Campbeltown Run

Off work this week and due to poor weather I've not done any outside activities apart from walking the dog.
I therefore decided to take the new bike on a decent run (as long as the weather wasn't too bad)

Decided on Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre as I've never been there before, only been as far as Inverary before,

After much hassle getting ready (lost bank card so had to search house and car, all jackets, trouser pockets and washing machine. with no luck had to withdraw cash from branch and cancel old card and order new card).

Eventually left home at 12:00, the run to Campeltown runs past Loch Lomond which has a heavy Traffic police presence so really held back on the throttle and just enjoyed the views of the surrounding mountains. as i reached the head of the loch the rain came down, the light drizzly stuff that obscures the visor and slowly gets you wet.

The next point of interest was the stretch of road known as the "Rest and be Thankful" (original road built in the 1700's by the english to assist movement of troops to quell the Jacobite rebellion) this road is biker heaven long straight stretches with clearly visible bends but again heavily policed

Photo taken at the vantage point Known as the "Rest and be Thankful"


Onwards to Inverary, Photo taken as you approach. Stopped here for food (steak pie and chips) town is busy with tourists and remnants of a festival that was held here in the last few days

As I left Inverary the rain started again and from here onwards it is all new territory for me so for these two reasons I just trundled along with the traffic.

Plenty of roadworks slowing progress today. The next point of note is the small town of Lochgilphead as you leave the town you have a roundabout were you could head north to Oban or south to Campbeltown, this also were the Crinan canal comes to its easterly end. One of the problems with motorcycling in the highlands is "petrol stations" they are few and far between so its worthwhile keeping the tank topped up. As I enter Tarbert the petrol gauge is showing that I have maybe another 40 miles before I run out so as I've not seen a petrol station since before Loch lomond its time to play it safe and top-up, its one of those old style filling stations were the guy comes out and operates the pump (and so he should the price of fuel here is ott 99.9p per litre)

The sun has come out as I leave Tarbert and the road takes a turn and runs down the west coast this is good biking territory long stretches of road were all the bends are easy to see and barely a car on the road, Theres a few small villages and I pass a couple of rural schools that are just closing for the week plenty of warning signs flashing to inform you to slow down "twenty's plenty". the scenery is good with the sea view to the west and green hills to the east with a bit of woodland here and there.

Campeltown. small town with a sheltered harbour, theres a tourist information centre a few cafes and pub's and probably enough shops to keep the locals supplied with whatever they need. the town is bigger than I thought it would be.

The journey took just over 4 hours and after spending twenty minutes wandering about I decided to head home, which took just under 4 hours (quieter roads and less stops).

This has been the first distance run I've undertaken on a motorbike for a longtime and I found that I was getting sore, distance was around the 300 miles round trip, funny that as the crow flies its probably only 40 miles.

All in all its been a good day and I've notched off another place that I've not been before, and yes I would go again.

Urban Tiger

I have been looking for one of these for such a long loooong-time, its been hard to find a clean and low mileage one. eventually spotted one on the autotrader website phoned guy up and I and my mate Wullie travelled 300 miles to purchase.





Some info on this bike


Honda FireBlade RR-S. this is a 1995 model on an M registration

bike has came bog standard apart from a grab-rail and a alarm/immobiliser

weight - 185kg
power - 120bhp
top speed - 160+
0-60 - quick
mpg - FireBlades are reputed to be one of the most economical sportsbikes around the 40 mpg

This particular model (urban tiger) is generally classed as "the Fireblade"
with the best paint job to ever come out of Japan

Although this bike is 12 years old now, there are many newer bikes that are faster and better handling but to me and many others this bike will be more than enough for fast road use, touring, weekends away and just generally jumping around.

Update

Quicky update before I head off to work.

May 28th got taken on by my employer fulltime. Yipee!!!! better than I could have hoped the position I was given was more than a 50% increase in wages Yipee x 2. Part of the increase is due to a continental shift pattern.

With a bit of regret I have gave up on the Kleeneze opertunity, i still believe its a valid method (network marketing) for the common man to increase not only his wealth but also makes him aware of a lot of disciplines such as self-motivation, goal setting, and probably most important an understanding of his fellow man.

Actively putting an end to this part of my life was hard, but striking a balance between work, free-time and income enables me to enjoy my free-time without the added stress of my Kleeneze commitments.

click here ---- > Singing Dog

Floyd just loves to sing along to music

Old photo

This is the view from the beach-park about a mile from were I live, I try to make the effort to come down here with my dog as often as possible which is usually once or twice a week during the winter but almost every day during the summer.

Day Off

Sunday, should have been working today but I allways try to take my sundays off.

Got a few things to do today and usually write down a To Do list. Here is todays list

• Make up catalogues (I will explain in a dedicated post at a later date)
• Deliver catalogues
• Sort order
• Deliver priorities

• Go to Gym
• Walk dog x 3 (if time permits i will take him a longer walk down the beach later in the day)
• General house work, hoover, dishes, wash clothes and general tidy up (the house gets a bit cluttered during my days on so first day off i tend to basically clear the clutter.
• Contact one of my freinds who also has a dog to see if he wants to head to beach or such like, also maybe go for a bar lunch later today.

• actually off work for 3 days Sun, Mon and Tue, so weather dependant I may do some work in the garden on Monday or Tuesday

As you see although its days off but there's plenty to do and I can never utter the statement "im bored".

Putting batteries on charge for digi camera and will take a few snaps today for purpose of the blog

Quick Time

Alarm went off at 4:40, had to smack the snooze button, it's unnatural to awake at that time without a fight, managed to rise at next alarm but meant breakfast/walk dog/ get food ready for work and also take dog to my unpaid dog sitter, my mother, serves a few purposes 1. it gets her out and about and getting some exercise 2. i get to check on her every work day to make sure shes allright 3. it gets the dog out instead of being stuck in the house for 12 hours...........woooow slow down back to main point, all this running about makes for a late start for work, yea also forgot had to get petrol which pushed me into "im late zone" but i try not to let it faze me.

Running late, personally it does'nt really trouble me, I look at the facts that i have lots of interests and find that the 24 hours standard issue is not sufficient for my daily needs the only issue is the problem others have with my lateness (poor sods).

Intro

Male, 43 years old, single, normal (in my opinion). Started a blog to see what its all about. As the title suggests im aware that the clock is ticking, and i value every minute. This is a spur of the moment sign-up, so must dash sleep to get, ready for early rise for work in the morning....................

....to be continued