Valheru Rides!

Well, I saw this:

Ride the NC500 in a weekend? Right I am going to ignore every piece of information I’ve been given about this route in regard to the traffic, changeable weather conditions, winding roads and speed limits here, I’m not debating the physical ability to just beast a distance, because with the right fuel management and appropriate wee stops you could easily figure a way to do a pair of 250 mile days. The biggest question here, is really just why?

“Now hold on Val”, I can hear some of the folk at the back saying, because we all enjoy this hobby in different ways, and who am I really to comment on someone else’s riding plan and tell them they are doing it wrong. I totally understand that argument, but allow me to fully explain why I think that’s the wrong approach.

Welcome, to Jurassic Park.

Most riders I have ever encountered have echoed the official tourist brief that this is something which can be done between 4 and 7 days though I acknowledge the official NC500 site offers itineraries of up to 10, I have seen various tours offering a shorter whistle stop highlights tour, though with credit to them, all the ones I’ve seen offering this 3 day cannonball run have stated you will miss much of Scotland’s natural beauty, and done their best to upsell to the 4+ day approach.

Scotland is frequently regarded as one of the most beautiful countries in the world (it was also voted as one by ‘Roughguides’) with a staggering abundance of scenery, stunning beaches, interesting wildlife, ruins…etc.etc I don’t need to sell the route, everyone knows it. So exactly how much of that have you actually been able to take in, what have you actually seen while doing that, what have you actually experienced???

Without trying to cast too broad a statement, this smacks of people looking to tick the route off as some form of achievement, for bragging rights and nothing else. I can’t see ‘Long Way Round ‘ having the success it did if Charlie and Ewan had just loaded the bikes on a transport plane and flown around the world clockwise to the US and then did a couple of quick laps around New York for the cameras.

You might be able to tick it off, but you won’t have achieved anything by doing it, because you didn’t experience anything, and that’s the difference.