 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
29th June - Ayrshire Tours
Attendees:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sad to say but a very poor show in terms of bikes - a whole three !!! ooooooooooooooooooooooo A couple of new members came along: Henry and his Tiger, not the Tiger on pillion callled Tracey... but a 1050 Tiger. Also new was Eric's V-Strom.
On numbers ther' wil aye be an excuse; an' ah'm thinking it'll likely be three things. ooooooooooo Six members had used up their time off allowance (Away Wahay'ers) plus I'd guess other regulars were also lackin' in weekend time off from 'ither commitments'. ooooooooooooooooooooooooo Finally, o' course would be a cerain lack o' moolah, as guid peeps is savin' a bob or two for the upcomin' Kelso Weekend.
Bikes an Riders:
1) Raymie OOOOOiiiiii: Kwacka ZX1200 - (Big Lady) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 2) Ericooooooooooiiiii: Suzi 1000 V-Strom (Nae name see, as it's toooo new !) ooooooooooooooooo 3) Henry & Traceyyy: Trumpet Tiger 1050 (A wee tad mair oomph when versys a Versys !?)
Run Feedback:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Yer scribe here has; as below yarn but even more so; limited info'.OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO So sad to say, I huv nae funnies, as all ah've been telt is a route an' that it wiz a guid run.
The route was of course - it is Raymie efter aw - doon tae Muirkirk ! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO To then end up headin' up the Dalveen Pass to have a wee munch in the Leadhills pub we like. Was in there one Sunday on a run an' we were watchin' the Moto GP complete wae a roarin' fire an' a baked tattie - well grand indeedy. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Anyway once fed, the three muskateers - which one is Porthos, he he he !? - headed back via the Mennock Pass to Sanquhar. From there it was up past Crawdfordjohn an' the old A74 to Douglas. Then ...aye ye've guessed again; back up the Muirkirk Rd to Strathhaven an' it wiz homes a go go.
New members an bikes: Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo So a day oot that oor two new members; Henry & Tiger, sorry Tracey a mean; well enjoyed. As also did oor Eric oan his new big steed. By the way, it's the same as Alan's, 'cept it's faster ! OO Ye see Eric is lighter, plus he disnae stick oot above the screen, in the way michty tall Alan does !
Yer Gaz 42
*************************************************************************
20th -23rd June - Away Wahay 3
Aye it wiz guid, so it wiz !
(Mair tae follow in the next 72hrs - too busy wae Magroo's burfday !)
*************************************************************************
8th June - Tighnabruaich
Wee Note: Pict 1, Pict 2, Pict 3, Pict 4, Pict 5, Pict 6, Pict 7, Pict 8.
For those interested enough to read this - ye ought to know that this date for a rideoot was brought forward by a week at the last minute. So it's a credit to all concerned that a guid number o' oor club showed up.
Might also be worth noting that a certain Gaz had vanished hisel' awa. Word has it, he was away enjoyin' hisel at a Hornet Rally, called the Heilin' Sting... well see, he wasnae missed !
Numbers:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOjake
1)
Greg & LorraineO i: Trumpet Tiger 900 - (Izzit
a orange wan mister...)
2) Stuart & Annette : Honda Blackbird - (Plentee o' room for two)
3) Chris )))))))))))I)I: Yamaha Fazer 1000 -
(Not as fast as Brians - but what is !)
4) John OOOOOOiiiiiiii: BMW GS1200 - (Odd bike,
yet ironically very common.)
5) CameronOOOOOiiii: Honda VFR800 - (Not on his
poatatoe potatatoe poata-'tow' then.)
6) Alan OOOOOOOOii: Suzuki V-Strom - (If ye think
V-Strom means Thundercloud, yer wrang !)
7) Raymie OOOOOiiiiii: ZX1200 - (Slim an' light,
jist like the rider.)
8) Stevie :::::::::::ii: GSX1400 - (Attractive
in an auld hat kinda way.)
Run
Feedback:
Word is that all had a grand day oot; no surprise there then. The route was
roon by Tarbet, the Rest', Strachur, an' on doon tae Tighnabruaich (Tinnabrew'ich'
as in Loch) - where a maist fine scran was had in Suzi Wongs cafe. Post some
grub, it was back past Loch Striven to bonnie Dunoon by the sea. Here the
boat was caught (becomin' a bit o' a habit this ferry
m'larkey - Ed) to Gourock an' on to Largs, then ower the Heely Braes
road up to Lochwinnoch, then back tae guid auld Glesga (Glezguh).
Guid kwack at the bridge:
What has been reported to yer scribe is that a certain Mr Raymie was seen
to be peerin' ower a bridge wae a lowish wa' (wall)... suffice to say he erm
nearly fell ower said wa' ! So question is; was he pushed, or did he owerbalance
due to his heavy heid ?
One
off:
The other wee note highlighted; was the opportunity all had to enjoy the delights
o' seein' a one off prototype Yamaha. This came in the form o' the celebrated
R1 but had had twin shocks fitted. (NB:These were in addition to the
original unit.)
