The weather yesterday throughout the south was outstanding. I certainly picked a good day for my usual day trip to Cornwall. At exactly 07:10 my Versys 1000 mounted pal and I rolled out of the Shell garage in South Godstone, tanks brimmed with 99 octane. The planned route was a quick cross country dash from Surrey to Sussex, to pick up the A272 at Cowfold. The section of this road either side of Loomies has been spoilt with the addition of average speed cameras. Not a problem if you've time on your hands, but with a full days riding ahead, valuable time was lost. Will stick to the A30 next time. After skirting Winchester, we picked up the A30 just before Stockbridge, where the River Test flows under the high street. Quite often the trout can be seen competing with the ducks for bread thrown in by the tourists, but today, no action, all was quiet.
Salisbury and Shaftesbury came and went, before stopping at Chard for petrol. A quick cuppa from a roadside food van, then after skirting Exeter we were Dartmoor bound, stopping for a late breakfast at Moretonhampstead. An hour later two pints of Tribute were being poured in the Tamar Inn, on the riverbank just in to Cornwall.
A 90 minute chill out was soon over and it was time to mount up and head for home. Because we were about an hour behind the normal schedule I had to miss out a return via Dartmoor, and opted for the A30 back to Honiton, and on to Chard for our last petrol stop. Possibly because we were later than usual, the road seemed totally empty at times, allowing for a good pace to be maintained. A visor change and coffee stop at Popham coincided with a route change for the final leg of the trip. I had planned to stay with the A30 to Camberly, but Basingstoke can take an age to get through, so opted for a quick blast up the M3 to junction 5, and was home in an hour and a quarter. The trip meter showed 486.4 of our lovely English miles........apart from the potholes, speed bumps, average speed cameras, normal cameras, traffic police, newly added double white lines, and anything else you can think of?
Salisbury and Shaftesbury came and went, before stopping at Chard for petrol. A quick cuppa from a roadside food van, then after skirting Exeter we were Dartmoor bound, stopping for a late breakfast at Moretonhampstead. An hour later two pints of Tribute were being poured in the Tamar Inn, on the riverbank just in to Cornwall.
A 90 minute chill out was soon over and it was time to mount up and head for home. Because we were about an hour behind the normal schedule I had to miss out a return via Dartmoor, and opted for the A30 back to Honiton, and on to Chard for our last petrol stop. Possibly because we were later than usual, the road seemed totally empty at times, allowing for a good pace to be maintained. A visor change and coffee stop at Popham coincided with a route change for the final leg of the trip. I had planned to stay with the A30 to Camberly, but Basingstoke can take an age to get through, so opted for a quick blast up the M3 to junction 5, and was home in an hour and a quarter. The trip meter showed 486.4 of our lovely English miles........apart from the potholes, speed bumps, average speed cameras, normal cameras, traffic police, newly added double white lines, and anything else you can think of?
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.