Ultimateaddons First Motorcycle Group Ride of 2023

First group ride out this year and a great day it was, epic scenery with a mixture of  roads and conditions. 

Meeting up at Contin a small village south east of Ullapool with the Weekend Warriors, a good stop as it has a shop and a 24hr pay at pump petrol station. A fairly early start leaving from Ullapool meant the heated grips were on from the start. 

The route includes some long sweeping bends heading towards LochCarron, which would have been well suited for the boys on their Suzuki Hayabusas.  

The road then goes down to single track as you start to ascend up the Bealach Na Ba (Pass of the cattle) on route to Applecross.  This was going to be a first for some of the riders, always remember the first time going up, it's awe inspiring when you first look up.  The T7 eats up the single track roads with ease, with it being lightweight and super smooth it can be very forgiving, not to sure how I would have liked it on the Busas.  Sadly like most of the country the roads conditions are not great and you have to sacrifice your riding line a lot to avoid potholes, gravel.  With that being said it still such a joy and what a view you get from the top.   This was our first stop to take some photos and have a quick chat to see how everyone was with the pace and the run so far.  

With the viewpoint not quite at the highest point we set off and the higher we got you could see there was still snow at the sides of the road making the decent feel a bit more cautious.  

Stopping for fuel and then grabbing a takeaway coffee at the Applecross in we had to take cover from the rain, typical Highlands no sign of rain on the weather reports until after it arrives :-).  This gave us a chance to have a chat and talk about bikes.  

We headed back over the Bealach in the rain was not as pleasant as the ascent but made for some atmospheric views, wished I had taken my Gopro at this point.  

Turning left and heading towards Torridon was more single track but again stunning views, I personally love the A896 (not to be confused with the A96, thats a whole different story), sometimes biking is about the roads and sometimes its about the views and the A896 ticks both for me.  

Heading into Kinlochewe this is where the group split up and myself and Michael headed north west and the rest headed back via Glen Garry to the east.  

Kinlochewe following Loch Maree again is a road that would be well suited for the bigger bikes, long straights and sweeping bends with good visibility, which means you can enjoy throwing the bike around.   This led us onto single track section which has partly been upgraded, some tight bends on this little stretch.  

Coming out of Gairloch again there is a great section of road, sadly for some unknown reason there are manhole covers placed nearly at all the bends that are right on the riding line, if you know the road you can adjust your line and enjoy the constant change in direction.  

Heading up now towards Aultbea, you start to climb the road gets twistier and twister, there area couple of bends that could easily catch you out if you go in too hot, it was just at the viewpoint above the MOD base we stopped to let Michael stretch his legs.  A fair amount of miles to be riding a Fireblade, fair play to him.  

Homeward bound now, heading from Aultbea towards Ullapool we stopped off for  the obligatory photo just before Corrieshalloch Gorge,  looking out towards Loch Broom. 

Stopping off in Ullapool for a coffee as Michael still had another 40 miles to go I thought id be nice and buy the coffee.....

There are plenty of cafes in Ullapool, id recommend visiting another unless you're wanting to pay £4.50. 

A good run, everyone got home safely and was nice to meet some new bikers and see some familiar faces.