This is the report of our fantastic weekend up in Portpatrick on the west coast of Scotland.

We all met up on the M61 services at around 10am. We even had Gary turn up and see us off (he couldn't come with us). The sun was shining and it promised to be a great day. The plan was to meander up to Gretna for lunch and then find some nice roads to get us to Portpatrick before teatime. But as with all plans....

We had a wide range of motorcycles, from the Gold Wings of Malcolm and Ian, through trailies of Andy, Peter, Kevin and Paul, the big tourers of Mark, Alan and John, Neils' sports bike, sports tourers from Geoff, Peter and Steve and Karens laid back cruiser. As you can see a large crowd of bikes - all eager to get going. So we did! I was leading and John brought up the rear since we had the best radios. Others joined in and we quickly got tired of Geoffs rendition of popular ballads. The roads were a mixture of motorways (boring but fast) and backroads (nice but slow).

First stop was to be Devils bridge for a quick brew. As always, the Manhoc definition of "quick brew" meant we were there about 40 minutes. We set off again and headed over to Shap for the first of the really GOOD roads. Yes, as always, the A6 didn't disappoint and I know I enjoyed myself (and I didn't go over 60 once, officer). But, here's where the first of the (few) problems occurred. I had left a marker to turn us onto the A66 and then up to the Red Rooster for lunch. But a few of the back markers had misunderstood and had shot into Penrith instead. Still, radios are a wonderful thing and we were soon all re-united.

After lunch and a fill up for those with small tanks, we headed back up past Carlisle and onto the A74. Which is where the second mishap occurred. Once again, a misunderstanding by one of our members with sat-nav who hadn't listened to the change in plans. He shot off into Gretna taking a few bikes with him and leaving poor Neil sweltering in the sun at the next junction. But once again, radios to the rescue and we all met up again in a petrol station about 20 miles up the road. [We did send Mark back to collect Neil and apparently, he quite enjoyed those 20 miles....]

Then the last long haul over to Portpatrick. Nice roads, easy overtaking if you wanted to and glorious sunshine. What more could you ask for? Well, a beer at the end, actually. We arrived at the hotel, parked the bkes and made a beeline for the bar. That first pint never touched the sides.

The hotel was quant - some very nice rooms, and some with odd features like the loo in a cupboard or a ceiling which was somewhat low. But very pleasant and the hosts made us very welcome (even down to making sure we had plenty of parking spaces).

A change to clothes, some more drinks, a wander around the village and we were ready for dinner. We booked 3 tables in the other hotel (the group was split between two hotels) and wandered over at around 7:30. More drinks to start with, a brief look at the menu and food was soon on its way. As with all Manhoc outings, the laughter and banter flowed freely (along with the beer) and we all seemed to enjoy the evening. Even the live music (one man, a guitar and a mass of synthesisers) was appreciated after a few glasses.

But all good things come to an end and we ambled out at around 10:30 ("It's still light" exclaimed Judy) to find some other entertainment. We wandered up to the local lighthouse, took some pictures, and headed back to the bar with the Irish band. Who were great. Peter managed to find a local lady to dance with and the rest of us got bitten to death by the Scottish midges. Around 1am, we seemed to be flagging so headed off to bed.

Next morning we got up, had a wander over to the road to meet up. No real hangovers - so obviously Scottish beer is good for you. After a leisurely breakfast served (in my case) by a waitress with an attitude problem, we suited up and headed for home. Still glorious sunshine as we set off and we were all in good spirits. There were some superb back roads and progress was good. That is, until the clouds came over and the heavens opened. But we were only about 10 miles from our first stop at Sweetheart Abbey (lunch, of course).  A very wet set of bikers parked up and quickly went inside for some refreshments.

It was here that we decided that a visit to Grisdale forest was probably not a good idea so, we all agreed to head over to the M74/M6 as a group and then make our own way home. A shame to end it that way, but the weather really was horrible!

The ride down the M6 was fine apart from the 15 miles before Blackpool  where we all suffered the Sunday tailbacks. But, that is why we have bikes!!!!

Everyone said it was a fantastic weekend and we plan to do more like this in the coming months and years. A great THANK-YOU to Judy for organising it and another to everyone who came along and made it what it was.

Of course, no trip is complete without pictures - in this case, so many that it has it's own page here. There is also a separate page with views. Thanks to Judy and Karen for some of them.