I declare today to be "Mulled Wine" day - you will find out why later on.

Opened the curtains to glorious sunshine - "Oh Goody", I thought and leapt around getting all my stuff together. Around 9:30 I was off - via the petrol station - to the starting point. The rebuilt M61 services. Very nice - they even had a new Starbucks (which one of our party complained about - "Why can't I have my McDonalds coffee?" [Philistine!!] ). Anyway, as we are hanging around, more and more people turned up. We had 2 new bikers - one a friend of Joe (Robin) and a new HOC joiner on his CB500 - welcome Peter and Robin and I hope you enjoyed today. We also had Derek turn up, who we haven't seen for months and, of course, most of the regulars. Paul C dropped by to see us off - he was off to another do that day, but found time to ride over for a chat.

By the time we were ready to go we had 14 bikes. Not bad for a cold November (Oh, I didn't mention the cold - don't worry, I will). We set off up the M61 (our normal 20 minutes late) and onto the M6 to get to J 31A where our fun would really start (motorways are for getting places, not for riding). We peeled off and quickly got off the village roads onto the country lanes. It was great. The roads were dry and (mainly) empty and the scenery through the Trough of Bowland was stunning. However, all was not well. As we approached Slaidburn, I heard that cry "bike stopping". Oops. Luckily there was a car park at Slaidburn with a cafe next door, so we pulled in there to await developments. It turns out that Geoffs old Triumph had thrown a camchain and stopped. No going back with that one. So, after a chat and a brew (and a sticky bun for Phil and Nicola), we left him to the mercy of the breakdown service and the local sheep (well, he needed someone to talk to) and carried on.

The rest of the journey towards lunch passed quickly. We headed over the hills and dales to the A65 and then through Kendal and over Shap. Now, this is a road I LOVE and nothing was going to stop me enjoying it. Well, actually one thing could and did - a police van driving at just under the speed limit where it was possible to overtake and a lot under the speed limit where it was not possible to overtake. Luckily, after about 5 miles it pulled off and we carried on. As we got over the top, it suddenly got very cold and foggy so a general slow down was in order. By this time, we were very late and had decided, over the radios, to stop at the Red Rooster cafe for lunch. All was well until we got to the final roundabout where Malc and Val decided to ignore the buddy system and ride off into the sunset (or at least the sunshine). So, Malc, - it's about time you got a radio !!!!

The rest of us pulled off and soon got troughing with an excellent (and very large) all day breakfast. Gary managed to help others to finish their plate. After that, he phoned Malc to find that they had reached Keswick and the museum was closed. Not good (I had checked the web site and I will be writing to them). But we arranged to meet them in Keswick anyway because Val needed to do some shopping.

Once all that was done, we headed back to the bikes and got togged up for the next part of the journey. It was still cold and time for the heated grips to come on. We set off and immediately ran into thick fog, which slowed us a bit. Once through that, we had the sun directly ahead. Ah, those winter moments! But not incidents and we arrived at Keswick to find Malc walking back with some large packages and no sign of Val (still shopping). We parked up, paid our 0.65p for the ticket (last time we were here, we got booked for not having tickets) and wandered around the town for a while. But we soon got bored with that - apart from Phil & Nicola who enjoyed another coffee and sticky bun - and set off home again. It was still cold and getting colder (have I mentioned this yet?). Time for John to put an extra sweater on.

The journey back was uneventful. The scenery as we approached Ambleside was fantastic - perfect photographers landscapes - and we all enjoyed it. Not so much the traffic in and beyond the town, but a bit of judicious filtering and we were soon past it and basting down the A590/A65 to Long Preston and our final brew stop of the day. The Maypole pub can be heartily recommended for its open fire. A bit of heat to the seat!!!! We chatted for a while, then got kitted up again and set off on the final leg of the journey home. Apart from a quick stop to clean the visors (it was cold and the gritters had been out) we got on with it and by 7:30, I was home. I walked in to the view of Norma holding out a glass of Mulled Wine (see, I told you you'd find out why) and pointing me to a nice warm bath.

A lovely end to a great day out. As always, thanks to all who turned up and here's some piccies to remember it by.