Solo bike rideout!
The plan was done - From London, Heathrow to Thurso, Scotland and back, ofcourse. Days? 5. Distance? 1300 miles. Unfair. Dropped after giving some thought. Will go on a cruiser/touring bike later.
The plan B - South of Wales - no destination, only journey. 5 days, 800 miles. Weather played spoilsport. Dropped.
The plan C - A39 Bridgwater, Somerset to Bude. And back to Taunton. About 600 miles. Been waiting for weather to get fair.
But then patience gave up. Saturday, 19th Sept, 830 am. Me n my machine. Full tank. Here me go!
Temperatures in the range 12-18 degrees celcius. BBC forecasted sunny intervals over the weekend, in Somerset n in Hounslow. How much I trust bbc weather forecast! I was just about Andover (the Stonehenge sight A303) when I could only see fog. Was a bit disappointed, but didn't want to abort the tour. My first stop was after about 1.5 hours of riding, 70 miles. A quick hot choc at the services, and off I go again thru the fog.
Next stop at the little*#£$% village (am that bad at names, that they appear in my travel blog like this :P) - a nice village near Podimore. And took a random route after that because that route seemed a bit more lush with interesting landscape. There it is. Spontaniety. The thing lacking in life these days. Next stop about 1230 at Morrisons, Bridgwater, for refuelling and yes, a bit of stretching. Off to A39. It was sunny by then. Yeye!!!
Then came the Porlock town, and ofcourse I didn't want to bypass the porlock hill. Nice route. Twisty and hilly. Of course this is better than the ever monotonous motorways.
It was again a bit foggy now. Onto some altitude now, with nice scenes on the left, and a dull foggy view of the sea coast on right. Sheeps were busy grazing, and they didn't mind coming onto the road. A pit stop for getting those scenic views in, and some pics.
Soon I arrived at my lunch spot. The Blue Ball Inn @ Countisbury-Lynmouth. Arrived here, and made myself comfy. Got myself a brandy with hot water, as I was a bit cold (Lesson - never underestimate the brit weather. Always carry/wear as warm clothing as it permits). A bit of chat with two ladies. The daughter from Glasgow with her Mum who lived locally. And their white Lab. (Labrador Retriever). A friendly dog many a times becomes the reason for me to talk to the owners. :)
The pub didn't have anything veggie. And the one that they listed in their veggie section, had parmesian cheese, n I had my reservations about that. But the nice gentleman out there told me, he remembered me coming to the pub with a big group. (That was in May - 4 months back, when we went there as families - 4 families together). I was gladly surprised he remembered me. He offered to quickly prepare a vegge curry with rice, if I can bear for about 30 mins. Why not? :) The steaming hot veggie curry with Brocolli, potatoes n onion was yum with some thai rice n mango chutney n pappadam. Yep, an English description of a proper desi item.
Thanked the gentleman at the counter, and went out to the beer garden to take a good view of the scenic surroundings. Nice chatter with a group of oldies, with some not-so-comfortable-questions-about-India-and-not-so-comfortable-comparison-with-their-country. haha!
The A39 twisty ride continue, following a Harley Davidson Sportster, for some time. Arrived in Bude, but not impressed. Roamed around a bit and took a ride in Coombe Valley - scenic but scarily silent. Back to the town, and straight to some cemetery to stretch up a bit for the next part of ride. Planned to arrive in Tiverton and then look for hotel there, for the night.
No hotel rooms available in the town centre, so booked the cheapest available room in Crediton which was about 13.5 miles away. The clock was ticking at 730, and it was already dusk. To my thoughts at that time, 13.5 miles is about 15 mins, so its alright. Set the navigator on my mob, and off we go. The route was thru some country roads. I could not go beyond 30-40 mph as it was pitch dark by then and twisty roads. No vehicle in either direction. I was too tired for another adventure if my motorbike develops a problem or my mobile looses data connection. Fortunately, battery was not an issue. 15 mins seemed like a long time, when the navigator showed another 20 mins to go. I could see a vehicle in my mirror, and so I decided not to let him overtake me, so I have some company in the dark. Bloody bikers, I know.
Finally, I arrived at the hotel. It was an impressive one - with some history, and a very good repute for its ales. Unfortunately, I was quite cold, so was not in the mood to try one, so instead went for another brandy with hot water thingy. A bit of small talk with an elderly gentleman. Some food and straight to bed. http://www.devonshire-dumpling.com/
The morning began with cooked English bfast - and I must say this was one of the best cooked English bfast I had in years. Thank you Devonshire Dumpling for that. It followed with a short walk to the Morchard Road railway station, which is a request stop - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morchard_Road_railway_station. Very quiet, very serene. It was sunny morning, so you can imagine the rest.
