Just to confirm, I was advised that the speaker for the 2nd part of the ‘Round the World Tour’ had departed on another expedition and consequently our arrangements for the evening had to be changed.

Mike

Tony Barker of EuroBikeTrans will provide an illustrated talk at the Club Meeting on Monday 13th Feb at 7:30

https://www.facebook.com/eurobiketrans if you like what you see please click on the ‘like’ button.

Harrogate Advanced Bikes observers will meet at Bilton Cricket Club at 9:15 am on Saturday 4th February. This will be an important occasion to establish the training programme for 2017 and to assign associates to observers for observed runs and cross checks.

The new IAM training materials will be used for all associates from now on and it is very important that all observers understand the implications for the way that riders are helped to achieve their goal of Skills for Life.

The meeting will be led by Bob Hill, assisted by Doug Masterton who ask observers to make every effort to attend.

Two dates have also been set for the theory sessions which back up the practical programme. Saturday 4th of March and Saturday 11th March. Both will be held at Bilton Cricket Club starting at 9:30 am. These are essential meetings for all associates who have asked to undertake their Skills for Life Programme with Harrogate Advanced Bikes. Observers are asked to attend at least one of these events (the first if possible) to estanblish early contact with their associates for the coming year.

Just a note regarding the Altberg factory visit.  This is going ahead on the 14th January.  I suggest we meet at Morrisons car park in Ripon at 9.00 am for a 9.15 start.  There is a fuel station and easy access. I’m planning to get us to the Altberg factory for 10.00am after a short but scenic ride.  

After the visit we can go into Richmond for some lunch at the Station Cafe which John Blanchfield has recommended.  After lunch again another scenic ride back to Ripon.

Many thanks
Barry

We are very fortunate to have Darren Mitchell coming to speak to us on Monday 9^th Jan.

“On 7^th May 2012, Left Keighley to pop to the shop and arrived back in Keighley 28^th May 2013 and 44.952 miles later we travelled through the full length of Russia.  Visited 31 countries and went through 5 of them twice. Arrested in Panama for wrong paper work for the bike and re. entered Guatemala illegally and had to bluff my way out.

Rode 2 up on a Yamaha Tenere 660.

The trip covers 44.952 miles around the world. We will show the 1^st 4 of 8 clips. The total time of the 4 clips is about 30 minutes. With each clip being a little over 7 minutes.”

Darren Mitchell

HAB Weekday Ride Out with Christmas Lunch – Wednesday 14^th Dec

The weather forecast was good for the Wednesday ride out to the Bay Horse in Great Broughton, although as we left Ripley Car Park up the back road to Fountains Abbey / Markington, the mist was very patchy and as times my Visor, Screen and Mirrors were all instantly obscured.

On and Off with the mist on the way up through Kirkby Malzeard to Masham where we stopped for coffee. “Great roads apart from the mud” was heard, followed by “what mud, I didn’t see any?” from Roy.

An enjoyable Coffee stop at Masham with Toasted Teacakes for ‘second breakfast’, and good to meet up with the Ilkley contingent.

From there we set out, to Bedale and around the outskirts of Northallerton. The sun had come out, the mist had cleared and we travelled on fantastic dry roads and on to the Bay Horse.

Christmas Lunch was very enjoyable and Chris got us all in the party mood with party poppers and crackers.

After lunch we headed back on the B1257 to Helmsley then A170 over Sutton Bank to Thirsk and A168 to Morrison’s in Boroughbridge. 

A brilliant day, a great route, fabulous roads and Great Company!  

I’m already looking forward to the January Weekday Ride Out on Wednesday 11^th Jan.

In 2014, in a bid to promote north of Scotland tourism, the North Highland Initiative created the North Coast 500, a circuit of northern Scotland, starting/finishing in Inverness. However, 3 pioneers from our group, did the NC500 in 2011! 

Well, we almost did it, we missed the first bit, Inverness west to Applecross, but apart from that, John, Keith & Andrew had a great 5 day trip covering most of what is now known as the North Coast 500 

Starting lunchtime on the Thursday before the August bank holiday, heading up the 65, to Kirby Lonsdale, then B & A roads to Penrith & on to Dumfries.  We’d be tenting it on this trip, & I’d spotted a tiny campsite north of Dumfries, the Glenmidge Smithy (Auldgirth) & we booked in there. Great little site, with a barn complete with kettle/cooking facilities, & seating area. We wouldn’t be cooking on this trip, only downside was we had to ride to the pub for a meal. 150 miles today. 

