19th March 2022 - Flying Scot Continental Tandem ride - Forsinard - Strathnaver.

 

We had great weather up here for a change and while it was fairly breezy over the weekend the sunshine tended to make up for it.
Caleb and I managed a couple of rides this weekend. As well as the previously posted Sunday ride in Thurso we also managed out for this one on Saturday. 
First up was on Saturday afternoon when we managed to get out for a ride down to Forsinard on the Flying Scot tandem. We drove out to near Strathy and then rode south off of the main road. We did about 25 mile all in riding from just in on the Strathy road, down to the tower at Forsinard and then back up the valley. Caleb did really fantastic as this was by far the furthest he had been and we were also pushing into the mother of all headwinds on the way down. We did manage a very fast run back up the valley which he was so excited about. We stopped at the tower for snacks we had brought with us and fuelled further with Wine Gums for the run back. despite the wind he loved it and now just wants to go further and further afield which is great. He keeps asking to go back to Orkney for the weekend with him on his small tourer and me on the cargo but now he wants to go on the tandem, fully loaded. So all good. 

Jamie

20th March 2022 - Thurso Community Development Trust ride - Thurso Get together!

 Thurso Community Development Trust ride 

Sunday was a new local get together put on by the Thurso Community Development Trust who run several rides as well as a bike bank and help with Cargo bikes locally. They do a lot of work with cycling and helping families get into cycling. Delivering meals etc by Cargo bike is one of their aims as well. 

This one was for the children as well and with a lead tour of Thurso part of the afternoon there were many little ones enjoying having local traffic watching out for them. It was nice to see some familiar faces and also very nice to meet some new ones as well. 

Jamie 

6th March 2022 - Mercian King of Mercia - Loch More loop

 Had a lovely afternoon out and about on the gravel out in the flow country around Loch More and to the west towards Altnabreac. Roads were pretty good and while there was a strong westerly wind at times, it was such a nice sunny day for a change.

This KOM handles this type of rough roads even nicer than my other KOM with the road geo and that was really nice on the dirt. It is to do with maybe fitting that little bit better but must in large be down to the more stable angled geometry. Slightly wider and higher volume tyres on this one, Rivendell/Planet X, Roly Polys in 30mm by Panaracer. The tyres worked well on all surfaces, which range from hard blue metal in the dirt which requires riding the edge of the road where the occasional car flattens it all out through to a sort of slick clay which is very fast and grippy when ridden near the edge then an orange sand type clay mix along with hard packed dirt embedded with big rocks, with all of these being well potholed. It's all relative to being ridden sensibly I must add as I was motoring along but I wasn't racing Strade Bianchi.
The SKS mudguards worked well as when I got home I barely had any mud/dirt on the underside as well.
So a really nice afternoons riding in some nice weather! Long may it continue.

Jamie

27th February 2022 - Non acoustic bike joins the stable - Royal Enfield 500 Classic

 Well a non bicycle weekend this time.

Well a few people know I have had my BMW motorbike for sale for a short while as had been looking at getting something a bit lighter and smaller as my days of doing distance touring regularly are gone. I had been looking for a Royal Enfield 500 Classic for a while but since stopping production they are harder and harder to find. Well I found one not too far away for a very good price and went and rode it, loved it, bought it, yesterday. 700 miles only, as new.

Thanks to my lovely wife for helping me with this.

Not to worry, while I will put up the odd post about the motorcycle it will still primarily be about my bicycles ;)

Jamie

13th February 2022 - Loch Meig ride - King of Mercia - with Brian

 Out today with Brian making the most of the calm weather after weeks of storms, rain and snow showers.

We spent the afternoon out through the quiet backroads and some dirt trails around Meig Dam up here in the Highlands.
Roads were still a bit damp and the dirt a boggy and slippery in places but great to be out after a very quiet fortnight.
The King of Mercia was its usual well behaved and very capable self. The roads were pretty good really with some rough patches, the usual gravel but not as potholed as the busier roads have become. Still lots of debris on the road from all the storms but overall still nice riding.
We explored a few of the trails as much as we could but most were still quite wet once you got well into them.
Thankfully Brian had brought his Thermos with coffee which was very welcome as the temp must have been only a few degrees at most but dropped rapidly as the afternoon wore on.
Another nice afternoons riding.

Jamie

30th January 2022 - Local ride - Mercian King of Mercia Tourer

 A couple of photos from yesterdays ride out once again on the Mercian.

After the storms of the last few days and then pulling out of the Highland group ride with Brian down on the Black Isle due to weather, I thought I should make the most of the small window of calm, non raining weather on Sunday.
I had intended to stick to the backroads and head south west before looping home to the west, but the forecast rain showers turning to heavy rain were closing in from the distance so I actually did a loop in the opposite direction, following a well worn lockdown loop, turning each time I could see the rain closing in, until after a couple of hours I had to hightail it home pretty swiftly. Needed to make the most of it as the weeks forecast is breezy and wet to say the least.
At least I made the most and got a nice ride in, some roads were damp and some were wet from just missed showers but always good to be riding.
I am really enjoying being back out on this Mercian and am glad to say I definitely sold the right one. While I put lots of miles on the other one and loved them, this one just fits better and rides a bit nicer. It was always a keeper but sometimes it is nice to just ride it and confirm your thoughts.

Jamie