Book Review – Pushing Miles

In the dawn of the post-Covid era as the world was opening Ian and Wendy were attempting a monumental ride. Pushing Miles documents their 160,000km ride covering Australia and the USA.

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The Great Ocean Road and Painted Silos

There are a few rides that we’ve talked about doing for many years, the two main ones, Tasmania and Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. Both iconic destinations in their own right and both great riding destinations. We’ve had plans for Tassie a number of times over the last three decades but they’ve always fallen through, and while I’ve done the Great Ocean Road a few times we haven’t ridden it together.

With Deb having a conference in Melbourne on the weekend we booked ourselves a week off to ride the Great Ocean before I drop her at the conference and I’ll continue riding to meet up with some long distance riding friends in Echuca for our annual muster.

Family / General

Right Place, Right Time

Sometimes the stars align and you’re in the right place at the right time. Unexpectedly we found ourselves soaking up an experience we wouldn’t normally do.

Australia / Motorcycling / Ride Reports / Travel

Going on a Mural Hunt

I love it out here, open road, big sky, and just the road for company interrupted by the occasional car, truck, or road train. This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m not sure whether I can explain it. So, when the chance to take a four-day weekend came up to ride, I jumped at the chance.

Motorcycling / Reviews / Ride Reports / Scotland / Travel / United Kingdom

Scotland 2023 – ride summary

The challenge with planning our Scotland ride was understanding the time and distance equation. That is, how many kilometres should you aim for each day that doesn’t make you feel like you are always chasing the clock, while giving you enough time to visit local sights without watching the clock. In this post I set out our ride plan and budget for our Scotland motorcycle tour.

Review – BMW R1250RT

I’ve made no secret of not being a fan of the boxer engine on these bikes. We put over 2,000 miles on the RT over a couple of weeks riding around the UK and want to provide my thoughts on the bike. Has two weeks on the bike changed my view.?

Last day riding in the UK

It was hard to believe our time together was over as we said our goodbyes over breakfast. Our plan for the day was to do some final sightseeing before returning our hire bike tomorrow morning.

Then There Were Two

Even Scotland was sad we were leaving, as we rode out of Glasgow under grey skies and rain. The first time, we’ve had to pull out our wet weather gear. We only have a few days left before we have to give the bike back so from Glasgow we head to the Lakes District, then the Yorkshire Dales, before returning the bike on Wednesday.

Exploring Glasgow

It was a pretty short ride today from Stirling to Glasgow; the bikes hardly had time to warm up with only 30 miles. But it was still packed with lots of exploring around Glasgow.

Tales of the Glen

Today’s ride is to Stirlung. It struck me today at Glencoe just how big and connected the story of the Scott’s is. We have heard stories at all our stops but as we visit more places, more of the pieces are fitting into place. Even our time in Norway links in with this story.

The Highlander and Harry

There really wasn’t any rush this morning as we were doing less than 100 miles today and really only have one scheduled stop at Eilean Doran castle, before popping out to check out the Harry Potter train.

Applecross and the Isle of Skye

Reach for your bucket list and write North Coast 500. I don’t care how you do it, just do it. Clearly the best way is by motorcycle … that’s a given. But if you can’t do it by motorcycle then a small car or camper (if you want to save money on accommodation). Just don’t…

North West Scotland … the start of narrow roads

We left Thurso under grey and drizzly skys this morning. While it was damp, it wasn’t wet enough to put on the wets. But it was wet (and cold) enough to use added caution when riding as the surface looked slippery. They tell me the roads get narrower from here on in, and by Betty Hill, they sure did.

Top of Scotland, then turn left.

I have to confess, I like the ‘Long Way …’ Round, Down, and Up series’ that Charlie and Ewan did all those years ago. I know the hard core adventure guys out there tisk tisk them, but what they did was open the eyes of many to the possibility. For me, they just fed my need for adventure, venturing out further, and going longer.