tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196553142024-03-14T02:58:46.778+00:00Jangle JangleMotorcycling antics from four Staffordshire bikers.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-25734546885807521502023-02-21T18:12:00.005+00:002023-02-21T18:24:32.064+00:00Breaking News...Small pod of janglers spotted in Wales<p>After a very long break from Jangle Jangle, myself and Mike decided it would be rather funny to publish a new post, even if it was just for our own amusement.</p><p>Things for myself (Loz), haven't really changed, still riding bikes, fixing bikes, collecting bikes and camping trips on bikes.</p><p>A few years ago an old school friend who had moved out of the area, moved back and got in touch. on finding out he was still very much into biking, travel plans were hatched. Together we have toured Scotland, Southern Ireland, The North Yorkshire Moors, A trip to Northern Ireland to watch the NW200 road races and several trips to mine and Mikes favourite campsite.</p><p>Mike is currently without a bike, but thats not going to stop a mini Jangle reunion, I got an MOT on one of my bikes, fitted some luggage and waited for Mike.</p><p>On the morning of departure, he pulled up outside and made several trips to the boot of his car, returning each time with bundles of camping gear, on maybe the 3rd or 4th time I started to wonder how it was all going to fit, undetered, Mike continued retrieving gear. After a bit of shoehorning, it was time to hit the road. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvXJ-VFYsZSLi6lvCLM-r_dTV7IUBjbLAkn70EpIWhs8NeJZ9f8dWYTh56TVAeeVHYzMBPRQAlPvCJNy4HGpcEZ37SqYWtkbIM0qq8XOqWDBVml75GciUpaXX4iz2ZbmxcxwZYOjNQIOiJVvdyNVGmYsUT2zhhVaQAwv175PlticGJ_oviXA/s4032/972541A8-64E1-4886-9AE8-B65369B53C0F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvXJ-VFYsZSLi6lvCLM-r_dTV7IUBjbLAkn70EpIWhs8NeJZ9f8dWYTh56TVAeeVHYzMBPRQAlPvCJNy4HGpcEZ37SqYWtkbIM0qq8XOqWDBVml75GciUpaXX4iz2ZbmxcxwZYOjNQIOiJVvdyNVGmYsUT2zhhVaQAwv175PlticGJ_oviXA/s320/972541A8-64E1-4886-9AE8-B65369B53C0F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Mikes steed for the weekend </p><p>Now, this weekend was opened up to anyone who just fancied a lads camping trip. Ralph who has been mentioned before now has a camper van and said he would bring all the food and beer and keep everything cool in the cool boxes plugged into the van. I’m loving the idea of a support vehicle.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvIxvgouLaEi2KZ8aGmzwaxot-VIJWAw4umWsV6ZIhZfh-XeoiWaBk3iU2jRcfn3gwEU9O8HjWKmavKwJj1Al1BVl2kIJ8MFdpulfzHov8qTwnqxsVKB6WlkVkfqWEFaMzbx2nqUkkDQLjL3Y2TUg3oak19Ea6WnonESi0PxgzTG_N69Dk08/s4032/335845F6-DF10-4BCB-939B-1A07D6E3421E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvIxvgouLaEi2KZ8aGmzwaxot-VIJWAw4umWsV6ZIhZfh-XeoiWaBk3iU2jRcfn3gwEU9O8HjWKmavKwJj1Al1BVl2kIJ8MFdpulfzHov8qTwnqxsVKB6WlkVkfqWEFaMzbx2nqUkkDQLjL3Y2TUg3oak19Ea6WnonESi0PxgzTG_N69Dk08/s320/335845F6-DF10-4BCB-939B-1A07D6E3421E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Roadside stop for a leg stretch and a chuff <br /><p>The aforementioned school friend (Paul) would get up early on Saturday and join us around lunchtime.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8s-wceCQV7IdRLMSGVUHMz25iP08SVxTKhqmm0uLASGTkO8IiliFDuI1OTfYgzuhXyNKJc7D97_xtTYKWD2lZC2rrqC07CVkPeEkzFQhAUDXifKhC-wIPWId4ojd5Z3rrk-o4Xgs0KpUlfAOMVYx8mR0s_iRsgxW6ZNE785g-XqsQqYjO94/s2016/D768A71D-2C9C-4292-8596-DC804C67BF66.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8s-wceCQV7IdRLMSGVUHMz25iP08SVxTKhqmm0uLASGTkO8IiliFDuI1OTfYgzuhXyNKJc7D97_xtTYKWD2lZC2rrqC07CVkPeEkzFQhAUDXifKhC-wIPWId4ojd5Z3rrk-o4Xgs0KpUlfAOMVYx8mR0s_iRsgxW6ZNE785g-XqsQqYjO94/s320/D768A71D-2C9C-4292-8596-DC804C67BF66.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Paul's new bike, recently acquired </p><p>Also joining us on this trip is a guy I work with and loves the great outdoors and hill/mountain walking.</p><p>On arrival, the time honoured tradition of cracking a cold one was dealt with as Ralph was already there and set up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEu64x1zaftuRtOgEZ4wpxr5RrIBkONw1JbGOiohSQZV-_v9eUKWhCz4N3MR7fLGYLQN3bSFBpxcfLis6yv3aXcex5GsAQqBFTL0hMZd18w-Jszi1afLl9K0H7PA4aGI7BDm0uGqYFA-3pbIS31a42mjyeOLGeB5LEFevub3sjbpWeKCYXIU/s2016/72D41F33-479E-4453-A713-8AA985801FEC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEu64x1zaftuRtOgEZ4wpxr5RrIBkONw1JbGOiohSQZV-_v9eUKWhCz4N3MR7fLGYLQN3bSFBpxcfLis6yv3aXcex5GsAQqBFTL0hMZd18w-Jszi1afLl9K0H7PA4aGI7BDm0uGqYFA-3pbIS31a42mjyeOLGeB5LEFevub3sjbpWeKCYXIU/s320/72D41F33-479E-4453-A713-8AA985801FEC.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>After a well deserved beer, attention was given to getting set up for the evening. Now with the addition of a support vehicle, came the ability to bring plenty of food and beer, so A few days before departure I collected 2 curries, 2 rice and 2 naan breads, froze it all and handed over to Ralph for safe keeping. Friday evenings meal sorted for Mike and myself.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOn2jhiw4qAtoMrkSSwgDfyFtjZ2JB1GhWo-M4U8Pb2UL3gaMDfbIHYW3yQgWRdIqbhaXvO50y6YFho_PUOUYgAAziB3b_cT_kWqpwtm91a2Kwz6NjrMFALVnkJp20o7OuhZIK6FcCRuDjYdnqjk-jGkKfPl309gopEQHpw_SYa-5uJzMosA/s2016/169C18C6-031B-41C1-A0E8-BBE9F8190E12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOn2jhiw4qAtoMrkSSwgDfyFtjZ2JB1GhWo-M4U8Pb2UL3gaMDfbIHYW3yQgWRdIqbhaXvO50y6YFho_PUOUYgAAziB3b_cT_kWqpwtm91a2Kwz6NjrMFALVnkJp20o7OuhZIK6FcCRuDjYdnqjk-jGkKfPl309gopEQHpw_SYa-5uJzMosA/s320/169C18C6-031B-41C1-A0E8-BBE9F8190E12.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Garlic Chilli Chicken (Vindaloo hot) Mushroom fried rice and a Chilli and Keema naan. Proper Friday food.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stan the dog was not allowed any vindaloo for obvious reasons (Stan is Ralph’s dog). After a good feed and plenty of loud mouth soup we bantered on into the evening. As mentioned, Paul joined us mid-morning on Saturday, got himself set up, then announced that he would like curry for dinner. Who are we to argue? </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjh7jVx0Bh-72CAMKzH8YMKAF5CirOwMUdp4YPxv_VtRA0Vd_zmFK-_be-J1MjNgMEiNEoeLbBQ9loy53YnBVd-_GJyGJeSTYNOWnOf3DPLBekuKMRTBhqcSXZocyqehSKEj4Yl3bC-Z6FAEX8dBsV_FtXY1elWHz-E-rThTOEaX8q7rh1jZ0/s4032/PXL_20220611_180019450.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjh7jVx0Bh-72CAMKzH8YMKAF5CirOwMUdp4YPxv_VtRA0Vd_zmFK-_be-J1MjNgMEiNEoeLbBQ9loy53YnBVd-_GJyGJeSTYNOWnOf3DPLBekuKMRTBhqcSXZocyqehSKEj4Yl3bC-Z6FAEX8dBsV_FtXY1elWHz-E-rThTOEaX8q7rh1jZ0/s320/PXL_20220611_180019450.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>We decided that an afternoon ride out was in order, and on the way back we would find a restaurant to eat at.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32x175aZr6Mbr6O0ha5YBhF1ExsqvA6ju6ST5OuzYkjr6VDQSmQOd0ZAEfzfEBIBL23V-0pFdZ7HnLbgGGt3qn3NSirFr9Q--hg054MVtgeba5LhDr4G4JL-cw3sJMCDdJXDIKbBAR5YlShsa9AnqjpcoT7aXpEtzf90EvMbBsgpAF02gTZQ/s2016/06D0E952-ED7C-4D35-A441-7A0167326564.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32x175aZr6Mbr6O0ha5YBhF1ExsqvA6ju6ST5OuzYkjr6VDQSmQOd0ZAEfzfEBIBL23V-0pFdZ7HnLbgGGt3qn3NSirFr9Q--hg054MVtgeba5LhDr4G4JL-cw3sJMCDdJXDIKbBAR5YlShsa9AnqjpcoT7aXpEtzf90EvMbBsgpAF02gTZQ/s320/06D0E952-ED7C-4D35-A441-7A0167326564.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>A photo stop along the coast road heading to Barmouth.<div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately the chosen restaurant was unable to seat us but a take away was not a problem, luckily there was a pub over the road with outdoor seating where we could admire our bikes in the early evening sun.</div><div> Back at the campsite we tucked into our curries and a few cans of liquid stupidity and continued the age old tradition of insulting each other as the sun slowly set into the sea.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0TYxgdopAyCqFFgPCqyxEfVR7TK6KBSjOnTdFrVJq89vwi_aguELhn5aX6MmwMIsQh7gOhB4GNzeLuqQS-yb48ztYi-9YMV6lu8g_2UpnyualVhpaZWQ3pCgirb6X61hmlSpyRg5pTw0Q2-YtaWDasb0PZM_R-gBbDpmcJRT0alJ-juYs4jw/s3912/PXL_20220611_200021076_edited.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2610" data-original-width="3912" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0TYxgdopAyCqFFgPCqyxEfVR7TK6KBSjOnTdFrVJq89vwi_aguELhn5aX6MmwMIsQh7gOhB4GNzeLuqQS-yb48ztYi-9YMV6lu8g_2UpnyualVhpaZWQ3pCgirb6X61hmlSpyRg5pTw0Q2-YtaWDasb0PZM_R-gBbDpmcJRT0alJ-juYs4jw/s320/PXL_20220611_200021076_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuPfTo-wlDllVy7je-Y4Yvnjsmf4AkwoefBm0h73Sw-GPt43jwmWqwSoXv34g73uow9kg3Xj0GMAxT9DGr02UVSYag2n8rtJsUduj2unneDEPxvWQInnC9TGUJoa_8EQCoPfh3o5FEJXRw-IQJHWIWc1ZFQ7HcMpgyhCHb811m5RLjdcqc_k/s2048/B6BA3E93-B651-4F61-A857-6F7FEC463F98.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuPfTo-wlDllVy7je-Y4Yvnjsmf4AkwoefBm0h73Sw-GPt43jwmWqwSoXv34g73uow9kg3Xj0GMAxT9DGr02UVSYag2n8rtJsUduj2unneDEPxvWQInnC9TGUJoa_8EQCoPfh3o5FEJXRw-IQJHWIWc1ZFQ7HcMpgyhCHb811m5RLjdcqc_k/s320/B6BA3E93-B651-4F61-A857-6F7FEC463F98.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8Wnr_g614mP_JJO4O0_Voy9weUB0_nk-UesffEsmmhhhvuv4Frvyv0JA3-XeQAYc5myKxvne2lzfyQsHfgx69DvfAO6phYW7KXQ1uzNbHEsPaZLNQifnpoEOGxayNYtTc3Xu0sjE3M0x5Px70mo8Rbvqjl8xjgCfsBhW4vbyB6as2zHIcF8/s4001/PXL_20220611_202522727_edited.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2669" data-original-width="4001" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8Wnr_g614mP_JJO4O0_Voy9weUB0_nk-UesffEsmmhhhvuv4Frvyv0JA3-XeQAYc5myKxvne2lzfyQsHfgx69DvfAO6phYW7KXQ1uzNbHEsPaZLNQifnpoEOGxayNYtTc3Xu0sjE3M0x5Px70mo8Rbvqjl8xjgCfsBhW4vbyB6as2zHIcF8/s320/PXL_20220611_202522727_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxxSL2hGi0M3sIxMuNGnGNkEbHqpsWFqjLr_CLgywSjuE8SCmKGvkPYhdCRHs1LCKiAEOAYm3Po9gBRAcON3ORNUm9vFXTtfy8wrl50YT3_hlq_qBIELYt8MdCNOPM4diY0HDJ1wi3LTMI80xshsPOn3WHuQM6ihTCvyQ9E9FSO1AXwrLE-A/s3866/PXL_20220611_201356059_edited_edited.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2579" data-original-width="3866" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxxSL2hGi0M3sIxMuNGnGNkEbHqpsWFqjLr_CLgywSjuE8SCmKGvkPYhdCRHs1LCKiAEOAYm3Po9gBRAcON3ORNUm9vFXTtfy8wrl50YT3_hlq_qBIELYt8MdCNOPM4diY0HDJ1wi3LTMI80xshsPOn3WHuQM6ihTCvyQ9E9FSO1AXwrLE-A/s320/PXL_20220611_201356059_edited_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_ci4SYx4_a94j7UfnY1P09az-iz1pUdXZV8740ksVvTG2TvchDPoDVxHnXGjKTqSERlkkvSHmJxVlqQhjUdfojwBA352zHJnB70U7ocZtmJ2_0OJoPN5QaUYjd1RVEK-NqETebS4lXwO7Tu-KDMNcUyGRH2ui07FG9D2SA6kf-VVl4eoNkE/s3088/5A72CC19-BA96-4F48-9E2C-05F80D049EF2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2316" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_ci4SYx4_a94j7UfnY1P09az-iz1pUdXZV8740ksVvTG2TvchDPoDVxHnXGjKTqSERlkkvSHmJxVlqQhjUdfojwBA352zHJnB70U7ocZtmJ2_0OJoPN5QaUYjd1RVEK-NqETebS4lXwO7Tu-KDMNcUyGRH2ui07FG9D2SA6kf-VVl4eoNkE/s320/5A72CC19-BA96-4F48-9E2C-05F80D049EF2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>From left to right, Mike, Paul, Kev and Ralph, yes they are all 7 foot tall!</div><div><br /></div><div>Kev who enjoys the great outdoors has been afflicted by the same disease as myself, we both can’t have enough camping gear and gadgets, I now can’t bring all the items that I own that I thought would be a great camping addition due to the limited space on a motorcycle, Kev however has no problem in bringing practically everything he owns in the back of his rather large car.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRY2zqsQT07jgy-xfAz9m032vtMGoDBogERqUWM16IFhMS79zva1-hTW0hZiCntnfxfCbOtOPanu9ppGyuHjtV3ynMsqX-OyxhvQ58RvJcqR7IaWiGxt6wsWyXhEScguuDzIovvsIa8qwspnCQuNf8XhHHEM7tjvDw5EcP-n2taZnmkVIPCs/s1024/2F515930-F847-4741-B6CE-1D39637558DB.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisRY2zqsQT07jgy-xfAz9m032vtMGoDBogERqUWM16IFhMS79zva1-hTW0hZiCntnfxfCbOtOPanu9ppGyuHjtV3ynMsqX-OyxhvQ58RvJcqR7IaWiGxt6wsWyXhEScguuDzIovvsIa8qwspnCQuNf8XhHHEM7tjvDw5EcP-n2taZnmkVIPCs/s320/2F515930-F847-4741-B6CE-1D39637558DB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8MeYkrTwYJjxK48qJqXNeDjz35Jz-DY-2lHRfJc0mJQnmsEzF6TMVAJtaEdtLYyQH8-u0ttS9Cl6rrXJV7RtiWj40CYnBIMrXCE9GDj9nSrBW7Vi-2D7cX_Y_z9KsaszChpJQy8YggycwnKMtARIjsil5DeKBcOWWvZ_MpN0LVT62HIps7c/s1024/C45CC6C9-E3A6-4DBF-894B-25C385651E1D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8MeYkrTwYJjxK48qJqXNeDjz35Jz-DY-2lHRfJc0mJQnmsEzF6TMVAJtaEdtLYyQH8-u0ttS9Cl6rrXJV7RtiWj40CYnBIMrXCE9GDj9nSrBW7Vi-2D7cX_Y_z9KsaszChpJQy8YggycwnKMtARIjsil5DeKBcOWWvZ_MpN0LVT62HIps7c/s320/C45CC6C9-E3A6-4DBF-894B-25C385651E1D.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div>Well you never know what you will need !</div><div><br /></div><div>As mentioned earlier, Kev enjoys hill and mountain walking and a bit of wild camping, I’m sure you can see why he can’t get his pack weight under 20Kgs. And as the only hill and mountain walker within our little group, it’s at this point I’d like to point out, he was the only person who fell down on the very shallow, short bank that separated our tents from Ralph’s van, not just a little slip but a both feet in the air affair!</div><div><br /></div><div>So just to clarify, we may have been away for some time but we've used our time wisely, practicing drinking, eating and being extremely childish. This weekend was no exception. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEime1-Pwus-oIgKxQ-UxycLpJbUo9WWqGRUNroo1-VkHzhrEHReOPdetSh15xm6Vgb6_eqq1I-OPekGIKKmq4Tad1aiBDhPLseGWA40eJ-RFmJ6YROVmvtIyjrV3zCVx5G9jl32O_KS_eF3Z8-afA067GYoixiq7k6kbvZXjBxFO6-m61IoatY/s4032/PXL_20220612_102834769.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEime1-Pwus-oIgKxQ-UxycLpJbUo9WWqGRUNroo1-VkHzhrEHReOPdetSh15xm6Vgb6_eqq1I-OPekGIKKmq4Tad1aiBDhPLseGWA40eJ-RFmJ6YROVmvtIyjrV3zCVx5G9jl32O_KS_eF3Z8-afA067GYoixiq7k6kbvZXjBxFO6-m61IoatY/s320/PXL_20220612_102834769.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjbxl8SH0Fomg9kN75EMZf4_FNEeIYpbS5qINtugL2fIS83Kvnkoxc0_7Wa_1PMwQkmgltz08AGZfrQG1GK2bVeI_zAF-kqTRz4xGK0JC0TmOOVYqhOv_hSkUldydahIgEedlcc7SrGgjyuMGLXWE9uDg0BpLP0f27KVNgxR6rQ0XZR2Uo0o/s4032/PXL_20220612_101712411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjbxl8SH0Fomg9kN75EMZf4_FNEeIYpbS5qINtugL2fIS83Kvnkoxc0_7Wa_1PMwQkmgltz08AGZfrQG1GK2bVeI_zAF-kqTRz4xGK0JC0TmOOVYqhOv_hSkUldydahIgEedlcc7SrGgjyuMGLXWE9uDg0BpLP0f27KVNgxR6rQ0XZR2Uo0o/s320/PXL_20220612_101712411.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div>(Admittedly, we sometimes have a pot of tea... What with getting old and all that!)<br /><div><br /></div><div>As Mike would say, "A thoroughly pleasant jangle" so thanks guys for a great weekend.</div>Lozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06082987609379872456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-62666738403307314312014-04-21T21:05:00.000+01:002014-04-21T21:05:49.521+01:00Argey bargey It had been a while since myself and Mike had been on a little jangle and with that in mind I busied myself with a way to rectify this massive oversight.<br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EeoCnEwjyVg/UuaEvJFzAMI/AAAAAAAAALU/RFxOxrK7f28/s1600/20131028_142504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EeoCnEwjyVg/UuaEvJFzAMI/AAAAAAAAALU/RFxOxrK7f28/s640/20131028_142504.jpg" /> </a> </div>
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Not content with just a bike and a tent this time, I decided to slow the pace just a little and hire a narrow boat.
On collection of our floating home for the week we discovered it was aptly named best mate.
After loading our gear, food, beer, wine and rum ( I believe its the law to carry rum at all times on a boat ) we filled the diesel tank, said farewell to Steve ( boat owner ) and fled the marina at a sweltering pace of around 3MPH.<br />
We had planned to potter down to the first lock which Steve had kindly offered to drive to so he could show us how to operate the locks.<br />
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<i><b>successful navigation of our first lock.</b></i></div>
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Our plan didn't entail any desires of grandeur, just to potter along, turn round and be home for Friday lunch time. Due to commitments we both needed to be home on Friday and with this in mind and a map in hand we decided somewhere around the historic boating town of Shardlow would be our turn round point. the map was easy and clear to read showing all distances, locks, pubs, waterpoints and more importantly winding holes (turning points). We chose the entrance to Shardlow marina as our turning point and that was that......plan hatched. With nothing more to do but trundle along, put the world to rights, enjoy the scenery and sample a beer or two we soon settled into our new surroundings.</div>
