered around chatting to a few people.
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It was obvious that out of the 170+ people that had registered for the rally only about a third had shown up by tea time on Friday.
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Folks were coming and going and darting into their tents as the rain showers came and went. I took a break in the clouds to wonder into the town and buy a fish and chip supper - a very tasty piece of local, Scottish Haddock :)

I then went back to my tent and took shelter from the wind and rain and that's where I stayed until the morning. During the night, I woke up a couple of times expecting to have been blown to the east coast but my tent stayed put, thankfully!

As people woke up in the morning, everyone looked a bit shell shocked and it was obvious that the storm was not blowing itself out. Craig called everyone together and gave a bit of a briefing. He also explained, quite sensibly, that the planned rideouts had been cancelled due to the weather. Steve was still going to run his but head eastwards and everyone was welcome to join him. Craig also informed us that the weather was due to get worse later in the day. With this information I decided to make a move home. I did feel a bit of a wimp going home but the thought of another sleepless night followed by a long ride home didn't hold much weight. I packed up the bike and left Ullapool at 10.30am.

If I wanted to ride home, my sat nav was telling me it was 670 miles via the direct route. So, with one eye on the weather, and feeling a bit down I headed off. I stopped at Stirling for lunch and fuel and then made it to Birmingham before stopping for fuel again. One of the advantages of a GS Adventure is a 350 mile fuel range, if only it had a seat to match! I finally got home at 9.30pm.

Apart from the storms, I had a great weekend, I really enjoyed my first trip to the Highlands, it won't be my last trip there!
Sprockette
Posts: 1462
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2010 7:34 pm

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by Sprockette »

Sounds like you had a great time. Scotland is beautiful. I'll have to get myself to one of these rallies and meet a few more of you ABR peeps, I'm missing out!
GUNDOG
Posts: 564
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:46 pm

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by GUNDOG »

I was good to meet you Mark, glad you got home safe..

Phil.
Treat every situation like a dog..

If you can't hump it or eat it, piss on it and walk away.
MarkN
Posts: 1603
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:40 pm

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by MarkN »

You too Phil. Thanks for the top tip on the seat, after my ride home I'm looking forward to getting one even more!!
coyote
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Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by coyote »

hi good to meet you all, great pics.
Chris
Phil
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Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 6:46 am

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by Phil »

hold on hold on....theres something fishy about this report! how come most of your photos seem to disaply Scotland as dry and bright???!! :cheer:

i planned to do the Mallaig ferry too but the weather was so bad i changed my mind. Did you have to tie down your bike yourself?

Great report with some crackin photos, glad you enjoyed it.
MarkN
Posts: 1603
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:40 pm

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by MarkN »

With my hand on heart all the pictures were taken en route to Ullapool this weekend.

It had rained a bit getting to Mallaig but was had stopped when I got there. Friday started really nice around Skye and Applecross, although I did get very wet on the last leg to Ullapool and was amazed at the wind there.

Getting onto the ferry was easy, they loaded me on first and a deck hand tied the bike down. They used a cushion on the seat, told me to leave it on the side stand and in gear and the ratchet strapped it down. He even came back to take it off!

Shame about your trip Phil, hopefully you'll make the next one?
Stubbsie
Posts: 203
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:09 pm

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by Stubbsie »

Great ride report there Mark, pity about the weather, I was in Glencoe start of September saw nothing but low cloud, rain & experienced 71 MPH gusts riding across Rannoch Moor.
Good trip though, fab pics & thanks for sharing.
Phil
Posts: 1205
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 6:46 am

Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by Phil »

yes...there's always a next time. Maybe next time i should come with you as you seem to bring the weather with you :)

You took some really nice photos. About half of mine look like they were taken at night as it was so dark/ cloudy / rainy :angry:

i had heard stories about the deck hands on those scotland ferries, and they weren't very nice stories. (bikes being strapped down over the tank and so on)
Tramp
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Re: My ABR Highland Rally

Post by Tramp »

Thanks for the pictures...Scotland is a very nice place especially the West coast above Oban..but it does get windy..

I do think that the ride to and from these meets can be more interesting than the actual meet.. :)
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