Over Too Soon

Got up early this morning around 5am. Not that I wanted to get home quickly, I was just that anxious to get back on the bike. Looking out over the balcony, the sun was trying to make an appearance over the heavily fogged ocean horizon. I went back to bed. 

8am and I was down in the hotel restaurant having breakfast. I left my phone in the room so I could deliberately eat slowly and enjoy the now much clearer ocean view. I had hoped for splashing and ocean wave sounds but none to be heard all night or this morning. In fact, the tidal movement now exposed an extended beach shoreline all the way to the end of a nearby pier. I hadn't planned for that. Nothing to look at but sand. Evenso, the sea was distant in view and the stillness was calming. I decided to stop complaining and enjoy it. 

Back in my room, I programmed CoPilot to take the most major non-motorway route home. I tweaked it here and there, and it finally calculated 2 hours and 11 minutes. This is one of the advantages of CoPilot: it allows you to drag the suggested route around to suit, and even save it. It also has vehicle options so mine is saved to motorcycle. In terms of versatility and lists of features (and I did a lot of research) I'd say it is tops for a bike tourer. 

Anyway, as I had decided from yesterday's ride that my bike was not suited for a long scenic tour, I was very happy with the 2 hour dash, and checked out of the hotel just after 9am. 

My bike was just as I left it parked yesterday. I had a feeling it would be.  I had it on the top level of a nearby mall car park which had 24-hour security. Plus, I switched on the bike's immobiliser, put on a Xena Alarmed disc lock on the front tyre, locked the steering, fixed the bike to a railing which I parked beside with a Gold Secure Armoured Chain bike lock, and then covered the whole bike all the way over with a waterproof bike screen. Having read multiple articles on bike security, I aimed to increase the time as much as possible that it would take to shift the bike away. With the 24-hour mall security cameras, I slept without worrying about it. 

As I rode out to find the car park pay machine (website said £15 for over 7 hours from my research), I saw two men fixing one of two pay machines on the ground level.  I put my ticket in one and it ate it. Good thing the men were right there. Seeing my helmet and bike gear, they asked if I rode a bike. I said yes. 

"It's free parking for bikers", he replied, "Go to the barrier, press the button and I'll let you out."

Yay! I rode to the barriers out of the sight of the men and well, there were two exits. Now which one did he control? I went to the nearest on the right, pressed the button, and the barrier arm on the left raised open. I made a quick dash for it, but the barrier arm came down with a thud on my helmet. As it didn't knock me out, I speedily accelerated out. Had to take a breather for a moment from the shock. 

I hit the open road where the speeds varied between 40 and 60 mph. I took that motorway-like road again and decided it was just a major dual carriageway. I rode it the full length at 50 mph average and loved it. 

The roadkill was resplendent ... not! They were everywhere. Is that an early morning phenomena on major roads? With all the twists and turns to avoid them, they gave me good practice for my MOD1 off-road test. I dodged one looking like a very large possum. It pretended to be dead with guts spilled out over all it's body. Great performance!

I made one stop to top up on fuel and had a sugarless black coffee to keep me alert. I also stopped into a motorbike accessory store and picked up some freebie magazines. I was back on the road quickly after. 

Nothing more to report except that I noted the main hazard I had to watch out for on these major roads is cars changing lanes unannounced. On local roads, it is waiting vehicles on a side road crossing my path to enter the road I'm on, or on-coming vehicles crossing my path to turn into a side road. These hazards felt equally threatening to me regardless of road type and so I kept my awareness sharp. 

I made it home in the couple of hours as planned, and have already booked my hotel two weeks from now for the next coastal trip to a different UK town.  Still doing an overnighter though as I can't be away longer. And, I'd have booked for next week but it's my son's birthday so I need to be home to celebrate with him.

I may write about my next adventure then. Maybe. 

Arrived Alive

I left home at around 8am and according to CoPilot, I should've arrived at 11:45am.  At 1pm, I turned into the car park of my hotel. Actually, I stopped for an hour to rest half way and made two fuel stops. So, a pretty accurate reading for time, CoPilot.

Have to say thanks much to Ross from On The Run Scooter Club for the invaluable advice and scenic route planning for the home to destination leg. It was a really nice journey.  As soon as I hit the coast about five miles from my hotel, I immediately regretted not having more time to enjoy the surrounds. Lesson learned: no less than two or three days minimum next time if it's a coastal trip; can still do overnighters for inland city breaks.

The other lesson: you can't be prepared enough. When I stopped to fuel up, I noticed my iPhone-cum-GPS not charging despite being plugged into the bike charger. That was worrying. I rely totally on the GPS to get around and I was hours away from home. In fact, I had no idea what town I was even in. Luckily, the station had iPhone chargers and I bought a replacement promptly. Then, further along, I noted that my windshield was coming apart. I pulled over to fix it and noted that a requisite part had fallen off. Sigh. I propped it so it rested on the dashboard... useless for shielding wind. If that wasn't enough, later on my indicator switch threatened to drop right off. Now that I could not tolerate. I stopped and had a good look at it, sent it some persuasive positive thoughts (I kid you not), and was very gentle handling it thereafter. Although it is a Peugeot brand bike, it was assembled in China. I will have to get it checked when I get back home.

Needless to say I loved the journey much... not so much the ride. The 125 struggled to keep 40mph upwards on the rolling English hillsides. I've not been overtaken by other cars as much as I was today.  Was kinda scary as some were too close for comfort. I had to keep my eye on the rear view mirrors more than normal so I'd not be taken for surprise. The noisy 125 permits little sound of vehicles sneaking up from behind.

My butt also suffered. It went near numb sometimes. I'd have to get up and twist a little at regular traffic light stops to get some feeling back. Kind of like a calypso dance ... wiggling with my waist and all. I'd glance at my mirrors to see the response behind and hey, I'd say car drivers were well entertained. Yeah, I like an audience.

Another point of note was feeling every single pebble I ran over. I am hoping bigger bikes have better shocks. Funny thing is, I don't recall all this being an issue on shorter one hour runs, but three hours in and yeah, it matters.

The heavy buzz from the engine also took its toll and caressed me so I was tired sooner than I wanted to be. After two hours non-stop, I had to take a one hour break to recover.

As I turned from the country roads into the main coastal road, it was laid out exactly like a motorway. Seriously. Four lanes each side, complete with exits. I panicked momentarily as I thought I had made a wrong turn. But this particular road was only a few miles long, and did not qualify as a motorway although it was just like one. It gave me first hand experience being on a motorway-like road and the bike wind-drift I had read much about. I totally understand now why 125 CBT-riders are not permitted on motorways. There is NO WAY we can keep up with that wind, let alone motorway traffic. Grateful for the experience.

Suffice it to say, yes, I'm getting that bigger bike. Sure thing. The 125 is a workhorse without doubt. It'd have kept going and going all day but not so much it's rider. My verdict is, it's an excellent commuter and for quick trips around town: it is not for long haul touring.

This gives me much clarity for what I will be looking for in the upgrade bike: bigger engine, rider comforts, good shocks, much storage, not-assembled-in-China, larger fuel tank, and finally, must be an automatic scooter. This describes the Suzuki Burgman 400 perfectly.  So, that's that then.

Warning: I may have different views or add more of the same after my ride back tomorrow. We'll see.