Clyde Valley HOG 9894

Captain Jigger takes the Salute.

It’s not summer yet…..but Clyde Valley HOG got the riding season proper off to a start (last week’s outing to Largs was essentially a training and familiarisation weekend) with a short run out to Balmaha on Loch Lomondside. The ride was originally scheduled to head out on Saturday but the weather forecast early in the week was looking a bit shaky and while there was sufficient time to make adjustments to the plan, it was decided to move the ride to Sunday with a slightly more promising forecast.

In fact, the weather turned out fairly pleasant, not warm but not the body-piercing damp cold of Saturday and the roads were dry and seemingly clear of salt. Hopefully, we have seen the last of that this side of winter now.

The change of days did no harm to the number of bikes turning out and in fact, we had one of the best-attended ride-outs we have had in some time*. I counted 32 bikes on the ride passing out of Drymen and with pillions along as well there were getting on for 35 members out for the run.

*Very probably the numbers were boosted by those turning up to have something to say about the new Clyde Valley Tartan (one imagines, only complimentary things), stunning though it is in its off-yellow tones….but alas, though I can already sense the disappointment in the Chapter when you learn it was in fact an April Fools joke , yes really(unbelievable but true!) !

I know Burnsy whose Egyptian adventures inspired the new tartan, (have we mentioned he went to Egypt recently?) and Davie Fulton, who had immediately ordered a stunning new yellow kilt… were almost inconsolable.

Balmaha was proving to be a very popular destination generally ( probably because it felt like this was the first Sunday that it didn’t either Snow, rain or freeze) so consequently, the queue for the coffee shop was fairly long. Some of us suspected wee Shas had been lost down a pothole, she was gone for so long. Rumour had it that weighed down with the weight of Kenny’s camera gear, in her role as Photographers assistant today, that she simply disappeared…. Kenny on the other hand attempted to pass himself off as a “Nichola” in order to appropriate someone else’s toastie and coffee. The attempt failed miserably, which is surprising given his naturally blonde hair that he’s had since a child you know…

As you will be aware if you follow our Facebook feed….there were an awful lot of photo’s from this weeks ride out, so rather than fill this post with endless scroll fodder, pop on over to our Flickr page where all those from Facebook, and more will be available to browse.

A final note from the Webmaster and photographer…..as we waited on the bikes coming at Drymen, we could hear the rumble of those 32 Harleys coming for some time before we actually caught sight of them, and it made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The Chapter has currently around 200 members….imagine the presence even half of that would make on a ride out….join us on the Chapter ride out to Portpatrick and stop imagining!

Flickr Album