I was in Scotland for a short trip and overnight stay a couple of weeks ago (see this post), at that time I got lucky with the weather, as whilst much of the UK was getting a good soaking I managed two very decent days with temperatures reaching as high as 27c.
The only downside of that trip was when I decided to turn back on the road that runs alongside Talla reservoir as the gusting wind was way too high to feel safe. You can imagine what a bonus it felt like to be back on the road to Scotland within less than two weeks and once again to dodge the poor weather that fell either side of the days that I was away.
It was a late decision to go, and one based purely on the weather. Packing for an overnight trip is hardly time consuming, and I spent a shade more time on deciding where I would go than I did on packing. This trip I decided would end up on the west coast and I booked a hotel on the seafront in Prestwick, and as it turned out overlooking the Isle of Arran.
I’ve done quite a few trips to Scotland and been up the west coast a few times as well, and an area that I love and is easy to factor into a route up there is the Galloway Forest – which is exactly what I did. Other than rattling the first 100 minutes or so off on the motorway, I came off the m/way at Shap and headed for Penrith, Gretna, Dumfries and on to the really good roads towards Castle Douglas and onwards. The mix of the roads varied between good and superb and the scenery at times was stunning
There are two sets of pictures in this Blog post the first set are below and from from Day One. Scroll down for the second set from Day Two
My hotel for the night was well located but accommodation wise was average but adequate. The property had a sort of tired feel to it and felt like some areas needed a refurbish and general freshen up – but having said that the parking for my bike was good, suitable Covid 19 arrangements were in place, the bed was super comfortable and after waking up from a decent nights sleep I lay in bed drinking coffee and looking out to the Isle of Arran – so on balance nothing at all to complain about.
Prestwick itself seemed to have a decent number of places to eat and drink and given its pretty decent location for bike trip I can imagine that I will stay there again at some point.
Day Two was to provide some fantastic riding and on roads that I absolutely will go back to do again. After leaving Prestwick I decided to make a route across country and head towards Tweedsmuir and on to the Talla and Meggat Reservoirs, which for me are amongst my favorite places in the UK. My route took me towards Sorn, Glenbuck, Hyndford Bridge, Biggar and then Tweedsmuir before turning to Talla and Meggat. After that it was up past St Marys Loch onto Moffat and then home.
All in all another short but superb trip, with a couple of 300 mile days on generally excellent and empty roads, and once again I was blessed with decent weather.
I have traveled pretty extensively by motorbike across Europe over the last 20 years and Scotland never ever fails as a country to provide a fabulous environment to bike in. If you get it wrong with the weather it can feel a bit grim, but if you get it right, then in my opinion there are many parts of Scotland that are more than a match up for some of the most scenic parts or Europe.
Links to recent posts:
Links to recent posts below and scroll down for the final picture set from this trip:
On the road to Scotland Again;
Or check out the Lockdown Lookback – The Motorbike Years series
Pictures from Day Two below
