Hello again, Nice of you to visit, Its time for another exciting chapter in the ongoing intrepid adventures of the 49 'ers.

If at any time you feel nauseous  at the crap you are about to witness on these pages, please  try to contain yourself , or feel free to be sick, as sick as you like I suppose, you get to clean it up!!

The adventure started many months ago, Mike  just happened to mention that he had been on a ride out to the Isle of Skye, and that although the scenery on the trip was breath taking, the roads were pure "PORNOGRAPHY" for bikers. We now know what he means and what he's at when he disappears into the lavvy with a copy of Motorcycle news!!!!    Believe me!   he's 110 percent correct. If roads were graded in grin factors, the road up to Portree  ( and back again) has the most smiles per mile I've ever been on.  Wet or dry the road surface sticks itself to your tyres (as they say at Cherry Valley "it adheres like excrement to a  bedspread".)

This run I would highly recommend to anyone, Skye is really worth a visit..

The trip was arranged for the start of September, and after a few had to drop out, we numbered eight in all.   Syd, Amanda, Tommy, Bruce , Mike C, Mike L, Dave, and Myself ..... ...............So!   to cut a long story short,,  we all arrived at Belfast's' Stenna terminal about four o'clock, the weather was exceptional, well exceptionally wet may have been a better description of it.

Mike C. got the tickets checked through and after a short wait in the terminal building, we boarded the awesome looking HSS for a super speedy and flat calm crossing into Stranraer.                                                                                      

Click on the photographs for the bigger picture

                     Syd and Dave ( are you married) relaxing during the crossing into Stranraer .   Then it was wet gear on, and down to the car deck to un-strap our bikes ready to hit the road as soon as the sea doors were opened.

What a wet night! It was pitch black by eight o'clock and the rain was torrential.

Off we went, out past Cairnryan, through Girvan and on into Ayr and Troon, making good time too. but man was it wet .Visibility was  badly down ,and every time a car approached from the opposite direction we were blinded...   So discretion being the better part of valour we all agreed it was foolhardy to go any farther.  After making a few detours, we booked into the Carlton hotel in Prestwick. What a stroke of luck it was too, the Carlton is a very nice hotel, cheap as chips ( about 22 pounds for B and B) friendlier staff you couldn't ask for, and they run a residents bar after closing time , for as long as you want to drink. (we  kept the porter busy until about 2 am.)  then it was time for Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Next day was Saturday, and after a helluva breakfast we hit the road.. At last the rain had stopped.. Pictured talking to Amanda is Heather one of the people who made our stay at the Carlton Hotel a very pleasant one.

p.s.   did you notice how clean the machinery is, strange after all that rain and muck the night before,   Well its  thanks to Heather who supplied the water and bucket, and to Tommy who got up early and gave the bikes a quick once over!

So off we went, circled Prestwick a few times, then it was off towards Glasgow where we just happened to be passing Bike source on the Great Western Road, called in for a look around, some nice gear at no bad prices too, again the Scottish hospitality was very much in evidence, the young lady who was running the shop insisted on putting the coffee pot on, so needless to say we had a cup.(49'ers never turning down a free drink.)

Half an hour later than planned we got through the Glasgow traffic ( made worse by a car accident ) and out into the countryside through Dumbarton to Loch Lomond  and its associated towns of Luss and Tarbet.

 Doing a bit of roadside maintenance, Syds chain was a bit dry, often challenged never beaten, Amanda just happens to have a drop of chain grease in her handbag???( well it was really lip gloss, but it freed up the chain a treat until we got some oil )

On the road again, the next stop was to be  at a Little Chef  near Tyndrum just down the road from the popular biker stop The Green Welly. Time was getting on and we still had a lot of miles to cover.. Fort William was the next petrol stop. Pressing on, the roads were just getting better and better, until at last (about five p.m.)we arrived at  Kyle of Lochalsh    paid our toll (it was much cheaper to buy a book of 20 tickets for the bridge than to pay individually). and crossed over the Skye bridge.  It really was over the sea to Skye even if it was over by toll bridge..

Sorry to keep harping on about it,,,,  but the next thirty odd miles up into Portree is one of the best stretches of road I've ever had the pleasure to ride....The sheer ruggedness of the scenery is beaten only by the tight  bends and long straights on which I left most of my back tyre tread..  If you haven't been there yet ,you should.

        Accommodation in Portree is plentiful, should you be looking cheap and cheerful, back packer hostels are available at about 10 pounds per night.

Or if you have a few bob more to spend, 40 pounds will get you a room at the Portree Hotel..

We opted for more  middle of the road accommodation, the Tongavale hotel in Portree were able to put us all up for 27 pounds fifty per head including a fine breakfast... ( no late bar though,   not that it was a problem in Portree with so many bars and hotels to choose from, getting a drink and finding some entertainment was easy enough.

Tommy Bruce and Syd chatting up one of the  local Scottish girls,( she's a bit hairy but a nice enough lassie in her tartan dress )!!!!!!!  Seriously though this guy in the tartan kilt was playing in the Royal,  we had quite a sing along going.. he even sang I wish I was in Carrickfergus,,, do you think he was trying to tell us something?

The picture above was taken in the Tongavale hotel lounge, the bloke Tam sitting beside Tommy, was a biker he'd met at the Ulster Grand Prix... he told Tommy to give him a call if he was ever over in Skye, which he did of course..  Tam drove about 30 miles on his bike to meet us, had a few beers with us (he'd had a few before he came too) and left  for the ride home after midnight..  he'd told the wife he was popping out for a loaf.  We all hit the sack  about 1:30am..Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Early Sunday morning looking out over Portree harbour,,,

Then it was back to the hotel for breakfast, bags packed and over to the Police station to collect the bikes, which the local police had kindly impounded for us.......but that's another story.......!