Nah. It started as a Transport Cafe (pronounced caff) in 1938. Partly demolished courtesy of the Luftwaffe, then rebuilt in 1949. Became popular with Bikers as it was open 24 hrs a day. Never a Coffee Bar (although you can have a coffee there). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Cafe
Went for a run this afternoon and only remembered to come home when I got cold and hungry. Headed inland from the East Coast and up Weardale to Stanhope, left had good feels so took a left up on to the moors and ended up at Alston in Cumbria. Alston was closed (literally, road through town completely shut) and had to do a 5 mile detour to get on to Hartside Pass to Penrith. Stopped at the place where the Cafe used be before it went up in flames and gargled a bottle of pop and munched on a bar of something that was crunchy but didn't really taste of anything. Got to Penrith and then cruised the A66 (Clickety Click) all the way back to Teesside. On a poignant note, the benches you can see in the pics all have memorial plaques dedicated to the bikers who have died traversing Hartside Pass Bubble up and rubber down, lets be as safe as we can be out there...
Tomorrow one last ride to German “hills”, in the Eiffel. So for a good night sleep let her sleep indoors..
Another trip out on the Beemer. Across Exmoor and North Devon.Weather getting too shity for my "delicate" Rocket
It was a day of rainbows, scudding gusts blowing heavy showers through at a pace, followed by sunny breaks. A proper mixed bag!
About a mile before I came over a rise to see similar scene on the Lakeland fells but with a rainbow too. By the time I got my phone out the moment had gone
Just back from a local 70 miler; all around the flat wetlands and shore land towns and villages around Arnside and Silverdale. I like to ignore where I know and just take unknown turns. I get to loads of interesting (to me) places that I’ve not been before… I love it! The weather held off until my return journey, which was good of it!
Some nice photos there. Like you, I often like to follow unfamiliar back roads to see where they take me. I see you're riding a TDM 900, and think they're much underrated. I had one for several years, and loved the way the engine gets smoother the faster you go, and the R1 brakes are excellent. The handling is good as well, at least until the back tyre starts to square off. And Carpe TDM was a great forum. I could never love the looks, though. Eventually I found it was getting too tall and heavy for me to wheel around or to paddle round safely if turning on a single track road, so I traded it in for my Street Twin, which is much easier to manoeuvre for an old geezer like me. Some good memories, though.
Well Friday had to be the perfect motorcycling day, I have been approx 100 miles setting off from Silsden via Clitheroe, Slaidburn, Ingleton, Ribblehead, Settle, Airton and Skipton. Called in at the 59 cafe for a cuppa and back home. I have never been on the road called Lythe Fell Road between Slaidburn and Bentham before, but I will be going again it is a super road with some fantastic panoramic views from the fell summit. I went out to test my new Dart flyscreen and can report that it is very good.
Beautiful photos, DCS. I particularly like the one with the suns rays and the one with swan. Sometimes I call those rides like this one "wonder rides"--as in, "I wonder where we're going?"
Your bike (and route) is looking good, @Phil G P! I'm curious about that white top box you have on your bike. What's the story?
All I need to carry is my camera and maybe a snack for a day out. So I dont have a need or a desire to fit a massive ugly plastic top box on it, so I found a small aluminium flight case which can be had for around £15 on ebay. I designed and made a quick release coupling system using some machined and some 3D printed parts, it can be removed/installed in about 10 seconds.
Very cool, Phil! Could you share a few photos of your system and case at some point so we can see a few of the details? Thanks!
