Ride Out Reports – Page 4 – Clyde Valley HOG 9894

July 2023 Chapter Ride Out to Oban

25/07/2023

After what has been a shaky month weather wise and no end in sight to the unsettled conditions this months Chapter ride out was planned for a run to Oban. As the week developed it looked fortuitous that Sunday was the day for the run, it being a Chapter run, as Saturday looked to be a stinker. But in point of fact, Saturday ended up not bad and Sunday was actually a very nice day for a run into the near North West.

A few riders got a wee sprinkle of weather on the way home but a lot depended on where your final destination was and what route back was taken.

The group of about 16 ( 14 bikes and 1 trike) went up via Loch Lomondside and Tarbert taking the road to Crianlarich and then for a stop at the Green Welly to let Burnsy get a fag and petrol….preferably not all at the same time….

The Green Welly — Parked up well clear of the petrol pumps at the Green Welly….well, you would wouldn’t you?

As the carnage and mushroom cloud of the ensuing explosion faded in the riders mirrors it was on to Oban to stop and revive with Chips/Ice Cream/Coffee….again preferably not all at the same time.

The return trip was really up to each individual and where they were headed, but the majority took a run down the Kilmartin road to Lochgilphead ( another fuel stop) then back around Loch Fyne. Some headed back via Dunoon and the Ferry to the Clyde Coast, others took the more direct routes. It might have rained at Dunbarton….. and on the Clyde Coast, but a small price to pay for a nice day out.

Bikes on the Dunoon Ferry — A ferry home for a few

Photos from Pete Chisholm and Frazer Auld. As ever you can see all the images on our Flickr album below.

Dunbar RNLI Gala day and SFoM 2023

17/07/2023

A busy weekend for Clyde Valley HOG and first up was a ride out to Dunbar over on the East Coast to support the RNLI Gala day. A couple of bikes from Dunedin also attended and the weather stayed somewhat miraculously dry for the most part, with what appears to have been a small shower just as the bikes were departing for home. While the weather has been changeable this last month most of the ride outs have been able to dodge the weather and ended up with good conditions so sometimes its worth taking a chance and just coming along, more often than not we get away with it. Images here courtesy of Paul Stark and Pete Chisholm

Scottish Festival of Motoring 2023

Sunday we had another posse of bikes and members heading east once again, this time early on Sunday morning to show our bikes at Ingleston showground and the Scottish Festival of Motoring.

Again, it sounds that despite the outside pitch at the event, the weather stayed dry all day.

I know there were a lot more photos taken by members than these, if you have any you are happy to share please email them to webmaster@clydevalleyhog.com .

PXL_20230716_080208367 — Photos from Dunbar and Ingleston July 2023

The Fintry Loop** (did you see what we did there?)

10/07/2023

Saturday’s ride out was a fully circular route out the north side of Glasgow through Kirkintilloch and Kilsyth, Denny then out to Carron Bridge and along the Carron Valley to Fintry where we stopped at the Courtyard Cafe, at Knockraich Farm ( a wee gem of a find by Paul the Road Captain for the day, if I do say so myself*).

*this route is a regular route for your humble scribe as it’s all local to me and nice roads but never have I even noticed the cafe! Doh!

One wee mention too for the road from Fankerton out to Carron Bridge. If you have ridden it at all in the last three years at least you can’t be unaware that it was like the surface of the moon all potholes and craters and really quite dangerous… not now it is lovely billiard table smooth grippy tarmac!

The road down into Fintry as it exits the Carron Valley road however is still a bit of a pothole fest from about the Fintry Loup ( the waterfall) to the junction of the Campsies road ( Fintry- Lennoxtown) so be aware.

The weather had somewhat changeable ideas but by some miracle ( a miracle that eluded your humble scribe on the way down to Glasgow when we had to shelter from the torrent in Stirling Services with lots of other motorbikes), it stayed dry despite threatening for the entire ride out. In fact it was incredibly hot and sitting outside at the Courtyard was very pleasant indeed….and the scones were good too.

