Have been keeping an eye on the weather for the northern section of Scotland, above Inverness, for the last week, and it's quite good, or dry at least. After a rushed couple of days getting stuff together, I set off this morning at 4am, taking an hour to get to the A1, catching almost every red traffic light. Good job I put the liner back in my jacket, shame I hadn't included my heated glove wiring, as it was quite cold.
It soon became apparent that most of the roadside caffs that I used to use, are now gone, so it's Costa,KFC,Burger King etc, or nothing. With just under 170 miles on the trip I had to settle for a toasted sandwich and coffee, surrounded by a coachload of screaming kids.
With me and the bike fuelled up, the day took on a rosier glow, and was soon past Scotch Corner preparing to take the A68 via Jedburgh to Edinburgh. What a hoot this road turned out to be. It was a 40 odd mile long roller coaster. Petrol became an issue, and although there's a "last English caff", there's not a "last English petrol station". I rolled into the Jedburgh Shell station with 193.8 on the trip. Gassed up, I headed for South Queensgate to get some pics of the bridges, then on to Stirling to pick up the A811 which took me to the southern end of Loch Lomond and my campsite for the night. No pub unfortunately, or rather, can't be arsed with the long walk to the village pub. Will no doubt sleep well tonight without the aid of a few beers. Found the campsite first time, well almost, as blasted past the access road due to poor signage
. Got checked in and the tent up by around 3.30pm, with 477 miles on the trip. I've earned a pint and can't get one.