Scotland.

The trip we'd talked about for several years but always postponed in favour of better weather on the continent was back on the agenda. I'd planned thr route, mine was straight through Belgium, the Eifel mountains, short stop at the Nurburgring, south through Germany and into Italy to stay at Lake Garda. I'd not worked out a route back...

The phone call to Steve the night before and the Scottish weather was - dry!!!

From opposite sides of London we set off through the Monday morning rush hour traffic. Taking the Blackwall Tunnel was slow as filtering is difficult with your panniers and camping stuff hanging off the sides of the bike but by half nine, we'd met up at a service station on the A1(M), Steve having left the M25 on the M1 and cut across and my route bringing me up the M11. We headed up the A1, principally to give us a few roundabouts to ease the boredom that sets in on the M1. A short bit of mental stimulation every 20 miles and a chance to change your weight on the bike tends to extend the time we can both do on the bikes before we fall asleep.

We came off the A1 at J58 and cut across the country on the A68 to Crook and then the A689 -> A6071, a fabulous biking road. A thought confirmed by seeing Durham Constabulary using it for driver training. Arriving in Scotland at Gretna we headed north up the A74(M) through rush hour Glasgow traffic and onto the M8 and A82 passing Loch Lomand, Crianlarich and through the Black Mountains to Fort William. Arriving at about 9pm by the time we'd found a campsite. 550 miles on the first day.

The office at the campsite in Fort William had shut for the night and we ignored the "no motorcycle groups" sign. We figured two wasn't a group. During the week it transpired that they did allow small groups of motorcyclists but was probably their outer for throwing people off the site if they didn't like the look of them or they were riding too fast, revving engines, etc.

We used Fort William as a base rather than move on each night. Having a ride out each day.

Tuesday - Back down the A82, turning right onto the B8074 through Glen Orchy, R A85, L A819, R B840 passing Loch Awe, L BA816 to Kilmartin to see some stone circles and Cairns and a coffe stop before we returned straight back up the A816 to Oban, A828 to Ballachulish. Here we took a quick detour around Loch Leven on the B683 which revealed a secluded campsite on the south side of the Loch and one in Glencoe giving a fantastic view, before heading back to Fort William. About 220 mles. The B roads are definitely suited to trailies.

Wednesday - Isle of Skye. As you leave Fort William on the A830, matrix signs display the time to the next sailing of the Mallaig ferry (single £12 for a bike). A great road to start the day, fast sweeping bends narrowing to a single lane through woods and occasionally hugging the coast line offering amazing views. We arrived at the ferry with ten minutes to spare to find that it only takes ten bikes per crossing - we should have booked - we bought our tickets for an hour later and got lunch in restaurants that become packed at 12.15 daily over the summer with the arrival of a steam train packed with hundreds of tourists. Half an hour later, bikes come off the ferry last, we had about 30 overtakes to get in on the A851. L A87 to Portree. Stopping for excellent fish and chips right down in the harbour we followed the A855 past the Old Man of Stor north and around the northern tip of Skye. A large proportion of it being a well surfaced single track road and great views off the coast to the east.We returned south on the A87 turning off left at th the golf course just after Sconser and followed the coast road. The old single track road, probably not suited to sports bikes but great for a big trailie before rejoining the A87. After Upper Breakish we turned off right along the un-numbered road for the small ferry between Kylerhea and Glenelg (£5). Again, well worth the detour and the ferry is an experience in itself. We returned on the much faster roads, the A87 to Invergarry and the A82 home passing the Royal Marines Commando Memorial. About 250 miles.

Thursday - a day off to climb Ben Nevis. Not the easiest of paths, but we did it!

Friday - Aching from the walk Steve wasn't keen on a big mileage. He took a ride out along the A82, A830, A861 & A884 to the ferry for the Isle of Mull and somewhere along the way, stopped found a rock and went to sleep. I headed back up the A82, A87 towards Skye again but turned off R A890, L A896 and the L over the un-numbered 'Pass of the Cattle' to Applecross. Awesome! Just keep going through Applecross and re-join the A896 later on. A really challenging and enjoyable road with so many twists, turns, ascents and descents and stunning views out to Skye and passing Loch Torridon -it's unforgettable. I continued on the A896 through Glen torridon (apparently the highest road in the UK but feel free to correct me) R A832, R A835, R A832, R A862, R A831 to Cannich and down to Drumnadrochit. Then it was straight back along the shores of Loch Ness and Loch Lochy to Fort William. Somewhere above 300 miles. despite leaving at the same time as Steve, we got back to the campsite within ten minutes of each other.

Saturday was the start of the ride back home. Back down the way we'd come. We were intending to break the journey and stay somewhere near Hadrians wall but we got there too early so pressed on and took a detour into the Lake District. Unfortunately, owing to the good weather, so had most of the population of the North West and all the campsites being full, we called a mutual friend and ended up staying in the Travel lodge and having a BBQ at his place just north of Bolton. That gave us a four - five hour ride the next morning.

After years of talking about it, we made it. We were lucky with the weather but the conclusion. You couldn't help but fail to find good roads in Scotland. If you try to follow my route and get lost, it really doesn't matter, you'll have some fantastic roads and scenery whichever way to turn. Go there!