Breakfast run

Kawa had posted on Facebook asking if anyone fancied meeting up for a breakfast meeting last Sunday. The venue was the 'Glen Café' at St Mary's Loch, somewhere I hadn't been for a LONG time. In fact, I don't think I've been in the time that I've owned the Skorpion, so that's at least 12 years.

So I headed down in 'typical Scottish summer weather' – sunny for 15 minutes, overcast for 15 minutes, drizzly rain for 15 minutes...... repeat all day!

This is the approximate route, I used the M8 and M74 motorways to get past Glasgow, then rode on what was the 'old' A74, the main road south before the motorway was built. This used to be a real nightmare to ride as it was very busy and slow, but since the motorway was built, it is almost deserted and the long sweeping curves make it a joy to ride.

I stopped for fuel at Moffat, then headed up to the café, where I was the only customer. Soon after, there was a steady stream of motorcyclists and cyclists, and I helped a cyclist with his bike after it suffered a problem with the gears. (I had better tools than him – his lightweight, folding 'multitool' wasn't really up to the job). Interestingly, he was on a Cyclo-cross bike, a sport I hadn't seen since it used to be on television when I was a teenager. I had thought that it had died out following the introduction of mountain bikes, but he said it was still alive and well, and that he regularly competed in events.

Next to the café there's a fine monument to writer James Hogg, the 'Ettrick Shepherd', that'll make a good subject for a future post on sculpture.

More bikes came and went, but no-one I knew turned up. I headed home intending to take the Douglas/Muirkirk/Mauchline/Kilmarnock route, but by the time I got to Moffat, the rain turned very heavy, so I headed back by the motorway. When I got back, I had a message from Kawa saying that he had headed out but had suffered a radiator leak and had turned home. Despite the changeable weather, it was a good day out and an enjoyable run on the Skorpion. Well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Saw this bike there (which I think Kawa has featured in the past). It'll upset some people (BSA single with Chinese engine and wheels), but I think it's more important to keep a bike on the road than leave it in a shed, original but unused. Anyway, it's the owner's bike and it's up to him what he does with it.