Chairmans reRun

The Chairman’s Run, the traditional opening Club Run of the season, had been due to take place on 7th April but was cancelled due to forecasts of high winds. On Sunday 21st April, seven Club Members met up at Dobbies Garden Centre in Stirling for the rescheduled, renamed event – the Chairmans reRun.
Participants: Peter Johnson and Marc Elvin on BMW RTs; Frank Dolan – Honda NT1100, Brian Torley – Honda Pan European, Ali Lazizi – BMW 750GS, Grant Powrie and Kenny Anderson on Triumph Tiger 900 GTs
The previous day, the weather had been lovely. Sunny, warm and dry, as if summer had at long last arrived. However, as the group gathered at Dobbies for the day’s ride out, it’s fair to say that the weather was miserable – cold and pouring with rain.
Unconvinced by Peter’s assurance that the rubbish weather would be short lived, Ali decided that discretion was the better part of valour and headed for home. We were sorry to see Ali leave but with fingers firmly crossed, the rest of us followed Peter onto the A9 for the start of the soggy adventure.
After a 15-mile acclimatisation stint, we left the A9 at the Greenloaning junction. From here the road became much more interesting for bikers, with the A822 to Creiff providing enough twists and turns to help gain confidence for riding in the persisting, monsoon-like conditions. After Creiff, the route became twistier as we joined the lovely road to Comrie. I was slightly unsettled when I saw a ‘for sale’ sign as we passed the Tullybannocher Café. I hope their excellent scones won’t be disappearing when it’s sold!
Continuing along the north side of Loch Earn, there was a hint that the rain might be easing slightly. The low cloud with Ben Vorlich poking through, was looking more like Scotch mist now, making a stunning view across the loch. After leaving picturesque Loch Earn behind, there was less to distract us from the rain but as we went up through Glenogle, then down to Mid Lix, a definite change was taking place in the sky. Faint patches of blue could definitely be seen through thinning clouds!
We reached Killin and parked up at the Falls of Dochart Inn. Not surprisingly, the falls were looking impressive. The place was very busy considering it’s not really into the tourist season yet. In the lounge of the Inn, there was a very welcoming, roaring fire. Understandably, there wasn’t much unoccupied space around it. Anyway, the restaurant was in the adjacent room!
Our lunch stop was a bit more upmarket than the average bacon roll and coffee snack bar. Bacon rolls weren’t on the menu but the alternatives did feel a bit more indulgent.
After our relaxing and tasty lunch stop, we were pleased to see that the rain had stopped and the roads were drying out. We continued our ride exploring more of Scotland’s scenic beauty. We followed the surprisingly quiet road along the north side of Loch Tay, enjoying 15 miles of striking scenery, with mountains on one side and Loch Tay on the other.
At the village of Kenmore, Loch Tay ended and the River Tay began. The scenic beauty continued as the road we took followed the course of the river, passing through Aberfeldy to Logierait, close by where the Tay and the Tummel converge. At this point we headed north for a short stint, before getting onto the lovely A924. This was a great road, which took us in a twisty, flowing, 20-mile loop round to the Bridge of Cally.
A short hop from there took us down to Blairgowrie, where we fuelled up at the Tesco petrol station. We stood around in the car park and chatted for a while, with everyone agreeing that it had been a very successful run, despite the inauspicious start. The ride was certainly a perfect appetiser for the start of the new biking season!
Since the interesting enjoyable part of the ride had been completed, leaving the not very exciting M90 section down to Kinross, we decided to say our goodbyes and head for home.
Big thanks to Peter for planning and leading the run, to Grant for being TEC and all the guys for their great company.