Due to the lightweight LOFO interest in a proper bike ride, it was left to my pal Vern to accompany me on my almost annual day trip to Cornwall. The Fazer got left at home to save the tyres for my French trip next month. Vern's off to the Picos next week, so his newly shod Verys 1000 stayed in the garage too, making it a Triumph day out for us both.
We hit the A3 at 7am knowing that this was the boring bit until we got to the A30 at Popham. Then it was the Roman road roller coaster down to Stockbridge and over the river Test. Early in the morning is the best time to do this road, and it came up trumps again.
The Haven cafe opens at 8, and a few bikes were already there as we rolled in, 20 minutes after opening. After chowing down our healthy options it was back on the road, but almost immediately encountered a heavy mist which plagued us on and off almost to Honiton. A fuel stop at Chard and a drink stop at Honiton saw us skirting Exeter, then it was B roads up on to Dartmoor, stopping to take a few pics before pressing on to Tavistock and over the river Tamar into Cornwall. Our destination was the Tamar Inn on the banks of the river, so by 1pm we were in to a well deserved pint and a chillax.
I was envious of the majority of pub goers in shorts and flip flops, whilst we hid iin the shade in leathers. Lunch came and went and before long a few hours had slid by, and it was time to saddle up and do it all again. Missing out Dartmoor we A30'd it round to Exeter, followed by five minutes on the M5 before we were back on largely empty A roads. Chard was our return trip fuel and drink stop, then cracked on dispensing with Shaftesbury and Salisbury before our last drink stop at Popham services. I miss the Little Chef chain where at least you could sit down with a cold drink when on the road, rather than sat on a kerb on a garage forecourt.
At this point I usually carry on the A30 to Camberley, but could not face the slow progress around Basingstoke in the heat, so took a gamble and sat on the M3 for 4 junctions which worked out ok. The sun seemed to drop quite quickly, forcing a roadside stop at Guildford to change my visor, then 40 minutes later, the ignition key got turned off for the last time that day. A glance at the trip meter, 471 miles. Other than the morning mist episode it had been a perfect day and my 25 year old Speed Triple sat there ticking, as if in agreement.