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<i><b>Mike looking mighty pleased with himself and doing a grand job of skippering</b></i></div>
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<i><b>blessed with reasonable weather for October.</b></i></div>
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<b><i>Tea and Tab break</i></b></div>
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<i><b>can you guess who now became lock operator for the week!</b></i></div>
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Best Mate is 45" long and comprised of a front lounge area complete with wood burner, mid section was kitchen, i know....galley!, bathroom, with damn impressive shower, wasnt expecting that kind of pressure, and finally a made up small double bed.</div>
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<i><b>Rum coffee after a hard days skippering</b></i></div>
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<i><b>view from front to back</b>.</i></div>
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<i><b>daily maintenance, prop shaft greasing.</b></i></div>
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<i><b>I could get used to this.</b></i></div>
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On Tuesday evening, our very good friend Neil paid us a visit but sternly (no pun intended) refused to join in with the nautical names, i have called Mike skipper for a number of years now due to owning a few types of boats, therefore i was to be called captain, Neil however was not happy with Roger. He was soon forgiven though because his arrival meant more supplies, 1 pepper (that i forgot) for the curry, a bag of coal and more importantly more beer.</div>
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After a few of the affore mentioned beers, Neil introduced us to a 2foot tall inflatable penguin, who from now on shall be known as Findus</div>
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<i><b>Mr. Findus to you.</b></i></div>
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Findus was quite an ammenable chap and very happy to dress up in all maner of costumes, although our resourses were limited our minds were in overdrive, between us we amass opproximately 135 years, thats a lot of childishness in anyones book.</div>
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<b><i>very childish indeed.</i></b></div>
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That just about sums up a great week with both Mike and Neil, my apologies for taking so long with a write up, but my new job in I.T.with microsoft has taken up so much time!</div>
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Cheers Skipper and Roger.</div>
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As Mike would say....."A very pleasent jangle"</div>
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<b><i>Roll on the next one</i></b> </div>
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Lozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06082987609379872456noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-71903404860060059692013-09-02T15:28:00.001+01:002013-09-02T15:54:48.099+01:00A Little Jolly To WalesLoz and I finally got round to a camping weekend in Wales. It's been that long since I've been camping I'd almost forgotten how to pitch my tent. Still, at least I remembered to actually take the tent, which is more than can be said for the rest of my camping equipment. However, small details like the lack of camping gear are soon forgotten once you realise the coolbox is well stocked with beer and wine. <div><br></div><div>So what did we do for the weekend? Eat curry and sup alcohol, that's what....... obviously. Not only that, Saturday we splashed out and treated ourselves to pate, chorizo, cheese and wotnot, all dressed up with, well, a salad dressing, and some green stuff believed to be called salad leaves. It's the rock n roll diet for those who realise man can no longer live on beer and curry alone.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EfA7LYL3E-Y/UiSgYrOT7YI/AAAAAAAACcM/mWnLSZmZaWQ/s640/blogger-image--133497502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EfA7LYL3E-Y/UiSgYrOT7YI/AAAAAAAACcM/mWnLSZmZaWQ/s640/blogger-image--133497502.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>It was on the recommendation of Loz that we ended up at Cae Du Campsite just north of Tywyn, and what a great choice of campsites it was too. Perched on a low cliff overlooking a rocky beach and the distant headlands of north Wales, the setting couldn't have been anymore idyllic.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fA7RYH-9pdU/UiSgm7cY5VI/AAAAAAAACc8/Wmtj0vtL3gQ/s640/blogger-image--1961022982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fA7RYH-9pdU/UiSgm7cY5VI/AAAAAAAACc8/Wmtj0vtL3gQ/s640/blogger-image--1961022982.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AUCqEjgFfDE/UiSgkseDSOI/AAAAAAAACc0/tk-twYjbha8/s640/blogger-image--411857381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AUCqEjgFfDE/UiSgkseDSOI/AAAAAAAACc0/tk-twYjbha8/s640/blogger-image--411857381.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CKv-vvliih0/UiSgiD1p-8I/AAAAAAAACcs/dMVy8ZOlA2Y/s640/blogger-image-412802569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CKv-vvliih0/UiSgiD1p-8I/AAAAAAAACcs/dMVy8ZOlA2Y/s640/blogger-image-412802569.jpg"></a></div></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XReVbnquKus/UiSgWcjjpUI/AAAAAAAACcE/T9m89l3YGPI/s640/blogger-image--780531149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XReVbnquKus/UiSgWcjjpUI/AAAAAAAACcE/T9m89l3YGPI/s640/blogger-image--780531149.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>If the weather gods are being kind the sunsets can be spectacular. Friday night was one of life's finer moments, chillin' to some music, drinking wine and putting the world to rights whilst taking in the following scene. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XNSixcSGWG8/UiSgooslnAI/AAAAAAAACdE/o63Tor3JZN0/s640/blogger-image-873392016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XNSixcSGWG8/UiSgooslnAI/AAAAAAAACdE/o63Tor3JZN0/s640/blogger-image-873392016.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IuwXGL72-_Q/UiSgdBrqTgI/AAAAAAAACcc/QWHopR-khxc/s640/blogger-image--1677343643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IuwXGL72-_Q/UiSgdBrqTgI/AAAAAAAACcc/QWHopR-khxc/s640/blogger-image--1677343643.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gHSEMuZ3K14/UiSga881K8I/AAAAAAAACcU/xMzNI2qhnFg/s640/blogger-image-1427331640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gHSEMuZ3K14/UiSga881K8I/AAAAAAAACcU/xMzNI2qhnFg/s640/blogger-image-1427331640.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Saturday night was a wetter affair (Don't take that the wrong way). However, being hardened campers, and having a canopy to keep the rain away, we still managed to sit outside until the early hours of Sunday morning quaffing yet more beer and wine. </div><div><br></div><div>Sunday breakfast was as you'd expect from a lads camping weekend and needs no further introduction. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VWcEX8kazxY/UiSgfve-5uI/AAAAAAAACck/eMK11ia-ils/s640/blogger-image-1773005292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VWcEX8kazxY/UiSgfve-5uI/AAAAAAAACck/eMK11ia-ils/s640/blogger-image-1773005292.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>That just about wraps up our two night jolly. Roll on the next weekend away. I'll leave you with a photo of Loz looking all contemplatory (Is that a word?) or something. Or maybe he was just secretly lobbing out his python for a discreet jimmy riddle over the cliff. Haha, jimmy riddle. Does anyone actually use that phrase any more?</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IyfVzGlxkCk/UiSgUeKqpqI/AAAAAAAACb8/3bEQQaR_Mrg/s640/blogger-image-1075104672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IyfVzGlxkCk/UiSgUeKqpqI/AAAAAAAACb8/3bEQQaR_Mrg/s640/blogger-image-1075104672.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-16116438635550188232013-08-15T09:50:00.000+01:002013-08-15T09:50:18.308+01:00Where did all the time go?Since my little excursion to Ireland there has been very little in the way of biking. There has been a number of camping trips that have been most memorable some with Mike and Neil involved and some without. One in particular was myself and a friend called Ralph canoed the entire non-tidal section of the Thames in aid of cancer research. A week long self supported 130 mile trip in the worst weather you could wish for. <br />
If you are terribly bored you can read the write up over on <a href="http://sausagensplash.blogspot.co.uk/">sausage n splash</a>.<br />
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Now back to jangly type activities My tried and trusted XT600 has slowly become tired and rusted, it also required a little bit of attention to a weeping cylinder base gasket. Here starts a tedious rambling on the new lease of life of my XT.<br />
To gain access to the engine and aid its removal i removed the seat, tank and all plastic side panels. Armed with a box of spanners i set about disconnecting all the gubbings that make bikes go VROOM VROOM. Whilst doing this i'm trying very hard to ignore the state of the frame that unveiled itself when i removed the seat etc. It was now or never. A quick phone call was made. Yes Loz I'll paint the frame if you get it shot blasted. Happy with correct response to my plea for shinyness i continued to not just remove the engine from the frame but to remove everything! 3 hours later i had a frame and several boxes of bits. The plan now was to send the frame for blasting then offload it to make shiny again. Quite a simple plan you would think. This is janglesville and nowt is as simple as we make it look. Other than ourselves that is. 3 weeks passed until i got hold of a local guy who came highly recommended (how dare he take a holiday) Still, no panic, i can crack on with the engine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>In its early days.</strong></span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>3 hours with a box of spanners.</strong> </span><br />
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The barn that i was using to house my new airfix kit in just so happens to belong to the guy who so kindly offered to paint the frame, and when i dropped it back off after shot blasting he kindly asked "Do you want everything painted?"</blockquote>
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That took all of a nano second to process and the whole thing snowballed. </div>
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Now some of you will already know that i'm really not good with technology,</div>
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so what we end up with is a before and after shot, as all the pictures of the</div>
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build up have fallen out of my phone.</div>
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I also treated myself to some new shinny alumimim panniers, these came</div>
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without any mounting devices and after a few weeks deliberation a system</div>
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was invented by a good friend and a more than capable engineer. The white</div>
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pieces are machined from nylon bar then cut into the sections you can see.</div>
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Each piece sits around the tubular frame and holds the pannier secure.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>And there she is, in all her new glory.</strong> </span><br />
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Many thanks to Rich for the splendid paintwork that now adorns my bike.<br />
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Lozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06082987609379872456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-53529550899540710732011-09-10T14:41:00.006+01:002011-12-13T08:32:18.887+00:00Motorcycle emptiness !<div><div><div><div><div><br /><font></font><div> A much needed up-date. Part 2</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Our previous post of hoping 2010 would see more miles than 2009 ended in disaster ! when what actually happened was we did less.</div><div>Mike has still not replaced his Blackbird with anything other than gadgets for his camera, Neil has either been busy working away or rebuilding his Triumph, Gaz has moved house and I've been reintroduced to canoeing, which was a big part of mine and Mikes life from our late teens to maybe early thirties.</div><div> </div><div>Myself and Neil did manage the 5th Mid-Shires camp over, again a fantastic weekend organised by Richard and Monica from the Moto-Guzzi club.</div><div> </div><div>In July i did manage a week long trip to Ireland, but due to the awfull weather i didn't risk removing my camera from the 3 plastic bags that were protecting it, other than at the Giants Causeway</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><p align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0Sf634Vp-I/TmttZJ2zesI/AAAAAAAAAIg/20XiKfsjOyA/s1600/DSCN1984.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 437px; height: 230px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650730436376361666" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0Sf634Vp-I/TmttZJ2zesI/AAAAAAAAAIg/20XiKfsjOyA/s320/DSCN1984.JPG" /></a>exactly the same rock formation as the photo from Iceland from behind the waterfall !</p><p align="center">(only one letter different in the names so why not ?)</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v0Sf634Vp-I/TmttZJ2zesI/AAAAAAAAAIg/20XiKfsjOyA/s1600/DSCN1984.JPG"><div align="left"></div></a><div align="left"> </div><p> </p></div></div></div></div></div>Lozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06082987609379872456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-60860737166680237852010-05-12T19:55:00.014+01:002010-05-25T07:15:10.760+01:00Junior Jangler's Training WeekendRight then, lets hope 2010 manages to see a few more motorcycle miles than 2009.<br /><br />On the May bank holiday for the previous 2 years a group of various janglers have set off to a bike do organised by two members of the Moto Guzzi club ( see previous posts of Mid-shires camp). This year saw Neil, Neil's brother Paul, Paul's son Dean and my son Zach along with myself heading off to a new venue in the Oswestry area for the 4th Mid-shires camp over. This year the venue was at a cricket club, meaning nice flat grass for camping, a club house for beer and also a very welcome full breakfast for less than a fiver.<br /><br />A week and a half before this do, I had a phone call from Neil who informed me that he had done his best Steve McQueen impression and the Yella Belly was lying in a ditch somewhere in Wales very close to a place called Clatter (how very apt). After a visit to the shed, some new handle bars were handed over, some straightening of the seat rails (my homemade top box rack was so strong that the weight in the top box was enough to bend the seat rails when Neil jumped a 250KG bike 3ft in the air!)<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6wu3C4bI/AAAAAAAAAH8/LU80cX-QlNA/s1600/DSCN1734.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470460412514460082" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6wu3C4bI/AAAAAAAAAH8/LU80cX-QlNA/s320/DSCN1734.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em> </em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Neil now sporting an L plate for obvious reasons.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6xBkzd1I/AAAAAAAAAIE/cT1vk-BsPyw/s1600/DSCN1722.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 319px; float: left; height: 228px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470460417538226002" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6xBkzd1I/AAAAAAAAAIE/cT1vk-BsPyw/s320/DSCN1722.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><em><br /><br /><br /></em><br /><br /><br /><em></em><br /><em><br /><br /></em><em></em><br /><br /><em><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Paul's bike is a Suzuki VX800 previously owned by Neil (I'm surprised it still looks so good)</span> </em><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6wKC714I/AAAAAAAAAH0/RtTKG543PjY/s1600/DSCN1731.