Motorcycle Explorer November 2016 Issue 14 | Page 16

Travel Story: paul pitchfork and pau
Despite my enthusiasm for the Scrambler, I had
been unsure how I would fair on this diminutive
machine for a journey of this nature. It was the ideal
size for Pau, but would it be too small for me? I had
the editor’s words, with which he signed off his
review of the Scrambler in an earlier issue of MEM,
in my mind:
“It’s a brave rider that chooses a Ducati Scrambler to
head off into Africa or even head down from the UK
to have a poke around the Balkans.”
Approaching Fort William, the human congestion of
England felt far behind us, but I was yet to sense the
wilderness we had come to find. We were still on
one of the main tourist arteries in Scotland, taking
visitors past the magical Eileen Donan Castle and
onwards to the Isle of Skye. Despite the bold and
imposing landscapes, I still felt amongst the crowds.
So we chose not to visit Skye, instead turning north.
It was the right decision. Crossing high ground and
then skirting sea lochs and coastline, the route
meandered north. With mountains behind us and to
To add to the challenge, we had packed as if on an
our east, and the Atlantic Ocean to our west, that
extended trip with full camping gear, to see if these omnipresent ‘hum’ of humanity which seems to
bikes could credibly cross continents. Eighty litres of pe rvade every corner of the British Isles started to
kit on the bike left little space for me, but after two
quieten. The further we went, the narrower the
days in the saddle I was pleasantly surprised. With a roads, the smaller the villages and the more
small fly-screen attached and a more comfortable
expansive and lonely the landscapes became.
seat fitted, the long motorway ride had been
Looking north, distant mountain peaks rose from
painless enough; and now that we were on the
horizons underscored with rugged coastlines and
twisting valley roads, the Scrambler was starting to
empty rolling plains. Finally, we were getting close
justify its selection.
to wilderness.