INTRODUCTIONS 12

Bosnia

Age: 26

Years riding: almost 2

Bike: Honda CBR 600f

Mods: erm.. trickle charger?

Previous bike: None.

fascinating fact: Bosnia actually plays on PS3's Gran Tourismo 5 in his crash helmet... and it is also rumored that counter steering just doesn't work for Bosnia...

First Trip of the Year

First of all I would like to say that I am delighted that the blog appears to be widely read and feel a bit remiss about not blogging from the end of last year. So I am about to remedy that. Anyone reading this is encouraged to have a comment and give us guys some encouragment!
The end of February saw me get myself motivated to get the Blackbird ready for the coming season and decided to do a full service , change the front wheel bearings, change the brake fluid and fit new pads. A scotoiler was also added, had been meaning to do that for 2 years! My mate Mayhem decided to take the plunge and buy a set of stainless downpipes for his 'Bird. We managed that with only one snapped stud which had to be drilled and tapped. A visit to the testing station produced an immaculate M.O.T. Certificate and a quick online application supplied 12 months tax.
Over christmas I worked plenty of overtime and decided to treat myself to some new gear as well. Online I found a set of leather pants that matched my Targa jacket and a nice pair of TCX Waterproof boots to replace my comfortable but shabby Oxtars. A pair of winter gloves in blue completed the purchases. Thats it then ,all ready!
I decided to get away for a few days and some old schoolmates organised a mini reunion in my old hometown of Castle Douglas(Scotland) Via Facebook for the 18th of March. Things were looking good for a trip around the Scottish Borders and on Wednesday the 16th I packed up and started my trip with a gentle trip of 80 miles or so from Workington to Dalbeattie to work out the kinks and arrived at my parents house fresh and invigorated . I spent a lovelly evening and night with Mum and Dad and then the next morning I got up early and set off to enjoy the A711 back to Dumfries and turned onto the A709 for Lockerbie. I found a nice little B road, the 7068, that took me over to Langholm on the good old A7. Coffee ,bacon butty and fags at the Whitsheil Cafe and then on to Hawick. I was in no rush as I had all day to meander around the countryside having booked a room in the Famous Star hotel in Moffat for that night. Pulling into the fuel station at the Morrisons Supermarket there I pulled of my helmet and took out my earphones and promptly lost a rubber earbud. After filling up, I went into the store thinking that I would buy a cheap set of headphones for the rubber buds. Wrong! The only in ear type were Dalmation spotted JVC's that cost nearly £20! Still , I do love my music . I tried them in and found them excellent so left them in!
I may have said before but I love the A7. It is fairly fast and flowing and as the weather was dry and bright ,if cold, I enjoyed it to the full all the way to the Edinburgh ring road. I was enjoying myself so much I got onto the A701 and blasted along to Penicuik where i decided to stop for a coffee and fags. I then carried on down the 701/703 to Peebles and on down to Moffat and my hotel. I had a lovely meal and spent the evening in the bar with the locals watching football (Rangers went out of the Europa league) and drinking rum and coke.
Surprisingly, I was up early the next morning in bright sunshine . During the night there had been a heavy frost and the bike was covered. I moved it into the sunshine and went for a leasurely breakfast which was beautiful and then settled my bill. I was slightly dubious about the roads so I decided to wash the bike off and fuel up in Moffat to give the sun time to work its magic. I then set off on what was to be a fantastic day of riding. Down the A701 to Dumfries, along the A75 to Castle Douglas and onto the fantastic A713 to Ayr.Dry roads, sunshine, good music and the fantastic Blackbird had me grinning from ear to ear. A nice lunch in the Morrisons at Ayr then I was ready for a road I had never been on before, the amazing A77. I set off not knowing what to expect and had a total blast down this wonderfull twisting, undulating , scenic coastal road. Stranraer appeared all too soon and it was on to the A75 to take me along to Newton Stewart where I stopped for fuel, coffee and fags. From there to Castle Douglas on the A75 is fairly uninspiring so the A712 to New Galloway and then the A713 back to Castle Douglas seemed a better option. Clatteringshaws Resevoir from the A712 It has to be said that the rough winter and frequent use by logging wagons had left these lovely scenic and interesting roads a little worse for wear with lots of gravel and potholes in inconvenient places. That dropped the pace a little but it was still a hoot. After booking into the Imperial Hotel and showering I had a great meal and then it was time for the reunion. I will not go into detail except to say it went on late and the barstaff were ready to drop when everyone eventually left!
Up at 7.30 after a 3am finsh and lots to drink sounds like a recipe for disaster but I was fine. Delicious full Scottish breakfast, bike packed and ready I had a wander down the main street to see how much it had changed in the last 26 years. Not much! Once the time became reasonable I popped in to visit my neice who lives close by and then went over to Dalbeattie to my Mum and Dads again. My brother came over from Dumfries and we had a ride out together and went to his house for dinner. After spending some time looking at his Project VF1000R I had to head for home as I had a backshift to do the next day. On getting back to Mayhem's to garage the 'Bird he came out to berate me for leaving him at home again! Have to make it up to him and take him out on some new(ISH) roads........................
Four good days spent in my favourite persuit and all too soon, back to work.