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 313px; float: left; height: 293px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470460402632218498" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6wKC714I/AAAAAAAAAH0/RtTKG543PjY/s320/DSCN1731.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Richard, the organiser of this weekend had arranged a ride out on Saturday morning through some stunning country side and this picture was taken at a much needed tab break.</span></em><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6vzSTS0I/AAAAAAAAAHs/2kU0epPsPv0/s1600/DSCN1726.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 318px; float: left; height: 216px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470460396522654530" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8gcRuzxeAVI/S-r6vzSTS0I/AAAAAAAAAHs/2kU0epPsPv0/s320/DSCN1726.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em></em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">When I said we were going camping that's not what I meant Zach !</span></em><br /><br />Saturday afternoon there was once again a guest speaker who has written over 100 books on Motto Guzzi and Ducati bikes. Saturday evening was probably the most enjoyable evening of music I've had in many years with the appearance of a band called the Re-Entrants. Two Men, two ukuleles and that's it (forget Goerge Formby and youtube them). You would not believe it possible. Brittney Spears to Motorhead, just fantastic.<br /><br />Once again, many thanks to Richard and Monica or a fantastic weekend.<br /><div align="left"></div>Lozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06082987609379872456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-28465685347291661722009-08-20T11:45:00.003+01:002009-08-20T12:22:37.990+01:00A Jangling UpdateIt's been a while since any posts were put on here which is a disgrace really. But for various reasons there hasn't really been a lot to report on the biking front. I sold my bike early on this year to raise a bit of money for a business venture and since then I've lost the urge to ride a bike and have wrapped myself up in photography, a passion of mine. I said in an earlier post way back this year that Neil had sold Yellow Belly, his Yamaha XZR 1300. This was miss reported as I misunderstood which bike he had sold. To cut a long story short, Neil lent me his bike just after I'd sold mine so I could go on a bike rally with Loz, and due to Neil working away for most of the year his bike has sat in my garage ever since. A few weeks ago I was in my car one Thursday travelling to Wales to take some photos when Loz came past on his motorbike loaded up with all his camping gear. So we pulled over, had a chat and I decided that the following day I'd jump on Neil's bike and meet up with Loz in Wales for an overnight camp. Riding through Wales on a blistering hot Friday I realised just how much I'd missed riding, and my love of riding was restored. I also realised just how nice it was to ride a comfy "sensible" bike where a gentle plod is the order of the day. The bike was so comfy, I suffered with no aching wrists or numb arse which ultimately allowed me to concentrate and enjoy my riding a lot more. This made me take a whole new look at what bike I would buy next and I decided that rather than buy a Triumph Sprint ST, which I'd got my heart set on, I might just purchase an XJR instead. Since then Neil has mentioned he might sell his bike through lack of use so it's a possiblity I might end up with Yellow Belly. If not, I'm still most likely going to buy an XJR. This will no doubt come under ridicule from Gaz and Dean the speed freaks.<br /><br />Talking of Dean, this year he has bought and sold more bikes than I can remember and is currently bikeless as he's gone and bought himself a Saphire Cosworth.<br /><br />The only bike trip of note this year is when Neil took Loz's Yamaha XT to Norway but as yet I haven't seen any photos or heard much about the trip.<br /><br />So that's about it really, just like last year it's been a fairly lousy year so far for biking so things can only improve. And I'll make a concious effort to post more stuff on here in the future.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-71773701159922477462009-02-21T04:05:00.001+00:002009-02-21T04:05:45.294+00:00Hummm<span class="status_body">ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ</span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-50353497478309279812009-02-17T08:52:00.005+00:002009-02-17T09:32:47.003+00:00For Sale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZp7KcnODVI/AAAAAAAACZM/lMxMVGGqy0o/s1600-h/IMG_6589.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZp7KcnODVI/AAAAAAAACZM/lMxMVGGqy0o/s400/IMG_6589.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303686930591780178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If anyone's interested I'm selling my Blackbird. It's a 53 plate, done 14k miles, has nearly new tyres and comes with twelve months MOT and 6 months tax. Yours for £4000.00 onoMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-18648008026583986442009-02-14T11:41:00.000+00:002009-02-14T11:42:04.829+00:00Matt & Ellie's WeddingAt last Matt (Joey) finally did the right thing and proposed to Ellie. Surprisingly she actually said yes!<br /><br />A couple of months later the wedding rings were on their fingers and a good party was being had by all. Normally at this stage I would write a bit of a story but the evenings events are shrouded in fog so it'll be much easier to let the pictures tell the story.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJYF-o3SI/AAAAAAAACZE/feOQAchRMiU/s1600-h/IMG_6346.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJYF-o3SI/AAAAAAAACZE/feOQAchRMiU/s400/IMG_6346.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224814569217314" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Duncan and Gaz.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJT_rYYYI/AAAAAAAACY8/ZpfXleQ3B-0/s1600-h/IMG_6348.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJT_rYYYI/AAAAAAAACY8/ZpfXleQ3B-0/s400/IMG_6348.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224744158355842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tackleberry and Nicola.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJOxXARMI/AAAAAAAACY0/5h4U62jP05g/s1600-h/IMG_6377.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJOxXARMI/AAAAAAAACY0/5h4U62jP05g/s400/IMG_6377.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224654415447234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Gaz, Matt, Shaz and Andy.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJJw7BT7I/AAAAAAAACYs/adgUGMRuGhs/s1600-h/IMG_6386.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJJw7BT7I/AAAAAAAACYs/adgUGMRuGhs/s400/IMG_6386.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224568398729138" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Neil and Gaz.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJDpTl-lI/AAAAAAAACYk/eWoMzYnOQ5Q/s1600-h/IMG_6396.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVJDpTl-lI/AAAAAAAACYk/eWoMzYnOQ5Q/s400/IMG_6396.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224463275096658" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rachel and Jeana. You see, even the bar staff were having a good time.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVI-wB0CZI/AAAAAAAACYc/2NBxAwnomYw/s1600-h/IMG_6413.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVI-wB0CZI/AAAAAAAACYc/2NBxAwnomYw/s400/IMG_6413.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224379180222866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jeana and Mellor who looks like he's about to have a major beer spillage.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVI2wcXuOI/AAAAAAAACYU/iVLEpuvZBwI/s1600-h/IMG_6422.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVI2wcXuOI/AAAAAAAACYU/iVLEpuvZBwI/s400/IMG_6422.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224241852659938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIuImqIhI/AAAAAAAACYM/DEyyVNkNQEQ/s1600-h/IMG_6425.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIuImqIhI/AAAAAAAACYM/DEyyVNkNQEQ/s400/IMG_6425.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224093719437842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loz.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">"So you want to know what's in my wok, pu............."</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(I'd love to share the rest pub it's probably unwise)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIpE47uMI/AAAAAAAACYE/SrTT3W-Wz9s/s1600-h/IMG_6429.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIpE47uMI/AAAAAAAACYE/SrTT3W-Wz9s/s400/IMG_6429.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302224006823000258" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Neil.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIkAYCZgI/AAAAAAAACX8/pR04XZ_SHaE/s1600-h/IMG_6437.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIkAYCZgI/AAAAAAAACX8/pR04XZ_SHaE/s400/IMG_6437.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223919711938050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Steve and John.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIeG2QxvI/AAAAAAAACX0/3UIm0o6avTE/s1600-h/IMG_6438.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIeG2QxvI/AAAAAAAACX0/3UIm0o6avTE/s400/IMG_6438.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223818370107122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is what happens when I give Andy my camera.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIZEm2k-I/AAAAAAAACXs/WowkN8ma3CQ/s1600-h/IMG_6461.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIZEm2k-I/AAAAAAAACXs/WowkN8ma3CQ/s400/IMG_6461.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223731869258722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And this is what happens when Andy hands me my camera back.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIT79K3kI/AAAAAAAACXk/BHoDH7tzvBY/s1600-h/IMG_6479.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIT79K3kI/AAAAAAAACXk/BHoDH7tzvBY/s400/IMG_6479.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223643647598146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt deciding that on his wedding day he should try his hand at pulling a few pints.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIN0IaWkI/AAAAAAAACXc/_uNQtbiIL2k/s1600-h/IMG_6483.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIN0IaWkI/AAAAAAAACXc/_uNQtbiIL2k/s400/IMG_6483.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223538468051522" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loz....... Gets everywhere the lad does.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIHh5NiRI/AAAAAAAACXU/wexVq1sBSWY/s1600-h/IMG_6485.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIHh5NiRI/AAAAAAAACXU/wexVq1sBSWY/s400/IMG_6485.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223430493243666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt's sister Cath and her boyfriend alongside Ian and Jen.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIBTBi2xI/AAAAAAAACXM/RMEfviPA59s/s1600-h/IMG_6486.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVIBTBi2xI/AAAAAAAACXM/RMEfviPA59s/s400/IMG_6486.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223323422448402" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It's all going wrong isn't it?</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVH6_nvjdI/AAAAAAAACXE/VeHvMKHUe3A/s1600-h/IMG_6492.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVH6_nvjdI/AAAAAAAACXE/VeHvMKHUe3A/s400/IMG_6492.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223215134739922" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yep, it's all going wrong.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHzK3LP2I/AAAAAAAACW8/NEGpv8-RFgw/s1600-h/IMG_6497.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHzK3LP2I/AAAAAAAACW8/NEGpv8-RFgw/s400/IMG_6497.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302223080713305954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHthCALpI/AAAAAAAACW0/776q08d_hLs/s1600-h/IMG_6498.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHthCALpI/AAAAAAAACW0/776q08d_hLs/s400/IMG_6498.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222983585083026" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The best man in the middle.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHoBJQOhI/AAAAAAAACWs/RylStgCYeJ8/s1600-h/IMG_6500.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHoBJQOhI/AAAAAAAACWs/RylStgCYeJ8/s400/IMG_6500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222889126214162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHhDVz7KI/AAAAAAAACWk/xAx7I0GEzow/s1600-h/IMG_6523.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHhDVz7KI/AAAAAAAACWk/xAx7I0GEzow/s400/IMG_6523.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222769456671906" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">That's the sort of look normally associated with the negotiation of free beer all night. Sadly I don't think this was the case.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHTQlUtDI/AAAAAAAACWc/70Z7mk4i8ck/s1600-h/IMG_6527.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHTQlUtDI/AAAAAAAACWc/70Z7mk4i8ck/s400/IMG_6527.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222532493227058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHMpHMJAI/AAAAAAAACWU/rJ8WI-VSkMw/s1600-h/IMG_6528.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHMpHMJAI/AAAAAAAACWU/rJ8WI-VSkMw/s400/IMG_6528.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222418818638850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sam.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHFqC_GyI/AAAAAAAACWM/BGAYtP0vljU/s1600-h/IMG_6529.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVHFqC_GyI/AAAAAAAACWM/BGAYtP0vljU/s400/IMG_6529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222298810358562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVG_06rD8I/AAAAAAAACWE/kmAvQg9I5Eo/s1600-h/IMG_6576.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVG_06rD8I/AAAAAAAACWE/kmAvQg9I5Eo/s400/IMG_6576.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302222198649065410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Good old Andy strikes again.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVG0Bqr8NI/AAAAAAAACV8/IxTgzcOH02c/s1600-h/IMG_6583.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVG0Bqr8NI/AAAAAAAACV8/IxTgzcOH02c/s400/IMG_6583.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302221995913244882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Gaz and Cara.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Every time I tried to take a photo Cara blinked at the wrong moment. This was Gaz's solution.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVGuHV38hI/AAAAAAAACV0/GB1K5hD1KfU/s1600-h/IMG_6591.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVGuHV38hI/AAAAAAAACV0/GB1K5hD1KfU/s400/IMG_6591.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302221894357348882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVF9yTeUAI/AAAAAAAACVs/tW3Nsnv-jTg/s1600-h/IMG_6592.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVF9yTeUAI/AAAAAAAACVs/tW3Nsnv-jTg/s400/IMG_6592.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302221064076414978" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">John</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVF4GZMFzI/AAAAAAAACVk/sZYJK6fBkP8/s1600-h/IMG_6604.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVF4GZMFzI/AAAAAAAACVk/sZYJK6fBkP8/s400/IMG_6604.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302220966389880626" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">John again. John actually isn't with the band, he just decided to get up and sing because he likes that sort of thing. Once he'd started there was no stopping him and he was still up there an hour later.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVFwFiTZhI/AAAAAAAACVc/cOF1J5J5tX0/s1600-h/IMG_6601.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZVFwFiTZhI/AAAAAAAACVc/cOF1J5J5tX0/s400/IMG_6601.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302220828720719378" border="0" /></a><br />The happy couple.