Thursday Morning , I had a lovely drive up to SteveT's were I was greeted with Coffee (Thanks Steve) , Raymo had also decided to meet for the convoy.
After a quick chat we headed for Ullpool , via some scary wet side roads , with a surprise ford (which raymo did not expect either).
Safely arrived at Skiach services for lunch
Suitably refreshed we headed for ullapool..
Was happy to see that quite a few people had already arrived at the campsite.
Friday morning was blowing a bit and with the rain was not looking too good , but Steve and myself headed north to see !
On the way to Durness , a pic looking up the glen.
After a very wet start the weather started to brighten and on arriving at Durness the sun shone .. A very short discussion on where to get refreshments , we headed for the chocolate factory .. yummmm
The weather stayed bright until Loch Hope , where the heavens opened and I had difficult moments on the single track road (grass in middle). We were stopped by the local postman, who was saying that a camper van had left the road 7 miles up and the recovery truck was making it's way down the glen.
Thank you postman for the heads up .
Funny moment about half way down the loch , stopped for drink and pee, in the middle of nowhere.
Steve is half way through his pee and a car comes around corner , the woman passenger must have been eating lemons by the look on her face .... Haha Oh how I laughed ..
We caught up with the campervan / recovery truck further down the Glen , but only had to wait for about a minute , as the camper had been pulled out of the bog . The driver had got stuck 3 feet into the peat . But all looked in good spirits as we waved to the camper driver as we hurried to the main road.
Safely to Altnaharra we decided to make progress to out run the gathering storm ..
We made it to Falls of Shin for coffee and watched the dark clouds pass overhead .
The run to Ledmore junction was now on the cards with a shocking side wind , now the transalp does not like wind and handles like a pig . But after hanging on and keeping it more or less in a straight line we arrived back in Ullapool.
We were cheered by the growing band of like minded folk that had gathered , but now as the wind was increasing, it was obvious that it was going to be a long night.
Awakening early on Saturday , I went for a walk around the campsite to see the damage to not only the tents but to the spirits of some of the campers. Was not easy for me as you would expect .
A little time later I had a meeting with Jim regarding our planned rideouts (Thanks Jim) , and we decided it would by better to cancel ours. SteveT went ahead with a modified rideout.
In the afternoon BabyV and myself headed out for a short ride and had some not bad weather . We met Austin after his recce of the planned sunday rideout and was telling us of his struggle to turn his bike . We said goodbye and headed for pictures at the top of the road , then headed for a small track all was great until we stopped to turn around.
All was going well until BabyV's bike fell off it's side stand on a nasty down hill track . But we got it up and turned with only damage was a broken front indicator lens. We beated a retreat to the main road and back to the campsite.
On arrival we heard the stories of crashed bikes and I was very worried . Alba (Rob) hitting some chippings and the bike pinning him down , only for (The Mountie) to lift the bike off him .
And the incredible Nino the flying Italian , crashing with a car .. And being taken to Inverness with a suspected broken leg.
Later on Saturday evening , got the good news that Alba was home safe after packing up with help at the campsite and riding home .. Ok but with a shoulder injury .
Even later , heard stories that Nino had been seen in Ullapool in the pub .. !!
Sunday Morning dawned , and Austin his band where getting ready for there off road adventure , I was down to do this run , but now my bad back was catching up on me and the thought of 20 miles offroad was a no go for me.
So I struck out on my own for Lairg , had a great morning , the wind had eased and sun came out ..
Lovely ! But i am remembering the saying "Calm before a storm" but pressed on to Bonar Bridge , found a small offroad track , went to Falls of Shin for Late lunch .
Weather was still nice but the wind was rising again .
The only way back to the Ullapool was the Ledmore Road , which whilst was quite windy was doable , Arrived at Ledmore Junction and stopped in a Passing place to have a fag and check the weather south .
It was not looking good , now with a massive side wind , I would approximate 50-60 mph gusts .
Time was pushing on and sitting on the bike decided to go for it ..
I was overtaking cars doing 20 mph , the mighty transalp was all over the road but managed to at least keep within the white lines . Thank goodness it was not single track roads .. I did not stop on this road as worried the bike would be blown over .
Now I am not regilous but I was saying a prayer inside my helmet , "Please let me get back to Ullapool safely"
Coming over the hill and seeing Ullapool before me , I was elated, and car drivers were looking at me Punching the air must have thought I was a total loon !
Austins band had made it back safely as well , after their offroad trip and tales of how great it was filled the Air . I was still elated after driving through some of the most difficult conditions I have seen.
Then to my surprise , Nino the Flying Italian turned up and he was fine , we talked for a while about what had happened and his bike . Hopefully the insurance company got it sorted Nino .
We headed off to the Seaforth for supper , and had a nice meal and chat about daring do's .
Then everyone else found out why I don't visit pubs much anymore , as I have an nack of attracting the nutters. First the really drunk Spanish Guy who was causing chaos . Then after he had been dealt with some very loud drunk / drugged up young Lassies, homed in on me and we had a very nice chat ,,hmm ..
After escaping the pub we headed back to the campsite and everyone heading for tents for another night of windy conditions.
Awoke on Monday morning still in one peice , tent was fine , everyone else's tents had survived .
Packing commenced and I said goodbyes to the leaving brave adventurers , I was last off the site after doing a walk around for rubbish, (none to speak of), you would have never known that there had been a rally there . ! Thanks
Leaving Ullapool and heading south towards home.. A nice day , just a little windy .
Found some great backroads to enjoy and spent some time exploring .
Home at last , cold and hungry .. But totally elated with the adventure I had been through , memories that will last a lifetime .
Footnote : When bad weather strikes , I can think back to this years Ullapool Rally and how I overcome the elements on my trusty Transalp . The issues and problems we had and how we overcome them , never giving up .
Life is an Adventure !! Go for It !
