John O' Groats - 2010

Mike Trzcinski writes

It was 7.45 am on Saturday 29^th May as I pulled into the car park of the pub on the Stonebridge Island to meet up with the team going on the John O’Groats trip. Tom McKnight, Ron Thorley, and Mike Mitchell were already there sitting in the rain and they looked less than pleased that I was only on time and not 20 minutes early as they had been. Not the greatest start perhaps, but we said a quick hello and then got going. The roads had been dry when I got up at 6.30 am, but by 7 it was raining and it continued to do so for most of the day.

Our first leg took us via Coleshill, Weeford, the A5 to the A41, and then up to Whitchurch. By the time we stopped there for breakfast we all knew it was going to be a hard day. Every one of us had discovered which piece of our kit was not waterproof; in my case my feet squelched in my boots as I walked into the diner. After breakfast and a warm we kitted up once more (Ron on his second pair of gloves) and headed off. From Whitchurch we cut through to the A49 and preceded north through Warrington, and Wigan heading towards Preston and our first fuel stop.

Ah Preston, where we should have turned right onto the A6 for Lancaster. Instead, after fighting our way through the Saturday traffic we had our first GPS moment. GPS took us straight past the turning, then a quick back double round the block and off we went south back through the traffic towards Chorley, once again passing the turning to Lancaster. Yours truly was getting a bit miffed by this point. Eventually it was determined that a dodgy waypoint was the cause of the problem and so after fighting our way through the traffic for a third time we finally hit the A6 to Lancaster. And then the rain stopped for an hour or so and we all cheered up a bit, though there was still plenty of glove warming\drying on engine casings going on.

After Lancaster it was on to Kendal, Penrith, and Carlisle where we picked up the A7 into Scotland and our first nights stop at Langholm. It took us a while to find the rear car park at “The Border House” but then the owner appeared and opened a nice big dry garage and we all piled in. It was around 6 pm and we had been on the go for 10 hours.

It took a fair while to get our wet kit off, stuff boots with paper, hang our stuff up to dry and finally get inside. A while later we found a pub and after a good meal we were all pretty cheerful. The weather had picked up and we had an inkling that the worst was over and things could only get better.

Figure 1 .  Dinner @ Langholm warm and dry again after 8 hours of rain.

Day 2 and we all kicked off with a “full Scottish” breakfast which set us up for the day. At 9 am we were on the road, initially on a series of back lanes through to Moffat, then via the A701, A719, and A73 to Lanark. The first hour was a bit cold and drizzly but then it started to pick up as the sky lifted and it turned into a good day for biking.

From Lanark we worked our way between Glasgow and Edinburgh towards Stirling arriving at lunchtime. Tom spotted a Tesco which seemed the obvious place to stop for lunch. In we piled only to discover it was the only Tesco in the whole country that didn’t have a café! Kit back on and a mile down the road we found Sainsbury’s, complete with Café and filling station.

From Stirling we headed North West and almost straight away the traffic started to drop off and the scenery started to change. Finally for me the holiday proper was here. This was the start of the Scotland I had come to see.

Figure 2 North of Stirling, Our first Loch.

We took the A84, A85, and A82 all the way to Fort William for another fuel stop, before pushing on to our destination for the night at Fort Augustus. Surprisingly it was once again just after 6 pm when we arrived, a bit tired and stiff after 500 miles in two days, but dry and having all enjoyed a good days ride.

Once again Tom had sorted us out a super B&B. After a quick wash and brush up we headed for the pub for dinner and our new sport of taking the Mickey out of Mike.

Figure 3 At Fort William taking a break.

Day 3 saw a cloudy start, no sign of rain and a forecast of wind later. Initially we took the A82 up the side of Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit. From there we took the A833, the A862, and the A835 all the way to Ullapool. The A835 can only be described as a fabulous road. Stick it on your list of roads you must ride before you hang up your helmet. The view as you come into Ullapool was terrific. We took a break in Ullapool and then carried on north. Shortly after Strathkanaird we took a left turn down a narrow lane for 11 miles heading for Reiff on The Minch. The road was very challenging with loads of tight turns and a very loose gritty surface, but when we got there the view was worth it. Looking down to the sea and all the islands and inlets was terrific. Then we had to go back 11 of the same road again to reach the “main road”.

Figure 4 . Reiff - What a view!

Shortly after this we came to a T junction and Tom took a right turn down another single track road. I wasn’t sure if Tom was having a laugh or a GPS moment but it turned out to be neither. We were actually on the A837, all 6 foot 6 inches of it! The scenery though was once again super.

Figure 5 . One of those A roads.