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-12274319933941747032009-02-13T09:24:00.005+00:002009-02-13T10:34:55.195+00:00Loz's 40thBetter late than never, here's a few rubbish camera phone pictures taken at Loz's 40th birthday binge drinking session with the lads.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9P7QIECI/AAAAAAAACVU/gT0EaXIYpSY/s1600-h/lb01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9P7QIECI/AAAAAAAACVU/gT0EaXIYpSY/s400/lb01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302211480111288354" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt (Joey) in the background - Now comes with grey hair for that distinguished gentleman look. The big box is Loz's birthday present from Neil.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9P648hII/AAAAAAAACVM/mHAnkfn5DW0/s1600-h/lb02.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9P648hII/AAAAAAAACVM/mHAnkfn5DW0/s400/lb02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302211480014062722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And there's the present. It's a no expense spared fully sprung hobbit cycle!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PjNP6JI/AAAAAAAACVE/3ALHKbx1sf4/s1600-h/lb03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PjNP6JI/AAAAAAAACVE/3ALHKbx1sf4/s400/lb03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302211473656768658" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Just like a little kid, Loz found the box far more exciting than the actual present.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PlE7MWI/AAAAAAAACU8/fW6s0yzD0Xg/s1600-h/lb04.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PlE7MWI/AAAAAAAACU8/fW6s0yzD0Xg/s400/lb04.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302211474158727522" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"What's this do, what's that do, broom broom"</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PrUn9xI/AAAAAAAACU0/tQ7jeI8S2ec/s1600-h/lb05.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SZU9PrUn9xI/AAAAAAAACU0/tQ7jeI8S2ec/s400/lb05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302211475835189010" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So, a good time was had by all and happy birthday to Loz.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-34555987735778733512009-01-18T11:30:00.004+00:002009-01-23T08:44:32.698+00:00Happy New YearI know it's a bit late but I'd like to wish everybody a happy new year and may I be the first to wish you a merry Christmas for this year. Since the last post of Loz's Iceland trip the blog's lay pathetically dormant. The main reason has been the weather. I think I've used my bike once since coming back from Scotland. There's other reasons too, like trying to get us all together for a ride out at the same time. We never seem to be all available at once. At some point last year I made a decision to keep the blog mainly for motorcycle related stuff. I'm now not so sure that was exactly the right decision. The blog after all was set up to document not only our biking activity but also all the other stuff that goes on in our lives. So I've now decided that things should go back to how they were. We need a little more fun around here.<br /><br />Although the blog has been quiet, there hasn't been any shortage of stuff going on in our lives and there has been a few dramatic changes of events! Loz the stunted little hobbit has now turned forty and his Birthday led to the usual and inevitable drunkenness and silliness. I have some great photos which I'll be uploading in a day or two. Tackleberry's Valentino Rossi R1 race replica is no more. He declared the thing "Too fast" and in a moment of wisdom decided to part exchange it for a 700cc Raptor quad bike; The photos of which I'm still awaiting. Neil has sold a couple of his bikes and is now just down to the one, his XJR1300 affectionately known as Yellow Belly. Matt (Joey) has been pottering to and from America finishing off his commercial helicopter pilots licence. That last sentence wasn't exactly what you'd call a dramatic change of events but the next one is. Yesterday, Matt (Joey) finally tied the knot with lovely Ellie and they are now husband and wife. I know I'm speaking on behalf of all our friends when I say I sincerely hope the pair of them the very best wishes for the future. Now then..... With every wedding comes a party. And with every party comes alcohol. And just because us Janglers were obliged to wear suits doesn't mean to say we had to behave like gentlemen.<br /><br />And it's also a mistake to give my camera to a rock star drummer (his words not mine) and say "Go get some good shots Andy".<br /><br />Boy oh boy oh boy.......... Do I have some shocking photos. Watch this space.<br /><br />Oh yes and one last thing. Matt (Joey) has stopped dying his hair and is greyer than Loz!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-81870702358121075242008-09-26T07:17:00.008+01:002008-09-26T10:24:40.336+01:00Iceland<div>(Written by Loz)</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Continuing on northward from Scotland which can be read about <a href="http://janglejangle.blogspot.com/2008/08/scotland.html">here</a>.</span><br /><br />After leaving Mike and Dean in the comfort of their tents in Thurso at around 3am I packed my gear up and headed to the port of Scrabster to board the ferry to Iceland. A number of bikes, cars and 4x4's were already starting to assemble at the docks. Clearly Iceland had enticed a number of adventure travellers. The ferry takes 36 hours and sails via the Faroe Islands which allows three hours ashore while it offloads and loads cargo.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3uGxhfWI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/lFvAWKn_SRU/s1600-h/DSCN1034.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3uGxhfWI/AAAAAAAAB3Q/lFvAWKn_SRU/s400/DSCN1034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869712607182178" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Torshavn, Faroe Islands.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3t_Dsh9I/AAAAAAAAB3I/jZv32LYjpiE/s400/DSCN1038.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869710535919570" border="0" /></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Traditional Faroese turf roofed houses.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3jjSgpXI/AAAAAAAAB2g/7gFPEWZc6ZI/s1600-h/DSCN1041.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3jjSgpXI/AAAAAAAAB2g/7gFPEWZc6ZI/s400/DSCN1041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869531283170674" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Overlooking the harbour in Torshavn.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back on the ferry with some supplies for the evening from the duty free shop it was time to settle in for the evening and the remainder of the mini cruise. Next stop Iceland. My first views of Iceland were just as foggy as my head courtesy of the duty free shop. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3jskczvI/AAAAAAAAB2o/ohvc7sYW_JE/s1600-h/DSCN1042.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3jskczvI/AAAAAAAAB2o/ohvc7sYW_JE/s400/DSCN1042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869533774335730" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Seyoisfjorour (Pronounced something like fnertlefnacker), Iceland.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3j_VWERI/AAAAAAAAB2w/twFsaRwrMik/s1600-h/DSCN1045.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3j_VWERI/AAAAAAAAB2w/twFsaRwrMik/s400/DSCN1045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869538811253010" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">A somewhat clearer view of Seyoisfjorour.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once off the ferry I headed out of the ferry town and up the mountains that can be seen in the rear of the above picture. Thick fog/low cloud slowed the ferry traffic to almost a standstill. My first gravel roads in thick fog, riding a bike laden like a mule made my first tentative miles quite interesting. The traffic disappeared as quickly as the cloud as I rode above it into stunning sunshine and views. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3kDh9UzI/AAAAAAAAB24/Vmk1fYZAk2c/s1600-h/DSCN1052.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3kDh9UzI/AAAAAAAAB24/Vmk1fYZAk2c/s400/DSCN1052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869539937899314" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Finally above the clouds.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3kIWiSyI/AAAAAAAAB3A/hcUY6Td1gyg/s1600-h/DSCN1054.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3kIWiSyI/AAAAAAAAB3A/hcUY6Td1gyg/s400/DSCN1054.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243869541232167714" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">On top of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>My general plan was to do a loop of the island in an anticlockwise direction taking in as many of the natural wonders I could that make Iceland the wonder that it is. I had a small number of places I wanted to visit and after talking to a few people on the ferry that had been before, a few more places were added to the list. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_So43SI/AAAAAAAAB14/FGaOL0oi4Bw/s1600-h/DSCN1062.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_So43SI/AAAAAAAAB14/FGaOL0oi4Bw/s400/DSCN1062.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868908338339106" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Oooh a nice bit of tarmac!...</div><div><br /></div><div>All the maintained roads are raised above the surrounding landscape to stop snow drifting during the winter. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_oMkR6I/AAAAAAAAB2A/kawmf4yXFlQ/s1600-h/DSCN1063.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_oMkR6I/AAAAAAAAB2A/kawmf4yXFlQ/s400/DSCN1063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868914125129634" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Mountains as far as the eye could see with a ribbon of tarmac through the middle.</div><div><br /></div><div>Making my way to Lake Myvatn (Pronounced something like mertalvansnerch) for a recommended campsite, I came across an area of steam vents. The smell of sulphur was overpowering. Not too dissimilar to Dean's farts!</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_p4EJvI/AAAAAAAAB2I/laFwIg8NJII/s1600-h/DSCN1069.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2_p4EJvI/AAAAAAAAB2I/laFwIg8NJII/s400/DSCN1069.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868914576008946" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Steam vent.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2__KbbFI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/9_SfAqXtbPw/s1600-h/DSCN1075.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2__KbbFI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/9_SfAqXtbPw/s400/DSCN1075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868920290176082" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Campsite at Lake Myvatn. The facilities were superb and it was also one of the cheapest campsites I stopped at, costing around six quid.</div><div><br /></div><div>My plan for the next day was to do a waterfall sightseeing tour taking in three waterfalls that were highly recommended, and also ones that I'd researched before leaving. As usual with all Jangle jangles things didn't quite go to plan. I missed the turn off for the last waterfall and ended up one hundred kilometres away and decided to camp for the night and head back for it the following day. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3AIWmTFI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/igXT44uLOEY/s1600-h/DSCN1081.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX3AIWmTFI/AAAAAAAAB2Y/igXT44uLOEY/s400/DSCN1081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868922757139538" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">The road to the waterfalls Dettifoss and Selfoss (Most likely pronounced denheathenfloss and dentalfloss). I lost my camping chair on this track.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2m-PDaII/AAAAAAAAB1Q/haD7A0uuWz4/s1600-h/DSCN1086.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2m-PDaII/AAAAAAAAB1Q/haD7A0uuWz4/s400/DSCN1086.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868490544408706" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Dettifoss.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2nDJjAeI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/415tacBz-kw/s1600-h/DSCN1092.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2nDJjAeI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/415tacBz-kw/s400/DSCN1092.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868491863491042" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Dettifoss.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2naz-dYI/AAAAAAAAB1g/OHf9hKiAJw0/s1600-h/DSCN1096.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2naz-dYI/AAAAAAAAB1g/OHf9hKiAJw0/s400/DSCN1096.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868498215466370" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Selfoss.</div><div><br /></div><div>The landscape everywhere was stunning but vast and was very difficult to photograph as there's nothing to give perspective of size.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2nrt4efI/AAAAAAAAB1o/iDfdy7-2LjM/s1600-h/DSCN1111.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2nrt4efI/AAAAAAAAB1o/iDfdy7-2LjM/s400/DSCN1111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868502753311218" border="0" /></a></div><div style="font-style: italic;">Vast emptiness and not a sign of litter!</div><div><br /></div><div>A trip to Iceland wouldn't be a trip to Iceland without visiting one of the many volcanic craters. Well, technically 'a trip to Iceland' would still be a trip to Iceland whether you visited a volcanic crater or not.... Similarly a trip to Iceland would still be a trip to Iceland whether you came back with a frozen chicken or not (Only British folk would get that joke... Not that it was funny in the first place). But obviously I'm going off the beaten track a bit here, so on with the show. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">(Last paragraph drivelled out by Mike whilst Loz went to the loo).</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I returned back to Lake Myvatn to camp and planned the following day to travel the local area and also find the elusive waterfall that I'd previously missed.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2niXwyvI/AAAAAAAAB1w/27KYGVzHbfQ/s1600-h/DSCN1139.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2niXwyvI/AAAAAAAAB1w/27KYGVzHbfQ/s400/DSCN1139.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868500244613874" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Volcanic crater at Krafla (No doubt pronounced muffetler).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LCOPdVI/AAAAAAAAB0o/PkJvv-UO4yY/s1600-h/DSCN1162.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LCOPdVI/AAAAAAAAB0o/PkJvv-UO4yY/s400/DSCN1162.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868010578408786" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Godafoss, the elusive waterfall (flangefelcher?).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2Lf4U0aI/AAAAAAAAB0w/VdGEX7x8L7A/s1600-h/DSCN1173.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2Lf4U0aI/AAAAAAAAB0w/VdGEX7x8L7A/s400/DSCN1173.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868018539549090" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">An example of the vastness and scale of things, if you look closely at the above picture you can just make out a small farmstead in the foreground of the picture by the side of the road. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LoZYFdI/AAAAAAAAB04/EGcz5gWi1bg/s1600-h/DSCN1175.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LoZYFdI/AAAAAAAAB04/EGcz5gWi1bg/s400/DSCN1175.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868020825658834" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">In the next fjord, a reminder of the main source of income; a derelict trawler and processing plant.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Ever onwards and more sights to be seen and an area of geezers (and not the sort you find in the pub). </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LwpLNCI/AAAAAAAAB1A/9FLYrYuho8s/s1600-h/DSCN1193.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2LwpLNCI/AAAAAAAAB1A/9FLYrYuho8s/s400/DSCN1193.