Ride Out Reports – Page 5 – Clyde Valley HOG 9894

International Ladies Ride Day and Camping trip

08/05/2023

As if burning your feet for charity wasn’t enough activity for one weekend those Ladies of Harley were out again on Saturday this time on altogether ‘cooler’ pursuits (see what I did there?) for International Ladies Ride day.

Seven Lady Riders took a ride out to Helensburgh heading over the Old Military Road, led by LoH Officer Janice, with Jigger and Connor along to provide Road Crew Duty support.

Pete Mulkerrins also attended but he mistook the ride out as the “Camping trip” and had decided to dress the part. He also requested he be referred to as Petrina….which didn’t seem to be news to Katrina.

Connor has his LoH wings on order ready for Campbelltown

Connor not wishing to be left out of the cross-dressing action has allegedly already bought his Ladies of Harley Patches ( ……’with wings’…. what?) and has a range of recipes to try out for Strawberry Tea Weekend.

We imagine it’s safer letting him loose with a food mixer rather than a nail gun.

The ladies, all headed out to Helensburgh for a few pictures and no doubt to have a cooling dip of those singed feet in the Clyde before returning to WCHD for tea and Medals.

The Actual “Camping” Trip

The Other group riding out on Saturday morning was an ‘actual’ camping trip…not the cross-dressing festival that Petrina turned out for. Scott took a group of about 8 of the hardier riders out for a ride up through Glencoe, via Fort William and ending up at Skye for an overnight under canvas….and there wasn’t a bottle of eyeliner in sight…. well not that anyone is admitting though apparently there may have been some sunken looken eyes the next morning.

It was hard to see if Scott had packed his make-up bag or his “special underwear” for an overnight trip.

Ian MacKay — Ian appeared to be carrying off the Windswept and Interesting look for the 2024 Belstaff catalogue

The crew at Skye with the CVH and Isle of Skye flags.

What happened on this overnight trip is a case of “what happened in Skye, stays in Skye” though apparently the SSPCA were called to several crofts on Sunday morning to look at some very distressed sheep.

345434835_757662949342393_6299625471079672018_n — All the photos from the Skye Camping trip are on Flickr.

A Wee Ride to the Seaside

24/04/2023

Portpatrick Chapter Ride Out

Probably like many, you would have watched the weather forecasts in dismay as what’s been a pretty good week, plenty of dry and sunny days if a wee bit nippy at times, was forecast to deteriorate into another Ice Age by the weekend. The good weather was to turn pretty nasty over Saturday and Sunday. Then it appeared to change a wee bit and Saturday was to be wet and miserable with Sunday looking showery but Baltic cold….and we had a Chapter ride out scheduled.

I don’t know about you but Saturday here was glorious, it rained late evening and by morning the sun was shining, though that quickly turned to rather leaden skies locally. The threat of a wee shower wasn’t enough to put off over 20 bikes and about 30 members for this month’s Chapter Ride out led by Road Captain Davie Fulton, ably assisted by First Officer Catherine.

Davie and Catherine lead off — The bikes all queued up ready for departure. A Volvo tried to sneak into the pack but Patrick’s and Nicole’s exhausts managed to shatter its windows leaving it stranded in “Pit Lane”

Remember and Sponsor our Ladies of Harley doing the Renfrew Fire Walk on the 5th May in aid of Brain Tumour Research!

For most of the day the worst it got was a very slight sprinkling of rain, barely enough to wet the bike, and some damp patches under trees and shady corners which seemed to suggest rain had fallen at some time recently, but not on Clyde Valley Chapter. The sun always shines on Clyde Valley HOG.

We rode down across North Ayrshire, skirting Irvine and Ayr and by Kilwinning, and had a stop to stretch the legs at Girvan. There were a few “challenges” on route to be fair but after a stop to stretch the legs and refuel some bikes we were off down a slightly modified route to Portpatrick and the sun shone.

About 21 or 22 bikes assembling for the ride to Portpatrick. I think the last time we looked at Davies bike in detail it looked like he took a short cut through a field. Looks like this time he went through a hay bale as well. Judging by the state of some of the roads we encountered yesterday, finding a hay bale at the bottom of a pot hole is maybe a new tactic being employed to save them money just repairing them.

To be fair though the temperature was noticeably lower down the coast road though probably most riders were kept warm by working hard to avoid some of the lovely potholes laid on by the Ayrshire (yeah I know there are a few take your pick they were all as bad as each other) and Dumfries and Galloway Councils. When you failed to avoid one it was a gamble whether you would still have a pillion on the back or a bike underneath you at times.

