14 - 27 june.
Buell M2 Cyclone and Kawasaki ZR-7
Total distance: 3.969 kilometers.
The destination was England and Wales. The trip lasted about 2 weeks. The weekend in the middle was spent at the Brands Hatch circuit to visit a round of the 2003 British Superbike Championship.
That meant a rather silly route had to be compiled. The ferry lands
at the east coast, Wales is in the west, Brands Hatch is near London (east again).
And with the strong desire NOT to get on the motorway we planned a couple
of 300+ km days on the smaller roads for the first week. Luckily we were helped by the weather. It
was about 20 to 25 degrees and dry for the first couple of days. That meant a smooth
ride through a small part of the Peak District to get to Wales.
Somewhere in the Peak District
Two days of riding in Wales without the luggage on the bike lay ahead!
Great scenery (for what you can see of that riding a bike), lots of sheep and
a lot of roads with the 2 meter high hedges on the sides. That meant some nasty surprises of
suddenly appearing 4 or more wheeled vehicles ! ? ! ? !
Somewhere in the Cambrian Mountains
The Cardigan Bay near Llwyngwril
Llyn Clywedog (man made reservoir) near Llandiloes
Graig-Goch reservoir (Elan Valley)
Campsite at Hundred House (Builth Wells)
The second day riding around in Wales was the first and only day we
had to put on our rainsuit!
19 june 2003 On thursday we headed east again, camped near Salisbury and arrived at Brands on friday. I had a meeting planned with another ZR-7 rider. He arrived in the evening. By then the campsite was already filling up with mostly campers and cars with caravans! !
23 june 2003
After the weekend we headed south to 'Beachy Head' (near Eastbourne), one of the places of interest for this
holiday. Was that because of the stunning natural beauty of the white cliffs? Uh, no! It's
because of a documentary I saw a couple of months ago. Beachy Head has the highest number of
suicide cases of the country (possible the world). If you see the cliffs, the enormous
drops (highest is 160 meters) and how easy it is to get to them that's not surprising.
Beachy Head
Beachy Head
If you have planned to throw yourself from the cliff and on your way (to the cliff, that is) you pass the visitors centre you
can always call for help if you are not so sure anymore ...
Phonebooth near Beachy Head visitors centre
Campsite in Bransgore
24 june 2003
The next day some more 'culture'. We visited the spot where T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia)
crashed his motorcycle and was fatally injured on May 13th, 1935. This is between
Bovington Camp and Clouds Hill. The tree was planted in 1983 by a soldier who has
served in Arabia, together with T.E. Lawrence.
The spot where Lawrence of Arabia crashed his motorcycle
Lyme Bay near Abbottsbury
Dartmoor National Park
View on the Atlantic Ocean from campsite in Tintagel, Cornwall
Sunset.
Porlock, Somerset
The bike
27 june 2003 Back on the ferry (Harwich - Hoek van Holland), together with a lot of bikers (all going to the Dutch TT the next day).
On the HSS (Stena Line high speed catamaran with water jets)
See also:
The Buell riders holiday report
