Mikes Big Adventure

Tuesday 19th August 2003 - Day Four

If ever I wake in the night, trembling and shivering in fear, its because I`m reliving this part of the journey as a nightmare! It started fairly pleasant, through rolling hills, long straight roads and amiable little villages dotted here and there. The sun was battling with white puffy clouds to shine through. Then the cavalry came in the shape of big grey rain clouds, followed by winding, twisting, up and down, in and out, over and under roads, the most torturous roads you could imagine. It was fun at first, climbing hills, focussed on the peak that met the clouds. You`d reach the top then look down over the top of the screen wondering where the heck the road went, just having enough time to say "Oh my God!" then dropping a hundred feet or more in seconds and repeating over and over again. I`m glad of one thing - I didnt have a heavy breakfast that morning!

Gradually, over a couple of hours the temperature dropped. Faster and faster it dropped until I was forced to stop, shivering so much. My lower half was well clad but my top half with trendy new "let the breeze flow through" jacket wasn`t up to the job of keeping me warm. I pulled over to the side of the road. Fantastic views across the Northumberland hills but I needed something to take the chilly draught off my chest. My bikers map book was handy, it had pages made of some kind of untearable, waterproof plastic. I opened it up and lined the front of my jacket with it. That deflected some of the draught but my chest is bigger than A4 so by the time I reached Falkirk, a mere 170 miles away, I was a little achey and rather cold.

Still, I found Keith and Karens house easily. Just off the M9 motorway and distinguishable by the very obvious personalised number plate on one of their cars parked outside - no need for a house number here!. Keith collects Raleigh Chopper bikes as well as Bond Bug cars and he proudly showed me his restored collection and ones waiting their turn. After tea, Keith invited me to a tour of the sights of Falkirk. I saw the last Scottish castle to be conquered by the English, the Falkirk Wheel (a mechanism to transfer boats from one canal to another even though the heights are different) and Keith pointed out lots of other parts of Scottish history. If only I`d been awake and alert enough to remember all of them!

The main thing that fascinated me was Keiths beautifully restored Bond Bug (pictured). Keiths web site can be found at www.bondbug.com and is a real repository of information on these amazing little cars. Made of fibreglass by the same company that made the three wheeled Robin and Regal cars, only two thousand odd Bugs were ever made. Of those most were painted this vivid orange colour, a few were lime green and only two were painted white.

Well, I had to drag myself away from Keiths workshop and garage. If I`d stayed any longer I would have tried to claim squatters rights in his Bug! Now that I`ve seen a really nice one I`m tempted to build one for myself. Maybe this Winter, maybe next, who knows!

After a good nights sleep I wake early (9am - well its early for me!) and pack the bike ready for the longest leg of the journey. I anticipate a long arduous trek of about 280 miles ahead with few petrol stations so I figure on stopping at least twice for a break. I also use the waterprof lining inside my new jacket. I`d been cold on the way here so I thought the extra windproof layer would help.

Keiths workmate arrives just as I`m leaving. We chat for a few minutes about bikes since he has several, the biggest being a Yamaha FJR1300. He asks which way I arrived and I answered "A68". "Aaaah.." he says, in a knowing tone, ".. the rollercoaster road". "Yeah", I laugh, "thats the one!". Too right he was!

So, away I set, looking for the first petrol station. A few miles short of the Forth Rd Bridge I spot one. I fill up and gaze in awe at the giant structure spanning the Firth of Forth. This just has to be the biggest bridge I`ll have ever crossed. Being the biggest man made object in Scotland theres an extremely strong chance of that!