SCOTLAND area
Your local rep is Gordon Gooch
Tel: 0131 334 6480
Scottish CBX News and Plans for 2009
1. Scottish Motorcycle Show 14th and 15th March 2009.
I am pleased to confirm that after a break of a couple of years the Club will once again have a stand at the Motorcycle News Scottish Motorcycle Show at Ingleston in March. The stand will be part of the Carole Nash Classics Pavilion in the Central Hall and we will have four bikes on display – a red z, a silver z, a Prolink and a Moto Martin. My sincere thanks to Mike Harper, Phil MacIver and Angus Andersen for volunteering to display their bikes on the Stand. Our Club Chairman Mel Watkins will also be in attendance and my thanks to Mel for making the long trek north with all the Stand display material which does make the Club Stand prominent out as one of the most professional and impressive looking displays. Mel and I will be on the stand over the weekend so do call in for a chat if you are passing, it would be nice to catch up with you all!
2. May Rally / Ride-Out – Friday 15th to Sunday 17th May 2009.
New for 2009 is our “Around the Top” ride-out event which I have been planning in conjunction with the Club Auditor, Hubert Saldanha who lives on the Isle of Lismore.
|
| |
a. Day 1 Friday 15th May. “The Best of the West”. Oban to Ullapool. Be Prepared to ride! Amazing roads and Amazing scenery! Rendezvous in Oban around 10:30am and head north to Fort William. At Fort William we will take the A830 “Road to the Isles” to Mallaig. We will then take the ferry (approx 30mins) to Skye, and then head north on the A851 over the Skye bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh, and then the A87 before turning left up the A890 aiming for Kinlochewe on the A832. We will then ride around beautiful Loch Maree before turning north and joining the A835 to Ullapool. Check out the route on a map – just about the most beautiful stunning scenery we could take in, in one day!
b. Day 2 Saturday 16th May. “The Far North”. Ullapool to Tongue. True Wilderness! A more leisurely day. From Ullapool we head north and then take the unclassified road west past Stac Polly before turning north to Lochinver - slow going but spectacularly beautiful. We will then follow the B869 through Clashnessie, Drumbeg etc before joining the A894 heading north followed by the awesome A838 to Durness before detouring around Loch Erriboll and then across the Kyle of Tongue Causeway to Tongue. We will have sightseeing options throughout the day; possibly to detour out to the beautiful beaches at Oldshoremore or visit the Smoo Cave near Durness, or even, time permitting take a trip out to Cape Wrath. We need to be in Tongue before 7pm to re-fuel for the Sunday.
c. Day 3 Sunday 17th May. Tongue and Home! The route can be finalized by those in attendance on Saturday night. For those who want less miles and more scenery we can offer Option 1. Those who want to complete the circuit of the top of Mainland Britain we can offer Option 2. Option 1- head south from Tongue on the A836 or down through Strathmore past Ben Hope on the unclassified road - gorgeous! Continue back to Oban or whichever destination suits. Option 2 – Head west across to John O Groats for a photo stop at Britains most northerly point and then south and back home by whichever route we agree upon at the time.
|
Accommodation will be organized in local hotels on a B&B basis. Prior experience has found rates to be very reasonable. (ie around £50 a night). We have a couple of options in mind for both Ullapool and Tongue and we will finalise rates with the hotels once we confirm final numbers. Therefore I would request that anyone keen to attend gets in touch with me as soon as possible. We will aim to book accommodation by mid March. Thereafter anyone who wishes to join in will need to arrange their own accommodation although I will of course be happy to assist.
The date has been chosen to specifically avoid bank holidays and the additional tourist traffic that hits the roads on theses occasions. We have also tried to stay clear of Alan Fishers Yorkshire rally and the National rally in early June however I realize that the close proximity of these events makes the CBX Calendar rather crowded at this time. Nevertheless we consider that there will be a fairly limited number of attendees due to the far north location in the UK so hopefully we will not be compromising either attendance at the Yorkshire or National rallies.
The date was also chosen to hopefully coincide with the best weather window on the west coast. Of course last year the north and west basked in sunshine from April onwards for week after week but that can never be counted upon. Therefore if a few days ahead of time the weather is looking doubtful I will review the situation and call around those who have registered an interest to decide on whether to press ahead or cancel and move to another date.
3. Monthly Meets. I have been giving this matter a lot of thought and due to Scotland’s very large geographical spread and consequent dispersed membership it is very difficult to organize a regular meeting venue that allows everyone to participate. However in the Central belt the VJMC Local section holds regular meetings in the Bonsyde Hotel in Linlithgow on the first Wednesday of the month from about 7:30pm. I am also a member of the VJMC so plan on attending meetings whenever possible. Please pop in and see us and/or get in touch if you’d like to meet up there. For the other areas of Scotland please feel free to get something going yourself, and get in touch with me if you’d like any assistance to do so.
4. Highlands Rally – August / September 2009. I have spoken to Angus about returning to the Star Hotel in Kingussie in September for the end of season get together. However Angus is getting married at this time (Congratulations mate!) so his mind will be focused on more important things than CBX’s at this time. Nevertheless I will look at perhaps trying to organize something in August perhaps at a different venue. Watch this space. Any ideas on theme or venue gratefully received.
5. Impromptu Ride-Outs. Throughout the year if the weather is looking good on the 5 day BBC Weather look ahead I will often plan a weekend run, sometimes with an overnight, but mostly out and back in a day. These vary in length but can be in excess of 400 miles and take in much of Scotland so if anyone is interested in joining in or meeting up on route then please send me your email address so that I can get in touch with you when I am planning a ride.
Look out for more updates on either the website or in Rider magazine. In the meantime have a fantastic 2009 and I hope to see some of you out and about on your CBX.
|
|