**PS for those that didn’t see what we did there… this is the Fintry Loup (notice the “u” not an “o”)- a waterfall between Fintry and Carron Valley Reservoir. Well worth a visit but be prepared for the midgies.

PXL_20230708_111138590.MP — The Fintry ride out on Flickr

Loch Katrine Ride out….. and the Clotted Cream Crisis

04/07/2023

This weeks shop ride-out was to Loch Katrine by way of Aberfoyle and the Dukes Pass, a legendary bikers road. The weather forecast was promising but a few of the riders did get caught in some heavy rain on the way into Hillington, made worse by it being driven on the gusty winds which made for a soggy start to the day for some. Some though managed to totally avoid the rain just by being on the road a few minutes either side of the rain fall….so it was just your luck.

As the group assembled to leave for the Trossachs the rain had one final tip down, hammering hard on the roof of WCHD and frankly that was it. After that it was dry, with even brilliant sunshine on the way out from Balloch to Aberfoyle on dry roads, and then a dry crossing of the Dukes pass. It was evident that there had been no rain up on the hill and in fact ( as happened during the road crew recce earlier in the week) even the gusty wind was absent on the hill.

The rain had a wee return while we were inside stuffing our faces with Scones but it was gone by the time we emerged to head back to our respective destinations via Callander.

An interim briefing to discuss the status of clotted cream deliveries to Loch Katrine…the boat had been delayed by the weather.

There was a short stop in at the car park at Aberfoyle while the ride leader Davy received updates from the cafe at Katrine letting us know that clotted cream was not going to be an option on the scones so that the group could decide whether to make the crossing with inevitable minor disappointment awaiting at the other end.

if You have never ridden the Dukes Pass, and we had a few DP virgins on this ride, you might want to check out this segment of video from the Road Crew recce, of a run up the Dukes Pass during the week in sunshine and devoid of traffic.

However, we decided that cream or no cream the Dukes Pass was ready and waiting for us and we made a steady crossing with relatively little traffic of note.

We successfully negotiated “Sharons Corner”…Looks like its been resurfaced in the last couple of weeks

Killearn and BudaWest

01/07/2023

A short ride out to Killearn to accommodate attendance at the BudaWest event at West Coast HD. It started a gloomy looking day but stayed dry and actually ended up pretty warm. Kenny was a newbie at leading under the supervision of Jigger and Stevie, nobody died so that has to rank as a success.

Kenny chose a route to get out into the country quickest via the Stockiemuir Road which worked quite well but perhaps the ride back in via the Clyde Tunnel and then picking up the old A8 wasn’t the best. It was a bit gridlocked at times…not helped I think by some road works on the westbound M8 which seemed to be bringing a lot of local traffic off the motorway onto the back roads.

Jiggers 117 Breakout sporting its new stylish ( his words) Man Bag…needs a splash of “new” Clyde Valley Tartan on that mate

Not to worry, we all made it back in time for the sun coming out and the entertainment at West Coast. Quite a few cases of temporary retinal burns were reported by the reflected light from Tommy’s incredibly polished helmet….has there ever been a helmet that had so much attention…all that buffing.

Tommy collecting his prize for shiniest helmet… or maybe for his Trike.

And of course lets not forget the Cult of Lairdy which remained strong in CVH members and entertainers alike.

The Cult of Lairdy remains strong in this one.
Tommy getting anxious in case we finger his helmet and get marks on it.

All the images from the day can be seen on our Flickr Album

Killearn and Budawest — All the images from Killearn and BudaWest

Chapter Ride Out to Kingshouse, Glencoe June 2023

17/06/2023

Who ate all the pies?

Would the weather hold?

Would we finally be forced into waterproofs?

Would Connor have any idea who Scotland were playing at football despite rushing home to watch “the” game?

