Smile is possibly drug induced.
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Never had a proper tank slapper on a motorcycle, plenty of weaves that stopped with either more or less speed. However I had a bicycle that I had three tank slappers on , all at 40 plus mph, all downhill. I managed to rescue the first two, the third got me though. And even as it was bucking like a horse I was thinking relax your grip dont touch the brakes, but it royally spat me off!
My friend was close behind and he said “ I thought you were going to save it as you used both sides of the road”, so did I.
As others have said , good to see you are posting and that it doesnt put you off riding at all.
Steve
Met another one at my tea stop yesterday, he only bought it 2 weeks ago - looks very nice!
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Rode the 70 miles to Hawes in under 2 hours with my bag very safely strapped on the pillion. Quite enjoyed riding in a more stately fashion with my load to think of. I think I lalso liked having a bit more weight: me+my 125=not a lot.
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Forecast for tomorrow is much better than Tuesday, so I'll make my longer ride up to Middleton-in-Teesdale, Allendale Town and Alston tomorrow, and see what's possible for Tuesday later on. The forecasts for these days have been changing so much, perhaps Tuesday will decide not to be an all-day downpour after all. I was expecting to be met with a thunderstorm when I got here, but it's just a lovely summer evening
Mpg is 105 and tank holds over 2 gal, so I'm never remotely pressured.
I guess I'll see more of Settle once they sort out the main road at Blubberhouses. I've heard about the cafe at Feizor but atm that's not very convenient for me.
Sitting on a shady bench in Allendale Town's churchyard after 3½ hours of heading north: Buttertubs Pass, Arkangarthdale, Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Westgate, Rookhope Arch, Allenheads. Over the hill from Newbiggin to Westgate was getting awfully close to off-roading for a supposed road. Very wild up there. Will go a few miles west, and then head south to Alston. Then Middleton-in-Teesdale again and back to Hawes via Tan Hill. My memory of the map for that leg is a bit sketchy....
When I hit 5,000 miles, just north of Alston, I stopped and took a photo of the view:
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I gathered from the repeated Ride Safely signs that the Alston to Middleton-in-Teesdale road is a popular one with bikers. I'm wondering if I did it the wrong way: I was riding into a very stiff (though not at all gusty) wind all the way up to the 600m peak, and the trees look like they've spent their entire lives being bent back towards Alston.
The road from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Brough was also very enjoyable, though I will probably enjoy it a lot more once I've got to know it, the twists and turns seem more random.
Barnard Castle to Middleton-in-Teesdale earlier in the day was one of the few bits of straightforwardly easy road I saw.
Back I the day the road up to the cafe at the top of the hill was great, but quickly became way too popular (mid nineties I guess) and resulted in lots of accidents and a large police presence. The cafe was a regular stop for me but apparently it burnt down a good few years ago!
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The road from Middleton, Alston, Heartside down to Penrith is a great bit of road, always was full of nutters and police on a sunny day. The police training cars use it quite a lot so that’s something to watch out for. I must admit I’ve been scraped up by ambulance once there in 2001 [emoji603].
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I was meaning that even just getting to/from Settle is a pita, so Hawes is the only easy focal point for me. Once they sort out the Blubberhouses road, there will be an easy route home from Settle, and it will be as attractive as Hawes as the stopping point at the end of my meanderings around the Dales.
The one problem with the Hawes to Settle route via the viaduct is that it attracts bikers with a lopsided ambition to talent ratio who want to be kings of the road but can't even overtake a 125 properly. Not a fan of being cut up by a MT10 with 73 plates jerking about nervously.
Once this band of heavy rain shifts out the way later today, I'll be on that road, doing a 50 mile tootle down to Ingleton and round Ingleborough.
Even with idiots on the road, it’s probably still worth a trip into Settle as the road is equally as entertaining in the other direction as long as you’re aware of the Dales equivalent of The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.
I’s fun isn’t it!! The quarry traffic during the week can be a pain though.
Even though blubberhouses is shut he can go via Patley bridge, stump cross and grassington. It’s not a bad run. Also Patley Bridge to Masham via lofthouse is ok for a scenic trip out.
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I've done that rainy hill from Grassington to Pateley Bridge a fair number of times. An engaging experience, to be sure, but not great at the end of a long day, especially with the traffic currently forced onto it.
My first time doing Pateley to Masham via Lofthouse is a big treat I'm saving up for a lovely sunny day. Would quite like to get up to the reservoir beyond Lofthouse, too. I've an ancient memory of being taken up there in a car, but can't recall if it's a road or just a dusty track.
The road up to scar house reservoir is all road right to the reservoir. My ex in laws had a farm in Arkelside just over the tops from Scarhouse so we would go over on Argocats as the reservoir to Arkelside was gravel and ripped up by 4x4s.
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Just returned last night from the best highland weekend. The weather was lovely the company brilliant as always and the riding sublime.
10 friends in 3 motorhomes all doing different stuff, some cycling, running, hiking and even just chilling and driving the motorhomes …..and me on a motorbike .
I started in Edinburgh, up to Braemar on the first day.
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Rode around the Cairngorms finishing off at a Whisky tasting session in Aberlour on the second.
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The third day was a big one going over to the west coast across Bealach Na Ba ending the day at the Clachaig Inn Glencoe.
