Travel Tales from the UK

[Charlie G]

Haha ok Charlie what's the go with the soda bread? And yes he certainly looks dead on his feet (even though he's sitting) in those first shots...

Those guys are brave (or stupid? I'm sure there's both ) and I have mucho respect for that...

Going by the trip report so far I reckon Charlie definitely enjoyed himself!

Soda Bread? Mary, Johnny's wife makes these wonderful little, triangle shaped pieces of bread which I loved with a slice of bacon (more like U.S. ham than U.S. bacon) at any time of the day along with a sausage roll. I had a care package of them when I left for Scotland. Good stuff!

cg

[Johnny Drummond]

To answer your question Bill, whatever road tyres are available in the rim size that the bikes have!, although they look mainly to be Avon road runners that will most likley stay on wet or dry all season(you see rain makes VERY little difference here,we're used to it-a bit like ordinary riding,again ask why Charlie went with me on the bike on the Thursday and in the car on Saturday ha ha ha)thats just a guess from looking looking at Charlies pictures,but why not come over and look for yourself?.You have to remember(and I've probably droned on about this before) all the classic guys are just men and women who work regular jobs therefore money is tight and it costs $5-6,000 a year ~IF nothing breaks, so buying tyres just to do 6-8 laps is not an option they have to make them last,but don't be fooled into thinking that they are gently tootling around at the Armoy races the week before Charlie arrived they were averaging 80mph laps, not bad when Michael Dunlop won on the Kawasaki superbike at 91mph average!!

[Charlie G]

I'll pick this up again next week when I get back from Washington state.

cg

[pete]

Looking forward to it Charlie and thanks for the soda bread info, sounds delicious!

[Carter Turk]

I just finished riding with Charlie and the gang in Washington state. He's still not home yet, but I enjoyed making his acquaintance and road tripping with him. Great photos and story, love the rain and racebike section, you gotta be committed to do that.

[allojohn]

Great snaps Charlie, I see the weather was cooperating - not!

[Charlie G]

This is the corner we viewed the Ulster Grand Prix from. This is Saturday August 13. I didn't try to shoot any video of the races, as I've found that it really dosen't do the race justice. You really need to be there to get the full experence. All the folks and marshall were nice as could be. One marshall, upon learneng I was new here to the races and from America, lent me his binoculars so I could see the "White of their eyes" as they came out of the turns.


The course comes from the left behind the long house on the left in the background. They come behind the house from the left and make a hard left into a turn between the houses and head up the hill toward me. The turn at the bottom of the hill is I guess about a 1/4 mile away.




I'm not a pro and you really need to be there to witness them comming up this road, shifting through the gears. I watched them for several races and it dawned on me that they were popping a 6" wheelie about 100 feet from me as they shifted. I guess they were probally going about 160 mph plus at that point. Up hill, damp road, 160 mph and a wheelie. It was impressive.










Not everyone was interested in the race.

[Englishman]

Nice story thread Charlie........now I feel homesick !

Mark

[Johnny Drummond]

What-you miss riding in heavy rain in summer?????

[Charlie G]

I tried for about 30 shots to get some bikes roaring throught this intersection and this is only one of two that I caught.



Before a race starts and at the end of a race, a marshall and a doctor on motorcycles do a lap and check the track. This bike is a doctor. The doctor has a full kit with him for emergencies and let me tell you, he hauls butt!



Johnny and I posing for a photo op. I'm the one bundled up to keep warm.





After the races were over I spied this. It said turbo on it and it seemed special. No owner to quiz.





A picture of Guy Martin, who won the last race.



I really enjoyed myself watching the races and being part of this motorcycle event. I would like to sincerely thank Johnny and his family for extending such a warm and generous welcome to me. This seems to be a reacouring theme for me this year, nice, friendly, hospitable people.



I'm of to Scotland to pick up my rental car and do a short tour of the sights to see.



An Island just before landfall off the coast of Cairnryan, Scotland. Tomarrow pictures of Scotland. cg

[Charlie G]

Nice story thread Charlie........now I feel homesick !

Mark

Yes Mark, I know how you feel. I'm going back. I still need to see Wales and the North West Highlands, and...........

