ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Phil
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Phil »

SPEN wrote:i had mine apart , insulated then taped up
yep....done all that. i think half the failures are due to the connections, but the other half are just that the actually reg/rec are crap.
Tramp
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Tramp »

BAD NEWS Mate.....thought they had fixed that problem long ago...still you get a warm boring ride home....get it fixed for the bonfire meet...
Paul
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Paul »

Well what an adventure we had!
Leaving Cumbria on a fine but cold morning we met "sparks" at Shap for the 350 mile ride North. We had only just got North of Carlisle when we had headlights in the mirrors and two bikes became six as we rode on with "Gundog" and his mates. We were lucky to just have light showers that you could see the other side of and so with a mix of sunshine and showers we were making good progress. We had a couple of stops for coffee and dinner where we were joined by another ABR making seven before Inverness where the weather closed in.
When we arrived at Ullapool it was blowing a gale and throwing heavy rain showers. We were lucky to have help with the tent, it took five of us to hold it down before hammering the pegs in. I must admit I did wonder how we would fair, this being only Maria's second long distance bike trip and it rained heavily on the first one at the Horizons meet.
Given the weather there were quite a few bikes and tents but no people, they were all hiding in their tents or the pubs and cafe's.
The first person I saw was Paul (Dubber68) who had ridden there on his 125cc Vanvan to raise money for our charity "Curry-Aid" it was good to see that he had made the journey safely.
I spotted Craig (Largewayround) and thought I would go and have a chat, having organised the rally he just apologised. I felt really sorry for him but you can't control the weather, well done Craig for putting it together in the first place, I know first hand how stressful organising an ABR rally is, well done you!
We bumped into Jim, Fionna and Hudders, thanks for the invite for a curry, we really enjoyed it, even if it did take an hour to come!
Went to the pub but to be honest I didn't recognise anybody so we legged it back to the tent.
We got snuggled into our sleeping bags and just burst out laughing at how rediculous our situation was. We had to shout to hear ourselves over the noise of the wind and rain and the tent was getting battered from side to side. I must admit it did feel quite special been cocooned in our tent with mother nature giving her all outside.

The next morning wasn't much better and the less fortunate peoples tents were flattened and strewn over the site with some very solemn faces.
We retreated to a cafe for breakfast where we decided enough was enough. Saturday was supposed to be the best day, ride outs were cancelled, it was just to dangerous, people were hiding in their tents or the pub so we couldn't even stand about chatting which I love to do.
We decided to pack up and head home.
We left at 12.30 and had a completely dry and sunny but cold 7 hour journey South.
Arrived home at 7.30

Our thanks go to Craig for sticking with it, we did have a good time and definately an adventure.
Thanks go to Paul (Dubber68) for his VanVan to Ullapool ride and to all the ABR's that supported his ride and generously gave to the orphans in our care in Tamil-Nadu.

nb. Can we have the Ullapool rally in Summer next year?

Cheers,
Paul
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africajim
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by africajim »

An adventure for sure! Glad you made it home safe Paul.

We had issues with our tent, a split pole, so packed up not long after yourselves and headed back home on Saturday afternoon as I couldn't guarantee the tent would survive another night of wind!

We had a cracking night on the Thursday, sitting around drinking with Mel Jordan, Hudders and Carol, Raymo and others. A few drinks were had!
On the Friday Raymo and myself had a run north to Lochinver, to Drumbeg then Lunch at Durness. Blue skies most of the way.
Friday night we had a good time in the Indian although wouldn't recommend the place for future. After a few beers in the Arches we left for our tent, OMG the weather was fierce! Heavy rain and I would estimate around 50mph gusts of wind! By morning a few tents were destroyed, a couple with broken poles, ours included! I had propped up the broken pole overnight with my luggage boxes.
The wind and rain had not subsided by morning so I decided to cancel the rideout north due to safety issues. When it wasn't any better by lunchtime I decided our tent may not survive another night so packed up and headed home.
Well, you asked for an adventure,,,, it certainly was!

A photo from the Friday rideout, just to show the weather wasn't so bad,,, all the time!
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Kendo
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Kendo »

Well after leaving ullapool at 10.30 this morning we (Me and Alun) have just arrived safely in stratford on avon. 565 miles of the worst wind and rain i have ever come across. Great weekend and lets hope for better weather next year!!
Paul Neate
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Paul Neate »

I too packed up Saturday morning, having spent much of the night bracing the poles on my mickey mouse Vango tent -- it wasn't designed to handle winds like those, and I was pretty sure it wouldn't survive another night like that.

