Rogue Runners Day 2, Kendal to Doune

Up with the lark & down to breakfast with the rest of the crew, then off to get the car – Load all the luggage, take off & stow the soft top, change the full side windows for deflectors, take off the steering lock & the solar charger, get in, do up the straps …. And ……. it wouldn’t start. Great.

Fortunately there was another member with me & we realised that the fuel pump wasn’t turning, a brief search found a dead fuse. But then though I’d flattened the battery, so I got jump started & we rumbled round to the hotel.

A proper brooding sky

As soon as we were out of Kendal the roads became magical, twisting both side to side & up and down and with no other traffic.

In Carlisle everyone seemed pleased to see us & waved enthusiastically. Over the border & we had 45 motorway miles to cover, we pulled on to the motorway behind a black Audi with a strange box fitted to a bracket beside the rear view mirror. It was driving perfectly, between 70 & 72mph & keeping to the inside lane unless overtaking. I ask you dear reader does that sound like any Audi you’ve ever seen? Deciding it was likely to be the constabulary we maintained a discreet distance & a sensible speed for every last one of the 45 miles.

Then back to the foot-hills & a wonderful blatt through some properly twisty roads until we arrived in a town call Sorn.

This was too good an opportunity to miss & we had a long photo op / coffee break in the Sorn Inn. After that the roads got even better until we arrived at out hostelry for the night in Doune.

Here parking was not a problem & we spread out & covered the cars up for the night. It was here that we experienced out first tartan carpet. I think there must be rules about tartan carpet in Scottish hotels.

Food arrived & beer flowed, another member of our crew had arrived, driving direct from Eastbourne(!) to be with us. It was he who had written most of the routes, but alas he was not to sample them – see the report for day 3.