Solo ride out in Northumberland

So it turns out last night, I suddenly had a free day for the Sunday... bonus... a few quick FB posts and texts found nobody around to play with so I decided to venture out alone for once...

I'm leading a couple of ride outs for the camping weekend the Northumbria TRF lads are running in October and there were a few lanes I fancied doing, so today became a bit of a recce!

Lucy went for a wander along some of Hadrian's Wall and visited the Vindolanda Roman Museum, which left me free to mooch at my own pace and take lots of pics too... bonus!

My route took me north from Vindolanda, then back south via a little ford called the Ash, where the farmer and his wife are apparently very unfriendly... the 'Road Blocked' sign at the gate gave the game away, so I dutifully stuck to the trail, switched off my bike etc all in an effort to keep the peace!

I was very surprised to find the footbridge near the ford had chains across it... isn't that illegal??

The ford was a rocky little beggar, with a bomb hole in it, which apparently the farmer has dug out with his JCB!! Life really is too short for this kind of mentality in my opinion... Surprise, surprise there was no blockage either!

Bogged down - the first time!

Bogged down - the second time

My next lane crossed moorland, peaty, boggy & rutted in places, a place where the trail disappears for awhile and then re-appears, the drainage ditches are deep and if the weather is bad it could be a very harsh place to be. 

I got the bike bogged down in the peat twice, both time dropping into a hidden hole, it took some time to get the 400 back out each time and I was sweating a lot by the time I'd done it... mostly by throwing the bike on it's side and dragging it sideways... mmm very stylish!!

A bit of a bog fest at the northern end

En-route I met Mick, one of the TRF lads who was doing a run out today for some of the new boys... the three of them all looked like they were having fun, unfortunately my timings didn't work out otherwise it would have been good to meet another bunch of folks with a passion for bikes! Still a good gossip was had by all before we each headed off in opposite directions.

Err , where is the trail??

Next up was Bellingham to see if the petrol garage was open, it was so a top up and a good chat with the nice lady confirmed that the Garage would be open on Sundays now and that the weekend of the TRF Camp there would be a marathon running through Kielder Forest, all good info.

Bellingham fuel, now open on Sundays apparently.

Park Benches in Bellingham

One of the many things I love about trail riding is the sense of history you get as you pass through a landscape. All of the trails and villages are ancient things, they've seen more folk pass by than most of us ever will in our lifetimes, the bench I sat on to eat my lunch was the one dedicated to PC Carroll, I've never met him or heard of him yet here I am writing about him! I'll be there again in a few weeks, so time to ask about him then I think...

A fabulous old coaching bridge...

How cool is this lane??

Re-opened Lane paperwork...

Re-opened lanes are the best!

Causeway over the lake, ace...

Err is it alright to breathe??

Re-opened in 2010, ace stuff!

My final lane of the day was a beaut, some small rock steps on very slippy limestone and then a blast up to the road before a final run back to Vindolanda and a roast dinner in Carlisle!

not quite... maybe next time!

Another fab day out playing like a kid with his toys in the mud and river!! 

Enough said!!

Enjoy...

Sun, Fun, a KTM 400 & a Serow 225

Lucy was off running a mountain flora workshop today for the Association of Mountaineering Instructors in Langdale, so I took the opportunity to get the KTM 400 out on the trails and give it a good blast!

I've spent nearly two weeks working on this 400 now, sorting the carbs and the fact that it has sat for nearly 3 years has left it with loads of little problems that I keep just dealing with as they come up. So today was payback, get on it and ride the thing... ace stuff...

That RFS engine is magic, I can totally see why everybody says good things about them, loads of power in the light body of the KTM and all very gentle, yet a bit of a monster if you're not paying attention!

I rode plenty of lanes local to me, ones I know well, as I was conscious I was alone too, something I do rarely for some reason... it was really relaxing to just pootle and play on this bike...

The suspension is set up really hard on it, so I've had a play at softening it down some to suit my riding style and make the bike a little more responsive, not got it sorted yet, it's a bit bouncy at the moment, nearly caught me out a couple of times!

As the bike is destined for some friends of mine I called by to show them it's now running and catch up on the gossip, Richard decided to join me for the afternoon on their little Serow as I was heading to Langdale to meet up with Lucy and the guys on the course as I know a few of them.

Once Richard had warmed the Serow up, we were off, first up the Coach Road, a first for Richard and then down the side of Thirlmere and into Grasmere with its tourists and wiggly lanes, before catching the byway that runs through the bottom of Langdale and into the Stickle Barn pub for a drink and a gossip!

We sat and chatted loads to old friends, then Lucy turned up with her group and we chatted some more! Time marched on and at 5pm it was home time, a return blast up the Coach Road saw Richard have two offs on the rough uphill and then some fun in the puddles before a final road session back to his house...

The day ended with the 400 having more fuel issues, the reserve tap doesn't work, I found this out half way home as it was getting dark! I could see enough fuel to get me to a fuel station but the tap wouldn't let it run because it is so heavily corroded and gummed up inside. I managed to fill the float bowl with fuel a few times and creep some more but in the end I had to call for help.

Lucy turned up with the van and once loaded it was back home in the dark for a beer!!

