Another great day out for Manhoc. [I just had to get that in, to get you in the mood]. Today is our classic Pancake Run where we all go for a ride and end up back at our house for pancakes and some hot food (today is chilli and apple pie)

Opened the curtains to a cheerful lightly cloudy morning. Which was nice, given the weather forecast. So, out of bed and into the motorcycle gear. "Where's my heated jacket?" I cried. "Have you tried your boxes?" came the reply from the bedroom. "Oh, it can't be there - I never put it in there". 30 minutes frantic looking - and guess where it was? Yup!

So, only a little late, we set off and, once past the Asda filling station (7p/litre cheaper than the one up the road) we arrived at the services to meet the rest of them. There was already quite a crowd there including Neil with a dead bike. No juice and it would NOT start by being pushed (we tried as you will see below). Neil then batted his eyelashes at a passing female motorist and got the jump leads connected. Zoom - and he was off to Robbies to get another battery. Phil and Nicola turned up on his 'blade - the Varadero had a flat battery.

The rest of us - by this time 19 bikes and 4 pillions eventually set off. All was going really well until we heard a plaintiff cry over the radio "Someones top box has fallen off". A quick glance in my read view mirror established that it wasn't mine - but we stopped anyway. Gary was with the box at the side of the road and Tommy (yes, it was his) turned around to try and sort something out. But it was not to be - one dead top box left for the vultures to pick at. So, we carried on and eventually met up with Neil again on one of the moor roads. No more mishaps, some great roads and views and we arrived at Boundary Mills at around 12:30.

Now, for those who don't know, Boundary Mills is a shopping Mecca for the ladies - and there was an immediate rush to "have a look around" and "where's my purse?". The rest of us sauntered up to the cafe where we sat chatting, drinking tea and consuming the odd cream cake. Tony wanted to take some pictures, but his camera had run out of battery power (do you see a theme developing here?) By around 1:30, we were ready to go and informed the rest to meet us outside when ready. By around 2pm we were ready for the off and continued on our way. Andy had to go off to another appointment (he muttered something about ex girlfriends) so we had 1 bike less for the rest of the ride.

No incidents - but there was a lot of sunshine and a lot of traffic. So, progress was slow but steady. The views were still good and the banter continued over the radios as always. Over the hills and dales we sped with the occasional farm track to beat the slow moving cars. By around 3pm we were approaching Rochdale and I could almost smell the chilli and pancakes.

We all parked up outside the house and Norma and Lyn went in to prepare the food while the rest of us chatted outside. It was still sunny and warm (for early March) so we didn't feel at all cold. Once inside, food was consumed and a merry time had by all. By around 6pm everyone had disappeared and we could then relax (and I could write this report). As I said at the start, another great day out - thank you everyone for coming and making it the day it was. A special thank you to Norma for cooking all that food.

Some pictures (as always) to remind everyone of what they did (and for the others, of what they missed). The route we took is here.