[Buffalo Bill]

Vallhalla! Again!

Wonderful journey Charley.

Certainly a well developed skill for the Irish, riding a bike fast on wet roads.
Thanks for the tire answer Johnny, Avon Roadriders are recommended by some of our members. Seeing them on Irish race bikes justifies them for me. I think I see Dunlops on some as well, and on the modern sport bikes I recognize Micheline Pilot Powers.

Bill

[Johnny Drummond]

No problem Bill, glad to help.So when will I see you????,the racers in the last photo are Connor Cummins (purple and green paint job closest to the right hand edge) leading Ian Lougher(yellow helmet,black,green and white paint job) Connor is the rider who slid off the side of Snae Fell at over 100mph in the TT 2 years ago-how do I know?lots and lots of practice,and the fact that the purple and green is a particular sponsors colours and Ian always wears a yellow helmet!,just to also mention there was another doctor that day also mounted on a bike,it's just he went past so fast poor Charlie couldn't get his photo-although he tried at least 15 times!!!!.The XN85 Turbo in the photo is a production bike that had a very limited lifespan of (I think 2 years) but I am pleased to be corrected on that ,they were imported here when the whole turbo thing was at it's height-think GPZ750T,XJ600 Turbo and CX650 Turbo they are really rare even here as in 25 odd years of being around bikes that is the only one I've ever seen.One last thing,the island you see in the photo is the Ailsa Craig which was visible from my kitchen window when I was a kid.Okay Charlie,you know the bed is here just let me know

[Charlie G]

No problem Bill, glad to help.So when will I see you????,the racers in the last photo are Connor Cummins (purple and green paint job closest to the right hand edge) leading Ian Lougher(yellow helmet,black,green and white paint job) Connor is the rider who slid off the side of Snae Fell at over 100mph in the TT 2 years ago-how do I know?lots and lots of practice,and the fact that the purple and green is a particular sponsors colours and Ian always wears a yellow helmet!,just to also mention there was another doctor that day also mounted on a bike,it's just he went past so fast poor Charlie couldn't get his photo-although he tried at least 15 times!!!!.The XN85 Turbo in the photo is a production bike that had a very limited lifespan of (I think 2 years) but I am pleased to be corrected on that ,they were imported here when the whole turbo thing was at it's height-think GPZ750T,XJ600 Turbo and CX650 Turbo they are really rare even here as in 25 odd years of being around bikes that is the only one I've ever seen.One last thing,the island you see in the photo is the Ailsa Craig which was visible from my kitchen window when I was a kid.Okay Charlie,you know the bed is here just let me know

Is Connor Cummins on the Macadoo team? Thanks for the info on Alisa Craig. My picture dosen't do it justice.

cg

[Charlie G]

I believe this purple plant on the mountian side is heather.



A glimse Cairnryan as we begin to dock.

We dock about 12:30pm and I head off to my rental car. I use the remote to open the lock and it dosen't work. I try the key in the door, it opens. The battery is dead. I left the lights on as the car seemed to have auto shut off, WRONG! No problem, I call emergency road service. I 'm on the phone with a nice lady, and I'm telling her where I am and she asks if I'm in Startford county or......The phone goes dead. WTF! My daughter lent me this phone and unknown to me it's a pay as you go phone, the concept is totally unkown to me. 2 1/2 hours later, after getting ahold of the road service again. topping up the phone, and having the (friendly)road service remind me that manual transmissions can be bump started, I was n the road. I never condisered pushing the car by myself in a slightly uphill parking lot. I doubt I could have. Off to tour west Scotland.





After using Glasglow as a testing ground for my ability to drive on the left hand on the road, I decided to take the coastal route and head north to Loch Lommond and Fort William.









It was getting toward late afternoon and really wanted to find a place to stay the night. It rained most of the way and this is where I say so many eople riding two up in the rain on twisty mountian roads along Loch Lommomd. I came to the intersection below , which had a hotel. I got a room.





Good food, clean rooms and the cost was great at the time, but yesterday I looked at the cost converted to dollars....well I enjoyed staying there.....