That said the sun shone and it was glorious as we finally arrived at Portpatrick. While a wee bit windy the sun shone and after a quick chapter snap, we headed for the Harbour House Hotel for a light lunch and a warm up. It is fair to say the Harleys created a bit of a stir around this wee sleepy fishing village and it definitely wasn’t as sleepy when we left as it was when we arrived. All the bikes were requested to be lined up outside the Hotel for more pics and the Government even seen fit to send us all a Public Emergency Warning at 3pm, probably due to Paddy’s exhaust note.

After that it was every man for himself and various routes home, good times, plenty of laughs and dry weather, can’t say fairer than that.

Burnsy never made it, probably not sunny enough….not like Egypt…

Our Flickr Gallery of all the images from the day at Portpatrick

Gretna Weekend

17/04/2023

Sounds like a great weekend was had by all that attended* the Gretna weekend ( formerly CRAGG) . Some of Red Rose Chapter came up and met the Chapter on the Saturday afternoon as well. At least three weddings were upstaged by the Chapter outing.

And while you are image surfing, remember and support our LoH and their Firewalk Challenge…

All images used with permission.

Red Rose Chapter leaving Gretna (Courtesy of Frazer Auld)

Photos of the weekend from Jigger and Connor

Photos from Frazer Auld

Photos from Pete Chisholm

*Evidently Burnsy wasn’t in Egypt

Gordon’s 90th Birthday Ride Out and WCHD Easter Weekender

09/04/2023

What a Fabulous weekend!!

This was a Clyde Valley “mates” run. A group of Road Crew and Clyde Valley regulars rode out to Newton Mearns to bring some V Twin joy to a “nonagenarian”…..(look it up, that’s someone in their 90’s), Gordon Bland, a lifelong biker and friend of Road Captain Jigger’s family. On the occasion of his 90th Birthday, Clyde Valley brought Gordon, his son in law and Grandson in to spend a few hours enjoying the Easter party atmosphere at West Coast. There was Birthday cake, live music, a charity BBQ in aid of CHAS being run by Clyde Valley HOG and lots and lots of Bikes.

Gordon rode Pillion on the back of California Highway Patrol’s latest recruit, Tommy Poncharello’s CVO Trike and was escorted by his family members on the back of Davie Fultons Sport Glide, and Connor Fitzsimmons Street Glide.

A noisy accompaniment was provided by the riders of CVH. Everyone made it out and made it back, though to be fair, one of the residents took a shine to Brians’s Street Glide and he nearly became a resident himself.

We made short video of the ride to collect Gordon, crank up the volume and enjoy Gordons entry to his 90th year….Wild and Free. You might find it easier to download the video to watch, any half-decent tablet or PC should be able to cope with it…..Can’t really share via YouTube for obvious reasons due to the audio.

If it won’t play for you in full 1080HD, download it and watch it directly on your device.

Gordon’s 90th Birthday Ride Out

gordon90-mp4 Download

There are loads and loads of photos from the day, the prime selection are on Facebook with the usual (witty?) caption’s, a few have been reposted here along with some not seen on fB and ALL (many not so far seen) will be on Flickr at the Album linked below.

Easter Sunday Ride out

Clyde Valley joined with hundreds of other bikers from across the West of Scotland to take part in the Glasgow Childrens Hospital Charity Easter Egg Run through the city from Glasgow Green to Braehead.

We had about 15 riders out for this great cause and then the party continued at West Coast with more burgers and BBQ.

By days end the Chapter had raised a colossal £1400 for GCHC from the weekend. Well done everyone who came out and supported us and West Coast with this event, a brilliant result!

Our Flickr Album of all the images from this weekend.

Balmaha April 2023

03/04/2023

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.

Clyde Valley HOG head for Balmaha (Video by Kenny)

*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.

Andy (Burnsy) was forcing back the tears of disappointment

Not a smile passed Davies’s lips all day…the ladies on the other hand were relieved that off-yellow was a wind up!

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…

Karen did brilliant on her first rideout as a rider

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!

Harleys coming through Drymen — Loads of Harleys, you could hear them from miles….

Flickr Album

A Training Run to the Seaside for Chips

27/03/2023

…(or not)…..Chips that is….

