Trip to Scotland - Sept 2009 Day 5 - Blairgowrie and the irksome Peak District

I left Blairgowrie with two distinct feelings; the first was the undeniable sense of anticipation about returning home to my family and the second was a sense that there was just so much more to explore and that, in my few short days, I had not had the chance to stop and soak in Scotland. However, I will hopefully return one day. As I headed south towards Perth on the A93, I had mentally put myself in cruise mode (or, to be accurate, the “Comfort” setting on my BMW). However the A93 had one last biking surprise in store for me; a glorious road with satisfying sweeping bends slicing through farmland and lush forest. I instantly switched the GT out of “Comfort” and back into “Sport” and enjoyed the final miles before turning onto the A9 which turns into the M9 and from there south towards the A74 (M) which turns into the M6.
I have to admit that, as I crossed back into England at Gretna Green, I felt a sense of elation to be “back home” and not using that “funny money” any more!!!

I took a detour from the boredom of the M6 and headed for Buxton in the Peak District and from there I came south on the A515. I specifically wanted to ride this road because the Debyshire police have been in the motorcycle news recently as they have decided to reduce all the National Speed limits (60 mph in this case) to a blanket 50 mph; and the reason cited is...... safety. So it was with interest (and I have to say a certain scepticism) that I headed onto this new “safer” road. I noticed that, every mile or so, I was reminded that this was a “Bike Crash Zone” and that “the limit’s been reduced to 50..for a reason”. The cars on the raod seemed to pretty well ignore the 50 limit because, whoever decided that reducing the limit would increase safety was an imbecile. The A515 is the type of road that, in places 70mph is perfectly reasonable; on other stretches, I would say that 40 mph was the maximum. However, a driver (and rider) varies their speed to match the road and traffic conditions; this is what driving / riding is all about; we are no robots, we exercise judgement. The clamping of a blanket 50 mph limit on this road will simply cause frustration which will lead to frantic overtakes which increases the risk of an accident. But that’s not all, the authorities have an additional trick up their sleeve; how about placing rumble strips just before tight bends? Oh yes, in case your vision was so impaired that you hadn’t noticed the double chevrons indicating the tight bend ahead, about 20 metres before the bend, there are rumble strips. Now, in a car, this is just a real aggravation; however, on a motorcycle, just as you are preparing the bike to lean into the bend, you hit the rumble strips; how absurd is that?!! The impact upon a bike’s suspension is simply stated as destabilising. What really annoys me is that the authorities make out that it’s the road that is dangerous and at fault with multiple statistics of biker deaths being shown on marker boards. Another great safety feature, why not distract people from concentrating on the road, by inviting them to read all these road side warnings. Did I say imbecile earlier? No, the word I seek is stronger than that.

Of course, the above would be my opinion had I not just returned from Scotland. However, having just experienced hundreds of glorious miles of “national” limited roads; none of which have other than normal road markings, I reckon I have an opinion. And my view is simple; it’s all about rider training. Teach people to master their machines; teach them to ride quickly but responsibly and they will be less susceptible to accidents; period. Sure, police the area and stop those who blatantly flout the law. I rode the A515 consciously ignoring the 50 mph limit; and the result was that I rode my normal ride for the road in question; slowing to perhaps 40 mph for some of the bends, accelerating to around 70 where visibility and conditions allowed and staying between 55-60 for most the time. It was perfectly safe and I was glad to leave Derbyshire.