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This will not be a very long report I'm afraid as the sun is out on this Sunday morning and so I will take my last day off and go ride somewhere nice
But I wanted to share the day that I had yesterday 09 April 2011.An impromptu ride to Scotland, perhaps to Oban or take in the Galloway Forest Park was about the only idea ranged on this and I met up with Lancaster Mick at Tickle Trout for 9am. I was up at 5am all school boy giddy that I was about to go riding on my bike. I ride just about everyday and have done for years but I still get Christmas excited about going on a ride!
Sitting at the now fully open Trickle Trout services I filled up and grabbed a drink as I waited for Mick. Other riders had pitched up waiting to go on rides with friends and I went over and chatted for a while. They would be heading off to Wenslydale, you know the Cheese place!
But then Mick turned up on his shiny new GS1200 BMW and a huge grin on his face, he was rightly proud of his new girl. I’ve never sat on a GS before to be honest I was surprised how light they are. They look clumsy arse beasts to me with those big metal things hug out the front sides! But not true as she actually felt very flickable!
We would have a quick chat in the morning sun over some nicotine and went for the idea of the Galloway Forest Park but take the non motorway route - glorious.
Zipping up the A6 and some old back roads the sun shone, the bikes roar and the fields zipp past, outlined with slate gray stone wall and the odd privet hedge system. Dips, lifts, distressed tarmac, chicane and flats all these to play with.
I had not used the A6 to that extent and was loving the small villages and nestled churches that pop into view every so often in the Lancashire countryside.
I got a little carried away as I gassed out of the curves taking pole position and could see Mick taking the lines I did. He must have thought that I knew what I was doing! For the most part I do but then entering a chicane on the sat nav I banked and was ready to power out of turn two to come up the hill but there was no hill and it was a dip. A dip that was attached to another chicane!
Now in the wrong position I was greeted with a Landrover Discovery coming the other way. There is a nasty little condition that bikers can have called Target Fixation, you ride at the thing you are looking at! I was looking at the front grill of a big arse car! Only for a second but that’s a long time on a bike. Hitting the brakes and banking hard away as I forced myself to look away to the side and try and see if Mick was about to mount me and my bike I dropped to about 10 mpg and about an inch on my side of the white line!
At the T junction ahead we roared laughing at my screw up on the bends and Mike spoke of how pleased with his new double disk brakes he was!
We sliced up the English countryside past river and dale and fields of budding green crops before a small town would come and go with the old sand brick buildings and large pub features.
Time for a snack and we stopped off at someplace up North, I was not keeping track of names to be honest and just loving the ride and the roads, Mick may know where we had stopped.
A quick plate of chips as the Pub BBQ was still raw and sitting in the sun with the protection of the Pub brolly some guy came over to ask if were part of the ride out for some lad that had died? We knew nothing about this and it seemed that about 400 bikers would soon be here to lead a ride. It was good to hear that the Devil’s Deciples and the Satan Slaves would be going are still going strong but we scoffed the chips and head off. Not wanting to be cutting past a slow bike ride of 400 strong to get out of the town!
On to Scotland and all in all it would be around 180 miles of A and B roads that we had cut up. It was not until we hit the A75 I think it was that I could see a man walking along, white t-shirt and logging something over his shoulder. Not shock there as many people take a walk and I cut out to the middle to give plenty of room. Only when I got to about 10 metres of him that I could see what he was lugging around and I almost came off the bike!
It was a bloody crucifix!! A full size wooden crucifix and nothing around for about 30 miles that I had covered. Where the fuck was he going with a crucifix?? I had thought to ask but the 1000 yard stare on his face and the real Infantry on a mission march to his gait just sent the message of ‘leave me alone’ less I be killed as ‘God told him to!’.
Mick and I stopped at a Tea room at New Galloway and asked if both had seen what we thought we had seen walking down the road. Mick mentioned it was Lent and I rather lapsed on the whole Christian thing and thought back. Pancakes and fish on Friday was all I could come up with, giving up sweets and doing a collection for the Good Shepherd fund, there was no mention of marching your arse in the sun with a full size chunk of Cedar! Each to their own and I hope he got to where he was going - I just hope it was not for someone else that God had told him to nail up!! I had a vision of him getting tired and turning up at a hotel asking if they could ’put him up for the night’ and it made me laugh out loud.
Onwards we go to the Park, it was an amazing place with the most fun roads that I have been on for some time now. The Queens Road or something like that is the main road that cuts past the trail into the main body of the park. You will find that here there are many places to stop and get snaps and there are many visitor centres too! I was looking for the GlenTrool centre.
This is not on the satnav and you have to plot and plan the damn thing but it takes nothing away from the beauty of the 300 square miles of play ground for you and your bike!
We had made it to the place but I was looking for the lodge as part of the Adventure Bike Rider Nature Rally and could I find it? Could I buggery!! The only thing that was on the map for the OS was down as a Private home and no through fare. So I popped down there and on this small beautiful area where a few houses that sat on the Loch shore and an old gray building falling into disrepair.
The Lodge has closed down and the visitor centre is a new affair about 3 miles back. I recommend you still go down towards the Loch as you get some great views and there is the Bruce Stone to have a look at. Seems there was a battle in the Glen where the Bruce started a 7 year campaign against the English - I’m sure you have all seen Braveheart!!
Here are some snaps I got of the Park and I would have gotten more but due to the amazing roads I just could not bring myself to pull over and Mick agreed. Once you are riding this place with hawks sailing over head, dark hills jutting up to the crystal blue sky and a mix of surface that ranged from gravel to sleek tarmac - you just don’t want to stop riding. There are curves and twisty bends for just mile upon glorious mile of natural wonder waiting for you. The odd biker comes the other was with a cheery wave as you plod along at about 50 mph just soaking in how good it is to be a biker.
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All too soon to head back and I would to spend perhaps a long weekend or week just playing up in Scotland to take in the Isles and Parks that she has to offer.
Get out there and enjoy it - take food!! It can be a bugger to find something to eat ;o)
Glad you enjoyed the report mate, it's a lot different that a mag article 
To be fair and polite we did show the lights and wait for them to pull to the side to let us pass for rather a few turns but nothing doing. 