Largs Ride Out and Training Day

So following on from Saturday’s Road Crew training day, Sunday was a chance for the Road Crew to put into practice with a bigger group, all that had been learned the day before. It was also a great opportunity for new members and those less confident or familiar with riding in a group to come and see how it all works….two man drop off, spacing and the “stagger” while group riding. There was a rumour Director Stevie might be treating everyone to chips at Largs*. If nothing else that ensured a good turn out on our first ride out of the year on what was forecast to be a possibly wintery day.

The Road Crew did a couple of demo’s on the roads around WCHD of the second man drop off, then the group was briefed and assembled to take on the first leg of the ride from WCHD to Port Glasgow. It was with Jigger out front acting as the mobile Sat Nav , Kenny was thrust into the lead role for the first time since officially joining the Road Marshals on Saturday, with Shas on the back- I think we could have got two of her in the Orange Captains Bib when sat behind Kenny on the Road King Special, and the group was led off down the Motorway to exit at the tricky Junction 29 Airport sideroad exit….a bit of a nemesis of a junction for Kenny who managed to miss the turn off entirely on his very first ride out with the chapter nearly two years ago, when also going to Largs!

While he didn’t miss it this time, let’s just say it’s still a tricky one up front and there was a lot of hand swapping going on to point the drop-off at the right spot….luckily the second in line was Davie Fulton who knew the drill here anyway and was very tolerant.

But that wee technicality aside we were off down the backroads towards Houston, Bridge of Weir and Kilmacolm on what was a very agreeable morning for motorbike riding. There was some snow on the higher tops around Glasgow but at road level it was turning into a pretty fine day.

The group arrived safely at Port Glasgow and Connor ( a proper Road Captain) took over as Road Captain for the leg down to Largs. A lot of roadworks around Greenock led to a lot of unforeseen detours and the group became quite fragmented due to some very slow to change temporary traffic lights through the town, but we had a wee pause to let the group come back together and once clear of the works the run down the coast was very pleasant, and the sun even managed to shine once we were parked up at Largs.

Hands up who spotted chapter member Pete Chisholm filming us in the layby as we approached Largs. Hope to see you back out with us soon mate.

Short sequence of Video of CVH arriving at Largs, on bike video by Kenny, roadside; Pete Chisholm.

Stevie claimed the Road Crew directions meant he failed to locate a chip shop entirely, so there was a lot of disappointment, not least with young Connor who had taken the not insubstantial order for 9 Fish suppers, 3 steak pie suppers, a haggis supper, one deep fried pizza supper, and 10 bags of chips, and knew precisely how much salt, sauce or vinegar each was to have…..

Not to worry rumour has it if we can find a Wetherspoons he will treat us to that next time…..”if”….

*it was maybe just made up.

See all the photos from this weekend on our Flickr album. (we always post extra pics on Flickr)

Road Crew Training ; pre-season 2023

25/03/2023

“Use me as your Sat Nav”…….lost!

The new riding season is upon us and the Clyde Valley HOG Road Crew were out on somewhat greasy roads around North Lanarkshire and the Clyde Valley ( appropriately enough) to run through various scenarios, discuss thoughts and ideas and let those less experienced at Road Marshalling, ask questions.

Bikes in Wishaw — The Road Crew making their way through Wishaw, had to fight through a group of Jigger Groupies waiting to ambush him at the lights…..

Head Road Captain Jigger had some routes planned and acted as Sat Nav while the Road Marshalls took it in turns to lead the rides or act as Sweeper or Tail, and Scott and Chris were observers to make points on what went well and what just needs a little thought. All the points raised were constructive and open to discussion and questions.

Jigger and Lairdy and some pop. — Jigger turned out prepared for the day…..Lairdy diplomatically informing him that was naughty…. we can’t repeat what Tommy said on a family website….

The Road Captains threw a few “spanners” and curve balls in to keep things interesting and challenging and it all led to a fun day with plenty to think about.

And the biggest curve ball was Head Road Captain ” use me as a sat nav” Jigger getting lost….he disputes that but the Road crew are calling “majority decision” on that one.

Tomorrow ( Sunday the 26th March) sees the first ride out of the season open to all members but the road crew would encourage less experienced members or first-timers at group riding to come along, ask questions, and get the opportunity to learn with no pressure…we all had to do this for a first time as well so we all know what it’s like riding with a lot of bikes for the first time. See you there.

The 2023 Clyde Valley Road Crew minus a few call offs .