Mile after mile of Moorland with hardly a car to be seen and very, very few houses. Funnily enough one of the very few vehicles we did meet was a BT Open Reach van. I found myself riding along wondering where the house was that needed the phone line fixing. After around 18 miles of this we came into the village of Rosehall and all of us were getting low on fuel. No luck. No filling station in Rosehall. We had to do another 9 miles on fumes alone to Lairg before we finally found a gas station. It wasn’t just the two pretty girls behind the counter that made us glad to be there!

After Lairg it was almost due north on the A836. I had now reconciled myself to country lanes being numbered up as A roads. No choice really since there is no other road. The only problem now was traffic. We were now meeting oncoming vehicles every minute or so. The new game was to work out at which passing place we were going to meet and then encourage the oncoming driver that this was where he wanted to stop for us. All credit to the local drivers. Almost without exception they saw us coming and pulled over in plenty of time. They were clearly used to bikes and adopted a very bike friendly driving style. Maybe the big illuminated signs at the sides of some of the roads helped. They didn’t bother with the usual “Tiredness can kill” crap. Instead they had really useful messages like “Please allow Bikes to overtake safely” or “Please use lay-bys to let following traffic pass”.

We followed the A836 all the way up to Tongue and then swung right along the coast. The road gradually got wider but we all noticed the wind was getting up. As we headed for Thurso it got stronger and stronger such that we had to lean into it to go in a straight line. As we went round some bends the wind would whip from one side of us to the other adding to the fun! At one point I experienced a new phenomenon. I had to keep leaning right even whilst going to into a fairly serious left hander. A very strange sensation indeed.

After Thurso it became a slog to Dunnets Head (the most northerly point on the mainland) and then on to John O’Groats, our ultimate destination. John O’Groats was shut! There was nothing to see, so pretty quickly we found our guest house for the night and finally got out of the wind.

Figure 6 . The obligatory photo at John O'Groats. Even the sign had been put away!

Thankfully the only open restaurant was also pretty good and once out of the wind we spent a pleasant dinner looking out at the Orkneys just 4 miles away. Amazingly sunset was at around 10.20 pm and even at 11pm it was light enough outside to see. The locals said it wouldn’t be getting much darker for a good few weeks now.

Figure 7 . Sunset - 10:18 pm at John O'Groats.

Tuesday, Day 4, and the wind looked to have dropped a bit. The forecast was for rain and as we togged up just before 9 am that was what we looked like getting. The first part of our day was a 110 mile blast down the east coast on the A99 and A9 all the way to Inverness. On the first stretch to Wick we had to contend with both wind and rain. Add this to lots of bends and a poorly maintained surface and this was a very demanding task. At Wick we fuelled up again before carrying on to Inverness. It was shortly after Wick that both Ron and I had serious moments. Talking later we think it might have been on the same bend. The left hander going into an S. It was a bit tighter than it looked, the surface was very worn and coarse, and then we had an adverse camber. In no time I was drifting across the road towards the grass verge on the other side. Thankfully the verge gave me a bit of positive camber and I had managed to scrub off most of the speed. Now as I approached the right hand bend of the S I had to hope nothing was coming the other way as I negotiated the right hander in the offside gutter. Thankfully it was clear and I got away with it. Tom and Mike Mitchell had both just done the same bends without a twitch. Maybe I was going a few mph faster or maybe I was a bit slow on the turn in. Who knows? Lesson learned, I am still a beginner.

Inverness was a bit like Preston but for a different reason. Mike Mitchell needed to fuel up but could we find a gas station? The weather had also dried and warmed up considerably and we all still had all our wet weather gear on. Being hot and in traffic was not fun for a while but we eventually found a filling station and took the opportunity to remove the wet weather gear and cool down.

After Inverness we headed east a bit before taking the A939 south to Grantown on Spey. This gradually developed into a mixture of scenery. One minute the rolling hills of the Glenlivet estate, the next we were climbing a pass by one of several ski resorts. Once again lots more single track roads.

As the miles went on I found myself working farther down the box, from 4^th to 3^rd, even to 2^nd to keep the motor spinning and give me the response I wanted. For a man who spends his life designing Diesel engines, blatting along with maybe 5 or 6,000 rpm on the clock, even at 40 mph was something new and it took some while to get my head round it. Grantown was our lunch stop.

From Grantown we carried on with the A939, passing close to Balmoral and then picked up the A93 following the river Dee south west to Braemar for another quick fuel stop for Mikes Honda 600. After Braemar we continued south on the A939 towards Bridge of Cally but then cut right on the B950 to Kirkmichael and the A924 to Pitlochry. At Pitlochry we parked up for a bit and took a walk to Hydro Electric plant to see the fish ladder. By a series of tanks interconnected with large tubes the Salmon are able to swim upstream around the Hydro Electric plant. Whilst we were there we saw some pretty big fish swim by and we wondered if anyone would mind if we fetched one out for dinner.

