Day 4, Balmaha to Northenden
Mishap this morning, which delayed us somewhat. I discovered the 12v plug for the Tomtom power lead had come apart, depositing the pieces and the fuse into the socket, located unhandily, under the handlebars. After quite a few minutes fiddling and more than a few choice words, I managed to get the pieces out, all except the spring that sits behind the fuse. That, had sprung and was nowhere to be seen, so that meant no power to my TT. I'd have to hope that the charge it had from the day before would last the journey back to Manchester, though if not Paul's was OK. In the event, with power save mode on, it did.
Once more we were in our waterproofs and once again it was a mixture of sunshine and showers, as we made our way south, through Glasgow, under the Clyde and towards our next fuel stop at the Lockerbie services on the M74. Motorway riding is pretty boring, as even car drivers will recognise but I have to say, the road surface of the M74 made it almost a pleasure to ride. Very smooth indeed!
Lockerbie was just a fuel stop, as Paul suggested we might like to stop off at Gretna Green for a coffee. I'd never been, I'd had no reason to go (and still don't Cath!), so agreed that would make a suitable stop. I'd imagined it was a tiny wee town, what I saw was a huge tourist complex (The Blacksmiths) overrun with scores of foreign tourists off loads of coaches. Somewhat disappointing I have to say. Whilst coffee was taken, we decided that instead of the boring M6 all the way to Manchester, that we'd detour down through the Lake District, to Keswick and along Windermere. Par for the course, the heavens opened as we were about to leave, so waterproofs went on again and we set off for England. We rode from shower to shower. It's clear to see why they call it the Lake District, not so clear why so many people go all that way to get wet!
The rain had stopped by the time we pulled into the Windermere visitor centre, just outside of Ambleside, for a comfort break. The loo, it has to be said, left a lot to be desired. Why can't people flush when they have finished?
Back on the bikes we were soon on the M6 again and before long we had arrived at Auntie Linda's again. Our cousin (Ma's niece) Caroline had just dropped in on her parents on her way back from visiting her sister in Ipswich. We spent a few minutes chatting before she headed off, leaving us to put the bikes in the garage. Friday we rode in, bosh, door shut, job done. Today, we faffed about, toing and froing and in the process managing to scratch my pannier on Paul's spot light, before finally getting the door closed. Uncle Roger offered some t-cut but though only a smallish scratch. the paint has chipped off, so it might be best to just leave it or at least try and get a proper Triumph touch up pen for it. Shit happens!
Once again we had a very nice cooked dinner on the table, washed down with some Grolsch. They are good hosts, Auntie & Uncle. After dinner I broke out the laptop and we showed the photos we had taken since we set off Friday morning. They brought back some good memories for all of us. A chat and another beer and once more it was time for bed. Our final day of the tour will see us visit the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, breaking up the long ride back home. It's another place I've not been to before, so I'm looking forward to it. Weather forecast looks similar to the last couple of days, so there'll be no packing the waterproofs.
Once more we were in our waterproofs and once again it was a mixture of sunshine and showers, as we made our way south, through Glasgow, under the Clyde and towards our next fuel stop at the Lockerbie services on the M74. Motorway riding is pretty boring, as even car drivers will recognise but I have to say, the road surface of the M74 made it almost a pleasure to ride. Very smooth indeed!
Lockerbie was just a fuel stop, as Paul suggested we might like to stop off at Gretna Green for a coffee. I'd never been, I'd had no reason to go (and still don't Cath!), so agreed that would make a suitable stop. I'd imagined it was a tiny wee town, what I saw was a huge tourist complex (The Blacksmiths) overrun with scores of foreign tourists off loads of coaches. Somewhat disappointing I have to say. Whilst coffee was taken, we decided that instead of the boring M6 all the way to Manchester, that we'd detour down through the Lake District, to Keswick and along Windermere. Par for the course, the heavens opened as we were about to leave, so waterproofs went on again and we set off for England. We rode from shower to shower. It's clear to see why they call it the Lake District, not so clear why so many people go all that way to get wet!
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| Gretna Green |
The rain had stopped by the time we pulled into the Windermere visitor centre, just outside of Ambleside, for a comfort break. The loo, it has to be said, left a lot to be desired. Why can't people flush when they have finished?
Back on the bikes we were soon on the M6 again and before long we had arrived at Auntie Linda's again. Our cousin (Ma's niece) Caroline had just dropped in on her parents on her way back from visiting her sister in Ipswich. We spent a few minutes chatting before she headed off, leaving us to put the bikes in the garage. Friday we rode in, bosh, door shut, job done. Today, we faffed about, toing and froing and in the process managing to scratch my pannier on Paul's spot light, before finally getting the door closed. Uncle Roger offered some t-cut but though only a smallish scratch. the paint has chipped off, so it might be best to just leave it or at least try and get a proper Triumph touch up pen for it. Shit happens!
Once again we had a very nice cooked dinner on the table, washed down with some Grolsch. They are good hosts, Auntie & Uncle. After dinner I broke out the laptop and we showed the photos we had taken since we set off Friday morning. They brought back some good memories for all of us. A chat and another beer and once more it was time for bed. Our final day of the tour will see us visit the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, breaking up the long ride back home. It's another place I've not been to before, so I'm looking forward to it. Weather forecast looks similar to the last couple of days, so there'll be no packing the waterproofs.
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