And now, the conclusion

After a pretty poor night's sleep and a breakfast that I should have known better than to eat, I was on the road from my favourite hostel in York, first saying hello again to Holgate windmill.  But that was all the sightseeing I planned: this was a just-get-home ride.  For the first 60 or 70 miles on the motorway I followed the slipstream of various articulated lorries, all cruising at 55mph or thereabouts, our tour having proved the value on our fuel economy.  Indeed, my bike exceeded 68mpg on one tank, which was an all-time record (17 years I think!).  68 is pretty damn good for a 750cc carb'd engine, but is still 20mpg worse than little Biscuit on her very worst day.

By Durham services I felt really tired and a bit headachey.  I'd been yawning the whole way, so sat at a picnic table, ate two whole flapjacks that I bought yesterday, and put my head down for a few minutes.  Typically impatience got the better of me, so I didn't stay for the 45 minutes or an hour I perhaps needed, and set off again.  I filtered a lot through the queues around Newcastle, then took the A69 for a while.  My satnav then decided to be 'helpful', taking me off-piste at Horsley and then a B-road that paralleled the Hadrian's Wall long distance path.  Many people were out in a group doing that section.

Presently I reached the A68 and sped north.  By the border at Carter Bar I felt hot and cold and awful and had to sit for a little while.  At a layby only a mile or two down the road I stopped again to sit, knowing what was coming. I managed to get myself to Jedburgh, parked, raced to the toilets and immediately emptied myself from both ends.  At least after that I felt somewhat better, so sat on a bench in the sunshine and closed my eyes for a few minutes.

After a splash and dash for fuel I managed the 40-odd miles home well enough but it was very blustery and frankly I was glad to pull up on my driveway and get inside.  I exchanged few messages with bestie with whom I've had an absolutely lovely holiday, and then with Mum and Dad, then had a long hot shower to relax a bit.

By my calculations, the big old bike that could definitely did.  We notched up 1450 miles!

For all the unwellness earlier, I've spent all evening writing and have now backblipped Sunday 31 May and Monday 1 June. :⁠-⁠)