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868023039407138" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A geezer called Strokkur (Clearly pronounced pistonwipa).</span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Heading south past Reykjavik along Route 1 and the southern part of the island, I happened across some natural sights I hadn't banked on or researched, which made their appearance all the more special. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2Ly6Ye2I/AAAAAAAAB1I/Ck_4iKRWWvo/s1600-h/DSCN1214.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX2Ly6Ye2I/AAAAAAAAB1I/Ck_4iKRWWvo/s400/DSCN1214.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243868023648451426" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Skogafoss (Likely to have been pronounced norkfurnflunkle).</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Not too far from the above waterfall was an area of glaciers where I camped for two days on my return to the ferry port.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1t1xU9bI/AAAAAAAAB0A/76ByyuoLyPM/s1600-h/DSCN1218.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1t1xU9bI/AAAAAAAAB0A/76ByyuoLyPM/s400/DSCN1218.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867509019702706" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A glacier along the south east cost.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1t9sEF6I/AAAAAAAAB0I/VKYO8JbEbzo/s1600-h/DSCN1229.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1t9sEF6I/AAAAAAAAB0I/VKYO8JbEbzo/s400/DSCN1229.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867511145109410" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A bizarre rock formation in a land of lava.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uEq7P5I/AAAAAAAAB0Q/mBSKStFJ0kY/s1600-h/DSCN1232.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uEq7P5I/AAAAAAAAB0Q/mBSKStFJ0kY/s400/DSCN1232.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867513019383698" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A poor attempt at an arty picture from behind the waterfall.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uDgxBII/AAAAAAAAB0Y/J7NOC4_5kXI/s1600-h/DSCN1236.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uDgxBII/AAAAAAAAB0Y/J7NOC4_5kXI/s400/DSCN1236.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867512708334722" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The glacier breaks into a lagoon.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uf1ghHI/AAAAAAAAB0g/tRT2WEkJj6A/s1600-h/DSCN1240.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1uf1ghHI/AAAAAAAAB0g/tRT2WEkJj6A/s400/DSCN1240.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243867520311526514" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A giant beer chiller!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1NiR_8eI/AAAAAAAABzY/WUqu5xe7xsk/s1600-h/DSCN1269.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1NiR_8eI/AAAAAAAABzY/WUqu5xe7xsk/s400/DSCN1269.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866954032214498" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The icebergs then wash out to sea and get pounded along the beach by the waves.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Although I'd planned to travel alone, every campsite that I stopped at had its fair share of fellow motorcyclists from all round Europe. I travelled for a couple of days with a guy called Stuart from Leicester. I also had a couple of very pleasant evenings with an Italian couple and a group of three French bikers. Although the language between us was very basic we still managed some jokes and piss taking. Just like being at home I caught the brunt of it.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A short days ride from here took me back to the ferry port for the mammoth trip home. The homeward journey takes you back to Scotland via the Faroes but leaves you there for three days whilst it goes to Denmark. Back at the ferry port I met up with a number of bikers that I'd met in Iceland including a couple from Kendal and again the three French folk. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1N7YY4eI/AAAAAAAABzg/HLuV19v8YMg/s1600-h/DSCN1294.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1N7YY4eI/AAAAAAAABzg/HLuV19v8YMg/s400/DSCN1294.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866960769901026" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The road down to Gjogv on the Faroes (No doubt pronounced gruntlehoofer).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OOpePjI/AAAAAAAABzo/z6_O77ecj8s/s1600-h/DSCN1300.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OOpePjI/AAAAAAAABzo/z6_O77ecj8s/s400/DSCN1300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866965941829170" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A tiny harbour in Gjogv.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The Faroes was never a destination I had specifically chosen to visit so I didn't do any research prior to going and I had no plans for my three day stop over. A group of six of us spent the three days together travelling around the islands. We did accidentally stumbled upon a festival in the harbour of one village.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OcB0DzI/AAAAAAAABzw/Bgb9tIUemaQ/s1600-h/DSCN1305.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OcB0DzI/AAAAAAAABzw/Bgb9tIUemaQ/s400/DSCN1305.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866969533583154" border="0" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Faroese traditional dress.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>At this festival there were a group of Faroese bikers holding a crate stacking contest. On spotting our traditional fighting gear they deemed us friends, not foe and invited us into their enclosure and plied us with free coffee and cakes and a generous offer of workshop space if we had any mechanical problems. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OnPOpiI/AAAAAAAABz4/7WGQQx8gWtQ/s1600-h/DSCN1306.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SMX1OnPOpiI/AAAAAAAABz4/7WGQQx8gWtQ/s400/DSCN1306.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243866972542641698" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>Oz (centre with orange hat) and Jess on the far right - The couple from Kendal. Second from right is Francoise who was part of the French group. Missing is Alain and Benoir. The rest of the group being the Faroese bikers who I'd like to say thank you to for their hospitality. I'd also like to thank Oz and Jess for their fantastic sense of humour that made the Faroe Islands bearable and the journey back through Scotland an absolute pleasure. As Mike would say; a thoroughly pleasant little Jangle.</div>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-51486858009630211652008-09-24T04:31:00.005+01:002008-09-26T07:48:35.140+01:00Iceland UpdateSome of you may be wondering where the write-up is for Loz's trip to Iceland. Well, I can inform you that it only has a couple of paragraphs to go. For Loz the job of uploading pictures and writing some spam has proved to be more taxing than the actual journey. This is mainly due to his 'puter having less oomph than a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum">ZX Spectrum</a>...... and I won't mention the accidental deletion of the nearly finished post. I'll leave you with a little taster of things to come.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SNm4dPXXmiI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/3O9_lMAzgqU/s1600-h/DSCN1214.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SNm4dPXXmiI/AAAAAAAAB3Y/3O9_lMAzgqU/s400/DSCN1214.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249429653157288482" border="0" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-806596405268784662008-08-17T10:38:00.009+01:002008-08-17T16:15:01.675+01:00Out with the old, In with the newApologies to Mark Galley but I've doctored the logo he designed for us. As good as it was, and I'm not taking anything away from Mark, it just didn't feel right for us; an alien if you like representing nothing about us. It needed a personal touch. Good old Photoshop to the rescue. I've included a couple of our own bikes (mine and Dean's). I apologise for not included the other Jangler's bikes. Gaz's bike I have no suitable picture of, Matt's bike is black and wouldn't work against the background and Loz and Neil's didn't look symmetrically right without a fairing. For those of you who can't speak Latin (Where would we be without online translation?) the writing translates to 'Ramble on and sing your song', a phrase close to Matt's and my own heart. Well if I'm honest 'Procedo protinus' actually means 'Continue forward', the best I could do with the absence of an exact translation for 'Ramble on'. 'Spouting sh*t since 2006' is about right really, so here's to hopefully many a more year of wonderful motorcycling and the ensuing ramblings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKf6qz6w1UI/AAAAAAAABuQ/6fJgADyVaVk/s1600-h/Jangle+Flat.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKf6qz6w1UI/AAAAAAAABuQ/6fJgADyVaVk/s400/Jangle+Flat.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235428705239618882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The old logo. At least part of you lives on.</span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-17242076801228248152008-08-07T08:52:00.019+01:002009-02-21T22:50:42.983+00:00ScotlandWith Loz taking three weeks off work to ride around Iceland, Dean and I decided to take a week off work and head up to the top of Scotland with him where he departed on a ferry from Scrabster. Iceland doesn't score well on tarmac roads so Loz took his Yamaha XT which is more suited for off-road.<br /><br />As Loz was on his XT which when loaded up like a mule was incapable of safely doing more than 60 mph, it was decided that Dean and I would travel up the motorway on our own at a more "sensible" speed. We left at 7am whilst Loz was intending to leave at around 9am. The plan was, once Dean and I got to Ayr we'd find a campsite for the night and text Loz as to where we were. The following morning we were then going to catch a ferry over to the Isle of Arran. Typically things didn't quite go to plan. All local campsites were fully booked because of a golf tournament. After 320 miles and a further two hours trying to find a campsite tempers weren't at there best so it was decided to jump on the ferry a day early and camp on Arran. Why we never thought of doing this in the first place I'll never know, but anyway......<br /><br />Once at the ferry port I texted Loz to tell him what was going on, only to get a reply five minutes later telling me he was already on Arran, tent pitched and supping beer. Apparently he couldn't find a campsite either. The little t%&t couldn't sleep the night before and so travelled through the night. Dropping us a text to let us know so that we didn't waste two hours in stinking hot weather and sweaty leathers trying to find a site clearly wasn't of any importance. This obviously led to a swift phone call from myself informing him of what we thought he was....... words of which would be inappropriate to write down on this friendly bike blog! Once on the ferry with a drink and some food, tempers quickly subsided and we felt the holiday had begun. Although, we were still threatening to give the stunted little hobbit a good kicking when we caught up with him.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8jnB7kJI/AAAAAAAABqk/wz5dREcQIG8/s1600-h/s01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8jnB7kJI/AAAAAAAABqk/wz5dREcQIG8/s400/s01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645705940111506" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dean on the ferry from Ardrossan to Brodick. The crossing takes about 50 minutes and costs around £25.00. It was a lot plusher than expected and had a good cafe and restaurant on board.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8faCjzuI/AAAAAAAABqc/4V6Dr9wSphw/s1600-h/s02.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8faCjzuI/AAAAAAAABqc/4V6Dr9wSphw/s400/s02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645633733611234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The splendid campsite on Arran situated in the town of Lamlash. I can't remember the name of the site and I can't find it anywhere on t'interweb either. Heading south through the town, immediately turn left just over the sharp right handed bridge (The turning is almost on the bridge). If you see the fire station you've gone a wee tad too far. Follow the road down and it's on your right. The lady on reception informed me that she did breakfast baps in the mornings although we never tried them, opting for our very own full English instead.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8bk9GMYI/AAAAAAAABqU/5576KBUknq4/s1600-h/s03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8bk9GMYI/AAAAAAAABqU/5576KBUknq4/s400/s03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645567944012162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">More of the campsite, a chilli con carne and miraculously a 'still alive' hobbit.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8XsGuF3I/AAAAAAAABqM/QAiZh5cLFEo/s1600-h/s04.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8XsGuF3I/AAAAAAAABqM/QAiZh5cLFEo/s400/s04.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645501143947122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There's a five minute walk from the site down to a beach which takes you into town.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8T_8x8WI/AAAAAAAABqE/maz46Rb60-k/s1600-h/s05.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8T_8x8WI/AAAAAAAABqE/maz46Rb60-k/s400/s05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645437751488866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lamlash village at the end of the beach where you'll find a couple of pub/hotels, a convenience store and a curry house! What more could you ask for?</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8QAB2u5I/AAAAAAAABp4/A_jMYMlawEA/s1600-h/s06.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8QAB2u5I/AAAAAAAABp4/A_jMYMlawEA/s400/s06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645369053297554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A view from the beach.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8MCfKZzI/AAAAAAAABpw/_2eaJpvHyk0/s1600-h/s07.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8MCfKZzI/AAAAAAAABpw/_2eaJpvHyk0/s400/s07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645300993615666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8IVIAXTI/AAAAAAAABpo/U1DhZwuFEmo/s1600-h/s08.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8IVIAXTI/AAAAAAAABpo/U1DhZwuFEmo/s400/s08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645237277285682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The end of the path from the campsite.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8EG00yTI/AAAAAAAABpg/flhVkW3tMDA/s1600-h/s09.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb8EG00yTI/AAAAAAAABpg/flhVkW3tMDA/s400/s09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645164719262002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On the lash in Lamlash. Our Glaswegian campsite neighbours. Thoroughly nice people and great entertainment. The resident midges of Arran seemed to be enjoying our company as well, much preferring our flesh to the delights of beer.</span><br /><br />Sunday 27th we got away to an early start and took the coast road around Arran in a clockwise direction. The 40 mile or so stretch of road was not best suited to sports bikes being very tight, twisty, bumpy and potholed but the scenery was fantastic which more than made up for it. We departed the island from Lochranza over the Kilto Claonaig to the Kintyre peninsular south of Tarbert, which cost about £10.00 and took around 30 minutes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJk5p9tC8CI/AAAAAAAABqs/C3ZoKMeWxvM/s1600-h/DSC00439.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJk5p9tC8CI/AAAAAAAABqs/C3ZoKMeWxvM/s400/DSC00439.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231275835268460578" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Looking back towards Lochranza.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7-9JkCaI/AAAAAAAABpY/H2iigE6xvpg/s1600-h/s011.