Last Sunday was the annual Jack Taylor get together and ride from Stokesley in North Yorkshire.
As has been the way the last few years this annual get together by the VCC and Jack Taylor Appreciation group on Facebook has gone from a weekend ride to just a Sunday outing. But what a great Sunday it was.
After having such a rubbish summer really, up here in the north of Scotland it was nice to get back down into some heat and sunshine. Normally this ride is on the last weekend August/start of September bank holiday, yet even with the earlier date it was it's usual sunny and hot ride through some really quiet and beautiful country side.
This year I had Caleb with me. He would be riding my Super Clubman while I rode the Super Tourist.
We travelled down the 400 odd miles on the Saturday staying at a hotel in Stockton on Tees, but not before stopping just outside of Stokesley for a nice Jack Taylor tandem ride with one of the group. A great way to break up a long drive.
Sunday dawned sunny, not a cloud to be seen and warming nicely. We made our way to the start at Stokesley and lined our bikes up with the others where they are all displayed before the ride.
There was a really good turnout with about 40 or so bikes I think someone counted, with about 30 0r 35 on the ride. We made our way in 2 groups through the lovely quiet roads to a lunch spot at Swainby, before another looping ride on quiet roads ending back at Stokesley. More cold drinks and a good bit of sitting around chatting before we packed and headed off for some dinner.
This year was even better for having Caleb with me. He rides all the time but not usually on the older bikes, except our Flying Scot tandem. He has grown so much the last 12 months though that he fits my bikes now, not sure that is a good thing ;)
He handled it all so well and I was so proud of him. He is not used to using drop bars as he has always shied away from them, he is not used to friction shifting or downtube shifters and definitely not used to riding in a group. All of which he did perfectly, you would never have known. Best of all he had a real blast and loved every minute of it, loved riding the Super Clubman and enjoyed the social side, which was helped by everyone being so welcoming to him.
He has his Wester Ross to get built as a road allrounder but I have already started putting tourist parts away and will most likely build up the other unused Super Tourist for him to use so we can tour together.
For me on the Super Tourist, well I think I finally have it dialled in. It ran beautifully, handled all the different surface roads nicely and while it has new World Tour tyres, they surprised me with how comfortable they were despite the design being a good age now. They are the 700c X 35 models. This along with everything being well lubed, adjusted and double checked meant it was rolling through the sunny countryside in the way I imagined it would. As close to how it left the works as I am going to get. Somewhere along the ride I must have clicked the Subito dynamo on as Caleb came alongside and said your taillight is on solid, never even noticed so that is good to know.
We then went on to stay down on Sunday and head to the National Train Museum in York on the Monday which was brilliant, before heading to Glasgow Monday evening to pick up mum and have dinner with family before heading home on Tuesday.
So a great Jack Taylor ride this year, once again. It is such a nice social gathering while being surrounded by some really stunning machines.
Jamie
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