Well the plan was to scrub in a new set of tyres and end up in Moniaive for a bite to eat.
It was a cracking day and roads were to be inspected starting in Paisley, sunny but cold, out over Glennifer Braes
There was also a fair amount of this white stuff in heaps on the road and you can just about make out the ice on the reservoir
The Heidi K60's felt weird after knackered Tourances and I had no feeling for how much grip they would provide so I was teetering around like a complete novice waiting for the almost inevitable when the tyres lost grip on either salt, grit, gravel, ice, snow or dead animal. Through Lugton, Dunlop, Stewarton, Kilbirnie, Kilmarnock and Tarbolton and it was stilll sunny and I was still sunny side up. There was hope yet. The traffic levels were acceptable.
Through a string of small villages and south to Dalmellington I turned west for Straighton intending to ride an unclassified road to Newton Stewart and just before 11:00hrs I stopped here for a coffee.
It turned out they weren't quite open for business even though the door was unlocked but they were friendly people and invited me to take a seat and they be ready in a few minutes. I was happy to wait for a my coffee (double espresso and good) and a cheese and onion toastie with masses of cheese and onion. Well it was 4 hours since breakfast and I need to look after my figure.
This is where the plan started to disintegrate as a rider on a Yamaha XT600 arrived and started to talk about forest trails that were accessible
Sadly, ignorant idiot that I am I didn't get his name but if you're reading this Mr BlueYamMan thanks for the information, it made my day.
So off I went on my planned route for a few miles south until a left turn was required off the route and a few miles on single track tar brought me to a dirt road and this. Time to reaclimatise to the feel of off roading the wee bike
A little later this, you can just see a Ka and the hardy owner's tent in the middle distance.
This was the end of the planned route but I went on past the Ka and along another trail which got a little more interesting. I discovered by this point that the K60's have enough grip to deal with the awe inspiring vicious power ripping through the transmission of an 1150GS and even enthusiastic use of the throttle only produced acceleration. Hmm, they seem to be good. Then I got to this.
I had to stop at a firmer bit so that I could use the side stand but the bike looks happy having snaked and slid through oozing mud 3-4 inches deep with sticks and forestry debris thrown in for good measure.
These tyres are called M&S which I thought indicated they are made by St Michael but luckily I'd checked this before leaving and discovered the truth. So when I saw this
it would have been wrong to ignore it. So I didn't
The track headed up hill, not steep but steep enough to have the back end fishtailing with me determined not to reduce power and get stuck. These are the only circumstances when I find the muffs annoying as they get in the way when you want to stand on the pegs.
Another image of the area before I headed for Newton Stewart coming out on the same track that I went in on, miraculously.
There then followed a ride along one of my new favourite roads. I wished that I had a fixed camera mount to record some off the bends, I was too enthusiastic to ride one handed. The bike moves a lot on the Heidi's compared with the Tourances but I was getting used to them and on the now dry roads they were certainly gripping! Much fun was had although as I was in the middle of nowhere I used a bit if discretion so no boot scraping but it must have been close. These are great tyres!
From Newton Stewart I headed east and up the Queens Drive heading for Moniaive. A wee dirt track caught my eye and led me here.
I tried an arty shot, should have known better as I have zero skills as a photographer and the camera was a £50 digital ten years ago
The final image as the camera now displayed card full. No spare cards and as time was marching on, I'd already missed lunch, I didn't bother to play around deleting the poorest quality shots.
I realised that I'd had the best of the day when I took the wrong road out of New Galloway and ended up in Laurieston and onto the A75. The sun was gone by now, playing hide and hide behind the clouds, so I simply rode the A75 and then the A76 back to Kilmarnock before retracing my steps to Paisley. Those who've ridden the A76 know that it's no hardship as long as the traffic isn't too bad and yesterday it wasn't.
I was making excellent progress and it was odd to feel the bike squirming and weaving slightly at high speeds in the bends, experimenting with easing the throttle mid corner suggested that it was a very bad idea and so it was rapidly reopened and progress resumed.
What a great, great day!
