After a good nights sleep, we unlocked the bikes and made our way down to Matclok once again to meet at the Costa.  Two more guys joined us on air head 1200’s making 3 airheads, 3 liquid Cooled. 1 KTM 990 & 1 Triumph Explorer!

  We rode out of Matlock, refueled and headed out on an 80 mile round trip to the Sanke Pass!
  Simon led us through some amazing countryside, rolling hills and lovely roads. at one point we rode through this green hilled valley with sheep grazing the grass either side, at one point a sheep as spooked by something and came running down the mountainside and over the road to the other side! Very funny to see and of course we were going really slow through this picturesque valley for it to not be a hazard!

After riding the Snake Pass we stopped at the Ladybower Reservoir for a drink and chat, took some photos and then carried on towards Bamford & Hope Valley.

What a beautiful reservoir the ladybower is, boarded by the A6013 it offers amazing vistas and lush greens to the eye, must be amazing in the summer!

After turning on to the A6013 we noticed a few of our group were missing, so we pulled over and after a minute, the other came along to tell us that the KTM had developed a puncture!

Oh no!! We rode back the mile or so to the KTM and tried pumping in some foam to seal the leak, but to no avail, although it made it rideable for a while, enough to get us to Bamford and beyond to the nearest Petrol station in the Hope Valley where we made a plan.

   And indeed we made a plan. After filling the tyre with air to no avail, Barry found a motorcycle shop that was open on a Sunday around 25 miles away that had the inner tube to fit the KTM! RESULT !! Sadly though we had to split up, as the ride had been knocked off plan by the unplanned puncture and some chaps had planned to be back in the afternoon for preplanned commitments with family, so we made a plan that they would ride home, with the 4 of us remaining riding to the motorcycle shop to get the inner tube and the KTM on its two wheels again.

So fond farewells to our riding companions and a fresh hello to my new riding companion, a KTM 990 front wheel!
  George got the front wheel off and I strapped it to my GSA, whilst He jumped on the back of Simon and Barry came along too!

We found CMC Motorcycles after 30 minutes of riding some lovely roads through the Peaks.Picked up the tube, had a cup of tea and a Cornish pasty, looked at the other bikes in the parking lot, and eventually made our way back through the Peaks back to the KTM!

  A Vintage Tractor!!! What a beauty!

A beautiful lady riding a sweet cafe racer!

Having fixed the KTM we rode back out to a forest trail we had discovered the day before to mess about in the gravel!

I asked the guys if they would film me skidding in the dirt and generally messing about which they did!

I am gaining more confidence in the dirt now, it helps having good tyres and the Michelin Friday before the Saturday ride up and having done some 500+ miles on them now, I think I can say they are the BEST Dual Sport Tyre I have had fitted so far. (having used 2 x k60’s & 1 x tkc80’s) They are a bit noisy on certain tarmac, blacktops, highways whatever you call them, but if you have your music on you won’t be affected (and if you are, then don’t use them or complain, go back to road tyres and carry spare wheels, you’ll NEVER have a quiet D/S tyre FACT)  Off road they are superb. they gripped well on the gravel and got me through the mud with EASE. They give you the confidence to push the bike off road and for it to handle on the tarmac. The instant I rode off from the motorcycle shop that fitted them for me I knew they were better, they corner so well on the road due to the curved tread shape compared to the rigid squares of the K60 & Tkc’s. Get yourself a pair and see for yourself.

Happy riding to you all! A great weekend away!