Watch this space!

After much consideration I've decided to carry on blogging on behalf of the Ouchmypiles guys. Everyone at the minute is up to different 'activities' and some still looking for there next bike. I am pleased that Scotch broth started to blog, and blog he did! You have posted some bloody great trips and your write ups are inspiring/awesome please feel free to keep documenting your trips, I'd love to see what your getting up to! Also i stumbled across a CaroleNash website which had a article about motorcycle blogging in which they searched the Internet and listed the top 20 blogs in which ouchmypiles featured 5th! so enough of the reasons, i love motorcycles and I'm gonna be 100% dedicated to sharing it with anyone who cares to read this blog! lets start with a new introduction...

Motivation?

Just thought I'd share these with you, they kind of motivate me anyway!!

Last Ride Out Of 2010?

Got out of bed Thursday morning and looked out the window. No rain, no wind and fairly clear skies. Time to get the bike out and have a good ride out! It had been a while since I had been to Edinburgh on the good old A7 so I decided on this as a start for my route. I packed a few things in the tank bag and shoved my "best biking roads" A5 atlas in the map pocket, Checked tyre pressures and lubed the chain. With i-Pod fired up and suited and booted I set out on the first leg which was up to Carlisle and without stopping I got on the glorious A7. I enjoyed the ride on only marginally damp roads to Langholm where a stop for coffee and ciggies was in order. I stopped at the Whitsheil Cafe on the top side of the town where I ordered a mug of coffee and a bacon butty. I was amazed when I was asked for £2.90!Bargain! Bacon roll and coffee devoured and ciggies smoked I set off once more on dry roads and wound the wick up a bit. The ride was fantastic on to Hawick where it was time to fill up with fuel . Tanking up and having another ciggie took only a few minutes and I studied the map and added a little extra loop to my route. Leaving Hawick in lovely sunshine on the A698 I reached the A68 and turned north to Newton St.Boswell where there is a cracking road back across to Selkirk(A699).This was a good idea and well worth the extra miles.
Upon reaching Selkirk the route was pretty much back to original. The A707 is a lovely road with a good surface and nice scenery and I was enjoying it to the full as I motored along with some great tunes on the i-pod and the pipes on the bike playing a superb symphony. The next waypoint was Caddonfoot where the B710 takes you back onto the A7 above Galasheils and I carried on all the way up to the Edinburgh ring road. All my memories of this great road were dredged up and reinforced and I even considered just going back down it!
Instead I found a fuel station on the ring road that also sold a really nice Latte.The bike was nowhere near empty but after my near miss last time out it seemed a good idea to fill up whenever I'm not sure where the next fuel station is. As I indulged in coffee and cigarettes the beautiful weather started to take a turn. The sun disappeared and the sky turned grey. I didn't care, I was enjoying myself and had plenty of time to spare so the A701 beckoned me. The 701 didn't start too brilliantly as it is a bit straight with a few roundabouts but after that it turned into an open flowing road with a few dodgy areas of surfacing.Staying on this until Leadburn where the A703 was my choice to take me down to Peebles. This road wends its way over and through some stunning moorland scenery. It was still dry and I was riding it to the best of my ability(limited as that may be) and enjoying every mile and bend.Such a simple soul really!
Peebles appeared sooner than I expected and it was the A72 to take me back over to the A701. The A 72 is a pretty good road and very enjoyable. The weather was deteriorating steadily with mist coming down as I hit the 701 and a light drizzle soon followed. There is a famous landmark on this stretch of road called The Devil's Beeftub and I wanted to get a picture before the weather made it impossible so I bashed on and got to the viewpoint and took the photos. This is an impressive sight and I enjoyed the scene and a cigarette before motoring on to Moffat. The rain started coming down in earnest and the wind was picking up so I found a nice little cafe in the town called Rumbly Tums and indulged in ,Yes you've guessed it, a bowl of lovely hot soup! That,a double shot latte and a scone with clotted cream and jam put the stuffing back in me. I also had to visit the local public toilets which cost 20p but was really impressive being warm ,spotlessly clean and fragrant! I wish all public conveniences were this nice.
The run from Moffat to Dumfries is great in the dry but it was chucking it down by this stage and the visibility was bad with lots of spray and mist. This combined with lots of artic wagons made it entertaining to say the least!By this point I was wishing I had put on the cordura jacket instead of my leathers. Once I reached the A75 the conditions got even worse but I was determined to bash on to Carlisle where the wet and cold had got to me and I stopped for a coffee and fuel. As I was drinking my coffee and smoking my spirits revived and I saddled up and headed home.
As usual the bike performed flawlessly and the run was a roaring success with loads of different conditions and scenery. I was a bit wet when I got home but that did not matter after a nice cuppa at Mayhem's house and a hot shower. If you are ever in that area give the route a try, 300 miles with fuel available in most decent sized towns , cafes and pubs aplenty and of course , Great biking roads.
I also joined a website called http://www.bestbikingroads.com/index.php
If you are ever after a route for europe or Britain give it a try,they even have an app for i-Phone. You can join and add routes or coment on existing ones.
Well, that may have been the last ride of this year. If it was then it was worthy, if not then I hope the next one is half as good! Mayhem is working away at the moment and was not available so I was on my own again. God I must seem to be a right Billy No Mates! Hope it gets better next year.

