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I know it doesn't involve a Guzzi but I thought I'd share some words and pictures of my trip from Portchester to the Lake District with a couple of mates.

We had been talking about a lads weekend away on the bikes for quite some time, but never quite got round to it for one reason or another. Then one evening my mate Rich knocked on the door. "How do you fancy riding up to the Lake District?" he asked "Sounds good to me" I replied, "Tell me more" It turned out that Rich had some mates at work that were going climbing for the weekend on Scaffel Pike, the highest mountain in England and had some spare room in the bunk house they were renting. So that was the cheap accomadation sorted!


Three of us decided to take the trip, Me on my 2004 Sprint RS, Rich on his 2002 XJR 1300 and our mate Pete on his 2003 R6.
This was around Christmas time and the trip was to be in June so we had plenty of time to sort out the bikes and a route. Rich and I picked up some Oxford first time throw over panniers at the London Motorcycle show and I purchased some one piece IXS water proofs from my local J&S. Pete went the E Bay route, purchacing a tank bag and some water proofs that were a bit bright to say the least with pink flashes on the arm that he claims are actually faded red!

Friday June 8th - Rich lives a couple of doors down the road from me so we left for Pete's (about a mile up the road) together at about 8am. When we arrived at Pete's he had a face like thunder. Unfortunatly while fueling up that morning he had dropped the R6. Fortunatly the only damage was a slight scuff to one of the engine casings and a couple of light scratches to the plastics.

We set off along the A32 and A272 to Winchester then onto the A34 then a quick blast up the M40 and M6 to make up a bit of time. At the first fuel stop Rich placed his Arai on the mirror of the XJR and it promptly fell to the floor! We had a quick chat with some German bikers while fueling up who were on their way to Wales on and assortment of bikes ranging from a 1975 BMW to a 2007 Aprillia.

Then it was on to the A520 through the Peak District to Buxton for a late lunch and then the A537 to Macclesfield then North to the lakes. We arrived at the Bunk house in Eskdale as it was getting dark intime for a bite to eat and a shower before hitting the sack.

Saturday June 9th - Woke early and had a little walk up to the river Esk before tucking into a cooked breakfast with the climbers. At about 9am we set off for Scotland while the climbers set off for Scaffel Pike. We took the A595 coast road up to Scotland for a quick blast around Dumfries and Galloway, lunch at Carlisle and then around the Lake district taking in the lakes Ullswater,Thirlmere and Grassmere before heading back to Eskdale via the Wrynose and Hardknott Passes.


Hardknott Pass provided some good photo opportunities so I parked up the Sprint to get a picture of Pete and Rich. When they stopped we were taking in the breath taking views when Rich cried out. We turned round to find him pinned between the XJR and a huge rock!


It took both Pete and I to lift the XJR off him, If he had been on his own he'd still be there now! Once we had made sure he was ok and that more importantly he had broken the fall of the XJR the piss taking began.

Then as I set off the bike got away from me, I thought I was going to have to lay the Sprint down But Rich hadn't yet got on his bike and came to my aid (even though I'd been taking the piss out of him only seconds before!) saving me from damaging the Sprint or even worse if I'd gone over the edge. That evening was spent at the local pub with the climbers which was a great laugh.

Sunday 10th June - We loaded up the bikes and set off for home via the Devils Bridge bike meet and arrived home at about 4pm having covered 916 miles.

All in all it was a great weekend on the bikes with good company, good roads and no rain! Would I do it again - you bet I would! We quite fancy France and I've heard that Wales has some of the best biking roads ever, and this time I'll be on my Griso!