I saw a blue-and-white Suzuki Gladius on the deck just as I was leaving Ullapool at about 9:30. I had seen one like it at the campsite on Friday night -- hope whoever it was is OK. There was an ambulance in attendance already, so I didn't stop.

Had a great ride home, mostly dry(ish). I tried to take the west coast road -- turned off towards Gairloch, but the wind was horrendous and it just didn't feel safe, so backtracked to the A835, then cut across to the A82 and followed that to Fort William and Crianlarich then on through the Trossachs, Stirling, Edinburgh and finally back home near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The wind over Rannoch Moor was pretty hairy, but apart from that conditions were good.

Definitely an interesting truncated weekend. Thanks again to Craig (LargeWayRound) for arranging the meet. Gave me the impetus to get out and take a longer ride -- haven't covered that kind of distance for a good long while. Fingers crossed that next year the weather will be kinder.

Hope everyone made it home safely.
MarkN
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by MarkN »

Paul Neate wrote:
I saw a blue-and-white Suzuki Gladius on the deck just as I was leaving Ullapool at about 9:30. I had seen one like it at the campsite on Friday night -- hope whoever it was is OK. There was an ambulance in attendance already, so I didn't stop.
When I left at 10.30 this bike was just being loaded onto a low loader and the police were in attendance. I hope the rider was ok.
pikeymic
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by pikeymic »

Thank you Craig for a great weekend.
Thanks to all that came, Everybody made me feel welcome.It was nice to see that lots of us were willing to help others as they arrived.(due to wind & rain)
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Glider65
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ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Glider65 »

Having switched to B&Bs with Amanda up for the ride we just had to Put up with the rain and c c cold! My motorcycle boots had just turned into non-waterproof goretex boots a couple of weeks previously and I'd not had time to change them. So going through a puddle the depth of a small ford, in total darkness, just outside Catterick on thursday night was both an unexpected pleasure (I didn't lose it, stuff it in the hedge, or let on to Amanda my moment of shock and horror) and hours of torture (7 deegrees with wet feet at 70mph) of course I couldn't complain - this is, after all, my 'bag'!

We bumped into Dave and Dave - Gasoon as I know him, at Perth Services, and did end up doing the ride from inverness to Ullapool with them - and checked into the Royal Hotel, had dinner in the bar (Amanda in her slippers) and crawled into bed.

Sat morning found us at the campsite looking happy after a good scottish breakfast and hearing about the weather. We had a coffee at the Frigate and then set off for a run round Gairloch at 1130. As I went to pick up Davina (the bike) I heard you lot were all being really friendly with Amanda, and as I returned to pick her up, she was impressed that you lot could tell the sound of a Ducati as it approached - so whoever you are, Amanda thinks you're really knowledgeable!

In actual fact we had a great ride round, there was a 1/2 dozen KTMs doing that run too, so they passed us a couple of times, and we got back to our B&B for the sat night. Faced with the option of a hot bath or going to be socialble with everyone at the campsite, I chickened out - Sorry!

We set off at 0930 on Sunday, and having seen the weather forecast, decided to run down the East coast south of Edinburgh - only hit some light rain near Leeds around 7pm.

Amazingly Amanda Enjoyed doing 1015 miles in three days, my cycling shorts with the gel inserts saved my butt, and Davina managed 45mpg for possibly the first and last time in her life.

Craig (largeway round) you are the best, most friendly bloke ever! Thanks so much for organising the rally and it was so good to see so many people had made the effort to get up there! Next year I will be making a longer weekend of it for sure.

I have some video that I will edit up - and a couple of pictures too.

Glider65 / Konrad
Davy
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Re: ABR Highlands Rally Ullapool 28th-30th Sept 2012

Post by Davy »

Amazing weekend, me and Dave (on his Pegaso) got back to Newcastle last night (Sunday) knackered after fighting the winds down the A9, but a feeling of fulfillment. 900 miles exactly on the clock over the 3 days, about 200 of it on single track.
We had, in deference to our ageing bones, BnB'd it at the last minute (lugged the camping gear all the bloody way), and vecause of the weather fracturing everybody up into different pubs etc didn't get to meet so many folk, but a warm hello and thanks to the lads and lasses we did meet, and everybody who made it there as well!
Konrad, it was great to see you again, and Amanda of course!
Thanks to SteveT for the Saturday rideout in some pretty bad conditions - hope the lad who hurt his shoulder is recovering well. And a special best wishes to Nino, whose tenere was totalled by a car driver on Saturday (not related to the conditions), and who miraculously escaped almost unharmed despite flying for 15 metres. And to Ken and all those who helped him in the situation - you're all sound as pounds, man!

I'm going back up there next year for a longer trip... :)
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