Bruce the McLaren in his Spiritual Homeland

[mikey k]

Now the weather is improving in the UK we've set off on our first long run in the 650S
8 days round the Highlands
As is usual for us heading North the previous week the weather was superb and the forecast for this week is pi$$ing down
We didn't get off to a great start with getting stuck at the front of the queue after a lorry fire closed the M74 (never driven the wrong way down a motorway with a police escort before!)
That prompted a route change to avoid M ways.
Off across the Borders from Moffat to Edinburgh (great road BTW) then on up through Glenshee, Braemar, The Lecht and over the A939 to avoid the misery of averaging cameras all the way up the A9
482 miles in a day and I LOVED it

Having looked at the forecast last night it looked like the North Highlands were going to be the sunniest so that was decision made
It was FANTASTIC

228 Miles across the North Highlands
B9176 North for the views
Up Loch’s Shin, Merkland & More on A838
Balnakiel Beach
Smoo Cave where after the 5th attempt over the years we managed to get the tour in side it
Sango Bay beach & the Oasis for lunch (about the only place in Durness)
Tongue with obligatory pics on the causeway
A836 south - my favourite A road
B9176 South

Both the A836 & B9716 are better going North.
I had to use 95RON petrol as finding anything better further north than Inverness takes a LOT of planning
Considering it was Good Friday Bank Holiday the traffic was absolutely minimal

From a common spot

DSC01024 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

My favourite A road

DSC01032 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

It was a VERY busy bank holiday on the roads

IMG_0610 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

A favourite photo spot on Tongue causeway

DSC01078 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

Edited by mikey k on Saturday 26th March 18:44

[MollyGT3]

Good to see you are getting it run in ready for the big one next month Mikey!

[mikey k]

MollyGT3 said:

Good to see you are getting it run in ready for the big one next month Mikey!

its going to take all the time from when we get back to then to clean him back up!

[robgt3]

Have a fabulous time. Scotland is awesome. Weather down here is truly not good. We are looking forward to your Welsh hoon. Is that Macca of yours run in yet ? My Orange Beetle is champing at the bit (1260 miles)

[mikey k]

robgt3 said:

Have a fabulous time. Scotland is awesome. Weather down here is truly not good. We are looking forward to your Welsh hoon. Is that Macca of yours run in yet ? My Orange Beetle is champing at the bit (1260 miles)

It feels like it is!
Just cracked 3k miles yesterday
Off round the Grampians and Cairngorms tomorrow and Skye Monday.

[Axionknight]

[Ozzie Osmond]

mikey k said:

....to clean him back up!

Oh dear.

[Jasandjules]

Very nice. Good to see her stretching her legs on nice country roads.

[Troubleatmill]

mikey k said:

Magic Tree

Fella, I hate to break it to you.... but that magic tree air freshener you bought... is a wee bit too big.
It is sticking out of your roof.

Edit: And seriously.... you get a stunning view like that - and include a wheely bin???


The green eyed monster is big here

Edited by Troubleatmill on Saturday 26th March 20:32

[mikey k]

both fair points
I think I'll have to develop some photo shop skills

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I think Bruce may disagree about his homeland

Lovely roads though, heard about the wagon fire on Friday (?) though, let me know if you want any alternative routes through the borders on the way home

[mikey k]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

I think Bruce may disagree about his homeland

Lovely roads though, heard about the wagon fire on Friday (?) though, let me know if you want any alternative routes through the borders on the way home

Yep Bruce was a Kiwi but his names is VERY Scottish, hence spiritual homeland

I'm contempleting return this was after I got done for 82 mph on the M74 last time

B743 Strathaven to Muirkirk PH “rally” route
B797 Mennock to Wanlockhead
A702 down to Carronbridge
A708 Moffat to Selkirk past St Marys Loch
A703 & A72/707 to Selkirk

Is that any good?
I know its an "odd" route but seems interesting

[LaurasOtherHalf]

mikey k said:

Yep Bruce was a Kiwi but his names is VERY Scottish, hence spiritual homeland

I'm contempleting return this was after I got done for 82 mph on the M74 last time

B743 Strathaven to Muirkirk PH “rally” route
B797 Mennock to Wanlockhead
A702 down to Carronbridge
A708 Moffat to Selkirk past St Marys Loch
A703 & A72/707 to Selkirk

Is that any good?
I know its an "odd" route but seems interesting

You've researched very well mikey! Some excellent bits of road there. Would you be able to add on another hour?

