Scotland

6 days of riding and about 1700 miles on some awesome roads. Staying in Fort William we took a few daily blasts out including Skye and Loch Ness. Round trips of anywhere between 200 – 270 miles each day. Sunshine and blue skies and fantastic scenery and light !
We even took a day off to walk up Ben Nevis – still had snow at the top !
Of course riding / routes / info will appear on www.Bikeroff.com as soon as I get the time. Literally hundreds of pics – will be hard to choose the best.
Oh and finaly, I can only apologise to the locals in the pub in Fort William for the kareoke attempts last thursday night, it’s your own fault for making whisky.

Kent, Surrey and Scotland !

This is what w/ends are for !

Friday afternoon and I joined a mate for an afternoon motorbike blast. We decided to take a run into Kent and follow the route of the Tour de France when it visits next month. Bits of it are still being re-surfaced and some of it is pothole central. As the route traverses Plumstead and Dartford, I can only see the riders thinking “This is England at it’s best” Oh, maybe that’ll come later when they get out to some real countryside, part of the stretch out towards Tonbridge is a good fast A road, with some very fast sweeping downhills ! But a couple of hours and we were beginning to hit the start of the friday rush hour, so that was that for a late afternoon excertion.
Saturday – mountain biking on the North Downs. After a week of rain there was plenty of mud. But a good roue, known only to James, along Bridle paths and lanes got us out in the sunshine and fresh air. Looking down over the countryside had us both thinking “Brixton used to look like this” (I work there which is why it features in the forefront of my mind) – but that was a long time ago before it turned into a shit pit. Work was removed from our thoughts. James hasn’t done much mountain biking it would appear. He started off stopping at the puddles worried in case there was something hard in them. At the second one, I showed him how to navigate the best path – sticking to the edge, to ease him into it. And after a few miles he was well into it with us both arriving at the pub caked in mud and the landlord overjoyed that we were sitting in the garden. James theory only worked once as I hit a mud patch and as the bike sunk in and wheels stopped in the sticky stuff. Very deep, but not having clips on shoes / pedals is a bonus sometimes. But a great afternoon. Apparently there is a dis-used rainway line which runs through East Grinstead – supposed to be very good for biking. If anyone knows where it is, best place to join it? Please let me know ? Or of any canal / river paths arounfd NW Kent or Surrey ?
Sunday – more countryside – watching the Biggin Hill Airshow from a field past the end of the runway, no crowds, sunshine, camera and an hour saved from not sitting in the traffic trying to get all the way there.
Tomorrow morning, (I have the week off) me and the motorbike are off to Scotland. Highland and Islands, here we come. Another chapter to add to www.bikeroff.com