by
Neil Petty
The alarm on my phone woke me at
7am, the sound of rain dripping off the dormer window immediately
apparent, although it sounded nothing like the downpour we had Saturday.
After getting up and making breakfast the rain had stopped, Ade rang to confirm he could not make it as he did not have a bike (since the GTR was in for repair).
So, the GT came out, as it was the obvious choice to lead a KGT run. Besides, I didn’t fancy having to fill up every 50 miles with the KTM and there was no weather protection.
By 8.30 I was loaded up, kitted up and ready to roll, the sun had came out and as I left I just wondered who would be joining
me as Richard Clifford emailed on Friday to say he could not make it (two of the main contenders out).
I made my way down to Wroxham, Salhouse and on to the A47 south of Norwich turning west towards King’s Lynn. There were dark clouds in the distance but I did not think waterproofs were necessary yet.
My luck with the weather ran out between Dereham and Swaffham but it looked like a quick shower so I just ducked behind the fairing and within a couple of miles I was through it. I turned off the A47 on to the A1122 and rode through Downham Market to the station.
I had arrived at 9.50am, the place was dry and I parked in one of the four empty motorcycle bays. While waiting for the others to turn up I looked through my GT logbook (yes I keep a log of all the fuel and maintenance I carry out on the GT), I realised I
should have changed the oil and filter about 200 miles ago!
10.30am arrived and the size of the group had not increased. I decided to hang on until 10.45am, the cut-off time, so with a group of one (including myself) I thought first stop would be breakfast. I looped around Downham Market and stopped at the Little Chef just east on the A10.
After late breakfast I put on my waterproof jacket and headed up the A10 to King’s Lynn. The traffic was picking up as I got to the junction with the A47 and A149 and I threaded my way through it and got on the A149 to Hunstanton. The weather was not looking good and ground to a halt with lots of traffic. By the time I got to the usual bike park on the path at the main green the
rain had set in.
Looking at the dozen bikes or so that were there, some Germans and Hungarians had the right idea with BMW C1s, (roof and
windscreen wipers) everyone had taken cover until the rain eased off and I retrieved my camera and fired off a few shots. Helmet and gloves back on, I left for the next stop at Wells-next-the-sea.
BMW C1s Wells-next-the-sea
I did not get more than four or five miles out of Hunstanton before I got caught in a downpour and the traffic slowed everything down to about half speed. With nowhere to pull over and sandwiched in the middle of a dozen cars I wished that I had put my waterproof trousers on in Hunstanton. The water ran off the back of my tank bag and into mylap, (I am sure you all know the feeling).
The rain had backed off a couple of miles from Wells-next-the-sea, but by the time I stopped and took a couple of photographs it had caught up again.
On to Stiffkey, some dry roads but daft drivers, as the first and only emergency stop of the day came when an elderly gentleman decided that even though his side of the road was blocked by parked cars and it was therefore only one car wide, he had right of way because he was driving a car and I was on a bike – or perhaps he just did not see a bright red GT, fairing and crash helmet! On the way out of town the bike following passed and was easily identified, Honda 700 Deauville.
The ride along the A149 to Cromer was uneventful. I had left the rain behind and my leathers were drying out a bit.
I followed the black Deauville and watched the lines he was taking, which were a bit better than mine. For those who do not
use the A149 very often, it suffers from loose sandy verges which get washed across the road in the wet then pushed in to all the
wrong places by vehicles travelling over them, so you have a choice of driving on worn-out tarmac or sand and gravel.
I pulled into the car park at the end of the main green for a cupa and something to eat. The Deauville had done the same a minute or two earlier so I thought I would go over and have a chat. Bob (I think that was his name as I am writing this up about ten days later) was a retired gentleman who was an Advanced Motorcyclist and had spent the morning with the Norfolk Advanced Motorcycle Group and then out for a ride before returning to Suffolk. He had just picked up the Deauville a couple of weeks earlier as he could not get on with a VFR, (the riding position was too uncomfortable).
After about half an hour it was time to move on again. I took a couple of uninspiring snaps and continued on the A149. By the
time I got to North Walsham I decided to cut out the last leg to Yarmouth and go home. No one disagreed so I just turned off a couple of miles down the road, parked the bike out the back ready to clean for Sunny Hunny in two weeks. It was 3.30pm.
