WCP's whizz around the UK

West Cork Paul

West Cork Paul

Man in a Shed
Subscriber
As mentioned elsewhere I'm taking the long route from home to Malin for The Long Day Down and doing a circular route of part of the UK. Why? you may ask, there are much better places to tour than central and Northern England and I wholeheartedly agree, however, a reunion of the group of friends I was at Uni (well it was a Poly back then but its gone all upmarket since about 20 years ago :ROFLMAO:) was called for just a few days before my TLDD event so I thought rather than fly in and out of the UK, I'd combine it with my event.

Tues 14th June - Home to Fishguard.
Wed 15th June - Fishguard to Oxford
Thurs 16th June - Oxford
Fri 17th June - Hungover but somehow got to get to York
Sat 18th June - York, via Sheffield to Birkenhead, over night ferry to Belfast
Sun 19th June - The Causeway Coast, Belfast to Malin
Mon 20th June - Not a lot, better have a day out of the saddle for tomorrow I have a 14-15hr ride
Tues 21st June - Malin to Mizen

These routes ⬇️ might change between now and then but they give a general idea. Once I get back onto the island I don't need any route guidance as there are only really two roads, the road from There and the road to Here :ROFLMAO:

If anyone's en-route and wants to pop out and wave as I ride by, just let me know.

I'll try and keep this updated and make it as entertaining as possible although I suspect many of the places I'll be passing through are not photogenic and not at all interesting to read about.

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West Cork Paul said:
As mentioned elsewhere I'm taking the long route from home to Malin for The Long Day Down and doing a circular route of part of the UK. Why? you may ask, there are much better places to tour than central and Northern England and I wholeheartedly agree, however, a reunion of the group of friends I was at Uni (well it was a Poly back then but its gone all upmarket since about 20 years ago :ROFLMAO:) was called for just a few days before my TLDD event so I thought rather than fly in and out of the UK, I'd combine it with my event.

Tues 14th June - Home to Fishguard.
Wed 15th June - Fishguard to Oxford
Thurs 16th June - Oxford
Fri 17th June - Hungover but somehow got to get to York
Sat 18th June - York, via Sheffield to Birkenhead, over night ferry to Belfast
Sun 19th June - The Causeway Coast, Belfast to Malin
Mon 20th June - Not a lot, better have a day out of the saddle for tomorrow I have a 14-15hr ride
Tues 21st June - Malin to Mizen

These routes ⬇️ might change between now and then but they give a general idea. Once I get back onto the island I don't need any route guidance as there are only really two roads, the road from There and the road to Here :ROFLMAO:

If anyone's en-route and wants to pop out and wave as I ride by, just let me know.

I'll try and keep this updated and make it as entertaining as possible although I suspect many of the places I'll be passing through are not photogenic and not at all interesting to read about.

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Click to expand...
Lots of 'gawd awful' places to visit I'm sure :ROFLMAO:
 
West Cork Paul said:
As mentioned elsewhere I'm taking the long route from home to Malin for The Long Day Down and doing a circular route of part of the UK. Why? you may ask, there are much better places to tour than central and Northern England and I wholeheartedly agree, however, a reunion of the group of friends I was at Uni (well it was a Poly back then but its gone all upmarket since about 20 years ago :ROFLMAO:) was called for just a few days before my TLDD event so I thought rather than fly in and out of the UK, I'd combine it with my event.

Tues 14th June - Home to Fishguard.
Wed 15th June - Fishguard to Oxford
Thurs 16th June - Oxford
Fri 17th June - Hungover but somehow got to get to York
Sat 18th June - York, via Sheffield to Birkenhead, over night ferry to Belfast
Sun 19th June - The Causeway Coast, Belfast to Malin
Mon 20th June - Not a lot, better have a day out of the saddle for tomorrow I have a 14-15hr ride
Tues 21st June - Malin to Mizen

These routes ⬇️ might change between now and then but they give a general idea. Once I get back onto the island I don't need any route guidance as there are only really two roads, the road from There and the road to Here :ROFLMAO:

If anyone's en-route and wants to pop out and wave as I ride by, just let me know.

I'll try and keep this updated and make it as entertaining as possible although I suspect many of the places I'll be passing through are not photogenic and not at all interesting to read about.

View attachment 51177
View attachment 51178
View attachment 51179
Click to expand...
In the words of professor Galloway (my father-in-law), "it still is a Poly, a change of name doesn't make it a university".
 
@West Cork Paul It looks like you will be using the A421 to get from Milton Keynes to the A1 on Friday and as it is supposed to be a good day weather wise if you have time and the inclination can I recommend Danish Camp – The best kept secret in Bedfordshire!
This is a 5 minute detour off the A421 just east of Bedford. It is a lovely riverside setting and the food is good.
I live about 10 minutes from the A421 near Woburn , if you are early enough you are welcome to stop at Dukesox Towers for breakfast but I imagine after your big night out I`ll be at work by the time you are riding by.
 
Dukesox said:
@West Cork Paul It looks like you will be using the A421 to get from Milton Keynes to the A1 on Friday and as it is supposed to be a good day weather wise if you have time and the inclination can I recommend Danish Camp – The best kept secret in Bedfordshire!
This is a 5 minute detour off the A421 just east of Bedford. It is a lovely riverside setting and the food is good.
I live about 10 minutes from the A421 near Woburn , if you are early enough you are welcome to stop at Dukesox Towers for breakfast but I imagine after your big night out I`ll be at work by the time you are riding by.
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That seems a good place to stop and get some lunch, thanks, it's now in the edited route map (y)
 
Day 1.
Home to Cork to Rosslare to Fishguard.

