We arranged to meet at the main gate of the base at 10 45 ready for an 1100 start. I was one of the first to arrive as I had set out early to refuel the Blackbird prior to setting off.
I hadn't realised there were so many interesting bikes in the club! Apart from the usual
Hondas,
Kawasakis,
BMWs and
Yamahas I spotted
Ducatis, Triumphs and a
Moto Morini which was the pride and joy of a colleague of mine Adam
Hardman. Adam I have known for at least three years, he is an amiable" gentle giant" of some 6 foot 6 inches and must weigh in at 16 stones minimum! He is affectionately known as " Chewy" at work, ( Star Wars ) It wasn't until I saw him and Paul
Sowden in the local paper advertising the ride out and egg delivery that I found out the big guy shared a christian name with my youngest son.!!That's the Air Force for you!
I refer of course to my twenty something student son
Chewbacca Gray currently studying at Edinburgh University.
We set off approx on time into the light rain and cool wind. After an incident free trip south to
Grantown on
Spey we headed towards Keith. I had volunteered to be " Sweeper" and bring up the rear to ensure none of our number got left behind in the event of breakdowns etc. This was a cunning plan of mine to remove any pressure on me to ride outside my comfort zone, because although I probably had one of the fastest bikes in the group, I am a self confessed "Captain Slow." I should not have worried however as I was behind two law abiding lady riders who only exceeded the legal speed limit a couple of times. Derek, owner of my old Yamaha Diversion kept me company at the rear of the group.
We passed through
Rothes then took the twisty road towards Keith, I
was behind a
Ducati Monster with illegal but lovely sounding exhaust pipes when we entered a sweeping set of double bends and came upon a scene we
definitely did not want to see!!
A Kawasaki Ninja at the end of a set of skid marks, on its side on the verge! The rest of the group blocked off the road and we controlled the traffic whilst the now
unrideable bike was moved to a safer location. A lady traffic warden appeared from nowhere( passing car we think) to help. Collection was arranged for stricken bike and unhurt, but
severely fed up rider. It wasn't until we had to bump start
Derek's bike which had flattened its battery on 4 way flashers and main beam with the engine off. (
Doh) That we realised how slippy the road surface was! Wet tarmac and spilled diesel fuel are as bad as ice! We were lucky only one of our number had gone down!
The incident had put us behind schedule for the egg handover so we missed out our coffee stop at Keith and headed straight to the
Elgin council offices, via
Fochabers.
The van containing over six hundred chocolate eggs was already there, we all helped to unload then some of our number set off to Burger King for a healthy lunch, whilst others decided to get home before the weather got worse, which it did!
Lots of photos were taken so if any come my way I shall include them later.