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7-9JkCaI/AAAAAAAABpY/H2iigE6xvpg/s400/s011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645076222544290" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dean & Loz</span><br /><br />Once off the ferry and riding northbound we soon arrived at Tarbert. Tarbert is a pleasant enough town spoilt only by the the local petrol station owner. Not only did he rip us off for fuel by charging 124.9p per litre but had the cheek to write all our registration numbers down in case we decided to do a runner without paying. Taking our helmet and gloves off before refuelling we must really have looked like we were about to do a splash and dash on him. OK, admittedly I once did a runner from a curry house but it was 23 years ago and lets face it, who hasn't at some point in their life? Anyway, he must get a lot of trouble with drive offs which is no surprise really considering his prices..... Brought it all on himself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb76w-khQI/AAAAAAAABpQ/pMnA_xIEU-0/s1600-h/s012.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb76w-khQI/AAAAAAAABpQ/pMnA_xIEU-0/s400/s012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230645004235736322" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tarbert harbour front.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb72apVWgI/AAAAAAAABpI/jMgnjRAOk8Q/s1600-h/s013.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb72apVWgI/AAAAAAAABpI/jMgnjRAOk8Q/s400/s013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644929521605122" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tarbert harbour.</span><br /><br />Travelling northward (on expensive fuel) we did a slight deviation to the picturesque village of Crinan overlooking Jura. The village is well known for the Crinan Canal and is well worth a visit if you're in the area. The road into Crinan from Lochgilphead follows the line of the canal and is a little gem. It's worth noting that the village is divided by a headland. Both sides are very picturesque and worth a nosey. Branching off to the right takes you down to the locks and a cafe where you can get tea, coffee and an assortment of light bites. Or the other option, if you're feeling well off or have just re-mortgaged is to feed your face in the <a href="http://www.crinanhotel.com/">Crinan Hotel</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJlBfRnNzvI/AAAAAAAABq0/HMbCc9LvVOs/s1600-h/IMG_5158.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJlBfRnNzvI/AAAAAAAABq0/HMbCc9LvVOs/s400/IMG_5158.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231284447727177458" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The end of Crinan Canal where it enters Loch Crinan.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7yGrjkII/AAAAAAAABpA/K4AfalrrCk4/s1600-h/s014.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7yGrjkII/AAAAAAAABpA/K4AfalrrCk4/s400/s014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644855442739330" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Canal Basin.</span><br /><br />Leaving Crinan we headed up the A816 to Oban. This road was designed and built by the biking gods! It has to be one of, if not the greatest biking road in the UK. It can be very fast in some sections but also has a lot of snaking sections that almost double back on themselves in places. The views along the way are spectacular too if you get chance to have a glance around.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7tgJXa0I/AAAAAAAABo4/MMwgvmw97oc/s1600-h/s015.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7tgJXa0I/AAAAAAAABo4/MMwgvmw97oc/s400/s015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644776379312962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Oban.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKKqFuEC4hI/AAAAAAAABsI/836SkNmv8Rs/s1600-h/IMG_5161.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKKqFuEC4hI/AAAAAAAABsI/836SkNmv8Rs/s400/IMG_5161.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233932732199002642" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oban's a pleasantly busy coastal town and a nice place for a pit stop. There's always a few bikers on the front to have a natter to as well. Oh, and there's a fish and chip shop..... smelt good too. A guy stopped to talk to us as he was walking past with his wife and two young kids. He was telling us about fantastic biking roads in the area that the average tourist would probably miss. He got so excited at one point I thought he was going to start foaming at the mouth. So excited in fact that I think he forgot he was in charge of his kids when he piped up with; "You really must ride this road, it's fu&*$ng awesome man!" Mind you, I'm sure drinking and swearing is taught from a much younger age in Scotland. It's probably on the School curriculum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7kTjtXDI/AAAAAAAABoo/6S2LMOckPhQ/s1600-h/s017.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7kTjtXDI/AAAAAAAABoo/6S2LMOckPhQ/s400/s017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644618381319218" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dean.</span><br /><br />Suitably refreshed from our stop in Oban it was onward to Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis. The campsite (<a href="http://www.glen-nevis.co.uk/touring/index.htm">Glen Nevis</a>) two minutes down the road from the town was nothing short of superb. Not only did it have a decent shop selling a good range of food and camping gear but it also had a burger van! The views of Ben Nevis from the site were amazing, and clearly the highland midges appreciated the area too judging by the state of my legs the following morning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7dVk5StI/AAAAAAAABog/zJ3AR8legXw/s1600-h/s018.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7dVk5StI/AAAAAAAABog/zJ3AR8legXw/s400/s018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644498664082130" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Fort William.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7ZCxNjfI/AAAAAAAABoY/JA8G_x1Pa9A/s1600-h/s019.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7ZCxNjfI/AAAAAAAABoY/JA8G_x1Pa9A/s400/s019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644424895991282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Glen Nevis Campsite at the foot of Ben Nevis. The tent you can see in the background just to the right of Loz's bike was a 3 man tent with two young Dutch couples in it. I'm really not sure what was going on, but all night there was lots of giggling and stuff. Maybe they were watching a funny dvd or something..... Inevitably they ended up Christened the Wife Swappers.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7U9wrs6I/AAAAAAAABoQ/6D7a1swJRBU/s1600-h/s020.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7U9wrs6I/AAAAAAAABoQ/6D7a1swJRBU/s400/s020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644354832118690" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In case you're wondering, it was I Chinese chicken satay stir fry we were concocting. And damn nice it was too. The midges seemed to like that as well.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7P_MBeuI/AAAAAAAABoI/VhaAN5QpUV4/s1600-h/s021.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7P_MBeuI/AAAAAAAABoI/VhaAN5QpUV4/s400/s021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644269315881698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Obviously all the empty beer cans weren't ours. We merely took it upon ourselves to tidy the campsite up a bit.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7LPNtdXI/AAAAAAAABoA/LnMAu75BPzc/s1600-h/s022.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7LPNtdXI/AAAAAAAABoA/LnMAu75BPzc/s400/s022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644187718579570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Everywhere we went somebody would be there taking a look at Dean's R1. He even had some Dutch people taking photos of it. Me thinks it's nothing more than a substitute for something very small in the trouser department if you catch my drift?</span><br /><br />The next morning following another full English breakfast we continued heading northwest in glorious sunshine. Just south of Fort Augustus we turned off onto the A87. This road took us past undoubtedly the most stunningly picturesque section of Scotland we travelled. I really wanted to pull over on several occasions to take some photos but we had a long journey ahead of us and time wasn't really on our side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7GrH2B_I/AAAAAAAABn4/dq8su2N2jso/s1600-h/s023.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7GrH2B_I/AAAAAAAABn4/dq8su2N2jso/s400/s023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644109310822386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7CJ2TbSI/AAAAAAAABnw/3r9QKRAxJCs/s1600-h/s024.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb7CJ2TbSI/AAAAAAAABnw/3r9QKRAxJCs/s400/s024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230644031659404578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb698Ef-DI/AAAAAAAABno/WXSmNma1xJ8/s1600-h/s025.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb698Ef-DI/AAAAAAAABno/WXSmNma1xJ8/s400/s025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643959241373746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb65lHWMDI/AAAAAAAABng/6hSL3XwqC8c/s1600-h/s026.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb65lHWMDI/AAAAAAAABng/6hSL3XwqC8c/s400/s026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643884359823410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Overlooking Eilean Donan Castle.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb61ggNelI/AAAAAAAABnY/LXsYmmUtofs/s1600-h/s027.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb61ggNelI/AAAAAAAABnY/LXsYmmUtofs/s400/s027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643814402456146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6xcE1sfI/AAAAAAAABnQ/W38bIgt-o2g/s1600-h/s028.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6xcE1sfI/AAAAAAAABnQ/W38bIgt-o2g/s400/s028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643744494432754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6tY8vymI/AAAAAAAABnI/k-cPGKziEGo/s1600-h/s029.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6tY8vymI/AAAAAAAABnI/k-cPGKziEGo/s400/s029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643674935708258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6pL36ytI/AAAAAAAABnA/SqdaQ_bRCdc/s1600-h/s030.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6pL36ytI/AAAAAAAABnA/SqdaQ_bRCdc/s400/s030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643602706320082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6lCG08eI/AAAAAAAABm4/1Diu6iWH13Y/s1600-h/s031.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6lCG08eI/AAAAAAAABm4/1Diu6iWH13Y/s400/s031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643531365020130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We eventually turned off the A87 onto the almost equally nice A890 east and then west onto the A835 to Ullapool where we camped for the night. The days riding although hard work was probably the best of the holiday. I really can't put into words just how stunning the landscape was.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6gqB8NSI/AAAAAAAABmw/tStxnPsvIB8/s1600-h/s032.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6gqB8NSI/AAAAAAAABmw/tStxnPsvIB8/s400/s032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643456182596898" border="0" /></a><br />Ullapool.<br /><br />Ullapool was a nice place and home to an award winning chippy and fish restaurant. Obviously we had to try out the fish and chips, and damn fine they were too.<br /><br />The campsite 3 miles north of Ullapool on the A835 was cracking. It was surrounded on three sides by a loch and had its own beaches. Once we'd pitched our tents the realisation set in that we had no food for the evening or breakfast and none of us particularly wanted to ride back into town to the local Tesco. After the usual bickering Loz agreed to go so long as he could take my Blackbird. Result! Or it would have been if he'd actually remembered to bring back some stuff for breakfast. At least he didn't forget the beer so he was quickly forgiven.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6c5Re8pI/AAAAAAAABmo/HYdRauTynHY/s1600-h/s033.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6c5Re8pI/AAAAAAAABmo/HYdRauTynHY/s400/s033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643391554843282" border="0" /></a><br /><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.ardmair.com/">Ardmair Point Caravanning and Camping Park</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> just north of Ullapool on the A835.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6Yt0eqgI/AAAAAAAABmg/MSydBW7G0Vs/s1600-h/s034.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6Yt0eqgI/AAAAAAAABmg/MSydBW7G0Vs/s400/s034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643319760923138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6TaxmrGI/AAAAAAAABmY/KcQ7goLpfls/s1600-h/s035.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6TaxmrGI/AAAAAAAABmY/KcQ7goLpfls/s400/s035.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643228749245538" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The following morning, this time with no full breakfast inside us, we headed east on the A837/A838 onto the A9 and north to John O'Groats. The original intention was to keep west and cut across the very top of Scotland, but our arses were profusely protesting at the long hours in the saddle so we opted for the shorter distance saving some 70 miles or so. The route we took was very pleasant but whether single track roads with pull-ins class as A roads remains debatable.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKKppXSYa1I/AAAAAAAABsA/hBi7dAw3iwY/s1600-h/s036.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SKKppXSYa1I/AAAAAAAABsA/hBi7dAw3iwY/s400/s036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233932245048781650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A debatable Scottish A road.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6KnXqk_I/AAAAAAAABmI/xVM3mBOEf3E/s1600-h/s037.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6KnXqk_I/AAAAAAAABmI/xVM3mBOEf3E/s400/s037.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230643077511287794" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A rickety bridge. It gave us a good 10 minutes of childish fun.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6FisZhUI/AAAAAAAABmA/11KvyHisZYE/s1600-h/s037a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6FisZhUI/AAAAAAAABmA/11KvyHisZYE/s400/s037a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642990356727106" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Somewhere north of Latheron on the A9 Loz's tedious pace finally caught up with me and I decided to get a spurt on and disappear into the distance with Dean closely following. We continued on our own until finally arriving at John O'Groats. Why the hell we bothered going there is beyond me. The place consisted of a house, a shop, a boarded up hotel and probably Scotland's smallest harbour but don't quote me on it. Loz eventually caught up about half an hour later and after the obligatory photos we got back on our bikes and headed off to Thurso where we were to camp the night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6BzBjUKI/AAAAAAAABl4/8O-rAd1TSWI/s1600-h/s038.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb6BzBjUKI/AAAAAAAABl4/8O-rAd1TSWI/s400/s038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642926020939938" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Being cheapskates we weren't prepared to pay for our home town to be added to the signpost.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb59-zX_5I/AAAAAAAABlw/isrJnZ-e_mo/s1600-h/s039.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb59-zX_5I/AAAAAAAABlw/isrJnZ-e_mo/s400/s039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642860463226770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">John O'Groats. Interesting it is not.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb54Lhy5jI/AAAAAAAABlo/Qtz1LwmT_7A/s1600-h/s040.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb54Lhy5jI/AAAAAAAABlo/Qtz1LwmT_7A/s400/s040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642760799938098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">More uninterestingness.