Even though I didn't get to Moniaive.
It was a cracking day and roads were to be inspected starting in Paisley, sunny but cold, out over Glennifer Braes
There was also a fair amount of this white stuff in heaps on the road and you can just about make out the ice on the reservoir
The Heidi K60's felt weird after knackered Tourances and I had no feeling for how much grip they would provide so I was teetering around like a complete novice waiting for the almost inevitable when the tyres lost grip on either salt, grit, gravel, ice, snow or dead animal. Through Lugton, Dunlop, Stewarton, Kilbirnie, Kilmarnock and Tarbolton and it was stilll sunny and I was still sunny side up. There was hope yet. The traffic levels were acceptable.
Through a string of small villages and south to Dalmellington I turned west for Straighton intending to ride an unclassified road to Newton Stewart and just before 11:00hrs I stopped here for a coffee.
It turned out they weren't quite open for business even though the door was unlocked but they were friendly people and invited me to take a seat and they be ready in a few minutes. I was happy to wait for a my coffee (double espresso and good) and a cheese and onion toastie with masses of cheese and onion. Well it was 4 hours since breakfast and I need to look after my figure.
This is where the plan started to disintegrate as a rider on a Yamaha XT600 arrived and started to talk about forest trails that were accessible
Sadly, ignorant idiot that I am I didn't get his name but if you're reading this Mr BlueYamMan thanks for the information, it made my day.So off I went on my planned route for a few miles south until a left turn was required off the route and a few miles on single track tar brought me to a dirt road and this. Time to reaclimatise to the feel of off roading the wee bike
A little later this, you can just see a Ka and the hardy owner's tent in the middle distance.
This was the end of the planned route but I went on past the Ka and along another trail which got a little more interesting. I discovered by this point that the K60's have enough grip to deal with the awe inspiring vicious power ripping through the transmission of an 1150GS and even enthusiastic use of the throttle only produced acceleration. Hmm, they seem to be good. Then I got to this.
I had to stop at a firmer bit so that I could use the side stand but the bike looks happy having snaked and slid through oozing mud 3-4 inches deep with sticks and forestry debris thrown in for good measure.
These tyres are called M&S which I thought indicated they are made by St Michael but luckily I'd checked this before leaving and discovered the truth. So when I saw this
it would have been wrong to ignore it. So I didn't
The track headed up hill, not steep but steep enough to have the back end fishtailing with me determined not to reduce power and get stuck. These are the only circumstances when I find the muffs annoying as they get in the way when you want to stand on the pegs.
Another image of the area before I headed for Newton Stewart coming out on the same track that I went in on, miraculously.
There then followed a ride along one of my new favourite roads. I wished that I had a fixed camera mount to record some off the bends, I was too enthusiastic to ride one handed. The bike moves a lot on the Heidi's compared with the Tourances but I was getting used to them and on the now dry roads they were certainly gripping! Much fun was had although as I was in the middle of nowhere I used a bit if discretion so no boot scraping but it must have been close. These are great tyres!
From Newton Stewart I headed east and up the Queens Drive heading for Moniaive. A wee dirt track caught my eye and led me here.
I tried an arty shot, should have known better as I have zero skills as a photographer and the camera was a £50 digital ten years ago
The final image as the camera now displayed card full
. No spare cards and as time was marching on, I'd already missed lunch, I didn't bother to play around deleting the poorest quality shots.I realised that I'd had the best of the day when I took the wrong road out of New Galloway and ended up in Laurieston and onto the A75. The sun was gone by now, playing hide and hide behind the clouds, so I simply rode the A75 and then the A76 back to Kilmarnock before retracing my steps to Paisley. Those who've ridden the A76 know that it's no hardship as long as the traffic isn't too bad and yesterday it wasn't.
I was making excellent progress and it was odd to feel the bike squirming and weaving slightly at high speeds in the bends, experimenting with easing the throttle mid corner suggested that it was a very bad idea and so it was rapidly reopened and progress resumed.
What a great, great day!
Even though I didn't get to Moniaive.
excellent photo's
Looks like a great day out