About 930 am, time to return back. A quick good bye, and a promise to come back soon to the serene place. The way back was via A377 to Exeter, then A30 via Blackdown Hills AONB, and A303 to Andover, then M3 to London-Hounslow. The Crediton town was on the sunny side, but as I started, there was dense fog on A377. Lush green sides with dense fog, I couldn't keep up to the national speed limit. Who likes speed in such good scenic surrounding! Exeter seemed a vibrant place to me, with loads of youngsters and the mood. The return journey was more of a monotonous ride after Exeter, with a few stretching stops and a some food/drink ones. One final stop on M3 for a sub n drink, and back in Hounslow by about 4pm. What a ride!
The plan was done - From London, Heathrow to Thurso, Scotland and back, ofcourse. Days? 5. Distance? 1300 miles. Unfair. Dropped after giving some thought. Will go on a cruiser/touring bike later.
The plan B - South of Wales - no destination, only journey. 5 days, 800 miles. Weather played spoilsport. Dropped.
The plan C - A39 Bridgwater, Somerset to Bude. And back to Taunton. About 600 miles. Been waiting for weather to get fair.
But then patience gave up. Saturday, 19th Sept, 830 am. Me n my machine. Full tank. Here me go!
 |
| A scene-view stop on A303, a mile after Stonehenge |
Next stop at the little*#£$% village (am that bad at names, that they appear in my travel blog like this :P) - a nice village near Podimore. And took a random route after that because that route seemed a bit more lush with interesting landscape. There it is. Spontaniety. The thing lacking in life these days. Next stop about 1230 at Morrisons, Bridgwater, for refuelling and yes, a bit of stretching. Off to A39. It was sunny by then. Yeye!!!
Then came the Porlock town, and ofcourse I didn't want to bypass the porlock hill. Nice route. Twisty and hilly. Of course this is better than the ever monotonous motorways.It was again a bit foggy now. Onto some altitude now, with nice scenes on the left, and a dull foggy view of the sea coast on right. Sheeps were busy grazing, and they didn't mind coming onto the road. A pit stop for getting those scenic views in, and some pics.
Soon I arrived at my lunch spot. The Blue Ball Inn @ Countisbury-Lynmouth. Arrived here, and made myself comfy. Got myself a brandy with hot water, as I was a bit cold (Lesson - never underestimate the brit weather. Always carry/wear as warm clothing as it permits). A bit of chat with two ladies. The daughter from Glasgow with her Mum who lived locally. And their white Lab. (Labrador Retriever). A friendly dog many a times becomes the reason for me to talk to the owners. :) |
| The Veggie Curry with Rice |
Thanked the gentleman at the counter, and went out to the beer garden to take a good view of the scenic surroundings. Nice chatter with a group of oldies, with some not-so-comfortable-questions-about-India-and-not-so-comfortable-comparison-with-their-country. haha!
 |
| View from the Pub's beer garden |
 |
| Just about 100 meters from the Pub |
No hotel rooms available in the town centre, so booked the cheapest available room in Crediton which was about 13.5 miles away. The clock was ticking at 730, and it was already dusk. To my thoughts at that time, 13.5 miles is about 15 mins, so its alright. Set the navigator on my mob, and off we go. The route was thru some country roads. I could not go beyond 30-40 mph as it was pitch dark by then and twisty roads. No vehicle in either direction. I was too tired for another adventure if my motorbike develops a problem or my mobile looses data connection. Fortunately, battery was not an issue. 15 mins seemed like a long time, when the navigator showed another 20 mins to go. I could see a vehicle in my mirror, and so I decided not to let him overtake me, so I have some company in the dark. Bloody bikers, I know.
Finally, I arrived at the hotel. It was an impressive one - with some history, and a very good repute for its ales. Unfortunately, I was quite cold, so was not in the mood to try one, so instead went for another brandy with hot water thingy. A bit of small talk with an elderly gentleman. Some food and straight to bed. http://www.devonshire-dumpling.com/
 |
| Morchard Road Railway Station |
About 930 am, time to return back. A quick good bye, and a promise to come back soon to the serene place. The way back was via A377 to Exeter, then A30 via Blackdown Hills AONB, and A303 to Andover, then M3 to London-Hounslow. The Crediton town was on the sunny side, but as I started, there was dense fog on A377. Lush green sides with dense fog, I couldn't keep up to the national speed limit. Who likes speed in such good scenic surrounding! Exeter seemed a vibrant place to me, with loads of youngsters and the mood. The return journey was more of a monotonous ride after Exeter, with a few stretching stops and a some food/drink ones. One final stop on M3 for a sub n drink, and back in Hounslow by about 4pm. What a ride!
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