I had a choice of two possible places to be yesterday, Biddeford Bike show or the Saddlebags Social Ride. The choice was easy really, so I headed the 100 miles down the M5 / A30 for the annual Saddlebags73 (vlogger) social ride that kicks off from Launceston.
The ride down was nice and dry, not warm but sunny and breezy, until the border with Cornwall... just before the turnoff for Launceston and it hammered down (light showers my arse!). First thing when arriving was to top up the petrol, then into the car park to see which other idiots had got up at the crack of dawn to be here.
Yep, there they were; Phil, also from Weston, on a Harley. Nick from Yeovil on his (new model) Transalp, Derek from Coventry on a Kawasaki and one of his mates who had come from even further North and left home at 4.30am!
An hour and a bit later and 40 odd riders on various machines gathered, off we went; Launceston to Tavistock, then up onto Dartmoor, past Princetown, complete with Dartmoor Prison, through Two Bridges, a photo stop where "Flapjack" Phil handed out his home made flapjack.... with chocolate topping,... mmmmmmmm. Down into Mortonhampstead for a short stop by the public loos, then off over to Bovey Tracey and lunch at the Jolly Roger / Jollys Bike Shop. If you know this place, you know it, if not, look it up on google, it's....unusual!
From Bovey we tracked back onto Dartmoor and ran under Haytor Rocks through Widecome on the Moor, lots of single track roads and gravelly climbs. Through Ponsworthy and another coffee stop at Dartmeet. From there it was a slight retrace of our steps back to Launceston, by which time our numbers where much delpeted, locals having dissapeared one at a time on the return leg.
The weather all day was anything from torrential rain to sunshine so hot you wanted to take your jacket off, this led to some stunning views across Dartmoor, the air being clean and fresh from the rain and the rocks and hills standing or in sharp contrast to the surroundings.
Time for a bit of a natter and a few goodbye's with friends who only see each once a year and then I headed the 100 miles back home again, dry all the way and with surprisingly well behaved traffic.
300 miles round trip. Great day.