Figure 8 . The fish ladder at Pitlochry.

From Pitlochry and the Bell distillery it was on to Aberfeldy on the Tay and Dewar’s World of Whisky. Our accommodation for the night turned out to be a beautifully restored Victorian detached house complete with Oak doors and staircase. We felt quite posh.

Wednesday, day 5, as originally planned was to be a comparatively short hop of 160 miles back to Langholm. During the week we had found out that Tom’s grandparents lived in Kirkcudbright on the Solway Firth so we suggested a slight detour of around 90 miles or so to allow Tom to call in on his rellies.

The first section from Aberfeldy along Loch Tay to Killin was great. We had a good road and popped in a couple of Photo stops.

Figure 9 . The Gang at the end of Loch Tay.

From Killin it was south east to Stirling once again. After Stirling things went a bit downhill as we worked our way around the south east outskirts of Glasgow, and on to Kilmarnock before picking up the A76 for Dumfries. Stirling to Kilmarnock was a blur of traffic, speed limits, pot holes, bumpy roads, and frustration. The A76 was much better. It felt much more like English countryside to me and we were able to work past the traffic and down to Dumfries. Here we went right on the A75 to Castle Douglas and the last short hop to Kirkcudbright. Mike, Ron, and I found a nice little tea shop and settled down to afternoon tea in the sunshine whilst Tom visited his family. It was nice to stop and chill out for a while.

Figure 10 . Chilling out over afternoon tea.

When Tom got back we had another quick fuel stop and then headed back towards Dumfries and then on towards Carlisle for our final nights stop at Langholm, the same place we had stopped at on our first night. What a difference. On Wednesday we were warm and dry, not cold and wet, and we felt like old hands after 5 days on the road.

Thursday, day 6, and our final day. We had decided that rather than retracing out route from day 1 we would take a different route down through the Peak District but first we had to get there. We knew it was going to be warm that day so we all started out in summer gear. The first part was pretty straight forward. Down the A7 to Carlisle followed by the A6 south to Penrith and Shap. We then headed left a bit for Orton and Tebay and stopped for coffee at a lovely truck stop just off the M6.

After that it all turned into a bit of a blur really. We hit traffic as we headed down the A65 towards Skipton. We stayed in traffic all the way through Halifax and Huddersfield. Added to that it got hotter and hotter, and the roads got bumpier and more pot holed. In short it was crap. Don’t go there. Finally, south of Holmfirth we stopped at the top of the hill for a break and a cool down. The car park that we pulled into was 500 m from a TV broadcast mast and this soon proved to be a big problem. I could not turn off the alarm on my bike before starting it. The TV signal simply blanked out my little remote key fob. There was no option but to warn the people in the car park, start up the engine, and drive off with the alarm sounding and the hazard flashers going. Not cool. After half a mile the road dipped down behind the hill out of the line of sight of the transmitter and I was finally able to turn off the alarm.

Figure 11 . On the hill above Holmfirth. Note the support wires for the TV mast in the background.

From there it was on to Glossop and Buxton where we picked up the fabulous A515; except, what have they done? Slapped a 50 mph speed limit ion it! The surface was ok but it was still very hot and there was lots of traffic. A very different road compared to early on a Sunday morning. We took the A515 from Buxton to Ashborne and then on to Lichfield. From Lichfield it was the A38 to Bassets Pole, then the A446 to J9 of the M42 finishing off with the short hop to Coleshill and the Stonebridge Island. Here I waved good bye to the guys and headed home to Solihull.

Total distance from start to finish for me was 1,593 miles. A little over 250 miles per day. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I go again? Yes. Tom did an absolutely super job as organiser and lead rider. The pace was spot on. We had sensible breaks at sensible intervals and the accommodation was all great. The GPS moments added humour.

Would we change anything? Yes. I think we all agreed that once in Scotland we could have done with more time. Less miles each day would have given more time to take in the scenery. It has to be a balance. The way we did it meant we didn’t go on any motorways. That was a big plus. The alternative could be to sacrifice the first and last days and blast up the M6 and A74M and try to get to Stirling. Maybe adding another day would work but we recognised people have limited holidays to spread throughout the year. Better still miss out John O’Groats.

No matter. We all enjoyed it. Tom said it was the first trip he had ever organised. If that was his first trip then future trips, now he knows the ropes, will be something to be recommended. Thanks also to Ron Thorley and Mike Mitchell for your company, good humour, and useful tips. We had many useful discussions over dinner on riding techniques, kit to wear, and the size of Mike’s fuel tank! Where next boys?