Meanwhile Dan had 'phoned Julie, who was at home, and told her I had passed out. Apparently she dropped everything and drove up to collect me. Once the St Johns had checked me out, I was allowed to be driven home, leaving the Focus in the Stonehenge car park.
When I got home I started to shiver uncontrollably, so it was straight to bed. That night was spent shivering and sweating, and I missed Tashies 21st party at the Crown, which I regret. Dan and Julie went, getting home about 1.30am. Dan had a couple of pints of beer, so I am told, and there was lot's of fun with fake willy's!
Next day (Bank Holiday Monday) I woke up OK, with stiff leg's and BIG blisters. I think the boots that I wore (same one's as two years go, when I did the Sarsen Trail with Lin Beer) had worn down, so I could feel all the stones and gravel through them. Also, I had done very little practice walking, so my feet were softer. Did I mention that Dan and I had made a pact not to do the walk again!
Monday passed with a bit of car washing and stuff. Should I mention now that I bought a new/old bike last week as well! Rewind to last Wednesday, 29th April, early in the morning. I had been looking at what they now call "Adventure bikes" for a while, having rode the BMW GS at NEC last year. Of course I could not afford a GS, but I had seen a few Yamaha Tenere's on EBAY, one white one in Wales, and one black one that happened to be in Southampton, not too far away.
So that Thursday morning, as the bidding increased and the listing ended, I found myself winning a 1991 Yamaha Super Tenere, 19K on the clock, painted all black. My heart was pounding, I felt sick, what had I done! During the rest of the week I emailed back and forth with Chris, the Yamaha's owner, and went raiding the piggy bank to get the 999.00 pounds I needed. Saturday we (Dan, Julie and I) set off to Southampton to get the bike, via the new Ikea, to get a mattress for Tash (that's another story on it's own, if you are thinking of going to Ikea Southampton, leave at least a couple of hours to get round it!).
By the end of the day I was both nervous and excited. We wandered over to Shirley, to collect the bike, and ended up parked in a dead end listing to an Asian birthday disco watching the local Asian kid's play football. When it was 6.15, we move the card to outside the bike owners house, and sorted out my bike gear, which was by now under the mattress!
Minutes later the bike roared up and I wondered for a minute what I had done! I new it had a side panel missing from the Ebay description, but the whole bike was painted black, over the original graphics, and the engine sprayed silver. But it sounded good. Chris was a nice bloke (a tattooist, of all trades!), and we exchanged paperwork and money, and I sat on the bike, which is huge/tall/heavy. My feet just reach the ground.
Mileage was about 19,660 odd, as I set off home to Ludgershall. Julie drove off one way, and I went up the road, ended up going via Romsey and Stockbridge. Apart from the sheer size and weight of the bike, the brake and gear pedals are swooped (the Enfield's gears on the right, brake on the left, and Yamaha the other way round). Also, the gears are one down four up on the Yamaha, and one up three down on the Enfield. I was able to potter along behind traffic for a while, eventually I stopped to let them go and took a rest.
Continuing on I eventually arrived home on one piece, just about in time to have a house full of Tashies friends getting ready for her Bournemouth trip. You know all about that bit of the weekend. So the bike was tucked away and did not come out again until Monday afternoon, when I went round my "Enfield" loop, just for a ride. It feels really good once it is going, quite smooth and fast!
Tuesday night was the REOC meet, and they were planning a ride-out. I was undecided which bike to take, until Julie suggested I tale Dan on the back of the Yamaha. So off we went to a class motorbike meet on a monstrous looking all black Yamaha big trail bike! Once we had had a chat we set off on our "ride-out", initially I was about 3/4 qtrs of the way back, behind a lovely Honda 500. Later after a stop at a junction I became "tail-end charlie". We seemed to go on forever in the Wiltshire countryside, over some really nice but narrow roads, pottering along at 40 ish MPH, which was a bit slow for the Yamaha, with Dan hanging on for dear life!
We got back after a hour's riding, my first "ride-out" completed, not sure if I would have made it round on the Enfield. we had a quick meet then retired to the bar for an OJ and crisps. Later, on the way home in the dark, we found that the headlights are crap on the Yamaha, and I had to ride home without my glasses, which has broke! Got home OK though. Used the bike for work Wednesday, picked Dan up from scouts on it Wednesday night, brought car in Thursday, and today bought the Enfield in, for it's MOT.
So come back soon to find out if it passes!
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