 Friday saw us away for 0700, & northwest to Kilmarnock for fuelling bike & body, then up to Largs & Gourock for the ferry across to Hunters Quay. I‘ve done this ferry several times now & I always think the ride north through Argyll, is a great route to the west coast, rather than the Glasgow drag. On past Loch Fyne (no stop for seafood today) and to Inverary, for a tea stop. 

Keith & I, wanting to pay homage to our hosts, had each brought a bottle of the good stuff & of course we had all enjoyed a dram at Glenmidge. Inverary has a great whisky shop, & John, was feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t brought any with him, we spent some time trying to get him to buy the £700 bottle in the shop. John wasn’t to be persuaded. 

North of here, from Inverlochy, we headed north east up Glen Orchy. This is a really scenic Glen & a must if you are in this area. Unfortunately, the road had just been resurfaced, & was gravelly, and heavy rain now, which spoilt it a bit on the day. Bridge of Orchy & on to Fort William for a late lunch. Heading now for Mallaig, we realised time was tight for the Skye ferry, & the pace became progressive. Well, we made the ferry, & onto Skye to a campsite near the bridge.  

The Ashaig campsite is an interesting one, informal definitely, and unmanned. There was a honesty box for the £4 camping fee, and a numbered wooden spoon to place by your tent to “prove” you had paid . A mile walk to the Red Skye restaurant for local smoked salmon & mussels. Back at the campsite, still light & the midges were in full force. Keith & I put on our midge head nets, John didn’t ( cos he didn’t have one)  & in the morning looked like a plague victim.  Ha ha. 280 miles today. 

Another early start, north through Torridon, & Ullapool. At some time today we stopped overlooking a loch, with a pier, & some concrete platforms built into the hillside. Keith told us there were underground fuel tanks hidden under the concrete, it was a submarine fuelling station.  Can’t remember where though (If I could, I couldn’t say, it’s a secret!!) Onto to Durness, which is about as far north & west as you can get in this fine country. On exiting the coffee shop the wind was getting up a bit. Eastwards now, we camped at Bettyhill, half way to Thurso. The pub was very lively, the local football team had won the local Cup, & had been celebrating since late afternoon. A good crack. 250 miles today – a long way on minor highland roads! 

Picture those newsreels of hurricanes in Florida, with tree branches horizontal in the wind/raid. Well, that was our view as we left the pub. We spent an uncomfortable night in heavy wind/rain, in the morning my tent was destroyed – I left it in the camp skip! Worst summer storm for years, apparently 

We were away for 0600 – no chance of sleep, & rode in the most testing conditions I recall. Strong winds & rain, you’d ride past a gateway & be blown across the road, Or round a corner to find a flooded road. Or road covered in leaves ripped from the trees. There really was no option but to ride through the floods, at one point I rode through deep water & flooded the bike engine, Water in the oil & everything. Fortunately restarted & no apparent damage. We stopped for fuel at Thurso (30 miles, 90 minutes) & on to J O G. Been there, done that, won’t rush back. 

The first café we saw open was at Helmsdale, 80 miles & 4 hours from our early start. We enjoyed breakfast with a group of cyclists, equally soaked & both wondering who was the most daft, riding in these conditions. Fortunately, the weather improved & we were on dry roads as we got to our Inverness stop, early afternoon, The longest ever 180 miles today. 

Our Inverness stop – the highlight. Did I say, Keith is a builder & a bit of a heritage building expert. He had overseen the renovation of the only inhabited castle on Loch Ness, Aldourie & his boss offered  to put up Keith & his biker mates tonight. Absolutely fantastic, we all had our own luxurious room, & a guided tour by Keith. Have a look at https://www.aldouriecastle.co.uk & if you can find a way to stay here, then do it. Unforgettable. Roger the owner, joined us for breakfast, waiter service, order what you want, all FOC, Roger is very generous.

Home today, good roads via Speyside, St Mary’s Loch, Moffat, then the M6 to Kirby Lonsdale. 390 miles, no worries 

This was a great adventure, you don’t know what a trip like this will bring, but it’s ALWAYS worth doing.

