A bit of a day….

It all started at 8.20am with the phone ringing. Ed had gone away on the BMW to get it’s MOT done, bless him, there was a large mug of (cold) tea beside my bed. I was a bit out of sorts when I answered the phone, it was Karen from work.

I had to ask what time it was. I should have checked what planet I was on too for good measure. Our injured biker, who is now back in Belgium, having had an operation to fix his broken knee, had his bike in our garage for safe keeping. It was getting ‘recovered’ this morning. I was told he couldn’t get the lorry up the drive. No wonder. It was a 70′ transporter, stuffed full of damaged cars. I wished I could have waited to see how the hell he was going to get it on the transporter, however, there were other pressing issues.

We have had server problems in the business over the last 3 weeks. We had no internet. Bugger. That meant we couldn’t print out the large quantity of Father’s Day parcel labels. We had to get my old laptop cranked up to sort it out. Ironically, we (Craig) had just cleaned it up yesterday so it could be used in the business. We had to install the printer too, which involved a trip up to my attic. I don’t like doing that.

So, all connected, Craig starts to print out the Parcelfarce labels. Just as well he is a superb multi-tasker. 6 trips down the road in the car (damned if I was going to walk) and all the labels were delivered. By 11am, I was starving. The tea had been dinged in the microwave, (yes, Susan, I did!) and I had had a few small, strong coffees. A couple of boiled eggs and the rest of the day was mine. Woohoo!

I was hoping for company today, however, it didn’t work out. So, I got on my gear and headed off. Where to? I didn’t know. What I do know are the quieter roads, and the weather looked more promising going east. So, I did.

I turned left out of the business, left at Lix Toll, left in Fearnan, left at Coshiville and onwards to….. Rannoch Station! What an awesome run. The weather was good, there was hardly any traffic – all was good in my world. I was looking forward to a cuppa and a pee at the station cafe.

Next train to Tyndrum in an hour!

Gutted. Closed. No power or water. Damn. Needed to pee.

In the meantime, I met a lovely couple on the bridge over the railway. They had very kindly let me pass on the road, and given there were twisties ahead, I gave them a ‘foot wave’. They thanked me for that, whilst laughing, they said it was just great. We had a wee blether, which included where we would stop for a ‘wild pee’. Find a tree. Boy, that would have to be a large tree!

Rannoch Station

They were gutted too that the cafe was closed, and opted to leave as well. I was getting my gear back on, and the woman came back across with a couple of Murray Mints…. “That’ll keep you going!” I was overwhelmed. How lovely. They gave me a toot and a huge wave as they left.

Back along the road. My bladder was screaming on the bumpy surface on the first part from Rannoch Station. Then I got onto the south road, I had forgotten just how lovely it was. A great chance to practice my cornering and skills reading the LPOV (limit point of vision). It was fabulous. I soon forgot about my full bladder.

I headed towards Pitlochry and found a tea shop at the Queen’s view. It was just what I needed, a cuppa and a sandwich. It was then I realised just why I needed a break – never mind the pee, which never seemed to end (too much detail?!). I had been riding for the best part of 3 hours!

West Lodge Tearoom

I popped onto the A9 briefly, then off again to take the route through to Amulree and the Sma’ Glen. Through to Crieff then Stirling. Onwards to Denny for a cuppa with Marc. Well, he did say ‘if you are in the area’…. 🙂 he makes a cracking coffee, I have to say. He has mad Labradors called Harley and Bentley – totally nuts, but very well trained. The break and blether was appreciated.

Popped into Waitrose to get something for tea and looked at the fuel I had left. OK, so it was going to be the direct route home. There was a bit of traffic, however, I still managed Callander to Tyndrum in 35 minutes.

20 miles of fuel left in Smoggy.
£20 of fuel for the day.
£5.25 for lunch.

Amount of grins? Priceless. I love Scotland.

Bike got washed too, it was mingin’ with midges. Now, that’s what I call a day out on the bike!