PW_4_2020

Article

The end of season bike tour … or was it? Paul Firth , North Wales Branch & Chairman UK Motorcycle SIG The UK Motorcycle Special Interest Group (SIG) are an active bunch. In any normal year we would enjoy several different events, which range from tours abroad, midweek coffee and BBQs. Some of the most popular have been weekend ride outs, based around a well tested formula of, meeting up on Friday at our accommodation, enjoying a group ride on Saturday and riding home on Sunday.

T he Scottish Borders Tour was one such weekend event. It had been advertised as our end of season event, except as things turned out, it was the year’s first event. The whole of 2020 has been turbulent for all of us, and the motorcycling calendar wasn’t immune from restrictions. All of us had missed the open road, and we wanted to make the best of our gathering. Choosing a bank holiday weekend gave us an extra day to enjoy the fantastic scenery of Dumfries and Galloway. This area is often overlooked by visitors to Scotland, especially by bikers who seem drawn to the now famous North Coast 500. This relatively new route is often called a bikers paradise, proving that Don Henley was correct in saying, “call somewhere paradise, kiss it goodbye.” This northern region has now become more M25 than NC 500. So it was an inspired choice by SIG Secretary, Stuart McMillan, way back in January before the world changed, to choose Dumfries as our base for the long weekend. Following our normal formula, we made our way in small groups up to the Premier Inn, at Dumfries on Friday. My wife Kim and I arrived first as we had travelled up the previous day to visit an old friend. We were worried about the hotel experience under lockdown, but we needn’t have been. I have to say, “Hats off to Premier Inn,” they were well organised and as safe as can be expected. Bikes slowly began to materialise alongside my own bike, and by the evening the number had risen to 12, with another four members staying elsewhere in town.

We all managed to book in to the Solway gate for dinner, despite numbers per table being limited for social distancing. It was great to see everyone after so long, to catch up and recharge our social batteries. The main business started on Saturday morning, when we had to amend our normal pattern of group riding. We split up in to three smaller groups to keep within rules, and to improve our chances of finding lunch stops. Hats off to the ride leaders for finding great routes. Kim and I rode with Stuart who, as always in his route planning, didn’t disappoint. Our group set off in-land whilst others headed towards the coast. Riding north towards Cumnock, we explored some fantastic B roads ending up at the highest pub in Scotland, the Wanlockhead Inn, for lunch. A similar meandering route brought afternoon tea in Peebles, alongside the river Tweed, before heading back to Dumfries, and another onslaught of the Solway Gate. We rode north again on our second day, this time heading for the coast. The roads were fantastic and largely empty, except for one mobile home driver who was sightseeing. His 15mph progress along 10 miles of winding road with double whites kept us, erm “entertained.” We ended up at Girvan viewing point for lunch. The afternoon brought another great ride back, with some of us splitting off to see Loch Ryan and others heading back to Dumfries with an aching back (that would be me!).

We enjoyed a final night together in the Solway before going off in different directions the next morning. Some were going further north into Scotland, while others headed to the Lakes. As Kim and I were back in work on Tuesday, it was straight home for us. Our First and Last ride of the year was a hugely successful weekend. As always, we rekindled old friendships and made some new ones. Who knows what 2021 will bring, but where there is a will, we will find a way to keep the wheels rolling and the friendships safely intact. Anyone interested in joining our SIG please get in touch with me or our secretary, you are guaranteed a warm welcome. All you need is a motorcycle and a passion for riding it.

Paul and Wendy Firth

POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.4, 2020

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