Eilean Donan Castle, Scottish Highlands

This is me and my son Dan at Eilean Donan Castle. We rode from Cumbria to the Isle of Skye and back again in a day — 635 miles in 22 hours. I'm on my new V-strom 1050 XT and Dan, his Honda CB125F on L-plates, as he's training for his licence (so no motorways). The weather was horrendous when we set off and we nearly turned round and went home but we persevered and were rewarded with probably the best ride out we have ever had, alongside Loch Lomond, up through Glencoe past Fort William and the magical A87 from Spean Bridge to the Kyle of Lochalsh. We met some great bikers on the ride, which made the day even better. My son is now well and truly bitten by the biking bug and we are planning to do the Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 challenge when he passes his test.