Fat Bloke on a Bike

Good morning campers! The great news is that London Alan (Alan Walls) has decided to join me on my version of the Scottish 500. YAY!  I've got another riding buddy! He's tall and slim in a way like I'm not.  I'm smiling at the thought of 'Stan and Ollie' setting off from Inverness to the sound of the Laurel and Hardy theme tune on May the 21st. If my Blues Brother Mark can organise it with his kind wife Gill they too may join us for a day or so.  I promise not to vomit on them if we see them.  Well, they do live in Moffat which is in Scotland innit but I do forget it is still 250 to 300 miles by car from their home to Applecross.  This too might be one of those really good ideas that needs to be put in the really good ideas bin as it is a loooong drive with loaded bikes to get to us only for a day or two in the saddle.  We'll be in need of support though to get to the top of Bealach na Ba and my Blues Brother is just the man! Yes yes yes, I'm ...

It's February in a 'it feels like it's early in May' kinda way. The temperature and weather just now is brilliant!  Way too mild for this time of year.  As the forecasters regularly remind us, this time last year it was the 'Beast from the East' with minus lots of farengrades throughout the UK.  Do you remember my mad ride up to the top of Garrowby hill surrounded by deep snow?   That was in mid March last year!  The difference this time is that a high pressure system has parked itself to the south east so we have lovely warm air coming up from the Equator.  Last year the high was to the north east so drawing in polar winds from Siberia!  Thank you Mr Jet Stream for a lovely FebrUary (1). I'm not gonna complain too much about this global warming climate change malarkey right now but it may be a foretaste of winters to come.  Perhaps nice for little old me and you but not good for wildlife and other parts of this planet which is either freezing...