New petcock ordered now!!!

North Yorkshire Lanes: A soggy day on the moors...

Geoff had a birthday this week, so we decided to try to do the last part of the lanes on the Coast to Coast that we'd all done in the summer. Andy came along too as he'd had to bail and miss the last day due to previous commitments.

So three of us met up in Kilburn, just east of Thirsk, to crack on a get some lanes done...

The Forresters Arms, cool little country pub...

As we set off a thin drizzle started and this continued for the majority of the day, so everything got really slippy and greasy, including the tarmac!

First lane was up High Town Bank and back down in a loop, nice little lane with some easy but slippy rock steps in it... a quick razz to Ampleforth past Byland Abbey  and the little lane here, which is currently partially blocked by builders working on the empty building next to the lane.

A quick stop in Helmsley for a brew and then off to Rudland Rigg, where all the heather was in bloom and even in the crappy rain looked fabulous with it's purple flowers... I was surprised to hear Andy say he'd never ridden Rudland before as he's ridden most of the lanes we've been to over the last few months. Great another one ticked off!

Tea time!

Rudland Rigg

We had a load of fun in Battersby Plantation, it was so greasy that none of us got up it cleanly, Andy took the low route and ended up in one of the deep ruts, where he got stuck all alone as Geoff & I headed up the left bank, we then got stuck at the rock steps at the top and thought he was ahead of us so never even looked for him until he appeared sweating and swearing below us...

A lot of sweating, swearing and wheel spinning eventually saw all three bikes at the top, but we were now covered in mud and shite, plus soaked from the drizzle, but none of us could stop laughing all the while we were there!!

It's a proper 'ard lane that!!

At the top!!

Catch our breathe out of the rain!

From here we picked up a couple of easier lanes and the fun started to happen...

Andy had an off at 40-50mph on some tarmac, we reckon he might have slid out on a patch of mud in the middle of the road, whatever the cause, he went down hard, the bike slid for about 30m, grinding a fair bit of the hand guard away and damaging the steering damper... Once we knew Andy was only bruised, and the bike was ridable, we headed off again, with Andy groaning a bit!

Divot to bike was the skid length!!

Next up Geoff's bike decided to throw a rear brake pad out, he hadn't fitted it correctly and so as we had already started a steep wet descent, it was a sweaty turn around to get it on level ground and get it back in place...

The next couple of lanes suffered from the locals ire, one even had a sign across the bridge saying 'Private Bridge' with padlocks and all...

Block that Right of Way!

So as it was now 1pm, we headed direct to Lealholm for fuel and a cuppa! The lady at the petrol garage and the cafe were both lovely and took the piss out of us out playing in the rain! Once we were all warm again, we headed off to the ford near Lealholm and then pretty much a road trip back to Kilburn.

Great beer in a warm pub, then the drive home rounded off another great day out with mates on bikes!!

Live Unlike The Others - A lovely little film about travelling on a bike...

Lucy & I found this little film awhile back now and have a watched it a few times, sit back, enjoy the scenery and listen to the message... 

Life is just too short to be boring!

Happy trails all...

CCM GP450 - Lucy's Test Ride in the Lakes...

Lucy has wanted to try to ride one of the CCM GP 450's since I did a test ride a couple of month's ago. The salesman from CCM, a guy called Darren was up staying with family in Cockermouth so had brought one with him and offered Lucy a chance to ride one today.

CCM GP450 2015

This particular bike has a new engine in it and is due to go out to Italy in a couple of weeks, so needs a good run in before it heads off south, hence the ride up here, Darren is an ex TT racer and used to race for CCM in the day, so needless to say he was pretty handy on the bikes. The bike was loaded with all the toys, including the full bash plate, raised screen, Garmin 660 mount, rear racks and bigger rear brake pedal.

We all swapped around during the morning with Lucy taking the lead on the GP as it was her test day, as before the riding position was great, the dashboard is really clear, standing up is very relaxed and better even than Lucy's KTM.

Playing in the puddles on Mosser Fell

Off road the bike likes to be ridden quick, the suspension seems better when you push it harder and it absorbs the bumps and ruts really well. The Brembo brakes and discs are really good, you can feel the bite as soon as you touch the lever, I like this.

We had a play in the puddles on Mosser Fell, taking some pics of Darren and Lucy splashing about before finishing up back in Cockermouth. A lovely ride out down some fun little local lanes.

A bit of banter about bikes in general!

CCM GP450 2015.

As before I personally found the throttle at low revs quite jerky, Lucy felt the same, some of this can be put down to us riding carbed bikes all the time, so not used to the response of an injected bike, some of it is definitely the injection system on the bike. Darren says this has been softened from the original race spec engine which just sat on the rear wheel every time you pulled away and I can see this.

 I think Darren was quietly impressed by Lucy's off road skills, she is becoming a very handy lady on a bike and this bike seemed to compliment her style of riding too.

Both of us really like these bikes, they have a cool presence on the road, you feel like your on a bike you can ride for  long way. I like the separate fuel tanks and the off road capability alongside the road manners.

Now it's down to numbers really, can we afford to buy two of them... we'll see...