my name is mwd

Laura and I just spend a long weekend up on the Wirral, visiting her parents. We biked up there on the Ulysses, and thankfully the weather was nice to us for the most part. I’m really enjoying the Ulysses, and for trips like this it’s great. We even managed to pack in two new laptops for Laura’s parents in the panniers with all our clothes and other bits.

Part the reason for choosing this weekend was to go to the UK Buell Enthusiasts’ Group meet up that was held at Jodrell Bank.

The Buell meet was quite a small affair when compared to say the Smart World show we went to earlier in the year, but I was glad to go and meet some fellow Buell owners, put some names to faces from the UKBEG forum, and see what other people had done with their bike. I took the usual slew of pictures.

Apparently it was the most well attended meet this year, with 32 other Buells in attendance. Many thanks to CJ for organising it all.

We also took time to walk around the Jodrell Bank site, which is a nice place to visit, particularly if you go on a sunny day, as the grounds are home to a garden of rare trees which would make a nice place to visit in its own right. At the visitors centre they have a 3D cinema, where we took a trip to Mars (not on motorbike ;). If you’re in the area on the 5th/6th October, in the evening then you should get down there as they’re turning the main dish into the largest cinema screen on the planet. Laura and I would love to go but we’re already committed that weekend, alas.

After a nice relaxing weekend, we set off on the 207 mile return journey, when disaster struck around 50 miles in. Having joined the M6 after some blustery cross wind sections I decided to stop for a quick break at some services. When on the off ramp I noticed what seemed like another cross wind, but coming from the wrong direction. I know instantly what it meant, having suffered it in the car before – I had a puncture. Sure enough, my rear tyre had a nice hole in it.

Although I carry a puncture repair kit, given we had a long way to go and I’ve never tried to do it before, we opted to invoke the AA. The nice man from the AA assessed that it was a bit risky to try and fix and expect us to travel 160 miles home limited to 40 mph, so we opted to be taken home with the bike. After a short wait, we were taken home on the back of two trucks – one from the M6 to Watford Gap, and then another from there to home.

I fretted greatly. Both I felt bad for having stranded Laura with me, and I worried about trusting other people to manhandle my bike and strap it in safely, though I don’t doubt all involved are competent, but it’s my bike! But, in the end we got home safely, only a few hours later than expected. You can see more pictures of the experience here.

Still, we had a very nice weekend. And despite our puncture woes, I don’t think we’ve gone off the Uly as being an excellent way to travel!