[mikey k]

if it was worth while

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Ok, well an hour might be me pushing it but here goes....

Now, this is a perennial favourite of mine when doing a run with friends, it's the roads I grew up on but I usually keep to the wider, faster and better sighted ones these days-maybe not a bad thing in a mclaren!

Once you get to st.marys loch, there's a lovely stretch in front of you to Moffat. It's narrow in places but the views are wicked and you can stop for an icecream in Moffat itself-well worth doing. Doing so would miss the best road however so if you want to do it, drive to Moffat and then come back to the loch!

Regardless, while heading south you want to turn left at the loch towards eskdalemuir on the b709. From there you keep going on the same road to the muckletoon of Langholm. If you miss out the icecream at Moffat then really stop at pelosi's, they used to run the icecream vans post war.

From Langholm you take the main road out of town (A7) right up until you reach the traffic lights at the bridge. To save some time at this point just put "penton" in the sat nav. There are loads of rally roads to play on but you're in a Supercar and heading home so this will be a nice open road.

From penton, take the b6318 to roadhead and basically stay on that road through lanercost to Brampton. This all writes down looking pretty complicated but it's pretty much one road. At lanercost you keep heading southeast towards Brampton and hadrians wall. As soon as you reach Brampton just follow the (immediate) sign towards Alston.

At Alston, you turn right and take in the amazing hartside pass (tour of Britain stage last year) which drops you back into Penrith and the M6 junction for the Lake District. Then home

I grew up on these roads and believe me, the stretch between st marys loch and Alston I've never seen a police car never mind a speed camera. You'll be lucky to see much more than the odd farmer

[mikey k]

I'll try and work that in
Thank you very much

[LaurasOtherHalf]

No worries, as you can tell I'm pretty proud of our local area

Was nice to see Evo using the roads for eCoty a couple of years back, scroll through to 3 mins here to see the st marys loch to eskdalemuir road;
http://youtu.be/4AJPt_qm5kY

[SELON]

Looking lovely and dirty - pics are great Mikey and sounds like you've started the season off in style. Definitely sounds like you've picked the best place weather wise as well!!

How're you finding the car in the conditions - better than down here but still look a bit damp?

PS good to see the roof down!

[mikey k]

SELON said:

Looking lovely and dirty - pics are great Mikey and sounds like you've started the season off in style. Definitely sounds like you've picked the best place weather wise as well!!

How're you finding the car in the conditions - better than down here but still look a bit damp?

PS good to see the roof down!

the weather up here is far from perfect
I check the local forecast the night before and head off in the opposite direction to the rain
Didn't work on Saturday as there was rain everywhere so we spent the day at Fort George - really interesting!

DSC01106 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

DSC01111 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

DSC01112 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

The forecast trick works for most of the day, but we did end up in a snow storm at the top of Glenshee yesterday
We picked this route
B9090 to B9007
A938/9
Lin of Dee near Braemar
Lunch @ Braemar in the Bothy
Pitlochry to Dalwhinnie
A86 to Spean Bridge
East of Loch Ness B862 & 851


DSC01132 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

DSC01138 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

As you can see the rest of the Grampians and Cairngorms were great and we loved the A86 Laggan to Spean Bridge with the leaves off the trees and snow on the hills
Also enjoyed B862/851 as an alternative to following the sheep up the west side of Loch Ness

Woke up to this today

DSC01146 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

So decided on
B9176 North for views
A836 from Lairg
B873/871 to Melvich
Dunnet Head
John O Groats
Thirle Door and the Stacks of Duncansby
Castle Sinclair & lighthouse
Old Wick Castle
Grey Cairns of Camster
Golspie fish supper on beach

On our fav A road

DSC01151 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

Roof down, hat & gloves on

IMG_0746 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

IMG_0811 by Mikey K 650S, on Flickr

Edited by mikey k on Monday 28th March 21:15

[TVRJAS]

Really enjoyed those pictures,thanks for posting and enjoy your remaining days.

I've bookmarked the page as it's a trip and area I really should visit,and will keep your route as a reverence.

looks stunning.