A to B Run

John Nicol posted this run less than a week ahead and the first thing I did was check the weather forecast – oooo yes – sunny, dry, OK temperature for the time of year – I’m in! Duncan Calder had already said he was up for a run together on Tuesdays so I got him to sign up too. Will the four then registered be the total, given the competition from Ian McI’s westbound run the same day?
I decided to give the wee Cagiva 2-stroke a run to check its longer-than-local-runs ability and gave it a check-over. These Italians need a lot of TLC y’know! Come the morning and beautiful sunny weather, Duncan phoned to say Google was expecting a longer time from Linlithgow to Dreghorn than we had planned for so we set off 15 minutes earlier. I led and Duncan reckons that breathing my fumes has shortened his life! We made good time without any delays, and arrived well early to find leader John and Ian Jones (to be TEC) waiting, already suited up in the Club HiViz jackets. We fuelled up and others rolled in. David Jerome was last and insisted on a coffee, but we had plenty of time before a briefing and the start.
The crew numbered eight: – Ali Lazizi-BMW750GS : David Jerome-Triumph Tiger 900 : Duncan Calder-Yamaha Tracer7 : Alan Graham-BMW R1250 : Ian Jones-BMW S1000XR : Brian Torley-Honda ST1300 : Steve Middleton-Cagiva N90 : John Nicol BMW800GS.
The route took us through Pencaitland, Gifford, past Whiteadder reservoir and thru’ Duns to the Pearson’s garden centre. Their café is a new one for me, and worthy of another visit with a wide selection of breakfast / lunch food. My poached eggs were perfect, the coffee good too. The outside seating in the sun was a bonus. Having eaten, David J said his farewells, so I think he only came out for the food and drink – doesn’t he get fed at home?
We tootled along to the other end of town for the Challenge A site – the Jim Clark museum. Here I found my camera was out of go-juice, and so was the phone! So much for being prepared, eh? Duncan and John were recruited to act as my visit recorders, and later I used Duncan’s phone to place the mandatory “phone home” call to my wife, leaving a message.
The route did not need much marshalling, and the Drop-Off system worked well.
On westwards via Greenlaw, Earlston, Peebles to site B – the Stobo village hall. The weather was glorious, the roads dry and the traffic light and well-behaved. A bit further we stopped at Dawyck botanic garden. Again, sunny outside seating, good coffee, good chat.
The homeward run was via Broughton, Biggar, Carnwath and Forth. Some peeled off before we split up at Whitburn where I had to get some 2-stroke oil to calm the flashing warning light. I’m still learning the bike’s rate of consumption of petrochemical fluids.
So, with the food stops the run lasted a full day, but I shall have data to calculate fuel and oil consumption rates. Arriving home later than expected – remember I didn’t get to talk to my wife – I got sent out straight away to walk the granddog who is staying with us for a while.
Thank you, John, for a good run and excellent stops; thank you, Ian, for TEC-ing and keeping us together. Thank you to the other run-ers for company and the chat – and suffering my 2stroke fumes.