Hi all its Wednesday 30 May 2012
and on Sunday myself and viffer and a few friends returned from what was the
best 1000+ miles of riding i have had in a long time. On Thursday 24th i meet with Ian and Bernie
his wife riding a fazer 1000, Terry on his fireblade , Colin on his fireblade ,
john also on a fireblade and Richard riding a gs1200 at the Birchanger services
near stanstead airport to depart for a 3 night trip to Yorkshire. we departed
the services with full tanks around 9.30am aiming for the Farm Cafe in where we had a bit of breakfast and a
cup of tea before continuing our northward journey. we made a stop for fuel at about 140 miles
and we all topped up and also decided to give Bernie the £1.25 we thought the Humber
bridge would cost to cross it. when we arrived there at the tolls we were just
waved though it turns out the Humber bridge was free for motorcycles which it
never had been, we pulled up in the tourist parking area on the left just after
the tolls for a rest stop and a stretch. This was i think the last stop before
getting very close to the B&B where we all topped up with fuel so we were
ready for a ride on the Friday. We arrived at The Black Swan pub and B&B by
around 5ish i think, were staying here for the 3 nights and when entering the
bedrooms i was very impressed with the quality accommodation we had for such a
small per person price. We got a evening meal and breakfast included in
the price and the food was chef prepared quality stuff which is always a good
thing. A few drinks in the bar and early to bed for most of us as we had all
had a early start and ridden around 300 miles that day in weather that was HOT.
Friday morning were all sitting eating breakfast at 8 am getting ready for our
day out which Ian told us was going to be a trip out to Hawes for a stop and
then on to Hartside Top cafe. i have been to both these places before on my
trip to Scotland but it was raining all day while riding so i couldn't get the
best out of these great roads. No rain today though so we had a great ride and all
day. a high light for me was the road up to the hartside cafe which was great
fun in the dry. we left hartside and carried on in a big loop back to the B&B which completed our day out which i guess was about 250 miles if memory
serves me right. Again a good night of listening to stories from the others
about this and that coupled with a couple of drinks and a very good sirloin
steak meal made for the conclusion of another great day out. Saturday morning
arrived far to quickly and again we were of on the bikes but this time to
Whitby using some roads through the moors this ride was a lot easier but still
good fun. We rested at the cafe by the train station in Whitby with a piece of
cake and a drink and then decided to make our way back through the moors
towards Masham and then use some of the roads we rode the day before ( A6108)
as they were so much fun. We ended up in
Richmond in the market square area at a snack van for a cup of joe and a rest before
returning to the B&B for the final evening meal and night of banter between
the guys and girls there was even a Million pound bet placed which i suspect
will never be paid by the losing party as we could never decide who really
lost. The route home was hard work as the Holiday blues began to set in and we
were slowly making our way south. We did end up using the A1 from Newark down
to Stanstead which was a very easy way of clocking up about 80 miles in a hour
and a bit. By this point in the ride it was just me and Ian and Bernie riding
together as the others were keen to get going home to see family. To sum up the weekend i would say Great roads
Great company in a super B&B serving good food made this a weekend i won't
forget any time soon and im very keen to return next year and do it all again.
As for Viffer she worked like a great bike should and caused me no trouble all
weekend and even returned a very impressive 50MPG on one take of fuel on the
first day.
My pictures are Here
My pictures are Here
