The MCN/Devitt Insurance Festival of Motorcycling at Peterborough Showground presented an opportunity to run this ride rather than riding straight home on the Monday from the event.
I stayed in the Holiday Inn Express just outside the showground on the Sunday night and left after a light breakfast, well that’s pretty much all you can get!
During my pre ride checks I noticed the chain oiler tube had parted company with the reservoir, so this was duly refitted. The only slight issue was the need for a magnet to prime the oiler… but that was in my toolbox at home.
After securing the river bag to the pillion seat I fitted my tank bag…. The one with the magnets in the flaps…. Light bulb moment…..
So off with the left pannier and whilst sitting on that I held the magnet in the flap on top of the oiler and opened the control valve to maximum… slowly but surely the oil crept through the tube and down to the nozzle at the rear sprocket, result. Flow rate valve reset and done!
Off to Tesco for petrol then and a start to the proceedings!
The weather was certainly not cold, but wasn’t as warm as Sunday, where I know I caught a bit of sun and I expect a few others did too…. So the liners had been left out of my textiles to start with.
A good choice as it did get warmer.
From Peterborough it was down the A1, M11 then M25 and around to Clacket Lane westbound services. From there, with two bottle of Lipton’s iced lemon tea and receipt duly obtained, it was off towards Reading for the next fuel stop at Calcot.
The M4 wasn’t too busy, but neither is it the most interesting road to ride along!
After Calcot the next stop was going to be Asda at Cribbs Causeway, whilst petrol was not absolutely needed here, a receipt was preferred just to maintain the paper trail to reinforce the Spotwalla track.
Receipts can often be difficult when doing certain rides, particularly at the extreme points on the map.
After the relative boredom of the M4 came the excitement of the M5, well okay, just the M5.
Off at J17 and round to Asda, which surprisingly still has pay at booth during the day!
Filled up and pictures taken and off towards the southwest and Bodmin.
It was very windy and given the rather poor fuel consumption I was experiencing it was a headwind!
The fuel economy was not helped by the fact that I wasn’t getting a full tank at fill up due to not getting the bike on the mainstand. I reckon over a litre less, but can’t really say for sure. A 20.5 litre tank is less than my previous bike, the R1250RT, with its 25 litre reservoir!
The trip down to Bodmin was uneventful and traffic generally was lighter than expected. I had hoped for this by starting the ride at around 10:00am.
Even the M25 and the QE bridge had been relatively quiet!
Asda Bodmin was the planned fuel stop and of course it went as smooth as gravel….
First pump, wouldn’t take a card… next pump was fine but failed to produce a receipt, not to worry you can go to another pump, providing it isn’t busy, which of course it was. A written receipt was obtained at the service desk and backed up by a receipt from the café.
So I gave up and went into the store for a cup of tea and whatever the coffee shop had left to eat, which turned out to be a cheese and tomato toasty. Receipt obtained.
After the obligatory toilet visit it was back to the bike and onwards up to Asda at Bristol again!
Not a lot to say other than it was still quite quiet as it was gone five by the time I set out from Bodmin, which meant that Exeter was transited after the busiest period!
Asda at Cribbs Causeway was now pay at pump on one side of the forecourt and was duly done and dusted.
So back to the M5 then, east on the M4 to the M25 again, traffic was light and it wasn’t yet getting too cool and so no liner in the jacket yet.
On reaching the M25 I fired off an “I’m okay” message from the Spot tracker just to mark the turn as there weren’t any easy access receipt points there!
Next stop was for a sandwich, a drink, a toilet visit and to put in my liner, put on my fleece and break out the Gerbing gloves.. I didn’t learn from my last ride to pack the jacket as well, it wasn’t too bad down south but the M62 and the A66 later would be a little chilly.
My next fuel stop was at Leamington Spa, but the first choice was closed, Tesco 24 hour wasn’t….
So Garmin pointed me at Asda a mile or so away, no problem there, so headed back the way I had come as directed by the Satnag.
Well that was possibly a mistake, but my Garmin threw a little wobble and I had to restart the route, which tried to take me straight to my next fuel stop near Stoke on Trent….. which would have lost me a slice of planned miles, I realised this was wrong as it took me back to the M40 rather than towards Leicester. So another quick stop to examine what the Garmin was trying to do and I realised it was partly my fault for how I planned the route.
Had I set a waypoint marker as a compulsory one rather than just a route marker this would not have happened, but it did and a quick on the fly route edit sorted that out.