First stop Cork to pick something up 👍
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Next stop just outside Dungarvan for fuel (first of many probably knowing this bike 🙁)
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€211.9/litre was the cheapest I saw all day, it kind of puts a dampener on trips like this 🙁. Still it is what it is 🤷🏻‍♂️ can’t change it, but why do we still have these stupid 0.9 of a cent price? Blimey we don’t even have 1 or 2 cent coins anymore everything is rounded up or down to the nearest 5c over here these days.

Arrived in good time 17.20 for the 18.15 ferry but as I sit here and write this it still hasn’t left. We didn’t even start boarding until gone 19.30🙁, no idea what’s going on.
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There’s a good few groups of bikers here, French in one group and Italian in another all on their way back home after ‘doing’ the Wild Atlantic Way. Can someone please remind me why I’m leaving the sub-tropical climate with traffic free roads for one that’s over populated with a plethora of average speed cameras 🤔?
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At least the bikes go on first
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but as I was standing waiting to be allowed to board I was studying the other bikers. Why are we all so old these days? Is there no youngsters coming through and/or going touring. I was looking at the Italians who, apart from one who had a new Multi V4S and one who had a vintage Guzzi Californian, were all riding BMW tourers and all were well into their 60s if not 70s, same with the French group. I looked at them and I looked at myself and realised I have become the old man on a bike I used to joke about when I was a teenager. Bloody hell, I’ll probably be buying a Volvo next 🙁.

Anyway, on a good note I bought a Shoei Neotec II a while back but not worn it until today. It’s a bloody comfortable helmet. Much less wind noise than my HJC modular one which in itself is much less noisy than the Arai X4 I have. I really do like it 👍
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Ooh, ooh, we’re just pulling away now. TTFN 👍
 
Day Two -Fishguard to Oxford

I eventually got into Fishguard at midnight, should have been there at 21.45hrs and could have had a pint😕. It turns out a) the incoming ferry was delayed (despite Stena Line sending me a text saying it was on time), and b) the 20.45 Irish Ferries sailing from Rosslare was cancelled so they put everyone on the Stena Line ferry which then had to wait for people as it was due to leave 2.5 hrs earlier.

Anyway, here (or was there then) now. Stayed in The Ferryboat, just 5 mins from the ferry, clean, comfortable, well run and IMO not bad value at £76 inc breakfast.

I awoke this morning to the sound of incessant traffic on the road out front, well, at least it was incessant once I put my hearing aids in and could hear it🤣. Then whilst I’m looking out the window at the front amazed at all the traffic, there’s a low rumbling, the floor starts shaking, then clacketty-clack, clacketty-clack, clacketty-clack and the whole building shakes as a train goes past just 10’ from the back of the building. Yes, the B&B sits between a road and a railway line, it’s only really good as a B&B and only for those who are staying there one night and using the ferry.

After breakfast I head off, it’s a beautiful day, as ai look up I’m gobsmacked by the amount of contrails in the sky, it’s like a scene from the Battle of Britain. What with the road traffic, the trains, the planes, I’m no longer used to all of this, it’s assaulting my senses 😱.
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Anyway, helmet on, head off, following the inbuilt Sat Nav and relying upon the fact I’ve programmed it accurately.

It appears not😕 and after a couple of hours I realise it’s trying to route me back on myself as I’ve allegedly missed a waypoint. Lesson learned, when plotting, zoom in to maximum size and make sure you get the exact spot you need, not a spot that’s 10mtrs off the road😕.

The other aspect of having an inbuilt Sat Nav is it’s actually running off my phone but being mirrored on the dash so every time I want to take a photo I loose the Sat Nav on the dash and have to wait for it to restore itself. Hence not many photos taken whilst on the move🙁. But here’s one of Cray reservoir in the Brecon Beacons looking very empty. It’s on the A4067 which is a brilliant biking road running right through the middle of the Beacons National Park.

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Lunch stop was in Crickhowell which I’ve never been to before but which is a beautiful market town with clearly a lot of civic pride👍
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Then after numerous fuel stops, we’ll 2 anyway,
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I hit the outskirts of Oxford and duck me is Oxford busy these days, it took ages to queue the traffic to get the City Centre, only to find, and @AirCon would like this, it doesn’t have an LEZ or even a ULEZ it has a ZEZ, Zero Emmissions Zone 😮, no traffic allowed in.

But, it’s a beautiful city. busier than I remember it and much more touristy but still beautiful. The city of dreaming spires.

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Also, Oxford has electric scooters to rent everywhere, bloody Hipsters😮, I almost feel at home 🤣,
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It was so hot on the bike today, I saw 27c at one point on the dash ambient temp display and that was whilst I was moving at speed, by midday I’d stripped down to just my undershirt body armour (Knox Urban Pro) and my jacket was dispensed with, thank goodness I bought my summer gloves too. By the time I got to the hotel I was drenched in sweat, I feel sorry for all the people in Spain and France at the moment that are getting the full force of this heatwave. Climate change is definitely happening, whether it’s 100% man made or not is a moot point. However, it makes this all the more satisfying 👍😁

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From what Paul said eelier - 48% of UK bikers are over 60 :oops: I wonder what the percentage is for over 50...

The new Motorcyclists in 2021 figure Vs Total on the road is only a little over 1% increase in a year - so I'm sure the numbers will fall dramatically over the next 10 or 20 years :unsure:

www.bikesure.co.uk

Bike capitals of Britain

We explore where the most popular places are to ride in the UK – and which spots are becoming more popular.
www.bikesure.co.uk www.bikesure.co.uk
 
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