The lass what was enjoyin a wee burl oan her sporty steed was ... well a ...erm .... a kinda, how can a put this: - a feckin huge lassie wae a michty erse the size o' the moon !!! (this site disnnae condone nor necessarily agree wae such slaggin o' Male or Fee Male peeps, so it disnae - Ed) Anyway other than the extra springing the bike an' lass were copin' well an enjoyin' the freedom o' bikin'....
Cheerio's:
Once intae Glesga all, sorry most bikes, did oor club usual in as they left
the run to head down local roads to home - a wee 'toot' an freendly 'see ye
later' was offered ... a fine way to end the day... see we're an amiable an'
considerate lot us.
Anoymous !?... oan behalf o' Yer Gaz
*************************************************************************
14th to 18th May - NW200
Attendees: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry folks only the briefest o' reports on this; as little info' available: as much as a know follows... Three o' oor membership went along this year - in the guise o' ...
1)
Oor Raymie - the man wae three legs (!?) that are chasin' each other ....???
2) Nice man Mr Gavin - kinda like the AA man, only wae likely less hair.
3) Big Affable Derek - or BAD for short... !
Happy Three:
By all account all three had a fannytastic time ower the four days, with much
dwinkie consumed. Worth pointin' out that the bikes are laid up mostly; as
track and Metropole corner are no more than 500mtrs from the hoose of comfort
an' fine foods: a welcome facility, laid on via contacts through Raymie's
fine family.
Another
two regulars:
Worth noting that the above three RBMCC'ers shared the bungalow with two other
regular attendees who hail from the IOM.
Spinnin' legs & bones ! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO In fact it has to be said that Raymie likes to think o' hisel' - given the times an' laughs he's shared with Alan and Ian - as an' honourary Manxman.
Though having said that, yer writer wid have thought that if not of Manx origin - then such an accolade would only be bestowed, if able to lap the full circuit at or beyond the magic 100mph average... so, that's me oot then !
Flippin' this roon: both Alan an' Ian after many times joinin' up wae the RBMCC contingent each year - likewise consider themselves to be honourary members o' the RBMCC. Mebbe one o' these years we'll organise a wee sojourn ower to say hello for a weekend....an' enjoy some Manx hospitality - mebbe in the next few years.
200
!?
On the topic of speed; Mr McGuiness topped out through the trap at 198mph...
erm, quite quick ! That is multiplied tenfold, when you see the width of the
track/road and associated roadside 'attention grabbers' that could potentially
be impacted upon.
Finally hearty congratulations to Steve Plater on his win an' to all the competitors; who make the event what it is..... aye bikes an' racin', a marriage made in heaven.
Go
- you know you want to !OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
If ye haven't ever been to the North West 200; make sure ye go next year.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO It's a fantastic spectacle an'
a grand weekend away intae the bargain.
Yer Gaz
*************************************************************************
25th May - Campbeltown (Well Not Quite).
Numbers:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Must've been the thought of sore arses or soaring fuel prices, but only 6 bikes turned up. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(More like a Bank Holiday weekend ! - Ed.)
1)
Me OOiii:
BMW 1200GS.
2) Old Gitiii:
BMW 1200GS. Click
Here. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
3) Bill Oiiiiiii:
Honda CBR 600.
4) Big Al iiii:
Old Lady - Six Pot Kawa'.
5) Gavinoiii:
Honda CBR 1000.
6) Guestsi : Honda
Pan Euro.
Hello: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Anyway a big hello and welcome for todays guest's. Thanks for your company and hope to see you soon. Sorry, but I'm really hopeless at remembering names.
Hijacked:ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Bill's run was hijacked by someone who will remain anonoymous (er, who is 'Me' by the way - Ed).O Cos this 'hijacker' had decided Campbeltown wis shut, jist fur the day, honest. So the plan was to head for Tarbert, get the ferry to Portavadie, then Kames and Tighnabruaich to Dunoon ferry to Gourock and chips at Largs. But that plan wis also hijacked by the same person (fecker). So we missed out Dunoon and headed back through Stachur, past the Rest and Be Thankful (Old John's New Motto) an' down past the pond and hame.
Rests for the old fellah: oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo It was the usual cup of coffee at Tarbet. The polis followed us into the petrol station did a bit of "allo" allo" and some knee bending, before they fecked of to hide behind some bushes !!!!!
Onward ta'e Tarby nae stoppin at Invers just charged on through but had to stop briefly at Lochgilphead to let big Al empty his bag :-).
Tarby wi's jumping, there was a Sailing Regatta being held but we managed to find a table at the Local Chippie, and typically fish and chips by the sea is always p*** well mine was, ate it anyway.
Onwards to the ferry, Tarby to Portavadie it wis a wee bit choppy so it was stand by yer bike, just incase. Well that was the excuse for us trying to skip our fare (whit age are we). Aff the ferry onward tae Kames and Tighnabruaich. Our guest's (still cant remember their names my apologies; somebody phone me quick before they see this) where heading for Saltcoats so we parted company at Tarbet. Then it was down past the pond well you know the rest and home safe and sound :-).
Great day: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The Usual Great roads, Great Craic, Great Company... Life couldn't be Better. OOOOOOOOOOOO (Or maybe I'm just getting drunker).
PS: I know this ride report isn't up to the usual standard, but I'm really bored now.ooooooooooooo (10/10 furr effort an' 9/10 for content - Ed) ...who the feck is Ed, by the way ?
Me !
*************************************************************************
May 11th - Ower tha Bawrdurr 3
The Stert... Pict Link
Ten, sorry make that eleven bikes; attended this our third running of oor annual 'Border Raid'.
The lack o' clarity on numbers is due to one bike joining us at the halfway point. This would be oor Stuart; who had just ridden umpteen miles up from Wales - more on this in a mo'!
Now I'm saying annual Border Raid as ah'm sure ye all ken fine this was a regular part of everyday Scot's ritual fun a few years back. Google Border Reivers an' ye'll find oot a wee tad mair oan this.
But here's yer runners an' riders....
1)
oYer Gaz:iiiioHornet
900
2)o Twinloon:oiiBMW
GS1200
3) oBill:
ooooiiiiiiHonda CBR 600
4) oAnnette: iioHornet
600
5) oStuart:
oooBlackbird 1100
6) oRaymie: oiiiiKawasaki
Z1200
7) oRoss: ooooiSuzuki
Bandit 600
8) oJohn: OOOiiBMW
GS1200
9) oChris: OOOiYamaha
Fazer 1000
10) Tricia: oooiiSuzuki SV650
11) Ian +
oooiChristine:ioiSuzuki
Bandit 1200s
New
riders an' wrappers ?
The main feature in the above list is that oor Annette
was attending. In case ye don't know, Annette has not long past her test and
was riding her new Hornet intae the bargain. So new it could be said to be
'jist oot the wrapper' havin' covered only 91 miles. In fact ye micht say
baith bike AND rider were only jist oot the wrapper.
So when ye consider this is one of our longer runs in the year - Yer Gaz has a tendency to this.... Then Annette was taking on a long days riding and should be highly commended for her courage an' smack it in the teeth approach.
Suffice to say - given there was every kind of road to enjoy - oor Annette rode exceedingly well all day and learned absolutely heaps, even if it at one point it knocked a wee bit o' the stuffin oot o' the new Hornet rider. See, inevitably given the required focus on riding, Annette was starting to feel the strain by around two thirds distance. So Raymie ever the gentleman - aye so he isnae, did a hear some wimin grumblin' - escorted Annette back up the road from Moffat, via the old A74, cheers Raymie.
In short Annette; very well done from all at RBMCC.
New
Riders ?
Anyone short on miles or lookin for a few tips...
Then your next port o' call should be to see if ye can arrange to get yerself out with an experienced rider and do some miles. Raymie isn't wrong when he said for anyone developing their confidence and harmony with road and bike; that running up and down the Strathaven to Muirkirk Road an' back again many times ower a weekend, wid be ideal. With the benefit o' the odd wee tip here an' there an' the experienced rider leading an' sometimes followin' - all at a well judged pace the newer rider is comfortable with - this would bring any new rider on a treat !
After this, build up a good few hundrid miles puttin' new found techniques intae practise; before grabbing some more input from a 'wise one' again; then add another few thousand...and so on.
The result, wid be a fully fledged rider who screams like all bikers: "Feed me some bends; NOW !".
Back
to da run
Anyway returnin' to the run as a whole.
It was a guid turn out though yer run leader whid have liked a few more !
In terms o' craic on the day; ye'll all know by now Yer Gaz likes to pick oot sumthin.... OOOOOO Well on this run there were 5, nope make that 6 highlights. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry, noo that a think aboot it, it's at least 7; some guid an' some 'seemingly' mebbe no' se guid !
Highlight
Wan
For me - an' a can only hope for most - the roads were
brilliant. OSuffice to say the run leader did
receive a few thumbs up from riders as all parted on the M74. Which apparently
he's choosin' tae interpret as a 'cheers mate' for a fine run.
The route offered just about everything ye could wish for; as fab' roads abounded. If ye happen to be readin' this and ye were not on the run; then look at the map link under our Events 'Club Runs' pages.
Ron
Deh Voo
Stuart managing to meet us at exactly the moment we
pulled away from Longtown; was an unbelievable second highlight...
Yer Gaz had been in touch with Stuart ower the weekend regarding his possibly meeting up wae the run at Longtown on his way back from Wales. The outline time for this was around 1.30pm. But unfortunately he had had a wee delay on the road up, which meant he would not make it to Longtown until around 2.00pm, or so it seemed. This was updated twice, with further delays.
At oor end, Yer Gaz was - fortunately for Stuart - able to say that the run was equally behind the expected schedule and given a decent time for oor munchies, we'd be in Longtown until 3.15pm.
So suited back up an' wae a quick check to confirm everyone was ready; the run pulled away at exactly 3.17pm. But with Yer Gaz disappointed there was no Blackbird to be seen. But no more than 100 meters had been ridden as we approached the fuel station, on the way oot o' the town, headin' north for Canonbie - when here, is there no' a Blackbird turnin' right across the run leaders path and into said petrol station. No prizes for guessin'.. yep, it was the man hisel'.
It takes a lot of communication and no little commitment to pull off the motorway and make that happen - he could so easily of missed us... The junction where he had come onto our road and then into Longtown, was only 1 minute away. Aw the way frae Wales (!?) an' timed to a minute !
M'larkey
This brings me nicely to the 3rd highlight. The m'larkey
at the 'Bawrdurr' sign. Stuart had also with him a fine long haired version
o' the sometimes maligned C U Jimmy hat. Personally a think ther' a right
laugh - but then ah'm mentuul ! Everyone had sumthin wae them... In fact noo
that a think about it, most o' the bikes had some tartan roon a mirror stalk.
Which when ye consider we were tae be in 'englandshire' at one point - was
pretty edgy stuff - aye right !
Oanyway, ye'll have seen the piccies. So ye'll know that more than a few guffaws an ho ho's were had as we all lined up. A wee regret was that none o' us showed sufficient initiative to suggest a few o' us could'ave climbed up the back o' the sign, so that we could o' hung ower it. oooooooo Noo that wid o' looked well daft... an' so it follows; wid o' been well worth the extra effort !
Bonnie views an affie fine scents !OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTO O To be sure there was many a fine view to be a had on this run: kinda like all our runs if ye think about it. One o' the blessings o' riding yer bike is enjoyin' the scenery. Now on this run if ye were behind yer Gaz at any point ye micht have seen him pointing out the odd Buzzard or Kestral. But the best o' the wildlife to enjoy was in two treats of flowering plants. First was the bonnie Red Campion, runnin' along the roadsides heading in towards Newcastleton - the pinky red flowers we passed. But the treat to end them all, was a sensory one - the wonderful coconut milk fragrance of the Gorse in full bloom; this was around the roads into Dumfries and again 'atween Hawick an' Selkirk......aye fine times indeed. sO
Ridin'
Safe
Yer 5th highlight was it has to be said that naebdi
had any 'bother'... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO By which
I mean, no one lunched their steed or thereself. Seems mebbe a bit odd to
say this was a highlight. But more than a few o' us were concerned that last
year, too many folks were sufferring wee
'skirmishes' wae hedgerow.
Thing is, thus far intae this year - touch ma heid - there has been none. Possibly more of us are takin' note of our own advice. Combined with learning from last year and mebbe also some o' us are actually botherin' tae read our own Club Run Guidelines.
A cone that wisnae planned !?OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO We had stopped just on the way into Hawick by the side of the road - jist as a wee stop an' gather. While yer Gaz was chattin' to Annette about the last road an' also tryin' to locate via locals, the location o' the nearest loos for the ladies. The other riders had peformed sumthin' of a vehicle hijack. Well in reality, they had managed tae stop a passing ice cream van - must of looked desperate furra cone the wee souls. So yer man turns round from sortin oot conveniences an' here is the gang no' all treatin' thersel' to a cone - an' a have to say, lookin' quite pleased way thersel's as the licked there way to happiness. Aye mair wee joys...
Raaawwwwsssss
wher urr ye ??? (subtitled) That twat has nae sense o' humour !
The final highlight was the best yin so far; as it revealed
a humour by-pass for Yer Gaz.
We had left Moffat an' were - now minus Raymie and Annette - just the nine of us headin' up tae Biggar for oor World Champion 2008 Fish an' Chips. This was goin' jist fine, until we all turned left in Broughton to head for Biggar.
Well I say all.... actually what really happened was yer traditional last man (Auld John) had pulled one o' his inadvertant stunts again. By which a mean he wasnae ridin' last; as he'd decided all by hisel' to pass Ross and Ian's bikes. So Stuart -the corner marker for this particular corner - waited until the 'last man' approached... this he thought was John. But if there was any doubt; John helped him oot here. As John went past Stuart, he gave him the thumbs up...doh ! To be fair, as a regular last man, it must be a bit of a habit for John to signal thus to corner markers.
So Stuart promptly followed oor John an' left the corner, leavin the innocent Ross and Ian an' Christine on pillion to sort themselves out. The latter pair happily noticed the sign for Biggar and turned onto the correct road... O Ross didnae, he jist sailed merrily oan, headin' for Edinburgh, I jest not !
Meanwhile yer run leader was in Biggar's main square wae the other eight bikes, stressin' hisel' that Ross was well lost... So much so that once ordered as an 'early arrival' to the queue in the chippie. Yer Gaz decided to wait ootside, to keep an eye oot for an approachin' Ross, just in case he happened to find his way to Biggar.
Mr Fish is hooked !OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO This is where the humour by-pass kicked in... Yer Gaz realises after five that he'll have to pay for his soon to arrive fish supper so goes back intae the chippie an' passes a tenner to oor John who has now joined the queue, then steps back oot to wait for the 'lost soul'.
Then, only one minute later; oot to join yer Gaz, comes the merry maker hisel' oor John. He hands yer Gaz back his tenner, sayin'; "Ye'll need to wait in the queue jist like everybody else....!" OO
Noo Yer Gaz had two thoughts at once here. The first was his still bein' ower focussed on Ross bein' lost. But, secondly was his also bein' a wee tad underimpressed wae the auld yin's 'queue yersel' theory.
So he promptly follows John back in to give him back the tenner and explain; "Ah've ordered, so a don't need to queue, it's just to pay." But John repeats the 'Ye'll need to wait in the queue mischief and refuses to take the money - all it ought to be said, with the right amount o' banter. So, Yer Gaz goes back ootside again, still wae his tenner ...an' still likely more worried about Ross than a fish supper !
But after another 2 minutes o' waitin for the non- appearin' Ross; hunger must've kicked in. So, Yer Gaz promptly takes his dosh back inside. Thing is, at this point yer man John had toddled off to the loo - must be an age thing. So yer Gaz hands his tenner to Tricia, who agreed to pay while the man in denim, waited hopefully for Ross appearin'. But the thing is, when yer Gaz handed ower his money to Tricia, the absent wind up merchant, John, was given a temporary title...OOYer Gaz is reported as sayin'; "Could you take this tenner Tricia, cos that fa@@y John willnae pay for ma supper....!"
Course the point o' John's m'larkey was a grand wee plan to tae pull yer run leaders wire... OO Which it did bigtime, as Yer Gaz took the bait, 'hook line an' sinker. So here for the dastardly John is an apology from the man wae the hook in his gub, for callin' his mate a bad name...
John ye urnie really a fa@@y.... ye urr jist an 'Auld Git wae a slow GS'... smirk snigger etc... he who laughs last, ya plonker ... he he he !
Oh by the way...by the time Yer Gaz had his supper in his hand, the bold Ross had returned frae Edinburgh Castle - he even had some Eggyburger Rock an' a wee coaster wae a scottie dug oan it. Ross for his part, was as we always find him, his jocular an forgivin' self - aye yer a fine loon Ross.
The
end.....whit aw ready; but a wiz jist gettin' waaarrm'd up !
An important point to finish on is, that Yer Gaz will
try an' make sure that next year, the mileage will be even less and down to
about the 220/230 mark; unless folks prefer it as is.
Either way, we'll mebbe have more attendees. Oh an' ah'll try and build in a wee tad longer time at breaks for those who feel the need furra lie down in atween ridin'.
Hats
wahay ma bonnie lads…..
A wee final thought is for all those atttending this years Away Wahay 3 to
John o' Groats.
Bring
yer C U Jimmy hats and oany other m'larkey equipment ...
Furr ye ken fine the score… the mair 'dickin' aboot there is, then the
mair laughs ther'll be !
It's nae lang noooooooooooo
Yer Gaz
*************************************************************************
April 20th *Unofficial* Run
Plan:Pict
1 Pict
2 Pict 3 Pict
4 Pict 5 Pict
6 Pict 7
Afore leaving the collective plan was: Twinloon an' missus would head off
for a wee short run, but meet up with the other three at Aberfoyle for some
scran.
Three
Craws an' twa others:
The three amigo's decided post this wee rendezvous to head on up to the 'Welly'
an' on round to Inverary. On the road round and down to Inverary we 'met up'
with two fine lads on a Gixer 1000 an' a CBR 600.... and a fine run it was
to- yes indeedy ! After Inverary we decided to follow the pair along the lochside
and get the boat back across. So ther' followed anither fine run down the
lochside into Sandbank.
Grub
A la Carte:
Here we caught the boat back across an headed for 'Haute Cuisine' in the form
o' Chips an Curry sauce at Largs. From here it was on ower the 'heelly braes'
which was again guid for the sole (did ye see that wee pun ther' ?)
Fine
times (?) ...aye !
Ach a fine wee day oot. Cheers to Alan an' Tricia for comin' along an oor
two freens frae Dunoon. By all accounts oor Twinloon an' Violet had a fine
wee burl as well.....
Bikes: don't ye jist love em !?
Yer Gaz
*************************************************************************
April 27th - Strathyre
Two thangs: Pict 1 Pict 2 Pict 3 Pict 4 Pict 5 Pict 6 Pict 7
Couple o' points this run was hijacked by two things:
First an imagined fuel crisis and secondly a wee diversion doon last weeks lochside ! (More oan that in a wee mo') Because most folks panicked over fuel we only had 10 bikes where normally for this first run we might have 20. For example in 2006 it was 21 and 2007 it was 18 - petrol shortage ??? ......whit joose shortage !?
Petrol
shortage ma erse !
Ah'll no' linger oan this point; suffice tae say... If ye stayed in the hoose
cos ye were worried aboot avaiability o' the go go joose or even used it as
an excuse - then yer a numptie. There was one or two stations that had limited
supplies or were shut, but the other 50% were as normal....
Faint
hert never had a day oot:
But heh ho this wasn't going to disturb Mr Cool sorry
Twinloon. We did end up eatin' more chips at Largs; due to a certain Gaz encouraging
another ferry journey. But this only made it a finer day and wae some fine
craic tae boot.
That
'wind' is gettin 'up' if slowly:
The best o' this was Gaz (put up to it by Twinloon)
holding back at Callendar to follow John's GS1200 to Strathyre. See oor John
is mabye (in the nicest o' wae's) a wee tad paranoid that his GS isnae as
'on it' as Twinloons - "Mine disnae seem as powerful as yours."
"Is yours no burnin' oil then Mike; mines is a wee bit."
It was this 'wee bit' that offerred the opening.... for us to tell him there was a fare reek comin oot o' the back of it - burnin' oil see :-) So John was telt: "There's nae too much blue smoke like John, but a fare smell o' summit burnin' !!!
So ower some scran, an' jist at that right mo', this wee michevious snippet was past to oor John. At the time he seemed to take it in his stride... ach nae fun.
Someone was o' course meant to tell the truth by the end of the day but.... he forgot - that'll be me then.
But thing is... we have only jist found oot that all of last week oor man John was worried about this oil burnin'... so much so it had been booked in for an emergency check with his BMW dealer.
Truth:
Course all the above is troo in every detail ...
Cheers
Yer Gaz
*************************************************************************
OOOiOOOOAberfeldy: 13th April 2008
Ten bikes: For this first offishull / unofishull run o' the year... think of it like this.
There
has been an 'Unofishull' run in March, an' there is an 'Ofishull' upcomin'
on April 27th.
So therefore, this is definitely the first run that combines unofishullness
AND ofishullness...arf arf !
Attendees were: Pict Here
1)
oGaz: oiooooHornet
900
2)o Derek: oiooiYamaha
FZ1
3) oAlan:iiiiiiiiiiioiV-Strom
4) oTwinloon:oiiBMW
GS1200
5) oEric: ooiiooiiHonda
CBR 600
6) oBrian: ooooiFazer
(Mega !)
7) oBrian's lad:iiKawasaki
ER5
8) oBill: ooooiiiiiiHonda
CBR 600
9) oStuart: oooBlackbird
- with his wee girl on pillion.
10) Raymie: oiiiiKawasaki Z1200
Yep it's true, oor charismatic 'leader' was there on a bike - but not caught in the above piccie !
Kick
off...
Everybody was on time, bar one member who was a little late.: see if ye can
work out who it wiz... However, they had followed the Run Guidelines and contacted
someone to say they would be a tad late; mebbe not the run leader but, heh
ho...
On this topic: the run guidelines would be more useful if wee all had a wee gander at them... mebbes we could do a club/pub quiz night on what's on the website overall .... :)
Main
things to grasp from today, if we have a mind to, are...
a) Run at yer own pace...
b) Marking corners means, erm...stopping an' waiting till the lastman bike
goes past !?
c) Know the route - see below...
This bit is easy - read yer map. Try not to do as most presently do.....
On receipt, 'their map' is immediately popped into the pocket ! This tidyness is then immediately followed with; "Erm, wher's oor first stop Gaz ?" ...Ye see the thing is, this wee snippet an' other guid info jist micht be on yer map; so it micht be an idea tae read and understand yer map...doh !
So at 10.50pm we set off.
Keepin' the blather on the day as short as poss' ....suffice to say it was a grand day out with some guid laughs and fine craic at the stops, an' wae some fine riding roads enjoyed by all.
Roads:
The roads over the course of the day were all pretty good. There was one or
two wee bits of loose gravel but they didn't effect any significant issues,
other than to sharpen skills.
Best road was probably up the Sma' Glen or mebbe when comin back; the new tarmac section on Crow Rd or possibly Strathyre. Whatever way you looked at it, there was something for everybody ... er, probably.
Weather:
On the weather front (excuse the pun). Wetness there was, but on only three
occasions over the course of the day. But, it was each time for no more than
five minutes - as after five, we had passed through the isolated shower and
back to dry roads again.
So good was the weather that nobody put on their water proofs all day; for rain or for cold; as temp wise, it was similarly okay. Notably yer scribe had on his summer gloves and didn't have cold hands, which goes to show just how 'not cold' the temperature was.
New
Member ?
A potential new member turned up; as per the websites
open invite....
Stuart (McLean)... rode well with us all day and seemed to enjoy himself fine; as did his 11 year old daughter Nicola on the back. But sadly Nicola looked not at all well by Aberfeldy and Stuart, as any guid Dad would, said he'd take her home direct - heading direct to the A9 an' South to Stirling. Later feedback from Stuart, post Monday's club night, was that a few too many late nights was the issue; that an evenin' an' a nichts guid sleep cured.
As a potential new members Stuart (& Nicola) seemed fine bikers and I'm sure we'd all be delighted to see Dad an' lass come along again. One of the members mentioned they'd look to bring their daughter next time to share some company. See were no' aw growlers ! :lol
Hope to see you down at a club night, Stuart.
Thanks:
Finally a wee special thanks to Twinloon for riding tail gunner today: not
an easy role for oambdi, but one Twinloon stepped into without complaint.
This came about, as oor regular volunteer rider for last man 'Auld John' didnae manage along on the day as he was on a wee holiday - ye were missed young dude !
Of
course a big thanks also, to all who made it...that's what bein' in a club
is all about...
Riding in one an' two's has it's merit, but a guid club run is hard to beat.
A
grand day on oor bikes...indeed....
Yer Gaz 42
*************************************************************************
Yer next 'offishull' ride out with RBMCC is the traditional year starter of Strathyre - April 27th
*************************************************************************
Below are a couple o' yarns on twa o' last years ride-oots !
*************************************************************************
Lockerbie: 12th August 2007
This was the postponed Lockerbie rideout from previous week.
How
many !?
Again a wee ( ! ) phone round generated a guid turn out of 15 bikes in total;
though Chick had to go up the road, as his bike wouldn't run cleanly, nor
would it rev above 3500 revs. An XJR 1300 is a torquey beast, but askin' it
to keep at those spluttering revs all day...is a bit much.
So
14 bikes headed off in the direction of Lockerbie via Peebles for a 200 mile
day oot; jist magic ! Ther' were some new members and our AJ (Annette) fresh
from having that week past her test... well done Annette. So for some, the
corner marking/last man technique was new. But the run went well with the
now infamous 'Culchurr Stoaps' going down very well. (See piccies of a laughin'
bunch o' bananas enjoyin' findin' oot about the Ettrick Shepherd).bboot
The Ettrick Shepherd !)
Scran
an' Roads:
Lunch was a well munched scran at the Gordon Arms Hotel, where we were treated
to a room of our own and excellent service: a guid main meal an' as much tea
as ye can drink for a negotiated £7.50 wasnae too bad. Post grub, the
road heading south presented a few challenges. The surface was good but undulating.
Added to this, were such as cattle grids, random well behaved sheep and maybe
not so well behaved cattle ! All this, an' plentee twists an turns tae boot.
On the upside however the main thing was that speeds overall were lower. Added to this was the welcome bonus, particularly on left handers, of a near total absence of oncoming cars. Both speed and no oncomin' car points being in comparison to yer more usual 'A' road ride.
As we passed the Samye Ling Temple just before Eskdalemuir we hit a wall of rain. Till then it had been more or less dry as a stick. From here though gan goin' intae Lockerbie, yed need a large towel an' a hair dryer close by, if ye intended keepin' yer stick dry.....
Mileage
an' soft bums !
Lockerbie was the turning point an' as noted earlier, there were some new
members or first timers on a longer rideout. So they were maybe feeling the
mileage mebbes jist a wee bit hilly - as opposed tae yer mountain - if ye
see what a mean. In all, once ye coonted freendly; "Ah'll come wae you,
riders." and oor Jim (400 Four) needin home for his work. Six riders
decided to head for the M74 and an expected quick route home. Unfortunately,
this meant they hit a wall of rain and two accident traffic jams, meaning
miles an' miles of filtering.....ach well, the best laid plans an all that
!
Petrol...
anyone !?
But before the two groups split, we all rode round to Lockerbie's 12 pump
with an M&S state of the art petroleum station.... ! Okay then; ah'm actually
talkin keech ! It was more like a wee toaty thing, wae four pumps; all set
in a teensy triangular forecourt. Imagine somethin' ye could fit three cars
oan at a squeeze, an' ye have the size o' it.
But the best bit, was the auld fellah operating the cash desk/pump start facility....
Ye
see; when 14 bikes descended on his wee station an' assailed all four pumps...
and then started to come intae his wee kiosk to pay at differing time intervals....
Well the result, was a kiosk filled with 'pump on' request bleepers goin'
bleep bleep bleep, at nineteen tae the dozen an' wae his customers mostly
going, bleet bleet bleet jist as often !
See, I was one o' the first fueled up... So the site of Youngish John an oor Ross wae nozzles in their tanks for nigh on five minutes, with not a drop o' go go joose so much as dripped oot... was, a thought, very funneee !
Ross even started skiddlin' his bike aboot frae pump tae pump in a vain search for a pump that'd offer some petrol. Ach ye had tae be there to see it aw. Tricia was comin in an oot o' the kiosk like a jack rabbit, pointin' oot the various pumps that wurnie pumpin'. While I was attemptin' to point' oot to said well intentioned messenger, that the old fellah behind the coonter was near demented... an' looked for aw the world, as though his heid was aboot tae explode !
Main thing is, we all paid and I hope the auld fellah's monies were right at the end o' the day.
Offs an' home:
Once fueled the six headed off and the rest of the ride out then headed for
Innerliethen...
Then just prior to Eskdalemuir; Chris (Fazer 1000) had a wee off on a downhill off camber right hander. It was a tricky bend with poor vision of a sudden tighten in radius. So with all this actin' together, it managed to just catch out our Chris, an' down he went. Main thing is though, he jumped up again and his bike isn't too bad: damage mostly restricted to the bodywork with a wee dent in the tank.
