(Sunday) It's always difficult trying to arrange a date for a day out that suits all involved. I usually do my day trip to Cornwall later in August, but the 14th was the best date for everyone, despite the forecast being exceedingly hot.
I'd liked to have left at 06:30, but my pal who now owns my old Fireblade, was coming from Essex, so made the departure time 7am.
Soon we were making good progress on familiar B roads, taking advantage of the cool air in the wooded sections. Making good time to pick up the A272 at Cowfold, it was now head down on this well known route, past Loomies and on to the A31. After skirting Winchester we were now on the A30 and heading for breakfast at what was The Haven. This once excellent cafe has been renamed Thyme and Tides. The food on offer was ok, but rather limited and expensive for what it was. I knew roughly what to expect but couldn't find an alternative cafe in the area.
After 50 minutes we were back in the saddle, and west bound as far as the A30 would take us. However after ripping through the bends at Henstridge, we were faced with a detour around Sherbourne of epic proportions, that used up a fair bit of our valuable time. Rather than eat at the pub in Cornwall as we usually do, we opted for a very nice brunch at Moretonhampstead, in a cafe I've used before, slap bang in the middle of Dartmoor. We then pressed on to Tavistock, across the river Tamar and on to the pub.
Bitter shandies all round were very well received, opting to sit inside which was much cooler. We got a bit too comfortable listening to the afternoons live music, leaving for home about an hour later than planned. Fortunately we had gassed up before the pub, so the first stop after the Sherbourne diversion was to change to a clear visor as the light was fading fast. A petrol, coffee, chocolate bar stop just before Salisbury, got us all home, with the Fazer clocking 510 miles for its days work. However, my old Blade took the furthest travelled award, with 550 on the trip meter. All in all, a good day out.