Hoghton Tower

I woke up around 8:30 and looked out of the window. It’s been raining – UGH! Oh well, we may get 5 or 6 people along. So, breakfast over and done with, I togged up, got the bike out and set off for the meeting point. It was a pleasant ride, but I could see heavy rain clouds in the distance.

I arrived to find 3 or 4 bikes already there including 3 newcomers – so welcome, Carl, Rob and Paul. As we chatted, more bikes turned up until we had 17 bikes and 2 pillions raring to go.

We set off and 3 more joined us – so welcome Karen, Paul and Greg. 20 bikes!!!!! Wonderful.

We had a very eclectic mixture of bikes, from a 300cc Forza to an 1800cc Gold Wing and everything else in between. The ride was steady rather than blatting and we made good progress. I was intending to take a short cut over to the A59 but looking at the road as we got near, it looked more like a twisty farm track than a decent road so we carried on up the A682 to Gisburn before turning left onto the A59.

Everything went fine until we were about 1.5 miles from the end. I turned right and put a marker on the junction. But he lost count and, when 4 bikes went straight on, he turned round and followed them. Meanwhile, Phil (back marker) had radioed me to say we had got split up so I halted the party with me. We waited for about 10 minutes, and I sent everyone else on (Malcolm knew the way) while I went back to find everyone – which I didn’t. So, I carried on to the destination only to find everyone there!!!

OK, panic over and we all regrouped for lunch and a walk around the farmers market. This was very successful, although I was disappointed that Val had not filled ALL of the panniers on the Gold Wing. Once that was over (and we had waited in vain for Karen, Greg and Paul to return to the bikes), we headed over to Rivvy barn for another cup of tea and more chats. We met Roy (of Buell and large bag fame) and had a good chat until it was time to depart. Then home again, the bike washed down and into the house to warm up.

A short, but very enjoyable ride. Thank you to everyone who turned up.