ThreeDawg
Registered user
Not been out much as I've been too bloody busy, but here's rehash of something that appeared elsewhere.
I've been interested in the Iron Butt Rally ever since I read an article in a magazine about Steve Attwood, a Brit who shipped his Guzzi to the States to do the event and won. Anyway, I've been waiting for the stars to align so I could have a bash at one of the IBA's starter events, the Saddlesore 1000, that is ride 1000 miles in 24 hours or less collecting receipts along the way to prove you've been where you say you have. This is along the lines of the National Rally of Scotland which takes place in September (a brilliant event, although sadly undersubscribed by actual Scotsmen...), but the longest run on that one is only 650 miles.
This was the planned route. Would have been easier to blast up and down the motorways, but I wanted to have some fun in Scotland first.
Anyway, I plannned a big loop run as far as the north coast of Scotland and down to the Yorkshire Dales. I left Inverness at 06.30 on the dot and headed north for my first stop at Thurso near the north eastern tip of Scotland.
Here's the fresh faced optimist heading north.
The run up the coast was glorious in the morning sun,. but I was already slightly behind my (fairly optimistic) schedule by the time I made Thurso. This got worse as I stopped several times to take pix along the way.
Dounreay atomic power station.
Not much traffic to hold me up at 10.30am on the north coast.
Eriboll Bay
Rubbish beach along the way
Near Bettyhill. Damn these crowds.
Gas station at Durness. Closed, so I had to get an ATM machine receipt to prove I was there. We (the Scottish Section of the International Laverda Owners Club) arranged for this gas station to be opened at midnight on the longest day for a rally we held to celebrate the solstice one time. Quite special to be there in the middle of the night eating pies surrounded by Laverdas, but the wildlife was scary- deer everywhere, like herds running along the roads.
All this picture taking was eating into my schedule so I upped the pace a wee bit- no traffic on the road though, so my rhythm was good.
Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt.
After gassing up in Ullapool I headed south to pick up the road from Skye via Achnasheen. There was not a breath of wind so Loch Cluanie was doing a good impression of a mirror.
By now I probably should have been about 100 miles further south so the camera had to be stashed while I concentrated on piling on the miles. The ol' GS was purring and I felt good.
The run through Glen Coe was good, but the traffic was building, a foretaste of what was to come in the Trossachs. There I saw lots of guys on bikes, but precious few talented riders...
After picking up the motorway at Stirling I bashed the superslab (ahem) all the way down into England as far as the western Yorkshire Dales. By now it was getting darker so no photos to be had there, but Wensleydale was unfeasably beautiful, although I'm unused to such twisty roads and those dry stone walls look awful solid. Ran over a rabbit unfortunately.
The original plan was to head from Scotch Corner across country to Jedburgh and Edinburgh, but in the dark it would be relatively slow so I stuck on the Great North Road (the A1) to Newcastle and Edinburgh while keeping an eye out for speed cameras.
Midnight. I gassed up at Edinburgh and headed north over the Forth Bridge for the last leg to Inverness. Mrs Three Dawg wouldn't be happy as I thought I'd be home by now, but I decided she probably wouldn't appreciate a phone call so late either. Ho hum.
Pitch black up the A9 as per usual, so my HID lights came into their own (the output is amazing) helping me to ride briskly but safely and I arrived back in Inverness at 02.30, exactly 20 hours after setting off. I didn't feel too bad, although it had been a bit chilly coming over Drummochter. Just enough time left to grab four hours or so sleep before starting work in the morning...
The total milage as per my odometer was 1086, Microsoft Autoroute reckons 1032. The bike averaged 49MPG, just as well as I saw petrol at 129 pence per litre!
Now all that remains is to get my ride validated by the IBA, can't wait for that!
PS. That has happened now.
I've been interested in the Iron Butt Rally ever since I read an article in a magazine about Steve Attwood, a Brit who shipped his Guzzi to the States to do the event and won. Anyway, I've been waiting for the stars to align so I could have a bash at one of the IBA's starter events, the Saddlesore 1000, that is ride 1000 miles in 24 hours or less collecting receipts along the way to prove you've been where you say you have. This is along the lines of the National Rally of Scotland which takes place in September (a brilliant event, although sadly undersubscribed by actual Scotsmen...), but the longest run on that one is only 650 miles.
This was the planned route. Would have been easier to blast up and down the motorways, but I wanted to have some fun in Scotland first.
Anyway, I plannned a big loop run as far as the north coast of Scotland and down to the Yorkshire Dales. I left Inverness at 06.30 on the dot and headed north for my first stop at Thurso near the north eastern tip of Scotland.
Here's the fresh faced optimist heading north.
The run up the coast was glorious in the morning sun,. but I was already slightly behind my (fairly optimistic) schedule by the time I made Thurso. This got worse as I stopped several times to take pix along the way.
Dounreay atomic power station.
Not much traffic to hold me up at 10.30am on the north coast.
Eriboll Bay
Rubbish beach along the way
Near Bettyhill. Damn these crowds.
Gas station at Durness. Closed, so I had to get an ATM machine receipt to prove I was there. We (the Scottish Section of the International Laverda Owners Club) arranged for this gas station to be opened at midnight on the longest day for a rally we held to celebrate the solstice one time. Quite special to be there in the middle of the night eating pies surrounded by Laverdas, but the wildlife was scary- deer everywhere, like herds running along the roads.
All this picture taking was eating into my schedule so I upped the pace a wee bit- no traffic on the road though, so my rhythm was good.
Ardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt.
After gassing up in Ullapool I headed south to pick up the road from Skye via Achnasheen. There was not a breath of wind so Loch Cluanie was doing a good impression of a mirror.
By now I probably should have been about 100 miles further south so the camera had to be stashed while I concentrated on piling on the miles. The ol' GS was purring and I felt good.
The run through Glen Coe was good, but the traffic was building, a foretaste of what was to come in the Trossachs. There I saw lots of guys on bikes, but precious few talented riders...
After picking up the motorway at Stirling I bashed the superslab (ahem) all the way down into England as far as the western Yorkshire Dales. By now it was getting darker so no photos to be had there, but Wensleydale was unfeasably beautiful, although I'm unused to such twisty roads and those dry stone walls look awful solid. Ran over a rabbit unfortunately.
The original plan was to head from Scotch Corner across country to Jedburgh and Edinburgh, but in the dark it would be relatively slow so I stuck on the Great North Road (the A1) to Newcastle and Edinburgh while keeping an eye out for speed cameras.
Midnight. I gassed up at Edinburgh and headed north over the Forth Bridge for the last leg to Inverness. Mrs Three Dawg wouldn't be happy as I thought I'd be home by now, but I decided she probably wouldn't appreciate a phone call so late either. Ho hum.
Pitch black up the A9 as per usual, so my HID lights came into their own (the output is amazing) helping me to ride briskly but safely and I arrived back in Inverness at 02.30, exactly 20 hours after setting off. I didn't feel too bad, although it had been a bit chilly coming over Drummochter. Just enough time left to grab four hours or so sleep before starting work in the morning...
The total milage as per my odometer was 1086, Microsoft Autoroute reckons 1032. The bike averaged 49MPG, just as well as I saw petrol at 129 pence per litre!
Now all that remains is to get my ride validated by the IBA, can't wait for that!
PS. That has happened now.
