Ellesmere Port Boat Museum

Our first official ride of the year – and what a beauty it turned out to be! But waking up to drizzle and low cloud was not a good start. Never mind; a good breakfast will sort out the blues.

So, after some cornflakes and tea (not quite a GOOD breakfast, but it will do), we set off for the start – Poplar 2000 services, which is near Lymm Werner!!. For this first ride, I had Norma for company, a rare and welcome event.

We arrived about 10 minutes before hand to see a gaggle of bikes already there. More turned up as we waited and the sun broke through the clouds to welcome us all. Oh yes, getting better and we hadn’t even set off.

Nicola and Phil arrived – Nicola boasting how warm she was and Paul suggested it was probably due to the over large bloomers she was wearing under her leathers. Needless to say, we didn’t ask to see them, although Paul did also confess to wearing Jackie's!

About 10 minutes late 14 bikes and 2 pillions set off, only to stop quickly while Frank sorted out his alarm. Another 3 minutes and we were really off. The roads were nearly dry and the sun was shining straight into our eyes (apparently, I have to buy Norma a crash helmet with a built in visor after boasting how good mine was).

It was quite cold, but fun. We made progress and were nearing our destination when the fateful cry came over the radio – “Phil has stopped”. We all pulled over and Rob went to investigate. The bike had just cut out and would not start. After about 10 minutes, we left him to the mercy of the AA and continued to our destination. 

Here we abandoned the bikes in the car park and hurried in to the café for warmth and food. Once inside, we met Werner and Diane who had gone to Knutsford Services thinking they were at the right place, seen no-one (because it wasn’t the right place) and gone straight to the boat museum to wait for us.

Ellesmere Port Boat Museum is a great place to visit, but you need a lot of time. What I forgot to say was when we were setting off again. So, we all got split up after lunch and, by the time I was ready to go (around 3pm), there were only 7 bikes left in the car park.

Werner and Diane did their own thing, Tommy went straight home, so 5 of us had a lovely (if cold) meander back across the countryside to Congleton and then the A34 to Manchester and home.

We finally arrived home at 5pm and after washing the bikes down, jumped into a bath to get warm again.

A great day out and a wonderful start to the 2014 riding season. Thanks to all who turned up.

 

Alan's Report