Sunday 27th September 2020 - Brians Birthday Ride - Dingwall - Jack Taylor Super Clubman - Brians Photos

A couple of extra photos taken by Brian.

Sunday 27th September 2020 - Brians Birthday Ride - Dingwall _ Jack Taylor Super Clubman

Brians Big Bicycle Bonanza of a ride to celebrate his 75th Birthday!!!!!! 

'Come on a road ride ' he said Or ' What could have been if Covid had of allowed' 

 I am not long in from this great ride with a great friend and sadly due to restrictions it was Brian and myself only, and even for that I am grateful as the plan was originally for a ride up the Bealach with others, though with new restrictions in place we couldn't share the van, not to worry we made the best of what we had and I must say we had a great ride out today covering some old tracks and byroads we know well and finding a few new trails to explore as well. I drove down south early this morning to park outside Brians, get ready in the van and then we were off. 

It was quite cool I must say and it was obvious that summer has gone and we are back to the cool but nice autumnal weather. There was a bit of cloud about here and there but minimal wind. 

 We headed out towards Muir of Ord on a very meandering loop before heading into the hills on the dirt roads to eventually loop back in from the west to Marybank, before heading to Strathpeffer for a coffee and apple pie and hot custard to warm us for the final leg back to Brians. 

 We did about around 50klms on singletrack roads, dirt roads and also some singletrack back from Strathpeffer so a great mix of roads taking us through some beautiful varied scenery, from high hills to rolling farmland and trails through multi coloured woods, we also seen quite a bit of wildlife from many Red Kites, Squirrel, buzzards and even a sad Pine Marten hit on the side of the road. 

 Brian was on his ever trusty blue Pompino and myself on my trusty Jack Taylor Super Clubman. 

 A great casual ride in a relaxed manner just enjoying being out riding on roads we always enjoy at this time of year, by nature though it is a very different ride from just the two of us, and restrictions etc at our usual cafes but at the same time it felt good to do what we so often used to do, so maybe this is the new normal, we will see. Either way to ride where I can ride and the company I can ride with, I am thankful for that. 

 To my pal Brian, again, wishing you a very Happy 75th Birthday!

August 30th 2020 - Jack Taylor group ride Stokesley. England weekend

A few photos from the JT weekend at Stokesley at the end of August. 

Another brilliant day and a great weekend. 

The weekend started for me on Friday when I drove down to Kilmarnock outside of Glasgow for the Bob Ross sale on the Saturday morning. I stayed in a Premier Inn hence the photo of my bike in the room. The sale was overwhelming to say the least but I managed to come away with some parts etc to help complete a couple of my other builds. From there it was down to Stockton On Tees and to Peters place in Norton for a really lovely Saturday night. 

 Thanks to Peter and family and the lads for looking after me so well over the weekend. To Ken and Honor for making the time, especially sitting outside so early to chat and drink coffee. To Eric once again thank you for making sure I was sorted for the weekend and for putting on the best ride of the year, without a doubt. I think when I got home on Monday I had done 1012 miles and every one of those was worth it. Such a great social weekend catching up with friends and making new ones. Great to meet up with Chris and Jim as well as to finally meet in person Dean. 

I was very grateful and humbled by the friendship and welcome I received from the group these past couple of years. It is what makes it such a special weekend for me.

Sat/Sunday 19 - 20th September 2020 - Mixed weekend with some cycling

Well for me this weekend was a very varied mixture of activities, some bike related and some not. A good one all the same. 

 I started out on Saturday thinking I would try and get the Mercian put back together enough to see what I still needed, which hopefully should be next to nothing. Made a start and finally settled on brakes and bars but then paused and spent time debating whether as it is now coming close to winter I should just build back up the Mercian tourer for the rougher weather. 

Heather and Caleb were out for the morning so I basically sat out in the sunshine and drank coffee while fiddling with bike stuff. Made a start at least. Then spent the mid afternoon/evening down at the beach near home with some friends and Heather and Caleb, we took the surf kayak across and as it was so still it was great for teaching Caleb some more paddle strokes to learn and also practice in the unusually calm water. I then took it out for a while round the point but only after his mother was coerced out the water with it ;) I knew we should have taken both. We then had a bbq on the beach before walking across the field to home. 

Such a great afternoon, hot, no wind, playing about on an empty beach and of course, spending time with family and friends. Not long after we got in the fog rolled in, what a difference. 

 This morning woke to fog still about and a very damp garden, the fog lifted just after lunch but revealed an overcast sky and a pretty grey day, still warmish but no where near as glorious as the day before. We got some stuff done around home, had lunch at a local bakery and then late this afternoon I had to go into work to sort something, only a couple of minutes work but would save me doing it Monday and then finishing it Tuesday. So a good excuse to go for a ride on the Jack Taylor, not that I need one. 

So a longer round about route was ridden through to Thurso and then up to work out the other side. This I was glad I did on the way in as when I came out while it was OK in town you could see the harr/fog coming back in out in the direction of home. Also after meandering on the way in it was now getting on time wise so it was a much more direct route home. 

 Anyway just a bit of cycling this weekend but all retro related. 

Hope everyone has had a nice one and had some of the sunshine over the weekend too. 

 Jamie Sea Harr moving in