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You're putting how much luggage on that poor little C90??? |
Day one was as incident packed to a degree I hope we don’t see
for the rest of this trip. I was up at about 6.30am and with most of the
packing done and dusted had a leisurely breakfast whilst being amazed that the
forecast of bad weather had been completely wrong… Now there’s a surprise. Andy
from AP Motorcycles in Carmarthen, past Scoots participant and very good
friend, having rescued me by sorting my broken exhaust stud yesterday had said
he would run me and the Scoot down to meet with the guys at Chieveley Services,
a run of about 150 miles. In view of the forecast I had readily agreed as I
though it would save me a soaking. However with clear skies and a mild
temperature, 8am, the arranged collection time came and went with no sign of
Andy! As always at the start of a trip I was already stressing about… well
about everything really! At 10 past the hour I phoned Andy’s workshop and spoke
to his father who told me Andy had left well over half and hour previous and
should be with me any minute. I waited with rising blood pressure for another
10 minutes and decided I simply couldn’t afford to wait any longer. So bags
were strapped to the bike, kit donned and off I set to refuel at my local
garage hoping that I might meet Andy along the way… Lo and behold just as I
approached the fuel stop along he came. He’d been caught behind just about every
tractor in Carmarthenshire it seems. Swinging onto the forecourt, the Scoot was
quickly loaded and strapped down on the back of his pickup truck and off we
went to Chieveley to meet up with 5 riders heading down from up North.
We made good time through the A40 and M4 arriving at just
after 11.30; we had arranged to meet at about 12, so time for a coffee and
pasty before the others turned up. It was really nice to have Andy and Mike
there to see us off as otherwise it would have been a bit of a solitary departure
for me from Pumpsaint and I was really chuffed that Andy offered his services
so willingly. I’m also hoping he will be on the next Scoots trip in 2015…
Once the others arrived it was clear that we already had something
of a problem, with Peter’s bike using a lot of fuel and generally
underperforming. Something which it seems had been the case ever since he left
Edinburgh and something that should have been sorted weeks ago. Although to be
fair to Peter the “fettling” of his bike had been done by a third party who
assured him that all was well and ready to go! I guess the moral of the story
is that if the “fettler” is of unknown provenance make sure you also check it
yourself….
Coffees downed we set of for Portsmouth with Joe leading
down the A34 which was very busy, then onto M3 and M27. As we approached
Portsmouth Peter stopped on a slip road to refuel, not really a good idea and
in view of how close we were to the ferry not really necessary either.
However a litre of fuel tipped into the
tank and off we went once more. Approaching the junction for the ferry
terminal, I overtook the group and led them into a service station to top up
our tanks so as to minimise time lost on disembarkation at Santander…. Peter’s
bike never ran again. In spite of riding it into the station by the time he had
come out from paying for the fuel, his engine had seized solid!!!
We managed to locate another engine only about a mile from
the port, but with only 25 minutes left before we really had to board there was
simply not enough time to remove the new engine from it’s frame and to remove
Peter’s engine as an exchange unit… One would have just about been possible two,
just a little too much of an ask. So the bike was abandoned to Chas, Jill’s
other half, to take away on the trailer he had fortuitously brought along and
Peter boarded the ship on the back of Joe’s bike… with the plan being to travel
with Jon in the Pajaero until we could source another suitable machine,
possibly in Madrid.
Our evening on board passed pleasantly enough, being only
slightly marred by an inferior and vastly overpriced meal in the A La Carte
restaurant… Shan’t be doing that one again. A couple of beers and off for an
early night. Oh well! Best laid plans and all that… I then get a text from a
friend saying that she has collapsed and was laying on the floor of her flat, cold,
hurt and very scared, to say nothing of being very confused. After about an
hour of garbles texts I bit the bullet and made a phone call that sent an
ambulance rushing to the rescue…. I didn’t expect (or get !!!) any thanks for
it, but what else was I to do from the middle of the Bay of Biscay for someone
who could easily have had or been having a stroke ???
Anyway, alls well that ends well and it appears that she has
sustained nothing worse that a bit of concussion, a very large bruise and a headache.
Why did I get the text for help ? Not a clue, but glad I was able to sort a things
little for her. So after a couple of large Whiskies I finally made it to my bed
at about 1.45am…. and slept like a log right through until nearly 8; that must
be something of a record for me!
Today, as always is passing rather slowly, the team has yet
to meld properly which wont start to happen I think until we get to the camp
site at Chefchaouen ,although the visa and bike search in Madrid may expedite
it a little. Tonight, against mt better judgement, we head for a rather
expensive hotel ( our one and only! ) known and chosen by the two Andy’s; so I just
hope it’s a good one! It’s about 50 mile from Santander so should be a fairly
easy ride assuming that nothing else bites us. With another 4 hours of
purgatory on board the ship left I think I’ll lay my grumpy head down for a
snooze……
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