So, my first run as RC was fairly relaxed, (no one to organise, run at my own pace) marred only by the weather. A couple of
weeks before I’d felt sick simply because it was too hot.
After getting up and making breakfast the rain had stopped, Ade rang to confirm he could not make it as he did not have a bike (since the GTR was in for repair).
So, the GT came out, as it was the obvious choice to lead a KGT run. Besides, I didn’t fancy having to fill up every 50 miles with the KTM and there was no weather protection.
By 8.30 I was loaded up, kitted up and ready to roll, the sun had came out and as I left I just wondered who would be joining
me as Richard Clifford emailed on Friday to say he could not make it (two of the main contenders out).
I made my way down to Wroxham, Salhouse and on to the A47 south of Norwich turning west towards King’s Lynn. There were dark clouds in the distance but I did not think waterproofs were necessary yet.
My luck with the weather ran out between Dereham and Swaffham but it looked like a quick shower so I just ducked behind the fairing and within a couple of miles I was through it. I turned off the A47 on to the A1122 and rode through Downham Market to the station.
I had arrived at 9.50am, the place was dry and I parked in one of the four empty motorcycle bays. While waiting for the others to turn up I looked through my GT logbook (yes I keep a log of all the fuel and maintenance I carry out on the GT), I realised I
should have changed the oil and filter about 200 miles ago!
10.30am arrived and the size of the group had not increased. I decided to hang on until 10.45am, the cut-off time, so with a group of one (including myself) I thought first stop would be breakfast. I looped around Downham Market and stopped at the Little Chef just east on the A10.
After late breakfast I put on my waterproof jacket and headed up the A10 to King’s Lynn. The traffic was picking up as I got to the junction with the A47 and A149 and I threaded my way through it and got on the A149 to Hunstanton. The weather was not looking good and ground to a halt with lots of traffic. By the time I got to the usual bike park on the path at the main green the
rain had set in.
Looking at the dozen bikes or so that were there, some Germans and Hungarians had the right idea with BMW C1s, (roof and
windscreen wipers) everyone had taken cover until the rain eased off and I retrieved my camera and fired off a few shots. Helmet and gloves back on, I left for the next stop at Wells-next-the-sea.
BMW C1s Wells-next-the-sea
I did not get more than four or five miles out of Hunstanton before I got caught in a downpour and the traffic slowed everything down to about half speed. With nowhere to pull over and sandwiched in the middle of a dozen cars I wished that I had put my waterproof trousers on in Hunstanton. The water ran off the back of my tank bag and into mylap, (I am sure you all know the feeling).
The rain had backed off a couple of miles from Wells-next-the-sea, but by the time I stopped and took a couple of photographs it had caught up again.
On to Stiffkey, some dry roads but daft drivers, as the first and only emergency stop of the day came when an elderly gentleman decided that even though his side of the road was blocked by parked cars and it was therefore only one car wide, he had right of way because he was driving a car and I was on a bike – or perhaps he just did not see a bright red GT, fairing and crash helmet! On the way out of town the bike following passed and was easily identified, Honda 700 Deauville.
The ride along the A149 to Cromer was uneventful. I had left the rain behind and my leathers were drying out a bit.
I followed the black Deauville and watched the lines he was taking, which were a bit better than mine. For those who do not
use the A149 very often, it suffers from loose sandy verges which get washed across the road in the wet then pushed in to all the
wrong places by vehicles travelling over them, so you have a choice of driving on worn-out tarmac or sand and gravel.
I pulled into the car park at the end of the main green for a cupa and something to eat. The Deauville had done the same a minute or two earlier so I thought I would go over and have a chat. Bob (I think that was his name as I am writing this up about ten days later) was a retired gentleman who was an Advanced Motorcyclist and had spent the morning with the Norfolk Advanced Motorcycle Group and then out for a ride before returning to Suffolk. He had just picked up the Deauville a couple of weeks earlier as he could not get on with a VFR, (the riding position was too uncomfortable).
After about half an hour it was time to move on again. I took a couple of uninspiring snaps and continued on the A149. By the
time I got to North Walsham I decided to cut out the last leg to Yarmouth and go home. No one disagreed so I just turned off a couple of miles down the road, parked the bike out the back ready to clean for Sunny Hunny in two weeks. It was 3.30pm.
So, my first run as RC was fairly relaxed, (no one to organise, run at my own pace) marred only by the weather. A couple of
weeks before I’d felt sick simply because it was too hot.