Making Jim’s Day

19/02/2023

Clyde Valley HOG were informed of the upcoming birthday of an elderly biker called Jim O’Hara, a resident at Mavisbank Care Home in Bishopbriggs, who is sadly losing his sight, and it was suggested we might like to make his special day, extra special by bringing some Harleys to visit him.

Route map — The route from Coatbridge Showcase to the Leisuredome at Bishopbriggs

While the formally arranged riding season for the chapter is yet to begin….please refer to our events calendar for details of all our events so far scheduled…..( including the AGM, hint, hint) , it was declared that today’s ride would be an official Chapter ride.

A group of a dozen bikes (14 members*) turned out, commendable given the weather conditions which were mostly overcast, and a little wet at times….I think it’s fair to say it was a bit of a dirty day, the road much certainly suggested that. The route Head Road Captain Jigger had chosen for us was very much the indirect route taking the bikes from Coatbridge Showcase up through Gartcosh, Chryston, skirting around Lenzie, Torrance, Bardowie, and dropping down to Bishopbriggs. We had a short “rally point” at the Leisuredome where we met up with Tina, who had made the arrangements for today’s visit, and then rode as a group a short way to the Mavisbank Carehome to meet star of the day Jim.

Bikes leaving showcase — Leaving the Showcase Coatbridge

Davie Fultons bike might need a wash — Leaving the Showcase Coatbridge

I think it is fair to say the sound of a dozen revving Harleys woke up anyone having a lie in this Sunday in Bishopbriggs.

A great wee run out and I think it’s fair to say we put a grin on Jim’s face…21 again!

Happy Birthday Jim from all at Clyde Valley HOG.

*Burnsy couldn’t be with us today, apparently he is in Egypt….who knew?

The winter riders before leaving Showcase

Sun, Salt and Soup

28/01/2023

Clyde Valley Members were kindly invited to drop in on our Brothers and Sisters of Dunedin having one of their famous, Saddle Up Saturdays and a “Mates Ride*” posse of 8 members turned up at the Showcase Leisure Park to make the ride through to EHD.

It was a bright sunny day and after a wee touch of frost around dawn the roads, particularly the M8, had been pretty heavily salted but our intrepid riders and one pillion rode off into the low sunshine making fast progress arriving at EHD just after midday.

We were all made very welcome by our friends, and there were pies, hot coffee, and soup to warm anyone up who had felt the chill on the ride through, though to be fair, the pace was enough to keep you warm led by Head Road Captain Jigger.

Most of the riders were rather salt coated by the arrival at Sighthill in Edinburgh, I think while we were well aware it was salty, but the actual quantity of salt encrusting all the bikes and clothing surprised us all!

If you were dressed for the conditions it was actually a lovely day for a run and all enjoyed blowing off the January cobwebs….though all would be heading home to wash down the bikes before putting them back into mid-winter hibernation. Hopefully not too long before another impromptu run and the new season won’t be long now in getting kicked off. Have you checked out our events calendar which has been fully updated with the riding itinerary for 2023? You can see Shop ride-outs and Chapter Monthly Ride-outs on dedicated pages too if you want.

Seans very very cool custom Breakout was getting salty today.

*A mates ride is not an official Chapter Ride Out and members attend as riding mates without the organised structure of a HOG ride.

Peebles Shop Ride Out October 2022

09/10/2022

After a very wet Friday, a small group of hardy members took to the road led by Davie Fulton accompanied by Cath, and ably assisted by Tommy for a shop ride out on Saturday.

Heading for the bonnie borders town of Peebles, the forecast was for a clear sunny day with the possibility of the odd shower if you were unlucky. In the event it turned out to be a day of constant rain with the odd burst of sunshine…blink and you might miss it.

The intrepid riders negotiated flooded roads, wet leaves, cold and rain but made it to Peebles safely for a bite to eat and drink.

The topic of conversation was appropriately enough…..Heated Grips!

Category: Ride Out Reports

International Ladies Ride Day and Camping trip

The Actual “Camping” Trip

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

A Wee Ride to the Seaside

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Gretna Weekend

Photos of the weekend from Jigger and Connor

Photos from Frazer Auld

Photos from Pete Chisholm

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Gordon’s 90th Birthday Ride Out and WCHD Easter Weekender

Easter Sunday Ride out

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Balmaha April 2023

Flickr Album

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

A Training Run to the Seaside for Chips

…(or not)…..Chips that is….

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Road Crew Training ; pre-season 2023

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Making Jim’s Day

Sun, Salt and Soup

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below

Peebles Shop Ride Out October 2022

Read more of what we have been up to in the items below