Devil's Beeftub

Newcastle by accident!

After reading Bungles' last post I got a bit down myself to be honest. I can fully understand where he is coming from. Trying to arrange things for a group of people is exceptionally difficult. Everyone has different ideas and commitments , work and family as well as financial constraints. I have tried to arrange meets with just three people and found it was next to impossible!
I thought about it for a while and I can honestly say that I think he has done the right thing.I hope you come back to biking soon Mr.Bungle but only when it's right for you.
One of the big problems I face when it comes to getting out on my bike is that I am at work 3 out of every four weekends. I get days off in the week and ten days off evey five weeks but Mayhem (Martin) works Mon. to Fri. I also have friends from work who ride but are on different shifts to me and so getting out in a group is VERY difficult to sort. As a consequence of this I have found myself going out more and more on my own. When I get days off I see if my missus is working and if she is I take off.
Last Sunday was a really nice day and I was on morning shift. Instead of finishing at 2pm I wangled an early finish and got away for 12. Mayhem was available and we took off on the bikes at 12.30. We had a blast down through the Lakes and went over Kirkstone pass and up Hartside(it was foooking chilly up there and blowing like hell). We then went back down Hartside to Penrith and back over Kirkstone into a lowering sun which was interesting to say the least! Windermere back to Workington was accomplished as the sun set and we put the bikes to rest in near darkness.Just 177 miles covered but it was fantastic. My but the nights are cutting in!
Today (Friday) I got up early(day off,missus at work) and thought that the weather looked just about good enough for a run off. I got out the winter cordura jacket though. The temperature has definitely dropped to Autumnal freshness around here. Where to go? I had all day so I got togged up and i-Podded and Pointed the 'Bird towards Carlisle. Had an absolute blast on the A66 to Cockermouth and then the A595 to"The Border City". Getting through Carlisle can be a pain at the best of times but there was an accident which caused massive tailbacks.I filtered with care and got out to the McDonalds where I stopped for breakfast and ciggie.While smoking and finishing my coffee I thought about my last attempt to get round Kielder Water which was foiled by a road being closed. I decided to try again.
Getting onto the A7 I trundled along to Canonbie and turned onto the B6357. This was one of the best ideas I've had in ages. What an awsome road.Decent road surface for the most part and plenty of twisty bits as well as changes in elevation. The scenery is majestic too. Think I've just found another road to add to my "must do as often as possible" list! I cracked on along this road and eventually came to a junction where I turned right. I imediately recognised the new road and realised I was on the A6088 which is part of a run Mayhem and I have done many times. It takes you out onto the A68 at Carter Bar which is the border of England and Scotland. The 6088 is a cracking road as is the A68. I was getting low on fuel and knew that there was a petrol station about 5 miles along the 68 . I pulled in at Carter Bar for coffee and obligatory ciggie.
Carter Bar A68






