A Random Ride Pics Thread.... Post 'em up!

[Rynglieder]

You certainly have some cool stuff many hundreds of years old there.

I could post a pic of a  sharpened rock but.....

Go on, send us a picture of the shrapend rock anyway!

(Or you could wait until it has gone blunt and crumbling at the edges, then it would be truly historic) 

[Rynglieder]

Tuesday 02/06/2020 Longtown Castle, Herefordshire (c.137 miles)

The next open (and free!) destination I turned up on the English Heritage website was Longtown Castle in Herefordshire. Dangerously close to the Welsh border, but most of the route down to Hereford was well known to me and was something of a favourite. Another warm sunny day was on the cards so it made sense to take advantage on my continuing Furlough.

The GTR was due a turn out and took me though Stourport, Bromyard and beyond to Hereford. I'd intended to drop into the city centre for a walk round the cathedral but the one way system had changed since I used to go regularly and I found myself quickly dumped back where I started. I decided to write it off for now as I didn't fancy the congestion for a second time. Considering the country is still in lock-down there seemed to be a lot of people going somewhere. Indeed, the queue for the McDonalds drive-thru was something to behold with staff trying to marshal the traffic on the A465.

Continuing in the direction of Abergavenny I left the A465 at Pontrilas where the village shop turned out a coffee for me whilst I had a break from the bike. At this point I turned west toward the Welsh border riding through what was for me virgin territory. The roads were now distinctly rural and called for some more cautious riding as many were more or less single track and the GTR was competing for space with agricultural machinery.

Upon reaching Longtown the bike was pulled up at the roadside at the castle entrance, the adjacent green provided a picnic table for a quick smoke and the cold drink I had been carrying with me before I started to explore the castle ruins.

There is not too much to see at Longtown Castle, but nevertheless it had provided me with a destination to aim for and a very remote and quiet spot to relax and get some use out of the camera. The view from the keep emphasised the castle's position at the side of the Black Mountains. There are a couple of similar border castles nearby but on the Welsh side and I'm looking forward to taking these in at some future date when we can all move more freely.

The return trip took me back the way I came to Hereford, but from there I varied the route to take me back through Leominster, around Ludlow and back home via Bridgnorth.
It had been a perfect day out on the bike, I had come pretty close to places starting with two "L"s, but I think I got away with it.

[Rynglieder]

Monday 15/06/2020 Sharpness & Purton Ships Graveyard (c.145 miles)

The previous week had been a bit hit and miss with regard to the weather so the bikes had been left alone whilst I dealt with drudgery such as swapping out some failed double glazing units and other jobs around home.

I still did not seem to be wanted in my day-job and the sun was shining so it was time to pull the little hooligan bike out for yet another furlough day ride. I knew right from the start it was going to be the wrong bike for the job but I couldn't resist it. The Z1000 is always great fun for a short blast and although I am not a "quick" rider there is something about the little Zed that wants nothing in its way that is not doing at least every one of the legal MPH for the road and just pulls you into overtakes.

In more liberal times I have ridden the GSX and GTR down to my holiday chalet in Devon via the A38 and often wondered what lies to the sides of the route, so I decided to have a look at the Severn south of Gloucester.

I picked the A38 up at Worcester as I usually do and followed it down through Tewksbury where the high street shops were opening for the first time since lock-down. All of the high street parking bays had been closed off by plastic baulks to increase the pavement width where shoppers were queuing, but I was quite content to leave them to it and pass through.

From Tewksbury I continued south at which point I had a bit of a scare; I was pulling off from traffic lights behind three or four cars as the raod was opening up to a dual carriageway. As I accelerated for the overtake I was looking down the road and to the right and I was too late to see the car in front of me jig round something in the road which I then hit full on. Even now I not sure what it was other than it was black, about the size of a brick and bloody hard. It lifted the bike into the air for a moment but thankfully I managed to hold on and keep the front and back end of the bike pointing in the same direction.  Happily soon after I chanced upon a burger van that provided a polystyrene cup full of tea and a chance to check over the bike. Continuing, I rounded the Gloucester bypass and eventually I left the A38 at Berkeley Heath for Berkeley and Sharpness, which up until then were no more than names I had seen on signs.

I found my way to the picnic area at Sharpness where I parked up the Zed for half an hour while I took some photos around the point where the Gloucester & Sharpness canal links with the Severn.

