Month: June 2023

A weekend away with the family.

We all have something special in our lives, be it health, a relationship or family, but not necessarily all of those things. I can’t really think of anything more important than health and family, but then I’ve lost my relationship, never been penniless, nor lacked many other things that people don’t have, freedom for example, that is yet something else we assume as a given. 

But I am very lucky, I have an amazing family and for the next two to three weeks will hopefully continue with this health I have at present.

Tomorrow I head off on a 1,000 mile trip to visit friends and family around this country. It’s England, so maybe not as exotic as some of the places you’ve followed me, but there’s still a lot to be enjoyed on our own doorstep.

Newcastle hospital has given me two weeks to live my life, If you don’t have anything better to do then follow me on my final road trip for a while.

Bunny hopping past the miles of slow moving traffic down the A41 in rural Cheshire brought the benefit of miles of open road, once past the leading tractor. It wasn’t until I crossed the border into Shropshire that my speed got hindered by an A.W.Jenkinson’s artic. The open road encouraged the smooth six cylinder engine to raise the speed to a driving licence endangering level, fortunately the restraint and maturity of the rider will hopefully have kept three points (or more) at bay!

Leaving Chester just after rush hour it was eight eighths cloud cover, overcast to non meteorologists, and a cool 13c, time for heated grips and seat to keep me in a relatively warm bubble behind the big screen. Motorcycle buddy Ken took no time in naming the new big screen Big Ears, so it naturally followed that he named me Noddy!

The Jenkinson’s lorry didn’t need to be ‘knocked off’ as, within a half a mile of entering Shropshire I was attracted to the Lockside Cafe sign, time for coffee and a cake.

It was an easy ride down the A41 then A49 to my intended scenic diversion at Ludlow, so no need to master again the complexities of the on board BMW satnav, which was a relief after I failed with my first attempt when leaving Southport yesterday! There’s something rather quaint about ye olde skill of reading road signs.

As I neared Church Stretton I couldn’t help but be drawn towards The Marches, so after a cuppa and another cake I headed up Long Mynd, a very steep narrow lane with glorious views, described on Wiki as ‘a heath and moorland plateau’.

I descended down the 25% gradient on the south western side and negotiated the myriad of narrow country lanes before emerging onto some cracking motorcycling A roads. 

I was now just heading in a generally southerly direction and inadvertently strayed the wrong side of Offa’s Dyke where I found myself in the land of a thousand consonants. 

A clue was in the signs dotted around the village of Knighton, but I still Googled it to confirm which country I was in. The village’s Offa’s Dyke Centre was closed, so I headed east back into England’s green and pleasant land and it was only a few miles before I was welcomed into Herefordshire.

It was a beautifully warm sunny morning as I saddled up the steed outside the Bear of Rodborough Hotel. It made me feel different from the many other guests in their cars, most of which were of German origin, just like my steed! Cars offer more comfort and I often ponder if there is a car that would give me a suitable buzz, but I feel motorcycling gives a greater sense of adventure, even if the hips now complain at being too long in the saddle!

I felt a sense of relief that I had changed my plan from heading to the most south westerly counties in favour of a much shorter route home going via Surrey and Suffolk. I apologise to Paul and Anita in Cornwall and David in Devon for the late change. It had been playing on my mind for a while making the extra few hundred miles venture into the most south westerly counties of England, especially as I am now a relative novice getting back into bigger distances, so it pleased me that they were understanding about my late change of plan.

Gav in Guildford had warned me that it was going to be hot in his neck of the woods, so it was vented gloves and boots for hundred mile ride over there. Getting to Guildford was pleasurable, finding Gav’s house in deepest darkest Surrey was another matter, as the satnav surely took me along every back lane of the Surrey hills!

Heading east from ‘The Bear’ and riding over ‘the commons’ and then the less touristy parts of The Cotswolds was very enjoyable. The frequent signs to Stow and Burford tried to entice me to veer left, but I’d done the ‘must see’ villages before so stayed on my planned backroad route on the fringes of this very popular area of England.

With no mega miles to do my speeds were conservative interspersed with frequent stops for essentials such as coffee and cake or photographs. Despite not being in the centre of The Cotswolds the ride still took in many chocolate box villages, the BM and I just glided along, what a smooth operator, the bike not me! 

It was 3am today when the wheels of the big BMW K1600GT came to rest after 1,000 miles of rolling over, mainly English, tarmac. I enjoy being home, I get comfort from it that I don’t experience out on the road, even though I treat myself occasionally to hotels of the standard I’m not yet used to. There is something special about being in the comfort of your own home with, in my case, the closeness of family and the many friends, plus even ex colleagues 😆, an ‘in joke’.

But the idea of the trip was to head out on the new bike to see many other friends and family who don’t live on my doorstep, yet again apologies to those I missed. Am I glad I did it? I suppose so, it was good to catch up with people who hadn’t seen me so fit and healthy for a while, and on returning home the bathroom scales confirmed that I’d done a remarkably good job on the calorie count! I saw some beautiful places I hadn’t seen before so yes, it was a worthwhile and enjoyable trip.

It was good to catch up with Gav, we had a lovely meal at the hotel/pub he recommended, and return the long overdue IOU, he had treated me to dinner on the ferry when we first met nearly two years ago!

The following morning was hot, and as I headed around the Surrey back lanes, bound for the M25 car park, I again was struck by the affluence of the area, I’m not sure where our nearest Bentley or Ferrari garage is but don’t think Lloyds have those franchises yet! Everywhere around me seemed to be oozing money, or borrowed money, and it made me think of our cloth cap, whippet, pigeon and brown ale north. The pluses of living anywhere near London seemed quite enticing until….the M25. Yes there are great benefits to this area, but when the temperature gauge on the bike was reading higher than the speed we could travel, it made the relatively empty roads and fresh clean air of the north (now the dark satanic mills are no longer oozing out their black smoke) seem much more preferable!

I managed to finally escape the ‘road to hell’ and headed north east towards Suffolk, where I would stay the night with Rachel’s brother Richard and his wife Claire. After one night I decided to take the cooler and quieter time to ride home and left their house at 9pm Sunday for the 300 mile ride back to Carlisle. With the warm temperature and lights from the bike it didn’t take long before the front of the BM was wearing a furry blanket of dead insects! The bike made the ride relatively easy, but it’s always good to get home after six hours on the road.

My mind is still in a bit of a turmoil, physically I feel amazing, in fact I feel pretty damn good in all departments, but you sense a ‘but’? 

Today I got my op date, 28th of this month. I see that as yet another turning point. I’m not worried, concerned or stressed about it. Should I wake up after the op, then I know it will be a new life, and a new life in many ways. I’ll deal with that if, or when it comes. But for now, every day is precious, it’s a life I know and one I’ve known for most of these 66 years, and it’s pretty damn good. I’m still pondering how I use this precious time, but I mustn’t waste time pondering, I have to DO! 😆

Here are some photos of the last couple of days: