Rod's Ride Out. 24th July.

Hi folks, not a bad turn out on Sunday 24th, eighteen in total. 


At my suggestion of Kendal there was some dismay, but I took the old dales adage "the wind'll keep the rain off", on this occasion it held true. 


We went out bound via Richmond, Redmire, Askrigg and stopped for coffee loos etc at Hardraw cafe, then on to Sedburgh. 


From there through to Kendal for lunch stop / walk about. 


After lunch the homeward leg took on the A685 to Tebay and Kirbey Stephen. From Kirby Stephen we went through Barras/Kaber turned right over the moors to Tan Hill, more coffee and loos, Phil and Dot muttered veiled threats if I hadn't have stopped! 


Last bit now to Reeth then left up over the moor road and down Sturdy House Lane to Ravensworth and on to Scotch Corner then split for home. 


Quite demanding riding at times on the exposed moorland sections, but then we are advanced riders TeeHee. See you all soon - Rod

Bike for sale.

FOR SALE

TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE T100 LIMITED EDITION 2010

BLACK £5,900.00 ONO

596 dry miles, fitted with alarm/immobiliser, Triumph quick release longhaul screen, centre stand, rack, (knee grips, fork gaitors) Oxford heated grips Oxford Tank Bag. Also included over seat panniers 
Taxed End of May 2013. Garaged


Tel: 07887868548/01642 782638 (Eve & W/Ends)

Chester Weekend - The view from the Front...

Imagine for one moment if you can?  You are on your bike, the weather’s good, the roads are clear, twisty and fast – within the speed limit of course. All is well. You look in your left mirror and there, behind you, in staggered formation, are seven other bikes and riders – perfect.

Roll back 28 hours and the scene was slightly different.  

The weather threatening rain, a group of eight DAM members, some of whom had never ridden in such a large group, departed Bowburn Hall fearing the worst the weather could bring; a straggling snake weaving its way through the countryside. 

Experience levels from low to very high we stuttered along in loose formation from Darlington to Thirsk then York and Wakefield, stopping for refreshment at Squires and a pee at Holmfirth, dodging most of the showers and skirting the rain that had wreaked havoc in the north only hours before. 

From Holmfirth we crossed the Peak District to Chapel en le Frith and on to the Cat and Fiddle. From there, taking great care to maintain the correct speed through the notorious speed cameras  – points don’t always mean prizes, past Holmes Chapel and Joddrell Bank’s radio telescopes and on to Chester. 

Sounds great!  But I left out the bit about getting lost twice, several U turns and reroutes – not always my fault (some blame must be laid at the feet of Maude –my GPS lady!) and not to mention the sightseeing trip around a large roundabout on the A54. No please Phil, don’t mention it again!!!  (This group leading thing has more to it than I thought!) I forecast 5-6 hours and we finally rocked up 8 hours after starting out.  Still we arrived reasonably dry and more importantly, safe.  Job done!

One Ruby Murray, a few real ales and a bit of rain later (well a lot of rain really – fortunately all overnight) we set off for home trying to avoid the rain and so going via Liverpool, Southport and Preston in order to cross the Pennines on the A59. 

No great panic in Liverpool but not exactly inspiring riding either, then on to the coast near Southport and the roads got better, even if the landscape is a bit flat! Preston on Sunday – a nightmare – what’s it like on weekdays?  Once past the M6 the road improved as did the views and in fact our group riding! No longer a straggling snake, now, on more open roads and at a slightly faster pace, we were becoming more used to riding together, positioning and thinking as a group rather than 8 separate riders. 

By this stage, having had few pointers from the more experienced, the less experienced (including me) felt a bit more comfortable and had a little more trust in the other group members.

Bolton Abbey station, our next tea stop, was planned in advance but what I didn’t know was that it cost £1 just to get to the platform where the café and most importantly the toilet were – bloody cheek - still we soon got over that – well most us did eh Phil?  The setting was quite nice and they have a large collection of Tilley lamps –amazing how many people remember using Tilley lamps in their youth and not so youth!  Would they charge us £1 to leave? The question was asked but no, it was free to go and you could come back again anytime today if you wanted – our tickets were proud to announce that they were valid for 24 hours.  Whoopee!

The final leg now, the weather was better and so was the riding; the only downside being the 30mph “Sunday drivers”!!!!!  Is it me or are there more of them about these days?  Things would be different if I could fit two 30mm cannons in the Pan’s fairings.

