ColinWB

No excuse for the biker’s violence. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Just to get out on my bike this week I ride up to the Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum. It was a 3 hour round trip with a break at the Welly to get a bar of chocolate, that ended up being the most expensive Mars Bar I’ve ever bought, £1.33 but I needed it so stumped up. I should have made up some butties and popped them in the saddle bag. As for the ride, it was uneventful both ways but the drivers in front on the return were very twitchy on the brakes, so I had to leave plenty of room in front of me. Probably more notable was reaching 3.264 miles on my wee 125 since I got it at the end of July last year.

I took my own packed lunch in each day, bag was searched, they didn’t mention the food.

This is my first MotoGP, here with my son who is a bug Ducati fan so we’re in the Ducati fan stand, been here since Friday, camping at Cartmel Field. Can’t remember exactly how much I paid but around £350 for tickets plus camping for both of us rings a bell. Friday and Saturday were very quiet, I was surprised by the closed stands the almost empty open ones. We hadvroving tickets for Friday, deficated sears for Saturday and Sunday. I bought 3 cubes of fudge yesterday to keep my sugars up - £6! I was chuffed they were selling Estrella Galicia but £7.70 a pint - definitely not Inverclyde prices . The practices, qualifying and racing have been brilliant, much better than watching on tv.

The bike park on the seafront? I went past it twice yesterday on an out and back to Ayr seafront on my wee 125. I should stop and say hello but I’m well into my stride by the time I get there so just keep on going. And I see we share a birthday, though I am 2 years older

Just the info I am looking for. I am doing my DAS with Biker School Glasgow over 3 weekends in June with the Mod1 after the second weekend, Mod2 after the last weekend. They’re just round the corner from the Shieldhall test centre, so that’s odds on for the test bookings. Happy to hear from others who have been tested at Shieldhall too

I had a lovely ride around Renfrewshire and Ayrshire this evening in brilliant sunshine. The muppets were out in force in Bishopton, which was early in my ride, so there was plenty of time to enjoy the ride after they were out of my system. Cars were parked on the opposite side of the road and the Range Rover coming the other way must have thought “it’s only a bike” so pulled onto my side of the road to pass it. I was only going about 20mph after a set of traffic lights, he was going slow too , so I decided to make it awkward and maintained my position in the middle of my lane and pointed at the driver to pull back onto his own side of the road. Then another muppet behind him had come out blind, so they got the same treatment. The third car stopped behind the parked cars until I had passed. Finally a sensible driver. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so assertive but their arrogance got to me. The rest of the ride was relaxed and I enjoyed the scenery, sunshine and, most if all, friendly waves from the swarms of bikers I saw

I am mega impressed. I flew in a Stearman in Los Angeles in the early 90s, a wonderful experience.

I got the best of the weather this morning on my short ride from Inverclyde to the St Mocha Coffee stop at Carbeth, beside where the now defunct Carbeth Inn was. I’m glad I was on the bike because the return journey would have been spoiled by roadworks in Inverclyde. 2 sets that are only about 100 yards long but queues on the approaches were at least a mile long. Thank goodness for lane splitting I got home just before the showers started. And I wore the North Face Windstopper that I forgot about at the back of my wardrobe until this morning. It lived up to its name

Just a standard CB125F seat. More likely I have a hard arse

I finished work at 4pm, fed and watered by 430pm and on the bike by 5pm. A wee trip up the banks of Loch Lomond to Tarbet then Arrochar, where I took the road towards Helensburgh. What a road, it was like a BMX track with constant humps and twisting chicanes. Some of the humps could easily result in accidentally getting airborne if you get the speed wrong . At the Finnart oil terminal it gave me a 1 in 6 hill to climb . All the way along the road the low sun was strobing through the trees, a little bit unsettling. Through Garelochhead and down the west shore of Gareloch to Kilcreggan, mostly 30mph limit but a stretch of 40mph and a quick blast of national speed limit. Coming back out of Kilcreggan my patience was tested at the roadworks. It felt like I waited 5 minutes for the green light on a road that must get 5 cars an hour max Anyway, that was the only frustration, so not bothered by it now. I rode back up to Garelochhead and then down the east shore through Helensburgh and on to Dumbarton then across the Erskine Bridge and headed back to Inverclyde via Bishopton, riding into the last of the setting sun. I didn’t stop on this trip so there are no photos. A nice 3.5 hours ride

I know the Old Largs Road very well, I'll admit quietly I used to pretend I was a rally driver on it after I passed my car license 43 years ago I often use it now to get around the many and almost constant roadworks in Inverclyde and North Ayrshire at the moment, but never on my motorbike.

Frustratingly, I cannot put my finger on where that is but it looks familiar.

@curlylegend that must be a bittersweet memory.

I took a ride down the Firth of Clyde coast after work this evening. Decided to go up the Haylie Brae road from Largs towards Kilbirnie but cut off that at Dalry junction, went through Dalry and on through Kilwinning to the A78 roundabout, which I did go round about and retraced my route to Largs. That was when I headed towards the setting sun, so I stoppedfitst to take a photo up the valley then at a private fishery where I asked if I could park up to take photos. They were pleasantly surprised I asked, but it’s private ground so a wee bit of goid manners was in order. The photos are the ones looking down the hill and over the estuary (as if you couldn’t work that out ). At the bottom of the hill I decided on the spur of the moment to go to Fairlie, where there’s a lovely car park with the views in the last three photos. Then a leisurely ride back home to Inverclyde. Lovely ride.