</span><br /><br />The reason for camping at Thurso was because two minutes down the road is Scrabster where Loz was to set sail from at 6 O'clock the following morning. This is the only reason why anybody would choose to camp at Thurso. God only knows what the excuse for living there is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5zvZWL-I/AAAAAAAABlg/9AX0YEdqGnM/s1600-h/s041.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5zvZWL-I/AAAAAAAABlg/9AX0YEdqGnM/s400/s041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642684528832482" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ok, so the view north was reasonable......</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5qScYB5I/AAAAAAAABlQ/Tm1x8BOtKTY/s1600-h/s043.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5qScYB5I/AAAAAAAABlQ/Tm1x8BOtKTY/s400/s043.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642522138085266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">..... Not quite so when you turn your head the other way.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5up5_SJI/AAAAAAAABlY/NZgXGjbEp5g/s1600-h/s042.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5up5_SJI/AAAAAAAABlY/NZgXGjbEp5g/s400/s042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642597155784850" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">So that's why Loz stuck a rack on the front of his bike. One good thing to be said about Thurso is the local Lidl sells cheap Stella so it wasn't all bad.</span><br /><br />The night in Thurso was an early affair. I'm sure it was about 8 ish when we hit the sack. Loz needed an early night before waking up to pack his stuff away at 3 O'clock in the morning to head down to the docks. And that's the last we saw of him as we wished him well on his onward journey to a chillier climate.<br /><br />The following morning with Loz and his lumbering mule safely on a ferry, Dean and I made much swifter progress heading back south to Fort William for the night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5lrQWV_I/AAAAAAAABlI/9Ew43OV0LOk/s1600-h/s044.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5lrQWV_I/AAAAAAAABlI/9Ew43OV0LOk/s400/s044.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642442899183602" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A coffee shop come craft shop on the A9 at Helmsdale. We also stopped here on the way up. I think the place was called 'Create'. It serves tea, coffee, cakes, toasties and not a lot else. But........ the toasties are tremendous...... and the female owner was very pleasant :)</span><br /><br />Continuing on, I was looking forward to the road along side Loch Ness. I'd been there before and it's a great biking road, but this time it was as good as gridlocked with holiday traffic. Frustrating is putting it mildly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5gl61ZWI/AAAAAAAABlA/MT4k-4Qw6FI/s1600-h/s045.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5gl61ZWI/AAAAAAAABlA/MT4k-4Qw6FI/s400/s045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642355567420770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loch Ness.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5YzdKkjI/AAAAAAAABk4/cg_ZnPV_wQc/s1600-h/s046.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5YzdKkjI/AAAAAAAABk4/cg_ZnPV_wQc/s400/s046.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642221762122290" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loch Ness again.</span><br /><br />At the bottom of Loch Ness lies Fort Augustus. This is where the Caledonian canal (which stretches right across Scotland) connects to the southern end of Loch Ness. It's another nice spot for a rest with a good pub called the Lock Inn which sells nice food.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5TUMt9wI/AAAAAAAABkw/DpfQDXyIL1Q/s1600-h/s047.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5TUMt9wI/AAAAAAAABkw/DpfQDXyIL1Q/s400/s047.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642127472293634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5Oc3dlGI/AAAAAAAABko/-3WRYTPJUtE/s1600-h/s048.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb5Oc3dlGI/AAAAAAAABko/-3WRYTPJUtE/s400/s048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230642043899712610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The end of the canal where it joins Loch Ness.</span><br /><br />After Fort Augustus we headed back to the campsite at Fort William for the night. The evening was spent drinking beer, eating from the burger van (which was very good (for a burger van)) and dodging rain showers.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb47xXYBZI/AAAAAAAABkg/8ngSzKrv0eg/s1600-h/s049.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb47xXYBZI/AAAAAAAABkg/8ngSzKrv0eg/s400/s049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230641722984760722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk/">The Green Welly</a> on the A82. Very popular rest stop for bikers.</span><br /><br />From there we set off south down to Luss which is on the banks of Loch Lomand and now classed as a Conservation Village. We'd used this campsite before when we went to Scotland in 2005. The staff are very friendly and even supply you planks of wood for your side stand.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb42RWQ4OI/AAAAAAAABkY/iiueXSHcD7Y/s1600-h/s050.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb42RWQ4OI/AAAAAAAABkY/iiueXSHcD7Y/s400/s050.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230641628490817762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Camping and Caravanning Club site at Luss. A view of our tents from the private beach.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4xkzq5JI/AAAAAAAABkQ/oPOAg4mps9s/s1600-h/s051.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4xkzq5JI/AAAAAAAABkQ/oPOAg4mps9s/s400/s051.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230641547815085202" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loch Lomand from the Campsite.</span><br /><br />From our tents it was only a five minute walk down into town where you can have a nice pint and something to eat at the Colquhoun Arms hotel. This was a welcome break for us as it was the first pub we'd been in all holiday. Needless to say we ended up drinking too much. We chose not to eat there, instead opting for The Village Rest on somebodies recommendation. The food was good at a more than reasonable price.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4sw-08nI/AAAAAAAABkI/PHld9MTcWb0/s1600-h/s052.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4sw-08nI/AAAAAAAABkI/PHld9MTcWb0/s400/s052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230641465183761010" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Village Rest.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4oaZifZI/AAAAAAAABkA/GyYmcKARRdY/s1600-h/s053.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SJb4oaZifZI/AAAAAAAABkA/GyYmcKARRdY/s400/s053.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230641390402305426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After leaving Luss it was our intention to spend two days at Keswick in the Lake District. However, the rain was that bad we made a split second decision at a petrol station to ride all the way back home instead. And so I never did get my curry in Keswick that I'd waited all holiday for. I had one that night back at home though. And a soak in the bath. And a nice comfy bed.<br /><br />Loz is due back from Iceland on the 26th August, hopefully with lots of photos and a great story to tell.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-40332172411753832662008-07-02T20:29:00.009+01:002008-07-11T12:43:08.847+01:00Mel Galley - RIPAnd whilst <a href="http://www.planetrock.co.uk/default.asp">Planet Rock</a> played "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr3rnNJ_MCA">Crying in the Rain</a>" we wiped our eyes and raised our glasses as the Buzzards flew high and the rain poured down.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHQ_aTjXObs&hl=en"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHQ_aTjXObs&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man</span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-84296212169300951802008-06-25T06:46:00.011+01:002008-11-13T16:30:43.288+00:00The Peak District - For a ChangeWhen you're going for a bike ride to the Isle of Anglesey at 1.30pm in the afternoon it doesn't help when your fellow biking buddy doesn't turn up until 3.00pm. A brief calculation confirmed the fact that if we departed for Anglesey at 3.00 in the afternoon (more like 3.30 by the time we'd finished faffing around), not only would we be unlikely to find anything touristy open by the time we got there, we were also in danger of not making it back to The Local in time for last orders at the bar. The realisation of the latter saw us taking no chances as we headed for the High Peaks instead.<br /><br />Peak District National Park is a paradise for walkers, cyclists, hang gliders, paragliders, rock climbers, cavers and motorcyclists to name but a few. Brochures, funnily enough, never seem to mention the latter in their advertising campaigns but don't let that deter you. The Peaks have some of the best biking roads in Britain, and with 555 square miles of space there's plenty of them to choose from.<br /><br />Amongst bikers the most infamous road in the High Peak area, known as the Cat & Fiddle, links Buxton to Macclesfield. For me a far nicer and certainly safer road up in that neck of the woods is Snake Pass heading east from Glossop to Ladybower reservoir. Or the other way round obviously.<br /><br />That's where we headed for yesterday, the Snake Pass, taking in all manner of great roads, nice villages, gorgeous scenery and dodgy sandwiches out of triangulated plastic packets.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcnm-UuAI/AAAAAAAABio/DrcjLzgHmHE/s1600-h/sDSC00367.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcnm-UuAI/AAAAAAAABio/DrcjLzgHmHE/s400/sDSC00367.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692416506705922" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ashbourne - A rather attractive town at the southern end of the Peaks but suffering from a constant traffic jam. If you need to drive through the place allow several days extra for your journey. Alternatively find a secret way round like I have, but don't tell anybody...... Just like I haven't ;) </span><br /><br />Upon reaching Ladybower reservoir I thought it was my duty to pull over and get some photos for the website. This however led Matt to inform me that my photography was interfering with the bike riding. But I soon noticed this didn't stop him sprawling himself all over his bike for a photo once he knew I'd got my camera out. That's if you can call a mobile phone a camera. Incidentally, neither did it stop him getting excited at the prospect of having an action shot taken of him riding his bike. Anyway where was I? Ladybower. Below which lies the villages of Ashopton and Derwent, now only visible during droughts or with scuba equipment. Ladybower was also used by the "Dambusters" squadron of the RAF for practise with their bouncing bombs famously used on the Ruhr dams.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcn5hGz3I/AAAAAAAABiw/nG1aKqFUZZ8/s1600-h/sDSC00372.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcn5hGz3I/AAAAAAAABiw/nG1aKqFUZZ8/s400/sDSC00372.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692421484433266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ladybower Reservoir, or at least part of it. It's a bit sort of T shaped with several dams strewn along the way.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcn1WtlWI/AAAAAAAABi4/ws5vJfyVKfw/s1600-h/sDSC00371.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcn1WtlWI/AAAAAAAABi4/ws5vJfyVKfw/s400/sDSC00371.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692420367095138" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ladybower Reservoir again.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Somewhere along our travels the flowing bike ride was rudely interrupted not by photography this time but by a couple of thousand sheep wandering down the road. The highlight of this little halt in proceedings was watching a sheep trying to kick the sheepdog's ass.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcoIJ5KDI/AAAAAAAABjA/YFn-IXLmcxU/s1600-h/sDSC00370.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcoIJ5KDI/AAAAAAAABjA/YFn-IXLmcxU/s400/sDSC00370.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692425413601330" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Waiting for the sheep to kindly move out of the way.</span><br /><br />As the crow flies, three miles south west of Ladybower lies the little town of Castleton, home to some fascinating caves including Blue John, Speedwell and Peak Caverns. Running between these caves lies Winnat's Pass, one of the most stunning stretches of road in the Peaks. The following two photos don't do the place justice, nor do they show just how steep the road is. It's only when you look at the third picture of my bike precariously parked up that you get some sort of idea.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcoKW7fqI/AAAAAAAABjI/j7NUt6fn7A4/s1600-h/sDSC00377.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHcoKW7fqI/AAAAAAAABjI/j7NUt6fn7A4/s400/sDSC00377.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692426005151394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Myself and Winnie on Winnat's Pass.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHc0n_3EWI/AAAAAAAABjQ/W7os0eciFUA/s1600-h/sDSC00375.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHc0n_3EWI/AAAAAAAABjQ/W7os0eciFUA/s400/sDSC00375.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215692640119886178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt - Not complaining about photographs now!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHdKEZWedI/AAAAAAAABjY/C823GuVVxJE/s1600-h/sDSC00374.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SGHdKEZWedI/AAAAAAAABjY/C823GuVVxJE/s400/sDSC00374.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215693008520247762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It's a good job there's plenty of compression.<br /><br /></span>That's just about all the time we had for sightseeing. The rest of our five hour journey was spent enjoying the ride. It would have been nice to cover more of the area but you can't do it all in one day. And anyway, it gives us another excuse to go back, this time visiting the Goyt Valley just off the superb A5004 between Whaley Bridge and Buxton.<br /><br />Next week I'll make another attempt at getting to Anglesey.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-52740491408972610402008-06-10T09:01:00.013+01:002008-11-13T16:30:43.660+00:00We Haven't Fled the Country (Yet)In case anyone is wondering, we haven't all disappeared off the face of the planet, we've been just a little busy, that's all. I've been working pretty much seven days a week since Christmas refurbing the factory. Weekends have been the best time to be getting on with this job so any riding I've been doing has been when I take the occasional half day off work. Even then my rides have only been local travelling no further than the Peak District. Loz has been busy organising and preparing for a ride to Iceland in August (More of that later). Matt (Joey) is busy attaining his commercial helicopter pilots licence and has been snowed under with exams. Dean currently is landscaping his garden. Neil has had a career change and is concentrating on that, and finally there's Gaz who has been busy learning to skydive. At some point this year things will come together and no doubt we'll all end up catching up on lost time.<br /><br />As I mentioned earlier, Loz is starting out for Iceland on the 2nd of August. On the 8th August he'll be catching a ferry from John O'groats. Dean and I will be taking a week off work to ride up to John O'groats with him whereby we'll leave him to head northward to a chillier climate. We meanwhile will head back down the country via Edinburgh taking in the Festival and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Rock on!<br /><br />Other stuff in the news, our mate <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/R9TokItVDdI/AAAAAAAABNk/hMImx_oLlaE/s1600-h/IMG_4478.jpg">Tim</a> who recently passed his test has bought himself a Honda CBR 600 (pictured below).