Lindsay’s big Knickers….let’s not even go there….. Ian was appalled…”appalled” do you hear!

Can the insides of a Pie be so yellow and not kill you…Gilly should be able to answer that one…..Gilly?…Gilly? Oh dear….

What exactly was Lairdy doing in this photo?

Everyone in the Chapter wishes Lairdy a speedy recovery from having his arm reattached this week. Then maybe we might kindly suggest he might consider a trip to the dentist.

So a dozen bikes assembled at West Coast for a Saturday Chapter Ride (due to Sunday being Fathers Day).

Connor was leading the group and demonstrated exemplary memory skills reciting the chapter prayer prior to the off….that or he has very good eyesight and has it taped to a sticky on the building opposite the dealership.

You can see how impressed everyone was. Enthralled and overjoyed I think you can see that in the photos of the assembled throng.

Kara looked delighted she no longer had to listen to “You are deemed to be in control of and responsible for your vehicle and your riding at all times…..” for the 3569th time this week. Rumour has it, he was even practising at the bowling green!

We learned too that Frazer has become one with the Cult of Lairdy

Ian reminds us you ride a bike to make you happy….

Dumfries House Ride Out June ’23

17/06/2023

With a shop ride out so close behind the return from the Gathering you may be excused for thinking it might be hard to get many bikes out but not the case, and with horizon to horizon blue skies Raymond and Davie took a group down to Dumfries House near Cumnock, for coffee and buns!

Going WILD! in the CoUNTRY…. definitely not bowling: Lanark Loch

28/05/2023

This Saturday’s ride out was to Lanark Loch under the expert navigation of Road Captain Chris Kelly, assisted by sweeper and soapy bike washer Janice (it requires too much explanation you had to be there) and non-expert navigator on this particular way around Lanarkshire, Kenny as tail-ender.

So unfamiliar with this particular neck of the woods was the tail-ender, that he marveled at how big Stathaven had become in the ten years since he had last visited it (never having approached it from the north west before). We must have past three or four signs on the big boulevard they have built to manage this rapid expansion, that read
Strathaven
Town Centre
before we reached a roundabout that was “decorated” with a huge EK and your humble scribe suddenly realised we were actually in East Kilbride.

Oh dear, never mind.

At least these two knew where we were going!

Janice isn’t dressed to go Bowling either.

We had about 13 bikes in total for the run and a great wee hurl through some very quiet, dare I say well surfaced twisty roads across the the loch which took about 90 minutes. it wasn’t as warm as you might have imagined especially out beyond the Mega Metropolis that is Strathaven ( see prior comments).

No Burnsy on this ride out, no, he isn’t in Egypt, we had it on good authority he was staying in to await the delivery of his Rally Pack for The Gathering, which was apparently being dropped off by Davy Henderson, mounted on a golden chariot pulled by two Arabian Stallions. (only a portion of this might be untrue).

Editors note: I am going to have to buy Burnsy so many pints at The Gathering to make up for the amount of abuse he gets on the pages of this website! There will be a collection bucket at registration to assist in this regard.

Sons of Airdrie Bowling Club

While this was going on Jigger and his young Padawan Connor want it to be known that they selflessly embarked on a hazardous reconnaissance mission onto the Cowal Peninsula in prep for The Gathering. No bikes were lost in this perilous quest, but at least five…yes FIVE emails of the two photos that they want us to see were still arriving at Clyde Valley HQ late into Saturday evening, so keen were they for you to see these images. You can stop now chaps, well done, time for tea and slippers…..speaking of which another photo of the daring duo has also arrived that Jigger and Connor are maybe less keen to be shared.

Chibbs and Jax watching another great delivery that ended up with three bowls closest to the jack on this occasion…what excitement!

The Pathfinders at Lochgoilhead Bowling club car park.

Jigger and Connor, took the boat back as they were in such a rush to slip into something more “blazer and flannels” and hit the Bowling greens at Airdrie.

