10-15-2014, 10:30 PM
There and back again, a learner’s tale of a perilous journey to university and home again on a Yamaha YBR 125.
We being our tale with a little background of our hero, a young male currently undertaking a doctorate of engineering degree with Loughborough University and the industrial sponsor, Buro Happold based in Bath. As part of this 4 year course, our hero must attend lectures every now and then for modules geared towards his research. And as such, some Tuesday’s from last week until Christmas(ish), a trip to Loughborough from Bath must be made to attend one of these modules lectures.
Alas, as with any good tale ours begins with misfortune, when the head gasket went on the car on the first trip to Loughborough last Tuesday, resulting in missed lectures and a lengthy tow back home (though thankfully free due to continued AA membership (they say cars and alcohol don’t mix, yet here I’m sure there’s some mixing going on…)).
So, tasked with finding a new car before Tuesday, missing lectures again or going on the bike, the decision was made to simply travel by A roads (as the journey was mostly that anyway until the M69/M1) on the 125.
Preparations formally began on Saturday, when all hope of finding a replacement car in time had faded and some routine maintenance was conducted on the bike, starting with adjusting the chain to reduce the slack. Thankfully the weather was dry for this outside activity and the chain was duly adjusted, waxed and prepped for the long journey ahead.
Next came the lights check. As the lecture was due to begin at 9am on the Tuesday morning, the journey would begin in darkness, so working headlamps were a must. Having narrowed down the previous issue to an earthing problem with the connector block, I cut the block off and replaced it with terminal strips making the wires talk to each other. As a side note, this seems to have worked, as I haven’t had trouble with the lights since. While inspecting the repair job, the full beam worked brilliantly, but low beam had some issues. Inspection of the bulb revealed a broken filament, so a trip to Halfords was taken to obtain a replacement. While there, our hero stumbled upon a pair of ‘one size fits all’ waterproof trousers, and decided these would make a good addition to the kit for the winter riding.
Finally, after allowing everything to cool down, the oil and tyres were checked, tank filled (circa £6) and the cover put back on for the night.
Monday evening arrives and the plan to wake up at 3 looks daunting now, but preparations are made, the top box is packed with spare clothes and equipment for the day ahead and, just in case, a puncture repair kit for an emergency.
Tuesday morning, our hero awoke to the sound of calm, a strong breeze rustled through the trees and the ground was damp, but success! It was not raining. This lightened the mood as the routine of getting ready was undertaken, thermals put on, top box re-packed when something was noticed to be missing, and a final reading of the print out of directions to avoid the motorways. The top box was loaded onto the bike, and, despite a cloudless sky, our hero chooses wisely to wear the waterproof trousers. After all, there’s no point bolting the stable door once the horse is gone.
Everything loaded, kit all adorned, bike fired up it was time to head off into the night, Meatloafs Bath out of Hell providing a nice starting track. The decision to wear the waterproofs would prove to be the right one when, 15 minutes in, the heavens opened. The road became slippery, giving a reminder when going round a round-a-bout and the back end choosing to make a little slide and the visor became wet. Oh well, only another 3 hours to go/110 miles. Through the darkness I rode, the little 125 revving at 8krpm to stay at 55-60mph on the A roads, dipping headlights and putting them back on full, and, most interestingly, keeping them on full for ignorant car drivers who opted not to bother dipping their headlights coming towards me. Other than the GPS on the phone keep losing me, I only got lost 4 times taking wrong turns (when the GPS was lost, and looking at the directions was futile for they had become mush in the rain).
However, the most interesting element of the ride, other than learning new roads in the darkness and hoping the front wouldn’t wash away round a corner, was when going through a town and seeing to my left a flash of headlights turning to pull out of a junction. I slowed down, I don’t know why, I guess instinct told me they were going too fast to bother looking and sure enough the van came screeching out of the junction, in front of me, saw me, and then stopped. In the middle of the road. Had I not already been slowing down, I suspect I would have hit the van and that would have been bye bye me. A hand gesture and a shout which probably wasn’t heard out of the helmet and I was on my way again.
Eventually, I arrived at Loughborough at ~7:30am, with 90 mins to spare before my lecture. Which was good, as I used 70 of those minutes under a hand dryer drying out my boots, gloves, top and socks, as it hadn’t stopped raining until about 7ish.
Lecture over, it was time to ride to Burton to meet an old friend from Keele for lunch, something we’d arranged the week before but postponed after the car issues. This was of course when I had a car, and forgot completely about doing the A and B road journey over to Burton. Thankfully, it was signposted after a few miles so I followed the signs (a useful invention I’ve found…) so getting there wasn’t too bad. A slow lunch later and now began the 120 mile journey home.
This journey wasn’t as bad as the journey to Loughborough as it started in daylight, much more fun, and was dry, even better. It wasn’t until I got on the A429 that it went downhill with the rain and darkness. About an hour from home a pounding headache set in alongside the stiff legs, sore backside and back pain. Luckily, I knew the way and knew the roads so it was a bit better, though I had to concentrate coming through the A350 to make sure I didn’t mess up so close to home. Some hours later, I walked back through the front door, soaking wet, frozen despite the thermals, but glad that all in all, I’d completed my first big bike ride at 300 miles, going there and back again. Via lunch.
