Arisaig

A spot of camping seemed just the ticket to lift my spirits and take a break from the daily grind was something I had been looking forward to for a while, so Arisaig on the west coast of Scotland came highly recommended for a peaceful few days.
I  set of on the Monday and although cool it was dry for a change so thinking maybe this is the start of a period of settled weather I loaded the bike with an air of optimism for the next few days. Arriving at the campsite which was right against the beach the scene was set and the tent was soon up and the coffee on and you guessed it down came the rain!!! This was to be the them for the rest of my time there with winds reaching a peak on the Tuesday night leaving me wondering if me and the tent might end up being blown into the next field!

It wasn't all doom and gloom though and I am fecking fed up with the weather trying its best to spoil the fun so on Tuesday I headed for Ardnamurchan lighthouse which is the most westerly point on mainland Scotland, what a thrill miles and miles of single track quiet roads. It's finding these hidden gems which really make my time in the saddle special, the twists an turns complete with elevation changes and stunning scenery thrown into the mix go along way to remind me how lucky we are to live in such a stunning country even if it seems to be wet and cold for the majority of the time.

I broke camp on the Wednesday morning as planned althoughI had to wait for a break in the wind to get the tent down and packed up; i almost managed to keep dry but this year a heavy shower never seems to be too far away so got a good soaking before riding of home.

Not many photos from this wee adventure as my camera broke on the Tuesday which is typical of the luck i seem to be having at the moment!!

 Portnadoran campsite

 Can't beat a good chili

 View across to Eigg

 

A bird in the ?

I thought I was down on power a bit but never expected to find this!

A Wet Weekend In Applecross

Let's get this on record, I adore Applecross. It's just one of those places which is a jewel in the crown of this great country where we live, no mobile phone signal, stunning views across to Skye lovely campsite and the road in or out whichever way you go isn't bad either !
I booked this jaunt back on January the 5th thinking June is summer what apart from the fearsome midge could trouble us? Well i know it can rain in good old Scotland but i hadn't banked on the monsoon or gale force winds that were forecast.

But I was determined to go and go on my Harley (although my resolve did wander a bit near to d-day, but was told and rightly so that if i was there and it started raining i couldn't just pop home for the BMW!) so two Harley softails set forth on an epic journey to the Applecross peninsula on Sunday 30th may (should have been set sail !) 

First problem to solve was i had fitted the q/d screen to the front of my bike; although never having had it on before i was quite sure that this fanstactically piece of expensive plastic would keep the worst of the elements of me! well yes and no, kept the wind of my chest but the buffeting around my helmet was so bad at 60mph i could not focus, so a quick decision to drop by my Gaffer's house and ask to leave it with him was made as he was the closest friendly face without having to back track home or the alternative of taking it off and hiding it behind a tree and hoping it would be there on our return.

So with the screen safely deposited at Alan's we started making steady progress all though we were getting showers the biggest problem was the wind and when we got to Glencoe it really made it's presence felt vith visibility severely reduced due to the amount of rain that was being blasted into our faces in the teeth of a head wind like i have never ridden in before our progress never got above 40 mph, it was truly awful where Gavin nearly threw his bike up the road when it tried to tie itself in knots in a straight line and i nearly dropped mine exiting the last corner out of Glencoe which did wonders to concentrate the mind believe me!
 Once clear of Glencoe we only encountered showers but thought to ourselves at least if the wind didn't blow itself out it would be at our backs most of the way home, the rest of the journey was pretty uneventful stopping to fill up at Fort William and a cup of well deserved coffee and a Scone at Strathcarron. The rain had mostly been reduced to showers but the wind was the real hardship and climbing the famous Bealach na ba (pass of the cattle) I really felt it on the last two hairpin bends pushing against the solid front wheel of the Fatboy but we made it and the sun was shining when we arrived at Applecross camp site where we set about unpacking and stretching cold sore limbs with a good walk before the fantastic Chili and wraps washed down with red wine  chilled us out for the evening.

Monday morning broke still windy but the sun was shining and this we thought was a good omen (so much for good omens!) Gavin wanted to go out the other way instead of the pass which suited me to a tea, I love exploring new routes and this single track road did not disappoint with stunning vistas sunny dry roads it was an impressive start to the day, apart from one dickhead in a white van who couldn't wait at the passing place on his side of the road and nearly crashed his van in the biggest display of sheer stupidity i have seen for a while. When we picked up the main road after an hour we did not realise the misery which was set to be-fall us for the next 225 mile for this is when it started spitting with rain that soon became constant, mile after mile we slogged through it, gradually seeping down the inside of my visor, I knew Gavin was cold, wet and thourly miserable, the wind had changed direction so we wasn't running with it at our backs but more a front side affair which did it's best to drive the rain onto us harder, all i can say is i have never ridden in conditions as bad as these for so long in all my motorcycling years, mile after mile we slogged on stopping only for fuel and a cup of hot coffee at Tyndrum, Gav's bike wasn't running right by the end, we think it was a water soaked air filter as it's okay now but the last 50 miles where torture, so near but so far with water having made it down my collar and through my trousers at the crotch i was frozen !!! Gav was no better and finally it came to an end when a hot shower has never been more welcome.
To sum up the trip it was an endurance to say the least but I would do it all again tomorrow, the company was awesome as always and we had a good laugh scoffing Chili and drinking wine between the ride there and back, a trip to remember certainly.....

We made it

Almost empty campsite

Glengarry viewpoint

Monday morning sunny across Applecross bay 

Not many photos but believe me you didn't feel like stopping for 90% of the time

Scotia Take Two

Had to swap my day off for some reason that escapes me but instead of the normal Monday off it was to be Thursday, so you can guess how this story starts? yep correct weather was lovely Monday, infact nice all the way up to Thursday when it blew a gale all day and we spent most of it dodging showers!!! however not to be deterred I was going to add to my Scotia challenge check points come what may.

The first check point was an AA box situated near Bancory, Aberdeenshire. This took some finding as we took the wrong road into bancory for the checkpoint (forgot to take map) still after a bit of faffing and a little help form a DPD delivery man we found it.

Next one was found by accident. After riding what seemed like forever into a strong head wind we eventually came across Braemar and stopped for a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge ( the Scotia challenge takes a lot out of you) but here it is the Memorial to the wellington bomber crew which crashed on a training flight in the area.

The pictures may look all nice and summery but believe me they don't tell the whole story of wind and rain that followed us on the journey.