The trip north started so well, after a weekend in Edinburgh visiting my brother, topped off with a big night out with Pol & Steve, ending with Scotland beating Brazil at virtual fitba in Princess Street Gardens at 2 am but that's another story.

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I'd bought a new Arai helmet the Friday before but they didn't have a dark visor for it, so I was wearing one borrowed from Shudaz that did & Steve was wearing mine on the back, persy headphones in.

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The bike, an RG500 was the ultimate 4 cylinder 2 stroke, I loved it & though my cool & smart biking pop's said it was only a matter of time till it let me down one day, he said that kind of engine should only be in chainsaws, it was singing a fast & blue sweet smokey tune that day. Almost at the top of the hill above Perth & just as I was overtaking a truck, the back wheel locked up. I dipped the clutch & coasted to the hard shoulder knowing that's as far as the 2 wheeled rocket was taking us today. As I got off the bike, Steve sat there wondering WTF & shouted above the music from his headphones "Wase, fits wrang?" As he got off the bike, I got on again, pulled the kick start out & stepped on it, it refused to move, seized solid, shite.

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As I took off my lid & stood at the side of the road with my thumb out, Steve lid & heaphones still on shouted, "Is it the camshafts?" For many years the Culter boys I hung out with had taken the piss about my fasination with the internal combustion engine, which none of them shared. So, whatever the problem, car, bike, truck, bus, if it had an engine & it didn't run, the camshaft was to blame & the solution was always to fit a new one.

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Pol, Steve & Wase met through the Culter BB, 'Sure & Steadfast' even though none of us were sure about anything unless girls, music, fitba & mischief were involved, we were absolutely steadfast about that. Our backgrounds & upbringing were all different, each had good homes but a bit missing that no other could really identify with. One from an infamous part of town, one from a house with dad MIA in his early years & the other was a gift, siblings decades older than he was.

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It only took 5 minutes before a guy pulled over & picked us both up, a travelling salesman, "Where you guys headed?" I had no plan but as this was before mobile phones I had to get a call to Shirlaws in Aberdeen, to arrange for my bike to get collected. He dropped us off at the bridge over the Tay river, on the other side of it there was a bright red phonebox. As we walked over it, under a clear blue sky, me wondering how were going to get bike & bodies home, Steve carrying my new lid marching alongside.

 

Almost in slow motion it seemed at the time, I watched as he let go of my spanking new Arai Splash helment & managed to kick it before it hit the ground, sending it tumbling down the street, Steve chasing after it. It bounced & rolled like a possessed rugby ball, I was dumbstruck. The first words out of his mouth "I'll buy you a new-een Wase" came before he'd even caught up to it. "Shit Steeeeeve, what a feckin nugget." The offer of a replacement coming from a guy who didn't have or want a job at the time, perfect, thanks mate, what's next. 

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Call to the bike shop & arrangements made to pick up the busted Pepsi rocket ASAP & walking towards the station to catch a bus to Aberdeen. Sunday in Perth's wee terminus is not a busy place, the vibe is always better in Scotland no matter the situation, when the sun has got it's bonnet on.

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I was starting to chill out, seeing the situation as a test of my ability to let go of things I never had control over in the first place. More importantly trying to make my defult mode 'Zen' enough to understand the only control I had was my reaction to whatever I was facing, easy to say but harder to do.

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2 tickets to Aberdeen bought & next bus leaving in 30 minutes, all good. So many apologies from Steve coupled with the need to let go of all negative energy & vibes, we were making plans for the rest of the day as we were due into Aberdeen by 18:30. One of the many benifits of living at that latitude is the length of the days & the magic of the daylight that goes with it, the length of the shadows & the warm defused sunlight that comes with it. 

 

So many of the human poulation on earth have no idea how long the days can get come the summer in Bonnie Scotland, all they know is sun up & sun down that has an extra hour either way as our orb spins 360 degrees 365 times around the centre of our universe. The middle part of the earth get 2 seasons, generally speaking wet n hot & dry n hot, in a way it stops you thinking of the passage of time that 4 seasons won't allow you to. Denial, it's not just a river in Africa......

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Bus pulls in with Aberdeen in big letters on the destination slot, people grab bags ready to get on as a few get off, 5 minutes of milling & hugs n waves. Ticket punched & seats found at the back of the single decker, the bus pulls out, heading north, magic, time to switch off & enjoy the drive home.

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As the bus navigated the narrow streets before hitting the motorway, a guy with a clipboard is chatting to some passengers making his way towards us. As he aproaches asking if we would answer a few questions for a survey he was conducting, I said yes though asked if it was a short one, 7 questions, yeah, go for it.

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Question 1, "What is the purpose of your trip to Inverness today?'

 

He had barely finished the question when I was already half way down the bus to have a wee chat with the driver, losing my zen with every stride. Turns out the genius driving it thought it sufficient to have a wee strip of paper stuck to the windscreen with 'Via Inverness' as an explaination of how it was getting to Aberdeen. He wasn't too happy when I started to call into question his IQ & doubting if he had the ability to find his own ass with both hands.

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He refused to stop the bus & let us off but changed his mind when I put my hand over the 'Emergency Open' button, screetching to a hault, we piled off...................

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