Next time I’m taking the train though, the weather won’t be getting better for a while…
We being our tale with a little background of our hero, a young male currently undertaking a doctorate of engineering degree with Loughborough University and the industrial sponsor, Buro Happold based in Bath. As part of this 4 year course, our hero must attend lectures every now and then for modules geared towards his research. And as such, some Tuesday’s from last week until Christmas(ish), a trip to Loughborough from Bath must be made to attend one of these modules lectures.
Alas, as with any good tale ours begins with misfortune, when the head gasket went on the car on the first trip to Loughborough last Tuesday, resulting in missed lectures and a lengthy tow back home (though thankfully free due to continued AA membership (they say cars and alcohol don’t mix, yet here I’m sure there’s some mixing going on…)).
So, tasked with finding a new car before Tuesday, missing lectures again or going on the bike, the decision was made to simply travel by A roads (as the journey was mostly that anyway until the M69/M1) on the 125.
Preparations formally began on Saturday, when all hope of finding a replacement car in time had faded and some routine maintenance was conducted on the bike, starting with adjusting the chain to reduce the slack. Thankfully the weather was dry for this outside activity and the chain was duly adjusted, waxed and prepped for the long journey ahead.
Next came the lights check. As the lecture was due to begin at 9am on the Tuesday morning, the journey would begin in darkness, so working headlamps were a must. Having narrowed down the previous issue to an earthing problem with the connector block, I cut the block off and replaced it with terminal strips making the wires talk to each other. As a side note, this seems to have worked, as I haven’t had trouble with the lights since. While inspecting the repair job, the full beam worked brilliantly, but low beam had some issues. Inspection of the bulb revealed a broken filament, so a trip to Halfords was taken to obtain a replacement. While there, our hero stumbled upon a pair of ‘one size fits all’ waterproof trousers, and decided these would make a good addition to the kit for the winter riding.
Finally, after allowing everything to cool down, the oil and tyres were checked, tank filled (circa £6) and the cover put back on for the night.
Monday evening arrives and the plan to wake up at 3 looks daunting now, but preparations are made, the top box is packed with spare clothes and equipment for the day ahead and, just in case, a puncture repair kit for an emergency.
Tuesday morning, our hero awoke to the sound of calm, a strong breeze rustled through the trees and the ground was damp, but success! It was not raining. This lightened the mood as the routine of getting ready was undertaken, thermals put on, top box re-packed when something was noticed to be missing, and a final reading of the print out of directions to avoid the motorways. The top box was loaded onto the bike, and, despite a cloudless sky, our hero chooses wisely to wear the waterproof trousers. After all, there’s no point bolting the stable door once the horse is gone.
Everything loaded, kit all adorned, bike fired up it was time to head off into the night, Meatloafs Bath out of Hell providing a nice starting track. The decision to wear the waterproofs would prove to be the right one when, 15 minutes in, the heavens opened. The road became slippery, giving a reminder when going round a round-a-bout and the back end choosing to make a little slide and the visor became wet. Oh well, only another 3 hours to go/110 miles. Through the darkness I rode, the little 125 revving at 8krpm to stay at 55-60mph on the A roads, dipping headlights and putting them back on full, and, most interestingly, keeping them on full for ignorant car drivers who opted not to bother dipping their headlights coming towards me. Other than the GPS on the phone keep losing me, I only got lost 4 times taking wrong turns (when the GPS was lost, and looking at the directions was futile for they had become mush in the rain).
However, the most interesting element of the ride, other than learning new roads in the darkness and hoping the front wouldn’t wash away round a corner, was when going through a town and seeing to my left a flash of headlights turning to pull out of a junction. I slowed down, I don’t know why, I guess instinct told me they were going too fast to bother looking and sure enough the van came screeching out of the junction, in front of me, saw me, and then stopped. In the middle of the road. Had I not already been slowing down, I suspect I would have hit the van and that would have been bye bye me. A hand gesture and a shout which probably wasn’t heard out of the helmet and I was on my way again.
Eventually, I arrived at Loughborough at ~7:30am, with 90 mins to spare before my lecture. Which was good, as I used 70 of those minutes under a hand dryer drying out my boots, gloves, top and socks, as it hadn’t stopped raining until about 7ish.
Lecture over, it was time to ride to Burton to meet an old friend from Keele for lunch, something we’d arranged the week before but postponed after the car issues. This was of course when I had a car, and forgot completely about doing the A and B road journey over to Burton. Thankfully, it was signposted after a few miles so I followed the signs (a useful invention I’ve found…) so getting there wasn’t too bad. A slow lunch later and now began the 120 mile journey home.
This journey wasn’t as bad as the journey to Loughborough as it started in daylight, much more fun, and was dry, even better. It wasn’t until I got on the A429 that it went downhill with the rain and darkness. About an hour from home a pounding headache set in alongside the stiff legs, sore backside and back pain. Luckily, I knew the way and knew the roads so it was a bit better, though I had to concentrate coming through the A350 to make sure I didn’t mess up so close to home. Some hours later, I walked back through the front door, soaking wet, frozen despite the thermals, but glad that all in all, I’d completed my first big bike ride at 300 miles, going there and back again. Via lunch.
Next time I’m taking the train though, the weather won’t be getting better for a while…