Winding up

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm morning, so with our swimming costumes to hand we were straight out to our spa hotel's pool.  Not a swimming pool for the great unwashed, a proper hydrotherapy pool (a big, grown-up jacuzzi for the mildly unwashed) with powerful massage jets and sun loungers all around.  We spent ages in it!  Finishing off with the steam room and then the sauna we were as chilled out as could be.

Opting to forgo the £15-each breakfast tariff we had some pre-ride coffee, and then took some photos of the hotel and ourselves before departing northwards for my hotel.

First heading west on the A14 we practised our hypermiling, using articulated lorries in front to smash through the air for us. It worked pretty well!  Turning north we rode through Leicester, which became increasingly familiar as we reached the outskirts on the north side.  A fuel stop was due for BikerBabe and Biscuit, but first, lunch.  We'd identified a little park in Anstey as a waypoint, figuring we could then review where to stop for food, but the park was perfect, with an old packhorse bridge and beyond, a picnic table – just the thing for rolls, peanut butter and bananas!

After fuelling ourselves and then the bikes a short way away, I pondered diverting a few miles to show bestie where Mum grew up, but time was getting on, so we took the faster roads past Castle Donington, of Donington race track fame, and headed north to Smalley Cross, a Royal Enfield dealer.  We arrived mere minutes before closing time, but managed to ooh and aah at various models, including would-be replacements for the Africa Twin.

Were it any other time we'd have taken the A58 north but we were heading to Matlock Bath because it was Saturday, and that means more motorbikes than you can possibly imagine. I joked that it was really just a show of gear, and we agreed that it was all so much strutting one's stuff, let's say.  But it was also a time for me to come full circle because on the first long ride I ever did on the bike I came through the town.  I was such an amateur back then, I visited on a Sunday and found the place was dead quiet with no motorbikes around.  Today though it was hoaching.  We found a nice takeaway cafe at the far end of the high street, bought coffees and wandered back along the riverside path, finding a bench to sit and drink and eat the pieces of Rocky Road I'd secretly bought in Beccles for our final day.

On the ride out of Matlock Bath we paused in Matlock to see the Lion Foundry bandstand.  I said to bestie that it looked similar to the one in Kirkintilloch, which it should do because both are model no.25s.  It was then only a couple of dozen miles to my hotel for the night, between Chesterfield and Sheffield, and lovely bestie rode with me instead of going home straight away.  On arrival it was just getting on for tea time, so we ordered a big cup of tea for me and a pretty strong coffee for her, and spent a happy last hour going through our photographs.  Poor bestie was a bit overcome and lots of hugs were exchanged before she got togged up for her evening ride home to Manchester.  Thank you lovely gal, for an amazing and awesome holiday!

The hotel meanwhile had no room in their restaurant, and asked me to return in about an hour.  By then, the place was quiet and they only had enough food left for about a third of the menu.  They apologised and in the end made me a huge roast vegetable calzone and gave me a discount.

With that I retired for the night, planning the next day's ride and glad to know that bestie made it home safely.