From here I thought I would get onto the Kielder road which is just after the Petrol station at Byrness but this was not to be. The fuel station had gone bust and I was on fumes! I carried on along the 68 but knew from experience that there were no fuel stops before Hexham which was way further than I would manage. I had never been on the A696 before but figured there would be a fuel station somewhere so I turned onto it and kept going. After passing through Otterburn(no petrol) I saw a sign that said "Border Riever Shop and Petrol 8 miles". Huge sigh of relief! I carried on and got to the station at Kirkwhelpington where I filled the bike to the gunwhales with fuel and then did a double take at the price. £1.29.4 a liter! Cost me £27 to fill up. No wonder it was called the "Border Riever", Dick Turpin would have been proud of the guy that owns this spot! The cashier explained that it was the only fuel between Jedburgh and Ponteland and therefore he could charge what he wanted. Got to say that if I'd noticed before I had filled up I would have only put a tenner in and filled up in Ponteland!
Anyway, tank brimming and ready to boogie I got back on the road and carried on the 696 to Ponteland. Nice road with lots of lovely sweeping fast bends and I really enjoyed the ride. I started to get the feeling that I kind of recognised the road and then I saw a hotel called The Highlander. Suddenly it dawned on me that I had been in that hotel for my brothers' Wedding reception. Next thing I know I am on familiar roads into Newcastle. I didn't hang around and got myself out on the A69 and as soon as I figured a route ,got onto the A695 for Hexham from where ,via theB6035, I could get onto the brilliant A686 for Alston. This scenic and challenging road also incorperates Hartside where I stopped for another coffee and fags.







Hartside and Cafe.

I like Hartside but it is tricky and also bloody cold no matter what time of year you are there. I took my time down to Penrith and thought about just blasting along the A66 to Workington. Still plenty of daylight left so I decide to go over the Kirkstone Pass to Windermere , Again. I love that road and it is so much more interesting than the A66! Windermere along to Ambleside and Keswick was tricky too because the road surface is poor and it was very busy. The road was slightly damp although it was not raining until I got to Keswick. It was a quick blast to Workington after that as it was getting very wet and a bit dark. All in all a very satisfying ride even though I was on my own. Around 260miles of some of the best roads you can get. Thats why I do it.
I swear I will get round Kielder Water one day!

The Times They Are A Changing

Oh Dear!

Well..........Hello peeps.....I know, I know it's been ages since I last posted. A few explanations are in order me thinks............Starting with..........

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2093216.htm

I have been dreading posting that little link, but there you go.

I have been getting more and more frustrated with biking life over the past 18 months. I have tried and tried to keep things fresh and involve the guys in this blog and in runs and weekend trips. But the problem is that apart from those very weekends away not a lot gets done. I started this blog to encourage the guys to become more proactive and to come up with ideas for further adventures and such like.

I think it all started to go wrong when K.G (Remember him?) chucked in the towel due to a biking injury and he was soon followed by H-Boss who had to sell his bike to try and bail out his failing business. Now, I'm not knocking these guys for doing that, of course, after all there are far more important things in life than biking, and I am assured that both will be back with a bang next year.

It was K.G who organised the trips and the days out and would not take no for an answer, whereas I just don't have the balls to shout at people and make people feel guilty like K.G used to (He truly is great at that).

As far as the rest of the guys go, I think I am closest to Zippy, in terms of riding and in terms of family life (we took our tests together and supported each other every step of the way) but Zippy rarely reads this blog, unless he is told about a particular article.

Fruit'n'Barley is pretty much the same and is a very infrequent visitor. Papa Phallus, on the other hand, has been a star. He supports everything we try and do and regularly comments and posts on the blog. Also outside of the blog he is very generous in loaning me garage space for my(?) Blackbird.

I am not trying to knock people or apportion blame for my current state of mind, I was sort of hoping that our Scotland trip would re-ignite fires in us but in all honesty since then I have been on one short blast to Whitby and back, and poor Zippy has not been out at all.

One of the real positives to come out of Scotland was meeting Scotch Broth, I have said it before but he really taught us all a lot and I know my riding is better for it. He is really keen to post on this blog and does so very well, and I hope he continues to do so, and but for a huge amount of lethargy on our part we would (and should) have joined him on his recent trips over to our side of the country. Sorry dude.

Now, before I took up motorcycling I used to do a fair bit of mountain biking and I must be frank and say that nothing, and I mean nothing, comes close to the exhilaration of flying down a sketchy trail on a mountain bike. I stopped mountain biking about 5 years ago, mainly because the job I do was at that time stupidly time consuming and I got very little time off, so the expensive mountain bike had to go. fast forward 2 years and work had calmed down but I didn't think I had it in me to go back to mountain biking so I chose a different path and took up motorcycling. But, fast forward again another 3 years and my youngest son (nippage) buys himself a mountain bike and I promise him that I would buy another bike and show him the ropes. Well, what can I say. It all came back to me within a couple of rides and it was fantastic. I was out riding with both of my sons (we have been out over a dozen times now) getting a little fitter and healthier each ride and just enjoying time spent with my two lads.

So, if the Blackbird sells, (I have had a bit of interest) I think I will be taking a year out of biking and coming back fresh and fired up next year with the rest of the guys. I think Zippy is thinking along the same lines and, in fact, he is already sans bike.

I will continue to post on the blog and keep you informed on what is going on and when I have my new GSXR750 (whoops, let the cat out of the bag there) I will let you all know.....

Sorry for the miserable post

Bungle