Scotland to Donegal and back - brilliant

AndyT

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The weather report had forecast rain the whole weekend, which bike do I take, I was going to go on the HP2 but had some extra luggage and no luggage on the HP2 so that was decided. It was the 1150 GSA – shit thers no back wheel on it as its in the boot of my car with a new tyre on it. Whilst I fitted the back wheel on I thought should I “just” change the exhaust too....... It was 6pm when I dropped the dog at the kennels and the load the bike up and head down to Troon. I had to set off Thursday evening for the 3 hour ride from Banchory to Troon so I could catch the ferry the next morning. There was absolutely no way I could have raised myself up at 0430 and ridden down in the morning so it was a B&B in Troon. The ride down was about 2 degrees with sleet around Falkirk and rain showers 50% of the time. From Glasgow down to Ayr was dry and at this point I realised I had dropped a clanger leaving my tinted visor on as I never saw the “Avrage Speed Camera” warning signs – lets hope they don’t work in the reverse direction.
In Bill Bryson fashion the B&B was a gem, signs everywhere of what not to do – don’t use to much hot water, don’t have your widow open and the heating on etc... I opened the wardrobe door to put my new Olympia 1 piece suit in and laughed at the 30-40 coat hangers in there.... Anyway it was 10 pm and I was cold and shattered so off to bed. The breakfast was superb and I bid my farewell and headed off to the Ferry. Aidan and Tuned in had recomended the Troon to Larne Ferry and what a great service it is too. I took in Spiderman 3 which finished just as we docked – perfect.
I was expecting rain all weekend so was surprised when I saw the sun peeping through the clouds. A quick call to Tuned in confirmed a meeting point of Joey Dunlops Bar in Balleymoney. I had only been there about 10 minutes when Tuned in Arrived and agrred to accompany me with another pint. Flash and his gang hadn’t been in touch so we headed off along a fairtly coastal route with some spectacular scenery. I had no idea how picturesque Ulster is and Tuned certainly knows his way around teh view points. We headed over to the Ferry at McGilligans point and headed to GreenCastle. Tuned in had bought the Kitchen sink as well as a Touratech seat which was to accompany him home as well... Tuned is prety much a dab hand with hand signals... His knowledge of local history was impressive and he continued to impress me with snippets all weekend. This bay has the wreck of the Spanish Galeon “Trinidad Valencera” however the locals prefer to nick the sand off the beach so much so the goverment had to clamp down on it. These cliffs behind the bikes are a feature all around the north coastline and very impressive too. We went through Buncranna hoe to the famous “Civil One” who was very Civil and even flashed us whilst out in his bus – I had no idea it was him at the time though I must admit.
 

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We arrived at the Clanree Hotel in LetterKenny about 5pm which was perfect for chilling out and taking in a few beers before evening meal. The rooms were very nice indeed and the Hotel looked very upmarket. If anyone has a bout of Legionaires desease it may come from the Air Conditioning unit whech was outside my bedroom window and in much need of a bit of TLC. Rumour has it that a certain Mr Adams is an owner in this hotel and I recon they must have tested a few car bombs here by the looks of it......

Being a good boy I had far to much to drink and no idea what time I got to my bed. I had made my mind up though that the 1150 Adventure and me in a 1 piece suit was not the best thing for the off road run so opted for the road run which headed up to Malin Head the Northern most tip of Ireland. The weather was superb and the run nice and brisk with everyone understanding the drop off system which was a first for me (normally someone screws up). The first stop was a spectacular view over Lough Swilley – very impressive, hugh blue skies with clouds just hanging in there.
 

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Next stop was at Dunree(spelling!!) guns, these are pointing out over the bay with another set on the other sidepointing back. The cliffs here were also very steep with birds nesting on small ledges. I had no idea how many beaches there would be in Northern Ireland and the waves look great for surfing too.
 

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Time to go and squash a few more flies so off we set to Malin Head. It was such a clear day that you could see mainland Scotland in the distance which must have been 60 miles away. My fuel was running very low and the low warning lamp had been on for at least 40 miles by now but the thought of a pub lunch took my mind of this. We got to the “Caratra” Bar at around 1430 for the most welcome Chowder in a long time. The Chowder was just superb and loaded with seafood unlike the odd prawn that my have got in a normal chowder – it was simply superb. This was washed down with a most welcome pint. I sat at the bar as the coal fire was to toasty for me but the others seemesd to enjoy it. I can highly recomend this place www.caratraculdaff.com
 

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From here it was a swift ride back to LetterKenny – may thanks indeed to Aiden and Jochen for arranging the rideout and leading it so very well at a good pace, I really enjoyed it. A few more pints and a download from the guys who had been n the offroad run before a great meal and the raffle. The prizes were even distributed (between 2 people!!!!) with the odd other person getting a prize too. Mandy did a marvelous job of selling tickets and as you will be aware it was a great sum donated to a most worthy cause. After the meal we retired to the bar where Mr & Mrs Cabaret were banging out hit after hit at a volume the Who would have been proud of. The Hen parties had all disapeared into Town and in hindsite we should have done the same to visit Tuned ins favourite fast food outlet “Abra-Kebabra”. I lasted until just after 2 in the morning and retired as I had a long ride home the next morning. With the Bill paid and keys handed back it was time for goodbyes and 8 of us took the coastal route back home. We took a quicker route to the McGilligan ferry than that coming. The accomodation on board was very novel and reminded me of the cubicle in the “Generation Game” – all you needed was a pair of headphones for the contestants.... The crossing is very quich but also very enjoyable as it breaks up the journet. It was £5 sterling or 7.5€ which was the best exchange rate I got all weekend (even better that Mandylicous’s!!) Once over the otherside we went past McGilligans prison and up to a few point where the views wereagain just fantastic – Tuned once more gave us snippets of his knowledge of the area.
 

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Next stop was somethingorother Castle and once more Tuned knew all about its history and let us into another snippet that this castle is on the inside cover of Led Zeps “Houses of the Holy”. He forgot to mention that Giants Causeway is on the front cover but maybe he did tell Flash and the gang who stopped off there for a wreckie.
 

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I was a little concerned about the time and decided to part with the guys at Giants Causeway and leave that for another day so Tuned recomended Ballentoy Harbour which was indeed a lovely littl;e spot witha very winding road leading down to it. At the bottom awaited fantastic views and Chocolate cake. The chocolate cake won and was washed down with a Cappacuino before I had to head off at speed back to Larne. The roads cutting across country were fantastic and I made brisk (very) progress. The closer I got to Larne I noticed people standing at Junctions with HiViz jackets on waving me down lanes and looking frustrated when I carries on. It was on reaching Larne I passed a huge squad of bikers so obviously some sort of meet and ride out was on the cards. I made the ferry with about 10 mins to spare and fell asleepwatching a chickflick called “Just like Heaven”. It was still light when the ferry docked at Troon so I decided to ride back up To Aberdeen that night. I got in at 1045pm with a lump of ice for a nose as I had forgotten a clear visor so had to ride the last 100 miles with the visor up though rain storms. Well that was the Run to the Hills 2008 and what a cracker it was, great company all weekend, superb weather and my new found knowledge of what a fantastic place Ireland is to go by bike as well as plane – there is more to Ireland than Dublin and Cork (although a night in Henry Plunkett Street takes some beating). Well roll on Baskerville and Tipperary

Gret to see you all again


Have Fun

AndyT:cool:
 

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Good write up Andy :thumb2 Glad you enjoyed the weekend.

It was great to meet ya & we'll see ya again in Tipperary :bounce1
 
:thumb2Super report and Pic's

Glad you enjoyed our neck of the woods.:aidan

The coast road form Larne to Portrush is best ridden when everyone else is at work! and no organised bike events of over 1000 bikes are craming the roads.

Personally I stay off the roads on a Sunday as every w###er and his granny are out trying to knock us off our bikes and Mr Pld has speed traps everywhere.

Much better to take the route if possible during the week!

Come over to the NW200 and have another super weekend!!!
 
Great report Andy I see Tuneds been doing his bit for the Irish tourist industry again :aidan
 
Great report - and terrific pics, Mandy sure does bring a bit of good luck with the weather!!:D
 


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