Category: Run Report Submissions

The weather forecast for the day looked reasonable, although disappointing for what was supposed to be the height of summer. When I arrived at the Crieff Visitor Centre carpark I could only see Ian Ness, the Run leader and organiser. Before long, John Cairney and Alex Muir arrived, as well as Ian and Sue McIntosh. Unfortunately, Ian and Sue were unable to Join us on the run, but had kindly come along to have a chat and wish us well as we set off. Our 10:00 hr departure time arrived and we headed off along the A85 Perth Road as far as Methven. At this point, our group took an unplanned detour for a few miles towards Glenalmond. Ian organised a swift about-turn that saw us back on track. Three…

Although overcast it was a fairly warm (22C rising to 24C) and humid start to the day and my ride over to Kinross Services for the start of Ian's run. I filled up before joining the others already gathered in the car park to ensure I'd have enough gas to get around the route. Being a motorway services I purposely chose not to look at the price per litre - I usually go to great lengths to avoid paying their rip-off prices. A quick catch-up with some of the others gathered then Ian began a quick briefing on our run, drop-off system and timings. Robin decided to start his R1100RS for some reason so we could only see Ian's lips moving for the last third of the briefing. Never mind,…

Ian Ness saw a break in the recent poor July weather and offered a run around Perthshire starting at Crieff. Six members signed up - John Moss, Alex Muir, Charlie and Rebecca Robertson, Ross Muir and David Syme. I turned up unannounced and needing to go get fuel, and so in penance volunteered to make this report. Ian led us around a terrific selection of roads, many unknown to me. The recurring feature of nearly all was bends – constant one-after-another bends. So much so that I barely managed to look at the scenery. However, one section sticks in the mind – westwards from Bridge of Cally. It consisted of continual bumps and jolts for miles. The break at Kirkmichael for coffee / drink / pastries / leg stretch etc.…

7 Hungry bikers met at the alternative start location, Whitburn, for a run down to Biggar, on a warm summer evening. But ... The 3 bikers coming from Edinburgh must have been hungrier as they arrived before us. We all placed our orders, and ate our fish & chips etc. at a couple of park benches across the road. Grant even managed to get a chip portion delivery. After chatting for a while, taking a few photos, we made plans for home. Thanks to Marc Elvin (who set the initial run up), David Jerome & Antonios Tsikrikas, who we said goodbye at Biggar. The rest of us headed back to Whitburn, saying goodbye to Brian at Carnwarth. With one small detour to allow Al & Norman to bag the Wee…

Arrivided at Dobbies and just pulling up to a halt when I receive a call from John. 'Morning John" I said, fearing he wasn't going to be able to make it. "You've just ridden straight past me!" He was in the lay-by at the entrance - observation fail number 1 of the day. Good catch-up while we waited for Robin, our third and final rider of the day. 09.30 comes and goes and I wonder out loud where he is. "I told you" said John, "he's taken his name off the list." Observation fail no.2. So off we head in the direction of Balloch and on to The rest and be thankful, uneventful other than the temperatures have risen from 16C to about 24C! The first day this year I've…

Only fools and the brave (guess which one I am) venture south of the Edinburgh by-pass ... and so it was that Marc (Run Leader) and I (TEC), partnered-up for a sunny, 75-mile evening run on scenic, bendy roads to Peebles. In fairness, the run was announced at short-notice but, hey, carpe diem folks ...! Assembling at Greggs Bonnyrigg, off the A7, Marc was on an energetic BMW F900R Sport, courtesy of Motorrad. I was on my capable, if somewhat more subdued, Yamaha XJ6. The clockwise route took us south on the A7 and then south-west on the lovely, rolling B7007 over and beneath the hills to Innerleithen. From there it was but a short blast west on A72 into Peebles, for a great fish supper from ‘Sully’s’ on the…

Thanks to my granddaughter's school trip I had a Thursday free, and Alan Graham put up this run with one of my favourite roads included - Dalwhinnie to Spean Bridge. The forecast was brilliant. No brainer, but 9:30 @ Kinross was a challenge. Six met up at Kinross services - Alan - BMW 1250RT, Alex Muir - Bandit 1250, Frank Dolan - NC750X DCT, Ian Jones - BMW S1000XR, Kenny Anderson - Ducati Multistrada, & me Steve Middleton - TDM900A. The route is familiar to us all, stops agreed and off we go. Oooops - where's my indicators? They were there arriving at the meeting, but there's no signalling going on at all, not even intermittent. Ah well. I'm at the back following Ian so stick with him and copy…

At long last, the warm and sunny biking weather is finally here. Arriving at Kinross Services, were nine happy bikers, all eager to enjoy the days run around the Fife countryside. In no particular order we had: Mike ONeill - Suzuki GSX-S 1000 Gavin Paterson - Suzuki Fazer 1000 Grant Powrie - Triumph Tiger 900 GT David Syme - BMW 1250 GS Brian Torley - Honda Pan European Antonios (Tony) Tsikrikas - Suzuki V-Strom 650 Dave McWilliam - Triumph Tiger 850 Sport Andrew ? - Can-Am Spyder RT (Yes you read that correctly) Myself - Triumph Bonneville SE 865 (Apologies if I’ve got some of this wrong) After the usual get together chat and briefing, we set of with me leading and Dave as TEC. The first part of the…

The weather forecast was good and as Janet was booked on a Spa Day with our daughter, I was allowed out on my own. Seven of us gathered at the Crieff Visitor Centre, three Triumphs, one BMW, one Suzuki, one Honda and one KTM. Ian took the lead and David McWilliam rode as TEC. We headed West through Comrie, St Fillans and along the North side of Lochearn and then through Killin and along the North side of Loch Tay. I was riding just in front of David but could still hear the fantastic sound coming from Grant’s Triumph Scrambler 1200 which was four bikes in front! We took a left turn just before Kenmore, then another left onto the Schiehallion Road towards Kinloch Rannoch. Unfortunately, there was a low…

We met up at a carpark on the south side of Junction 6 on the M8, right next to a petrol station so we were all good to go. Peter Johnson 1200RT, Alasdair Wood 1200GS (TEC), Ian Ness Bonneville, Ali Lazizi 750GS, Brian Torley PanEuropean and myself on KTM 390Adv. The weather threatened slight drizzle from time to time but was expected to be mainly dry. So off we set on a leisurely and uneventful run to Largs to catch the ferry, no dramas at the ferry and soon we were on Cumbrae. Any dreams of Cumbrae being like a mini Isle of Man were soon shattered when we found it was a 30mph limit over the whole island and the roads were narrow, twisty and full of cyclists, mostly…