…but no bowling at Lanark

At Lanark Loch however there was definitely no discussion of bowls. Anyone daring to discuss the race to reach 21 points was soon sent for ice cream. We did however learn that Yvonne particularly likes the way I say the word “CoUNTRY” though perhaps best to not elaborate much further on that. Davie Fulton revealed that some soapy mankini action might be on the cards at The Gathering if we pay him enough and Paddy is suffering PTSD from the discussion of Davie and Catherines romantic weekend away for their 30th Anniversary ( congratulations guys from all at CVH ). We did try to protect him by asking him to cover his ears but he was having none of it. Paddy does however seem to be developing some interest in bowling, probably spending too much time with Connor.

None of the rest of the riders who headed to Lanark Loch were dressed to go bowling either.

….and before you go

A few familiar faces were encountered up at the Wallace Rally later in the day who cannae wait for The Gathering next week…..mind it’s not too late to get a last minute ticket.

Gary says he hasn’t recovered from the mental trauma I caused him taking his photo last year at Hunters Quay. Am I going to regret turning up this year…..nah….cannae wait!

Burntisland Chapter Ride Out

22/05/2023

Vicki looking confident on the Sportster

No one got Burnt and there’s no island

The Chapter ride-out this month was to Burntisland in the Kingdom of Fife. Led by Stevie, and supported by Connor and Jigger, the riders rode up through the west side of the Campsies and then across the Carse of Stirling (that was Carse….there is a “C” in front…) via the A811, before joining the M9 at Craigforth to miss out some roadworks through the city, then on out to Kincardine for a comfort break and to pick up any riders who couldn’t get across Glasgow to WCHD in time for the start.

With circulation restored the riders left over the Kincardine Bridge and headed along the north shore of the River Forth to the final destination which was Burntisland.

While it wasn’t a cold day, it was a bit on the grey and dull side and rain was always threatening but never really getting going.

The chapter arrived on the Stirling Ring Road at 11:43, some 13 minutes later than predicted by your humble scribe, apparently due to the late arrival at WCHD of one Andrew Burns who flew in from his spiritual home of Egypt to join us….not that we would dare cast up anything like lateness to one so exulted.

The ride out was planned to almost literally pass your webmasters door, and he spent half an hour after 11am looking for a suitable spot to capture the bikes with Stirling Castle in the background. The time and sacrifices…you have little idea. By the time 11:43 rolled around ( 13 minutes later than his estimate of the time the ride would pass by) he was starting to think they weren’t coming. Perhaps a change of plan, perhaps a no show…

So long after the due time in fact that the sun even attempted to come out for a moment. All caused by Burnsy’s “delayed arrival” at WCHD. Not that we would wish to make anyone feel bad or be reminded of their mis-deeds. But appear they did, then were off down the M9

With the riders “eventually” past Stirling, your mere “Documenter of Truths” took off like the proverbial scalded rabbit ( is that even a proverbial thing? I’m not sure it is.) and was off down the M9 in pursuit of the bikes on their way to Kincardine Services.

Imagine therefore his surprise when he arrived at said designated rally point and only Brian stood, sad and alone, bereft of friends with no other shiny things of the Milwaukee Motor Company to be seen.

We were standing discussing this odd state of affairs when the rumbling sound of V Twin power made itself heard and into the car park rode Stevie and the troops. They had taken the “Eastern Villages” route out via Fallin and Airth. Brian was much happier now! Happy Brian.

Greetings were gret and hello’s were exchanged. Jigger looked troubled by his new found love of green bowls having spent an action packed day in flat shoes on Saturday, and is considering trading in his custom Street Glide Special, for a Henselite Tiger Evo ( well, a set of four actually) and is actively shopping for a blazer and grey “slacks” I am reliably told by young Connor.