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SE44ijBSG7I/AAAAAAAABig/DbyxOE29EtE/s1600-h/DSC00353.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SE44ijBSG7I/AAAAAAAABig/DbyxOE29EtE/s400/DSC00353.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210163985081572274" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tim and his CBR 600</span><br /><br />Although we've all been busy, it hasn't stopped us getting up the pub for the usual rounds of silliness....... Oh no.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SE44YcfEYDI/AAAAAAAABiY/DiBB0syiNuw/s1600-h/DSC00332.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SE44YcfEYDI/AAAAAAAABiY/DiBB0syiNuw/s400/DSC00332.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210163811528761394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A somewhat spooky looking Matt (Joey)</span><br /><br />I'll leave you with three short but funny videos of <a href="http://www.petermillerphotoworld.co.uk/">Pete Miller</a> in his usual top form. I'll pre warn you that we're not all like this in Staffordshire!<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><br /></span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzP_CH83qvHTWtcSCGLga4LvLewlOSvL7YjE-UQbjAkFl815XqZdGThMMXvmksrBJiUgyjOmFunNdw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxtvFzqgllz0L8dUzOj2DPHVE5BDCxdhjsTe9X9wg_xk2sFYrgAR2OrhvU9neOLCCZnb70xwNUy6NM' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxfWEtDH5Ybo9QQ-Gmujy4uXbuTSp4vVwwGX_W0B5oXR47oRx3GurwU4TcGoU6jZtpKtuXrQgm7ZHQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-10313656225811419012008-06-02T10:10:00.002+01:002008-11-13T16:30:43.846+00:00This Month's Limited Edition T- ShirtsJangle on..... And sing your song. That's the theme for this months brilliant <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle01">limited edition T-shirts</a>. On sale until the end of June whereby another staggering design will hit Downtown Tinterweb.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SEO5SkRUl5I/AAAAAAAABiQ/f22C5O8nmpU/s1600-h/53453452.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SEO5SkRUl5I/AAAAAAAABiQ/f22C5O8nmpU/s400/53453452.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207209322795538322" border="0" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-85981981205031898582008-05-14T09:01:00.000+01:002008-11-13T16:30:44.065+00:00Snapshot from ShropshireLeaving things until the last minute and being unable to muster up a gaggle of janglers on the spur of the moment, Billy no mates here took a ride out around Shropshire last Saturday on his own. With no particular destination in mind it was nice just to amble from place to place discovering previously unvisited towns and villages. Armed with a camera I stopped off at various picturesque places to reel off a few snaps. This is probably one of the better efforts of the day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SClLP_34J2I/AAAAAAAABgs/M6zRGqJ-VEA/s1600-h/IMG_4583.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SClLP_34J2I/AAAAAAAABgs/M6zRGqJ-VEA/s400/IMG_4583.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199769982991869794" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo taken just south of Burlton on the A528 between Ellesmere and Shrewsbury.... Cracking little road for biking.</span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-91049714476018269642008-05-13T06:46:00.002+01:002008-11-13T16:30:44.496+00:00Gravel RashIf you've ever wondered what grounds out first on a Honda Blackbird whilst cranking it over, I can reliably inform you that it's the fairing. Some people might argue it's actually the hero blob on the footpeg, but mine has snapped off so in this case it doesn't count.<br /><br />I'm not sure if I should be proud of the gravel rash or not. Winnie now has battle scars, the sort of which doesn't look good when I come to sell her. I wouldn't mind but it's not exactly a fair representation of my riding because I really don't ride all that fast. However, I now join Gaz in the rather elite club of Fairing Scrapers*, no badge, no T-shirt, just a big grin.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*Achieved without the aid of crashing.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCkzxv34J0I/AAAAAAAABgc/xIWWo7fFJqc/s1600-h/DSC00307.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCkzxv34J0I/AAAAAAAABgc/xIWWo7fFJqc/s400/DSC00307.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199744174533388098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCkzx_34J1I/AAAAAAAABgk/ukH7WVmJRgI/s1600-h/DSC00304.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCkzx_34J1I/AAAAAAAABgk/ukH7WVmJRgI/s400/DSC00304.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199744178828355410" border="0" /></a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-76747050359026946312008-05-12T08:16:00.006+01:002008-11-13T16:30:44.663+00:00Our Very Own Merchandise!At long last we now have our very own range of <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle">merchandise</a>! Why, I have no idea. I can't imagine anybody wanting to walk around with Jangle Jangle blazoned across their chest. But I suppose it's no more ridiculous than having the word Bench, table or even cauliflower for that matter.<br /><br />Should you wish to take a look at our <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle">online shop</a> you can find it <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle">here</a>. You'll either be pleased to know or not give a toss that all items are at cost and we're not in it for the money. Good eh?<br /><br />Wait, there's more! We also have another online shop selling our <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle01">limited edition items</a>. Great idea, I know! <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle01">Limited edition stuff</a> is on sale until the last day of every month whereby it gets replaced with another limited edition item or two...... So long as I get round to it, obviously.<br /><br />This months limited edition product is our vandalised road sign "Bends for Smiles" T-shirt in both men's and ladies cut, and as you can appreciate, it's worn by cool folk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle01"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCgQtP34JzI/AAAAAAAABgU/JKmypB_qKjI/s400/65775757.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199424139340293938" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/janglejangle01"><br />You wanna be a cool folk?</a>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-21527637422527453162008-05-06T08:18:00.008+01:002008-11-13T16:30:46.842+00:00Moto Guzzi Club Mid-Shires Campover 2008The small village of Ashover in Derbyshire was the destination for our Saturday night campover magnificently organised by Richard Bailey and Monica Vaughan of the <a href="http://www.motoguzziclub.co.uk/">Moto Guzzi Owners Club</a>. The 50 miles or so it took to get there saw Loz, Zak, Matt, Dean and myself enjoying some wonderful roads. I must admit it was probably more enjoyable for everyone other than Loz because he had what's called terminal gearbox failure on his XT. Now this is the bike he's riding up to Iceland on in August. Of course absolutely nobody took the piss, and comments like "If I were you I'd swap it for a Honda C90 for your Icelandic adventure" were never mentioned, and the attempt to stuff his bike into a black bin liner was nothing more than an alcohol inspired figment of the imagination.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YNTdg1I/AAAAAAAABVA/3-80H35ZrO0/s1600-h/pc01.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YNTdg1I/AAAAAAAABVA/3-80H35ZrO0/s400/pc01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801442641183570" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Not quite as "brrooom brrooom" as five minutes earlier.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YdTdg2I/AAAAAAAABVI/YSbgPG9yYiQ/s1600-h/pc02.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YdTdg2I/AAAAAAAABVI/YSbgPG9yYiQ/s400/pc02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801446936150882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />With tents pitched in a farmers field and some beer drunk we wandered off down a convenient public footpath to <a href="http://www.oldpoets.co.uk/">The Old Poets' Corner</a>. Obviously we weren't exactly there for the good of our health so, and quite rightly so, took it upon ourselves to drink some more beer. The actual main purpose of heading down the pub at four O'clock in the afternoon was to listen to a couple of guest speakers. <a href="http://www.loisontheloose.com/">Lois Pryce</a> who rode a 20,000 mile journey from the top to the bottom of the Americas and more recently rode from north to south of Africa was the first speaker, with <a href="http://www.mondoenduro.com/">Austin Vince</a> being the second. Austin has twice ridden round the world.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2BdTdg4I/AAAAAAAABVY/vAtQY9I_KKE/s1600-h/DSCN0964.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2BdTdg4I/AAAAAAAABVY/vAtQY9I_KKE/s400/DSCN0964.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197494843636286338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loz's little'un </span>Za<span style="font-style: italic;">k and Lois Pryce</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YtTdg3I/AAAAAAAABVQ/ea9RFBhYucQ/s1600-h/pc03.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_YtTdg3I/AAAAAAAABVQ/ea9RFBhYucQ/s400/pc03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801451231118194" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Old Poets' Corner.</span><br /><br />Two hours later, chit chat and heckling over with, it was back to the tents for some culinary delights mustered up on the camping stoves.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_K9TdgwI/AAAAAAAABUY/LY1-ZlYeyaw/s1600-h/pc04.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_K9TdgwI/AAAAAAAABUY/LY1-ZlYeyaw/s400/pc04.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801215007916802" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt (Joey), Loz and Zak (The future of biking)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LNTdgxI/AAAAAAAABUg/QYkVvkUBIS4/s1600-h/pc05.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LNTdgxI/AAAAAAAABUg/QYkVvkUBIS4/s400/pc05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801219302884114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Now then, tough man Dean (He's only tough because he can eat Dynamite Hot Stag Chilli) has a Thomas The Tank Engine Plate!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LNTdgyI/AAAAAAAABUo/1GTVVLhv6n4/s1600-h/pc06.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LNTdgyI/AAAAAAAABUo/1GTVVLhv6n4/s400/pc06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801219302884130" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Matt (Joey) is on a plate full of chicken curry.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LdTdgzI/AAAAAAAABUw/sVC8xpQn5WM/s1600-h/pc07.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LdTdgzI/AAAAAAAABUw/sVC8xpQn5WM/s400/pc07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801223597851442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I got a bit more adventurous with sirloin steak marinated in garlic and mustard with a red wine sauce accompanied by sautéed potatoes and mushrooms all wash down with beer and a little red wine. Keith Floyd would be impressed.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LdTdg0I/AAAAAAAABU4/dLqZnL0vtBY/s1600-h/pc08.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6_LdTdg0I/AAAAAAAABU4/dLqZnL0vtBY/s400/pc08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196801223597851458" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The usual round of sillyness.</span><br /><br />By 9 O'clock we were back in the Old Poets' to witness some absolutely fantastic music by Crossroads Unplugged. The bass player and singer (below) also happens to be the pub Landlord. The set started off with Eric Clapton's awesome <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnn1dDVmZyQ">Cocaine</a> and ended with the mighty <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DXCHa9BYfE">Wish You Were Here</a> by Pink Floyd. Everything in between is a bit of a blur and it's only now I realise I should have taken more video footage for memory jogging purposes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6-XtTdgqI/AAAAAAAABTo/itWHb5cKeDE/s1600-h/pc09.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6-XtTdgqI/AAAAAAAABTo/itWHb5cKeDE/s400/pc09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196800334539621026" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Bass player, singer and pub gaffer.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2BtTdg5I/AAAAAAAABVg/kOH0JejsURY/s1600-h/DSCN0976.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2BtTdg5I/AAAAAAAABVg/kOH0JejsURY/s400/DSCN0976.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197494847931253650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6-NdTdgpI/AAAAAAAABTg/0jeiwxTv9eI/s1600-h/pc10.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB6-NdTdgpI/AAAAAAAABTg/0jeiwxTv9eI/s400/pc10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196800158445961874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now this guy here on the left of the above picture, who later remarked to me that his legs no longer worked due to excessive beer consumption (And I could clearly see he wasn't making this up) was part of the Moto Guzzi Owners Club. He managed to get himself on stage as it were to play the blues harp with the band. All credit to the guy, he was fantastic. Shortly after this obvious turning point in the evening, drunken crowd enthusiasm saw people elevating themselves to higher levels by dancing on tables and chairs. There was singing (to a fashion), air guitar, ball guitar (see video below), air drums, air harmonica, air tambourines and jiggly titties. Oh yes it was all going on.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy882GMKJLzdkkAEPlE6eWJ60sNQSw739aKrkCsVFDKgTYnCjbuHOzz-ncBTjsTCwBJA1eCJwDRoEw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2B9Tdg6I/AAAAAAAABVo/KRvmJL6aPVA/s1600-h/DSCN0979.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SCE2B9Tdg6I/AAAAAAAABVo/KRvmJL6aPVA/s400/DSCN0979.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197494852226220962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Top left in picture; Richard, rally organiser. Bottom left and right of picture: Relatives?</span><br /><br />By about 12.30 we were back at the tents, taking time out to record a crap and quite frankly pointless movie (see below) before heading off to mingle with fellow bikers.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw4DjaaPPiSE0-Ozieo1FpoieuMagKddXE4fpaLMaWNqxL4kGa9Kfnkh7XPOh3Jr3dF1m6K6u1fwuQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">* Warning: Not suitable for minors or those of a prudish disposition due to the use of naughty words such as f*&% and to&*%r *</span></span><br /><br />After not going to bed until about half two, Sunday morning left us feeling somewhat woolly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB68xdTdgoI/AAAAAAAABTY/DMNYvr2xGdY/s1600-h/pc11.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1FQbG1M4OTI/SB68xdTdgoI/AAAAAAAABTY/DMNYvr2xGdY/s400/pc11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196798577897996930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />At least the weather remained dry for us. that was until we left the campsite to ride home where upon the heavens opened and stayed open for the entire journey home. We left Loz and Zak behind whilst they waited for our mate to turn up with a car and trailer to transport the trusty old XT back home.<br /><br />The rally was a great little event. I think there was a maximum of 60 people due to the size of the function room for the guest speakers. All in all a thoroughly pleasant little jangle.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19655314.post-63578451200812133432008-04-25T06:30:00.004+01:002008-04-25T06:41:26.184+01:00Hurrah For MarkWell there we have it, our new logo. I'd love to take credit for it but that has to go to matey Mark Galley who very kindly took some time out to design it.<br /><br />Cheers pal.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03044272473407478808noreply@blogger.com7