Simply tapping a route marker and turning it into a waypoint, then restarting the route with that waypoint as the next place to go resolved the issue.
I fact if I had been able to zoom out, I would have altered the route to come out of Leamington to the north rather than retracing my steps. The wobble on the Garmin distracted me and the result was as described…
Up to Leicester and a closed M1 resulting in a diversion, which ended at a queue of traffic at the next M1 junction northwards, some strategic filtering, not helped by one truck driver appearing to deliberately close the gap between his vehicle and the adjacent truck as I approached!
Patience they say is a virtue.
Onwards and northwards to the A50 and across country to Stoke on Trent, where a planned fuel stop was thwarted by yet another closed Tesco PFS.
I wasn’t desperate for fuel so pressed on across to the M6 and north to J31 for the BP petrol stop.
At this point I remembered some friends of ours who, when they got married, stopped at the hotel at this location, “The tickle trout hotel”….. My friend’s new wife was less than amused at the inference!
Here I needed to reverse course back down to the M61 and onto the M62 for Leeds.
No problems other than it does get quite high on the M62 with the associated drop in temperature.
Gerbing gloves kept my hands warm and I had just enough on under my textiles not to need a stop to defrost.
A run up the A1 to Scotch corner where my body did the serious yawning moment, indicating a need for a rest stop.
Fortunately, the Costa was open and does a nice pot of tea, unfortunately the only “food” they do is cake…. Oh well needs must. A caramel slice was duly purchased.
I advised the young man behind the counter that if he noticed me nod off, just to ignore me for a half hour or so. His reply was that it was no problem!
After my tea I found the least uncomfortable position to sit in and had about 40 minutes sleep.
A quick toilet break and away I go again.
A66 west bound and surprisingly not as cold as I expected. Penrith was soon passed and the M6 northbound for Carlisle where a fill at the Tesco PFS just off junction to finish the ride!
Well that’s the England SS1000 finished, but it’s 88 miles home from there, ah well, I could hear a bowl of cereal and some OJ calling. I was home just before 09:00 and ready for that breakfast and a shower!
After that it was bed for a couple of hours sleep!
Edit: In today's post there was a nice buff envelope from Phil with the certificate for this ride, so suitably chuffed.
I stayed in the Holiday Inn Express just outside the showground on the Sunday night and left after a light breakfast, well that’s pretty much all you can get!
During my pre ride checks I noticed the chain oiler tube had parted company with the reservoir, so this was duly refitted. The only slight issue was the need for a magnet to prime the oiler… but that was in my toolbox at home.
After securing the river bag to the pillion seat I fitted my tank bag…. The one with the magnets in the flaps…. Light bulb moment…..
So off with the left pannier and whilst sitting on that I held the magnet in the flap on top of the oiler and opened the control valve to maximum… slowly but surely the oil crept through the tube and down to the nozzle at the rear sprocket, result. Flow rate valve reset and done!
Off to Tesco for petrol then and a start to the proceedings!
The weather was certainly not cold, but wasn’t as warm as Sunday, where I know I caught a bit of sun and I expect a few others did too…. So the liners had been left out of my textiles to start with.
A good choice as it did get warmer.
From Peterborough it was down the A1, M11 then M25 and around to Clacket Lane westbound services. From there, with two bottle of Lipton’s iced lemon tea and receipt duly obtained, it was off towards Reading for the next fuel stop at Calcot.
The M4 wasn’t too busy, but neither is it the most interesting road to ride along!
After Calcot the next stop was going to be Asda at Cribbs Causeway, whilst petrol was not absolutely needed here, a receipt was preferred just to maintain the paper trail to reinforce the Spotwalla track.
Receipts can often be difficult when doing certain rides, particularly at the extreme points on the map.
After the relative boredom of the M4 came the excitement of the M5, well okay, just the M5.
Off at J17 and round to Asda, which surprisingly still has pay at booth during the day!
Filled up and pictures taken and off towards the southwest and Bodmin.
It was very windy and given the rather poor fuel consumption I was experiencing it was a headwind!
The fuel economy was not helped by the fact that I wasn’t getting a full tank at fill up due to not getting the bike on the mainstand. I reckon over a litre less, but can’t really say for sure. A 20.5 litre tank is less than my previous bike, the R1250RT, with its 25 litre reservoir!