Jigger imagining himself in grey slacks and a blazer

After consuming some of Columbia’s finest produce ( that will be coffee by the way) …the bikes roared off east in pursuit of palm-fringed beaches, and sunshine. At this point your disseminator of all that is honest and truthful, and without humour parted company with the pack, as work-related obligations beckoned.

Jigger’s short leg

Has anyone noticed? Can you even play bowls like this?

is it just me that see’s the photo on the left and thinks of the picture on the right?

…and on to the island of Burned-ness

They never found sun nor palm fringed beaches served by those wee Tiki Bars that serve rum laced cocktails…. but did reach Burntisland. It had a chip shop.

And so another successful ride out ends, our weary travellers said their farewells and made their way back to Clyde Valley land, regaling any who would listen of burning islands, people with their pants on their heads and apparently Jigger was hugely impressed with the greens at Burntisland Bowling Club and has vowed to return with his “Evo’s”.

Bishopbriggs and Campbeltown ’23….. the tears….

16/05/2023

You know the old saying what goes in Campbeltown, stays in Campbeltown. So basically you had to be there….OK twist my arm…. best not to twist Lairdy’s or that will be another visit to A&E…

First off….before we get to Campbeltown….

Bishopbriggs Gala Day

A big shout out to the guys and girls that represented the Chapter at Bishopbriggs Gala Day. Unfortunately, the date of this clashed with the already arranged Campbeltown ride so it fell to a smaller cohort of riders- still a respectable dozen or so to turn out for us at this event. Thank you to everyone that turned out.

The pictures below were courtesy of Ian and Donna Mckay.

Video by Pete Chisholm

Video by Raymond Brodie

These and more photos on Flickr.

…and back to Campbeltown

The chapter couldn’t have asked for better weather for the ride down to Campbeltown, in fact it was probably the best day of the year so far for the ride out. A wee bit misty on the Kintyre peninsula in places and that lowered the temperature in places, but the roads were dry, pretty quiet and it was a great run. A wee stop off at Lochgilphead let everyone restore circulation after the run over the Rest and Be Thankful round Loch Fyne and through Inverary.

With everyone safely arrived at Campbeltown by about half past two, we all assembled on the pier for the Customary Chapter photos before we headed for the Argyll Arms Hotel to get checked in.

Clyde Valley bring the bikes and the sunshine

After checking out the cultural and architectural highlights of the wee town ( I think I might have looked out the window of my bedroom at the slate roof outside it), the chapter convened for pre theatre cocktails in the bar. The theatrics in this case was Burnsy whose Campbeltown stand-up date just happened by happy coincidence to correspond with the Chapter visit. Who would have imagined it?

The Joy

John and Karen stepped out to get a “munchy bag”, to see them through the long dark Campbeltown night, and on returning to the bar deposited a bag of Space Dust in Burnsy’s lap. Overjoyed he was…as was everyone else at the expressions. The combination of Space Dust and Guinness obviously does something special.

The Tears….

…and the Horror

Think there was maybe a bet running on this…

It didn’t end there…there was still the dinner table

…and then The Feathers.

So after a restful night, though maybe not so restful for those that spent it in A&E… rumours of X-rays, specialists being rushed from Glasgow, one of whom might have been a vet and body parts stuck where they shouldn’t be. Connor might have mentioned strap on but that report is uncorroborated. However, Lairdy was definitely strapped-up on return…

Disowned

Most of the importanter members of the committee (rightly) disowned us and headed off to “the caravan”…Ok they had a high powered meeting in Hunters Quay so had to leave in the rain.

Janice wasn’t going to be getting blistered feet in this weather

Of course ‘some’ of the grown-ups behaved

Some of us managed to behave and did in fact see a little of Campbeltown and Kintyre. So for those that were there and don’t even know what Campbeltown looks like without beer pumps or optics…… the cultural highlights.

And after a short wait for the heavy drizzle to abate…almost by some miracle the weather forecast was actually correct and it was pretty dry the whole way home,