What a gent though in handling such misfortune....incredibly Chris was still up for stopping at the Temple some five miles along the road. But the shine was of course taken of this wee visit, due to everyone's downbeat demeanor. Still, before leaving I remember askin' who wanted to stop for chips in Peebles...nobody apparently !? But when we arrived for a wee stoap, the aroma was too much, an' we all charged in and ordered fried tatties an some other stuff to compliment them; excellento !
At the end of the day it was a guid run, though a shame for Chris. Latest is his bike was 100% to ride again within two days and will be paint/bodywork repaired in the coming two/three weeks.
Cheers
Yer Gaz 42
*************************************************************************
Dunoon: 5th August 2007
An affie wet day oot .... still plentee laughs though !
Quick
think o' sumthin'.
The Rideout of Aug 5th was, at short notice, thrown to yer Gaz. As such he
dug oot a past run...lazy or whit !? Anyway it may have been an' auldie but
still determined to get some numbers: he did his usual wee trick o' e-mailing
and/or telephoning evreebuddy in the club !
This takes aboot an' plus... mad or whit !? Makes a ween o' a difference though; as it makes us all get oor collective erses in gear an' come along.....
Aw
naw it's pishin' !
Now to the day itsel'.... Sunday mornin's weather was a wee tad inclement,
as in absolutely chuckin' it doon. But despite this, a healthy 8 members still
turned up - the benefit o' Gaz phonin' round maybe ?
The original Gaz plan was to head south to Lockerbie (see above). But after some 'I'm louder an' bigger than you tactics; we all 'agreed' to a change of route.
This was to head for Argyll to avoid the rain (eh ?). This didn't go with the weather predictions checked that morning, nor general trends for mountain shires like Argyll - a wet place at the best o' times. Wherever we went in Argyllshire, all day, it pished and pished and oh aye, .... pished some mair ! :)
The run ended up headin as far as Arrochar and then round to Dunoon, to catch the Western Ferry back to Gourock. Now it was in Dunoon that the best craic o' the day revealed itsel'…..
A
dramatic incident - so it wis.
Between Sandbank and Dunoon, Scott; who had been ridin' at the back then;
found himself caught at a set of lights an' delayed a bit. Next thing is someone
'joyriding' in a stolen car does somethin' without due care and attention,
erm... particularly to Scott.
No one is clear what, 'cept maybe Scott ! But the jist is, they cut right in front of him, leavin' Scott no option but to hit the anchors as in an EMMERGENCY stop. End game o' this, is Scott topples over... Well his bike did and so it follows, he toppled with it ! The car drove off at break neck speed - that's fast by the way - while Scott picked up his bike; luckily with no damage other than a loose mirror.
Last
Man, whit last man ?
Now separate tae aw this m'larkey; oor Derek had apparently agreed with Mike
to take on 'Last Man' duties from Sandbank into Dunnon. But, it seems he had
a bit of trouble with this concept. See, he forgot to ride last.
The end game o' this wee mishtook was; once Scott picked hisel' an steed up, he was wonderin'; where have aw they baastaads gone......!?
See
these bumpy bits on this gangway !
So, bein' a reasonably sensible chap, he headed for the ferry. Now obviously
Scott was a wee tad shaken up with his 'joyrider' experience; which may explain
his heading for the Cal Mac ferry ! See wee had all agreed to opt' for the
Western - wee red felluh ! This is cheaper though only jist - a say this as
yer scribe has a fondness for Cal Mac in their keepin' oor peoples oan the
many islands of the west coast goin'. Anyway; blah blah blah.... The thing
is there was a rumour that the Cal Mac was for a while takin' only passengers.
But it would seem, this didnae put our Scott off !!!
Word has it, that he was last seen manfully forcing his 900 Diversion up a passenger gangway. Meaning people were leaping into the sea out of his way....whit a stramash ther wis ! Suffice to say; just as he gets his steed ontae the top deck an' grabs a passing kiddies ice cream; we managed to contact him. So within five, he was back with us at the Western Ferries quay.
Now it may be that there is jist a wee touch o' added embroidery to that yarn, but it all sounds credible to yer scribe ....erm !
Largs
- Greenock... same difference !
Once we were all over to Gourock; Derek and Alan headed off to Glasgow direct,
while the intended route for the remainder, was into Largs for some chips.
This went astray a little as Ross (El' Bandeeto Ross) decided Greenock is between Gourock and Largs !!! So, at the end of the Gourock road, he headed in direction of Greenock with the rest o' the rideout followin' him. This was yer lead riders fault for not leavin' a corner marker, as in Twinloon, at the roundabout. But heh; who'd have thought it was needed (?) titter snigger...
This left yer leader an Twinloon to enjoy the fried tatties at Largs, as once arrived, a phone call indicated they were all four in a Macdonalds in Greenock happily munchin'.
Rain
disnae spoil a day oot:
Overall depite the constant pishin' rain, everybody had a really good day
out with plentee o' laughs an craic along the way. Not to mention developing
skills - as ye micht every ride.
It might have rained all day, but a was reminded that it's still well possible to have a guid time on yer bike, despite the rain. See at the end o' the day, we all know that real riders ride wae a snorkel !
Cheers
Yer Gaz 42