The trip down to Bodmin was uneventful and traffic generally was lighter than expected. I had hoped for this by starting the ride at around 10:00am.
Even the M25 and the QE bridge had been relatively quiet!
Asda Bodmin was the planned fuel stop and of course it went as smooth as gravel….
First pump, wouldn’t take a card… next pump was fine but failed to produce a receipt, not to worry you can go to another pump, providing it isn’t busy, which of course it was. A written receipt was obtained at the service desk and backed up by a receipt from the café.
So I gave up and went into the store for a cup of tea and whatever the coffee shop had left to eat, which turned out to be a cheese and tomato toasty. Receipt obtained.
After the obligatory toilet visit it was back to the bike and onwards up to Asda at Bristol again!
Not a lot to say other than it was still quite quiet as it was gone five by the time I set out from Bodmin, which meant that Exeter was transited after the busiest period!
Asda at Cribbs Causeway was now pay at pump on one side of the forecourt and was duly done and dusted.
So back to the M5 then, east on the M4 to the M25 again, traffic was light and it wasn’t yet getting too cool and so no liner in the jacket yet.
On reaching the M25 I fired off an “I’m okay” message from the Spot tracker just to mark the turn as there weren’t any easy access receipt points there!
Next stop was for a sandwich, a drink, a toilet visit and to put in my liner, put on my fleece and break out the Gerbing gloves.. I didn’t learn from my last ride to pack the jacket as well, it wasn’t too bad down south but the M62 and the A66 later would be a little chilly.
My next fuel stop was at Leamington Spa, but the first choice was closed, Tesco 24 hour wasn’t….
So Garmin pointed me at Asda a mile or so away, no problem there, so headed back the way I had come as directed by the Satnag.
Well that was possibly a mistake, but my Garmin threw a little wobble and I had to restart the route, which tried to take me straight to my next fuel stop near Stoke on Trent….. which would have lost me a slice of planned miles, I realised this was wrong as it took me back to the M40 rather than towards Leicester. So another quick stop to examine what the Garmin was trying to do and I realised it was partly my fault for how I planned the route.
Had I set a waypoint marker as a compulsory one rather than just a route marker this would not have happened, but it did and a quick on the fly route edit sorted that out.
Simply tapping a route marker and turning it into a waypoint, then restarting the route with that waypoint as the next place to go resolved the issue.
I fact if I had been able to zoom out, I would have altered the route to come out of Leamington to the north rather than retracing my steps. The wobble on the Garmin distracted me and the result was as described…
Up to Leicester and a closed M1 resulting in a diversion, which ended at a queue of traffic at the next M1 junction northwards, some strategic filtering, not helped by one truck driver appearing to deliberately close the gap between his vehicle and the adjacent truck as I approached!
Patience they say is a virtue.
Onwards and northwards to the A50 and across country to Stoke on Trent, where a planned fuel stop was thwarted by yet another closed Tesco PFS.
I wasn’t desperate for fuel so pressed on across to the M6 and north to J31 for the BP petrol stop.
At this point I remembered some friends of ours who, when they got married, stopped at the hotel at this location, “The tickle trout hotel”….. My friend’s new wife was less than amused at the inference!
Here I needed to reverse course back down to the M61 and onto the M62 for Leeds.
No problems other than it does get quite high on the M62 with the associated drop in temperature.
Gerbing gloves kept my hands warm and I had just enough on under my textiles not to need a stop to defrost.
A run up the A1 to Scotch corner where my body did the serious yawning moment, indicating a need for a rest stop.
Fortunately, the Costa was open and does a nice pot of tea, unfortunately the only “food” they do is cake…. Oh well needs must. A caramel slice was duly purchased.
I advised the young man behind the counter that if he noticed me nod off, just to ignore me for a half hour or so. His reply was that it was no problem!
After my tea I found the least uncomfortable position to sit in and had about 40 minutes sleep.
A quick toilet break and away I go again.
A66 west bound and surprisingly not as cold as I expected. Penrith was soon passed and the M6 northbound for Carlisle where a fill at the Tesco PFS just off junction to finish the ride!
Well that’s the England SS1000 finished, but it’s 88 miles home from there, ah well, I could hear a bowl of cereal and some OJ calling. I was home just before 09:00 and ready for that breakfast and a shower!
After that it was bed for a couple of hours sleep!
Edit: In today's post there was a nice buff envelope from Phil with the certificate for this ride, so suitably chuffed.