 Andy Pratt

November proved to be a wet month in more ways than one: our Club night speaker dropped out at the last minute leaving Doug and I to give an impromptu talk on what we had gleaned from the IAM Road Smart conference at the end of October. Thanks for the interest shown by those who endured it!

In spite of the mixed bag of weather, I managed to get out on my bike several times in November because, whenever possible, I like to use the bike for everyday trips as well as social events like ride outs.  Nevertheless, it seemed to me that whenever I decided to ride it started raining or worse! I joined a weekday ride with David Haywood and others, heading to Filey for fish and chips. The ride included some narrow back roads going through several small and picturesque villages. This was very pleasant except for the mud that our industrious North Yorkshire farmers had removed from the fields and transferred to the roads. Very messy, and of course it added a spicy challenge to our progress!  Along the way we re-acquainted ourselves with the increasingly rare octagonal STOP sign and managed to negotiate our way to Filey, without mishap, parking in a supermarket car park to address the main object of our visit: a large plate of fish and chips.  John Blanchfield reminded the proprietor of his notice giving pensioners a discounted deal so not only were our appetites satisfied but our deep Yorkshire pockets were happy too! After lunch we stepped out of the café, into the pouring rain, which was no problem except for those of us who had left our helmets on our bikes!  This meant 30 minutes of difficult riding for some of us with visors and glasses misting over from the sauna we had unintentionally created inside our helmets. We were saved by the sun coming out to dry us, and allowing us a fine ride home in glorious sunshine.  David gave us a great ride to Filey; well done and many thanks.

One of my shopping excursions this month included a trip into Leeds on the bike to buy a new car jack.  As the literature stated that the jack weighted 35Kg  I didn’t anticipate much of a problem to carrying it home on the rear seat (even Kate weighs more than that)!  Of course, I had not considered the packaging which although it did not add much weight, it certainly added to the bulk of the item. Luckily I had my Rock Straps with me. Incidentally, if you are still using bungees you could consider changing to this method of securing loads. Rock Straps are fantastically secure and don’t scratch your bike. With the load safely secured, I set off on the 8 mile trip home. As I set off it started raining, no problem – used to that. Then, the rain turned to sleety snow – not so nice but still no problem.  Next, the snow got thicker and plastered my fairing and visor until I found it difficult to see. After a lot of frantic wiping in order to see where I was going, I finally arrived home safely only to find that the cardboard box containing the jack had become sodden and was starting to collapse, leaving the jack precariously attached to the bike. Luckily the Rock Straps had proved their worth but it was a timely reminder that attaching a box items to a bike does not necessarily mean you’ve attached the item, especially if the box disintegrates in the rain! On reflection, I should probably have pulled over and waited for the snow shower to stop.

We have two more events in December.  Our usual Monday evening meeting at the Bilton Cricket Club on 12 December will be The Christmas Quiz Night. All are welcome and the Buffet will be free on this occasion.  Please bring friends and partners and make up teams of 3 to enter the quiz. Doug has invested a lot of time in making this an unusual and interesting event so it should be fun and don’t forget there will be prizes for the first three places. Our final event for 2016 is the rideout to Christmas Lunch on 14 December at Great Horton arranged by David Haywood. If you intend to go to this event please let David know.

Finally, as you are all probably aware, I will be stepping down as Chair at the AGM in March.  Those wishing to stand as Chair need to get their proposal papers in to the Secretary as soon as possible. I will continue observing for the Club and, as Doug wishes to step down as Chief Observer more or less immediately, I will take over this role pending an appointment by the new committee after the AGM.  Doug has been an observer for around 10-years, and Chief Observer for two of them. May I take this opportunity to thank Doug for his dedicated and enthusiastic support for the Club. He rewrote the Roadcraft Theory lessons and updated the presentations to improve their effectiveness and accessibility; he has also steered many associates to a successful test pass. We will miss the experience and commitment he has brought to this role.

We have a new IT committee member in the person of Tim Ryecroft, who will take over the work on the website from Steve who has stepped down due to pressure of work. Welcome Tim, and many thanks for your offer of assistance. The committee would still welcome other new members to help take the Club forward in 2017.

I hope I will see you all at the Club meeting on 12th, in the meantime, take care while riding in the Winter, and watch out for snow and those stop signs.

All the best for Christmas and the New Year.

Bob