We were home mid afternoon and in double quick time the bikes were washed and left out to dry, just in time to catch the heaviest shower of the weekend! Well at least we stayed dry indoors!

On more than one occasion I was fearful of the weekend going pear shaped but in the end we all seemed to have a nice time and I learned loads from the experience of leading the trip, such as:

how difficult it is, how rewarding it can be, don’t trust Maude the Sat Nav lady, don’t start out without a good map, have an idea what to do if the road gets blocked or you get re-routed (we did) and don’t panic if it gets a bit out of shape! Most importantly - keep safe, stop and take stock if necessary and Relax, Relax, Relax.

For me at least, despite the pressure of being at the front, the weekend was good fun and a nice way to spend a couple of days on a bike. I hope it was the same for the rest?

Next year?                                                          Where’s that map?

DAM smart

DAM all set up at Bikewise with our volunteers kitted out in their BW12 tee shirts.

Bike Wise 2012

Don't forget that Sunday 1st July is the date for Bike Wise 2012 show at Aykley Heads. DAM will be there in our usual spot, promoting our activities and recruiting new members. Call in for a catch up!

DAM does Chester

Eight DAM members took up Bill Blackledge's offer to arrange a weekend trip to Chester.

We met up at The Bowburn Hall car park on Saturday morning comparing notes on various weather forecasts with a view to picking a dry route to Chester.

Eastern route South was the decision, so we set off as a group to head for the first planned stop at Squires Cafe for Tea and refreshments.

Suitably refreshed, we headed West through West Yorkshire heading for The Cat and Fiddle pass.

The Cat & Fiddle is now well policed via average speed cameras but is still well worth the ride. Second tea stop was at the Cat and Fiddle pub itself. At this point the wind was howling but fortunately the rain was holding off. - just the right conditions to try and plug a nice small hole in my rear tyre! Fortunately my well stocked top box always has Plug & Go kit and portable compressed available.

Arguments with the Sat Nav and some laps of the roundabouts later we made it to the hotel in Chester.

The evening's activities were a pleasant curry and a couple of pints followed by a walk back in the rain.

Fortunately the rain had gone by the morning and the first run was through Liverpool and up to Southport Pier for a brew and rock shopping!

A cross country route then took us to the Embsay Railway near Skipton for some lunch before heading back to the North East.

Overall a very successful weekend, for routes, company and conversations.

Points learnt - Bill likes to see all exits of least one roundabout a day, Sat Nav data is never fully up to date and punctures never happen in the sunshine!

Thanks to Bill for all of the excellent planning and preparations.

June & July rideouts

I would like to thank the few intrepid riders who attended the ride on Sunday 10 June.  


Despite the threat of rain we headed off to Squires for lunch then on to Fridaythorpe.  


It only rained a little despite the ominous clouds and the presence of large puddles.

The ride on 31 July will be to Teasdale Motorcycles, to view the new showroom and facilites.  We will be leaving at 7:30 prompt to allow us to get to Thirsk. More details to follow.

Stereotyping?

Blow in the bag.

My french requirement Breathalysers arrived this week, the requirement is to carry 2 with you but the company I sourced them from supply them in 5s, so you can have a "practice" blow, whilst still having sufficient to be more than legal.

Break off the ends of the tube, inflate the bag and then connect the bag to the tube and squash the air out of the bag through the tube - not the same as the old UK Breathalyser (not that I ever blew one myself).

So, 2 & half pints of 3.7% real ale, wait 20 minutes then blow in the bag.

The result?

Well, I wouldn't dream of riding the bike after 2 & half pints (I certainly didn't feel "capable") 

but my breathalyser said I was OK!

To fail the test with this particular type of test, the crystals have to change to green over the red line - a little subjective to make an accurate judgement, but certainly an eye opening exercise!

Father, Son and .............

Latest certificates to be presented prior to the May 29th ride out were presented by DAM Secretary Bill McReady to father and son; Mike (Centre) & Daniel Fleming (Left) and Kyle Harris (Right).

Congratulations to the new full members on achieving the required standard of riding and thanks to the Observers for bringing them up to that standard.


Thanks also to Bill for stepping in and running the ride out without any preparation or notice!
The ride took a decent sized group of 21 bikes Esh Winning, Muggleswick and over the tops to Stanhope then onto the chip shop at Frosterly.