Away at 6:30 am in the glorious sunshine that was forecast for the whole country, all day
IMG_1100 by John Taylor, on Flickr15 miles in and climbing ever so slightly and the world changed, I was suddenly in fog, visor started to mist up on the outside, it got darker and then thick fog
A Black visor doesn't show the damp patches on the road though so nothing to worry about, it's only a bit o'fret in't air 
Through Selkirk and all was well again with the with the world
IMG_1101 by John Taylor, on FlickrJust had to stop at this point to get a photo of my Beautiful Bike
Oh and have a pee 
IMG_1102 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1103 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1104 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1105 by John Taylor, on FlickrI'd picked a route to come off the A7 at Longtown and take the A6071, Wow, what a great choice. It's a fast open road to start with and then gets very technical and interesting at the very last 3 miles into Brampton
It was a little bit of pot luck on the next stretch of a very narrow back road, mostly used by farmers by the look of it but there was nowt on the road and I had to stop a couple of times to check my position but it all added to the adventure 
IMG_1106 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1107 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1108 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1109 by John Taylor, on FlickrI arrived at the A686 exactly where I planned, 1.5 miles from the top
Looking West from Hartside (no cafe
) car park
IMG_1110 by John Taylor, on FlickrThe Guys turned up and the surprise worked a treat
IMG_1111 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1112 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1113 by John Taylor, on FlickrWe had a good old chin wag for an hour and a half then went our separate ways. The Pass and car park got quite busy, cars, bikes, cyclists almost a normal Sunday up there tbh. There was a couple of Astons turned up, very nice, a few other notable cars one being a white Chevette all rallied up
and a couple of Panagale's with a Red Benelli Tornado, unusual colour for that bike, looked really well We watched the cars and bikes coming and going up and down the Penrith side of the hill and there was a small group of cars that went up and down a couple of times going very fast, even overtaking a group of bikes, ok, the bikers weren't going at much of a pace but still unusual. They were very safe though, no cutting anyone up, just lads having a ball, great to see. The pick of the bunch for me was a Renault 5 GT Turbo. It was all tricked up, roll cage and boy did it sound and go well. I rode down to Alston for a fill up and grab a sarnie for my lunch before setting off back to Edinburgh and the garage was rammed, bikers and cars all over the place and basking in the sunshine. There was a ford club there, a Focus ST with 3 Fiestas, a Mk 1 XR2 was a beauty and the other 2 were Mk2 XR2's, great to see out and about. The 5 GT Turbo and his Mates turned up so I got a couple of pics
IMG_1114 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1115 by John Taylor, on FlickrSarnie eaten I sent off at 12:00 North up the A868 to Hexham and then joined the A68. Soon as I joined it at Corbridge it took me right back to when I was travelling up to Edinburgh to see Carolyn every other weekend for 4 years in car and on bike and I loved it in the beautiful sunshine - Happy Days
I had to stop at Carter Bar for a photo before the last stint. 
IMG_1116 by John Taylor, on Flickr
IMG_1117 by John Taylor, on FlickrI was home for 2:20 after a thoroughly good days 250 miles on the BCR. I was considering selling the BCR this year, I just wasn't gelling with it, I'm just not a twin fan and although its a beautiful looking bike it wasn't floating my boat like the S1000r and I'll never get rid of my XJR. Any hoo, after Sunday, I think I have changed my mind
. The bike was cumfy, capable, faultless and I really enjoyed being out on my own again riding at my pace and She excelled on the roads I didn't know, especially the narrow back road, the telelever front end just oozes confidence and makes me very happy Lockdown positive, lets see 
IMG_1119 by John Taylor, on Flickr