From Sharpness I navigated some fairly minor roads up to the tiny village of Purton, a little further upstream. There is no sat-nav set up on the Z1000 so it was back to the old days of memorising the route and looking out for sign posts.

Having locked up the bike on the village car park I started to walk along the banks of the canal back in the direction of Sharpness and as I expected after about 10 minutes came to the Purton Hulks. I was aware of them from seeing them on a map, but was unaware of their history or circumstances but there were various information signs along the mile or so of the bank of the Severn where they were resting and I got to learn that they had been intentionally beached along the section of the river as an aid to preventing tidal erosion of the river bank that could lead to breaching the canal that was running parallel and above. I now also knew what a "concrete lighter" and a "FCB" were. Life is wonderful – nearly 58 and still learning. A few souvenir photos were taken before walking back to the bike for the return journey.

The thing about the Z1000 is that it takes twice as long to get home than do the outward journey. After 80 miles my backside has had enough of it and I seem to need relief from it every half an hour on the way home. First stop was at Gloucester for a service station coffee, then again at Tewkesbury around the back of the abbey and two further random lay-bys were needed before I made it home. I should really look into seeing if there is a gel seat available for this bike, or perhaps more sensibly I should pick out one of the bigger bore machines when I know I am going to be out for any length of time.

Still, a really good day out though and so much better than working for a living.

(Photos to follow, the site will not let me upload at the moment even though the files are less than 500kb)

Map
1427 Sharpness canal entrance
1439 Purton hulks
1454 Purton swing bridge opening
1455 Z1000 Tewksbury Abbey

[GSXKING]

@Rynglieder Weather looks awesome  are you sure you're in the UK 

[northern]

Since I have my Triumph, I discover for myself gravel roads and trails (some times little bit scary ). Unfortunately, those roads are not for 14.
Pics made last weekend

[Rynglieder]

@northern - That looks like the right sort of bike to pay on for those roads, enjoy yourself and keep it upright 

Not fan fan of gravel myself, I get nervous when they have just gritted the roads!

[Rynglieder]

@Rynglieder Weather looks awesome  are you sure you're in the UK 

Oh dear, you guys in the southern hemisphere have a real misconception of our weather. The sun does shine sometimes, probably around eight days a year, even up to 12 in a good one. I remember back in 1976 we had two sunny days consecutively, we still talk about that Wednesday and Thursday even now.

The problem is that these sunny days never happen on a weekend, they are strictly Monday to Friday when we are all working down the pit or in the corned beef factories and can't get out on our bikes which is why you never see blue skies in our photos.

Fortunately due to the coronavirus thingy I'm currently furloughed from work (and as of this Monday apparently "at risk" of redundancy), therefore the government is paying me £2500 per month to ride my bike on weekdays as long as I go for a walk at some point (usually from where I have parked the bike on the forecourt to the coffee machine in the petrol station).

This is why there is a bit less of the nimbostratus in the sky at the moment – it won't last, but I'm making these days count.

[Hooli]

@northern that looks great. I did consider a cheap 955 Tiger I saw recently to start looking for places like that.

[T250]

@Rynglieder Weather looks awesome  are you sure you're in the UK 

Nothing wrong with old Blighty...just needs a roof...

[northern]

I get nervous when they have just gritted the roads!

me also, if there is 190 street tire on rear. Knobby tires and different sitting position is absolutely other thing!
Also, this type of bike is not always stay on 2 wheels

[SteveD]

Myself and a mate from work went for a wee blast up to Glenshee chairlifts last night. It was a beautiful night and one of the best biking roads going. Luckily its right on my doorstep. 👍

[Hooli]

Fantastic road that, especially the section south of there.

[SteveD]

It sure is, I live about 25 miles or so south of there and it's a great stretch of road with some long sweeping bends, a few strait-ish bits and plenty of tight ntwisty that'll put you on your arse if your not paying attention.😉 Great fun! 👍

[seth]

Great roads around perthshire .
Still to explore alot of them as only recently moved gown here from.the north east corner of Scotland.

Hopefully I'll catch up with you at some point @SteveD

[GSXKING]

Went for a quick spin over Mt.Glorious with my buds 

The infamous "T-Intersection" on the Western side. Note all the tyre debri from drift cars most nights.