We awoke early after probably the best night’s sleep of the trip. The pressures of time deadlines, bike reliability and navigation were mostly over, but we were aware things could still go wrong on the journey home and so mustn’t be complacent.
Quietly leaving without disturbing Elysha and her family, we filled up at Moffat’s independent fuel station which supports the mountain rescue team. Turning Southbound onto the M74 we endured possibly the heaviest rain of the trip so far before leaving the motorway at Gretna to follow a more motorcycle friendly route home through the Pennines.
The weather improved as we crossed the border back into England and the roads dried too. Now we could just be ‘Sunday bikers’ and as such, started to look for a breakfast stop. We were in the region where I’d competed in January’s Montane Spine MRT Challenger North race, and it was sparking flashbacks! For an account of the experience please click the link.
As we passed through the tiny village of Slaggyford, I remembered friends who lived there and gave them a call. Ray, Viv and one of their collies Meg were waiting at the roadside outside their house and we enjoyed ten minutes of their company. They’d both come out to support me on the Challenger in different locations – Ray was a welcome sight indeed at an all-time low point at seven in the morning.
Viv reminded me of a biker’s favourite café known as The Nook just down the road near Alston and we had a big feed there that we knew would last the day. Leaving LWR cards with several of the motorcyclists there, we enjoyed miles of fast and twisty roads through to the busy market town of Barnard Castle just North of the A66.
We were now in the vicinity of Brough and Kirkby Stephen and the roads were full of motorbikes, most riding just briskly like us, but a few taking diabolical risks. Four large capacity machines came howling up behind me just as we approached a beauty spot where fifty or sixty cars were parked and people were crossing the road. Passing me and the car in front at probably eighty mph plus, they scattered pedestrians and were incredibly lucky not to have clipped a car pulling out.
Because of this behaviour, we decided to use a couple of little-known roads over the tops to Swaledale and then rode the spectacular Buttertubs Pass up and over to Hawes. Between Ribblehead and Horton in Ribblesdale, the road was closed by an accident so we short cutted around through the pretty village of Clapham. At Settle we fuelled up again and sat out in the sun with a brew while phoning our Team Leader with an ETA back at OMRT’s Greenfield base.
Making the most of the last twisty bits of the trip, we eventually joined the motorway network at Burnley and in deteriorating weather settled down for the last miles home.
Coming over the tops from Newhey, we crested the hill to look down on Saddleworth in all its glory. Scotland has been spectacular, but home is where the heart is and both Andy and I were looking forward to seeing our families and friends. My collie Gyp suffered a stroke while I was away and together with the sad news about Lizzie’s Mum, I felt I needed to be back in Marsden as soon as possible.
Before that though, there was the matter of completing the trip properly by finishing back at our Boarshurst base. As we rolled through the gates, we could see a reception committee of members accompanied by our Team Leader Dave, who’d all given up their Sunday afternoon to welcome us back.
The first thing Andy and I did was shake each other’s hands and then go for a massive bear hug which isn’t usually Andy’s thing at all! Throughout the trip we’d not had a single crossed word or disagreement, and I’d thoroughly enjoyed his dry humour and capable company.
After a quota of photos and congratulations, we swung legs over bikes for the last time on the Long Way Roond and headed home…