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The fourth day took in Rest and be Thankful on the way to Stirling.
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I finally dropped the hire bike back in Edinburgh yesterday morning. Approximately 800 miles over 5 days. Brilliant, friendly and helpful service from the guys at www.bikerbnb.com and what a great bike too the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650!
I suspect I might not be the only one on a motorbike next time…….
Well, you defo lucked out with the weather !
I bet the roads were pretty busy with bikes.
(oh - it's "whisky" and "Stirling"............ ) :sentimental:
Today I earnt my Riding In The Rain With Luggage badge. Wensleydale decided to ignore the forecast, and filled itself with cloud and meaningful drizzle. Very pretty, and fortunately I was stuck behind a slow Tesco delivery van most the way, so a genial plod was all that was possible. Luggage at the end of the journey:
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Getting my right foot in and out of that gap was pretty comical.
Can't believe that this time next week I'll have my bike back after months without it, and the bike will have a garage. Looking out at the garden it seems a million miles away but it'll all be finished next Thursday (god willing - having the guys on site for weeks is starting to do my head in).
Who's doing the DGR tomorrow, as a matter of interest?
I'm supposed to be taking part with the Oxford ride if my back holds up. I sneezed on Tuesday and it went into spasm, something I haven't experienced since before covid which is just my luck. I missed the Oxford Redbar meeting yesterday as I could still barely walk, but it's eased a little this morning so fingers crossed. So long as I can kickstart my Rapide into life without ending up in an agonising heap on the floor I'll be there. My Harris tweed suit, my shirt tie and pocket square and my brogues are waiting!
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Well that’s me and a few lads starting the NC500 over the next few days…
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Nice summer mesh jacket just posted in the SC
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Freddie Dobbs continues with the Norton 961
He’s a good narrator, for sure
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The western end of my trip today
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Took me a couple of hours!
I woke up yesterday morning with the realisation that my damaged lower back had healed enough for me to take part in the Oxford Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. I dressed in my Tweed suit, shirt, tie and brogues and waited for my mate Tony to arrive on his lovely BMW 9T, we then headed off to the start at Premier Bikes, Boars Hill. We had a coffee there and looked at all the fantastic bikes and chatted with a lot of interesting people whilst waiting for the official start. The ride then got under way and the first section was to ride to Radcliff Square in Oxford where we had permission to park in the actual square, which was great as it's usually blocked off to vehicles. After an hour of photos and chatting we got on the road again and this time it was off to the Kingsley cafe in Eynsham where the ride terminated. At Kingsley's there was food, a bar and a live band, the weather was glorious and a good time was had by all!
The Vincent behaved impeccably, and although it doesn't enjoy heavy stop start traffic (which there was a lot of) due to its antiquated servo clutch, it didn't disgrace itself. Even though I prefer originality with veteran machines like the Vincent, I think a sensible mod this year will be to replace the servo clutch with a modern multiplate one which improves neutral selection and is beautifully progressive, this will make town driving a lot less stressful! The beauty is it isn't permanent as in doesn't require any cutting, grinding or drilling to fit, it doesn't change the appearance, and the bike could be converted back to the standard servo clutch in an afternoon if you so wish.
Anyway here's a few photographs of the day. There was a chap taking part on his beautiful 1952 Vincent Black Shadow who I talked to at length, unfortunately due to talking to much I managed to completely forget to take any photos of his bike. Typical!
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NC500…
If you haven’t done, then do, it’s epic…
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If when going from Otley to Clitheroe, I wanted to drop down to the area around Hebden Bridge, would these be the most enjoyable roads for seeing the hills at their best?
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Otley, Menston, Keighley, Haworth, Hebden Bridge, Littleborough, Todmorden, Widdop, Barley.
All great roads, I grew up in Calder valley and lived at Blackshaw Head so it’s bringing back memories. The road up through Cragg Vale is good once you get out of the top of the valley and Blackstone Edge road down into Littleborough is fast but tricky on a big bike but should be fine on a smaller bike. If you fancy doing an extra loop, I’d suggest not turning off to Widdop first time round but continuing towards Heptonstall and following the road round to the left to bypass the village, dropping down into the valley and turning right at Mytholm taking you back up to Blackshaw Head. It’s steep and twisty but doable on a 125 (I used to do it on a TY50). It’s well worth doing if you’re in the area.
Have fun and take some pictures please. [emoji106]
How about this:
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That’s ok and I was going to suggest the Long Causeway from Blackshawhead to Burnley but I do think going up from Mytholm to Blackshawhead is better than going down. You could still do the route you’ve suggested there but going down through Heptonstall from Blackshawhead then up from Mytholm to Blackshawhead and re doing the section from Blackshawhead to Slack Top and then taking the Widdop road.
When I was fifteen I cycled home from a family holiday at Windermere to Blackshawhead. Obviously, by the time I got near home I was pretty worn out and was looking forward to the long downhill stretch from the Sportsman’s Inn back home but the wind was so strong it was like cycling up hill all the way back!
I’ve just noticed on that route you’ve turned off at Cornholme but you’re better off going further on and turning right at Southeood Bottom and right again at the Kettledrum Inn. That way you’ll do the whole of the long causeway instead of joining it about halfway along.
Like this?
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Don't worry about what direction I do things - everything gets done in both directions eventually