Norton Owners Club Gathering 11/09/21

After a two year hiatus it was great to be on the bikes heading to Town Yetholm again, for the annual Tay Valley and Northumbria Norton Owners Clubs weekend get together. Thankfully we managed to filter through the worst of the Edinburgh bypass traffic jams, and we were soon on better roads heading to Kelso for our dinner, then onto our final destination Town Yetholm. Most of the gathering had come down on the Friday and a great late night was had by all accounts. It was good to see everyone again and lots of catching up ensued. After the tent was up for only the second time this year, it was time to head to the pub for our tea, beer and more than a few drams, which turned out to be a late night with the usual suspects. The run home on the Sunday was great on the back roads, but not so much in the traffic jams again. Thanks to David T. for organising the great weekend.

Once we got home the bikes were unpacked, the tent aired, and we got on with preparing for our Assynt holiday the following week.

Kelso Town Square

Bikes parked and the tent up

Map reading and Norton maintenance going on

Alan taking a liking to Lesley's Street Triple

Triumphs, Nortons and Alex's Guzzi

Bob seeing off the BSA Super Rocket

David T and Smokey Joe

Phil's Commando

Alan's Commando

Norton Dominator

1964 Norton Dominator

Very nice BSA

Ben More and Stob Binnein Crianlarich 28/08/21

We had been planning to climb Ben More and Stob Binnein since Lesley's friend Evelyn recommended it to us a few years ago, but we kept putting it off as these two hills usually hang onto the snow for a lot of the year and if the reports were right that they are relentlessly steep. Our weeks holiday in Assynt was coming up soon which we hoped to climb Ben More and Conival, and we needed to get back into it before then. We couldn't have picked a better day for the walk, a cool and misty early morning with a low lying cloud hanging in the valley to add to the beautiful scenery. Thankfully we got parked near the access gate which saved us a bit of time at both ends of the day. The landrover track wound its way up the hill not too steep I thought, that didn't last as it gave way to a steepening path with me removing a layer as the heat built up in direct correlation to the work input. We made it to the top of  the first Munro of the day Ben More in good time, with a wee stop for photos and calorie intake. The going wasn't too bad down to the bealach on the way to Conival, but what goes down must go up. It felt like a bit of a slog up the zig zag path to the top in what must have been 30 degrees in the sun. we got to the top and perched on the grassy slopes for more food and a blether with some of the other folks around, one of the guys was on his second round of all the Munros. We had a good laugh when five guys with what sounded like Glasgow accents appeared, taps aff and gallus like they were out for a carry on in the park, all touching the cairn as you do, they about turned and one of them mentioned having a lager tops when he got down, another piped up "mountaineers don't do cocktails", they all just carried on walking, brilliant stuff. We set off again back down to the bealach to take the hellish grassy route down to meet the river then a walk back to the car. What a stunning day which started with a very early alarm for the drive up, lots of sweat and hard work but more than worth it for the stunning scenery, the good laughs and pushing yourself just for the hell of it.

Misty morning

Cloud inversion towards Loch Tay

First Munro of the day Ben More

View to the bealach and Stob Binnein

The River Fillan and Crianlarich below

Heading down for the climb up to Stob Binnein

On top of Stob Binnein

Views of Ben Nevis in the distance

Heading back down to the bealach for the trek back to the car

May - July 2021 Bike Runs and Walks

TVNOC Strontian 31/07/21

It had been two years since the annual Strontian gathering had taken place, which meant we were looking forward to heading over to the Ardnamurchan peninsula even more than usual. The run through Glencoe was much busier than of late, but riding the bikes between the mountains never fails to amaze. We stopped at the Glencoe cafe for a bit of dinner which was a first, but we returned on the way home too. We didn't have to wait long for the Corran ferry to arrive and drop us off on the other side. The run to Strontian is stunning but always over too soon. The campsite was pretty empty of  Nortons, but it turned out the ones that had camped on the Friday were out on runs. We pitched our tent just as Tim arrived on his Matchless, then the Norton run started to appear. We wandered round the campsite to catch up before we headed to the hotel for a few beers and our tea. a good night was had and was over all too soon. Sunday morning was a slow takedown of the tent not wanting the weekend to be over, but at least we had the run home to look forward to. Thanks to Gino for organising a great weekend.

Our bikes parked outside the cafe

Onboard the ferry

Tim's Matchless, not a vertical Norton!

Alan returning from the run

Our bikes parked up for the day

The Rondelli Nortons

David T's 750 Commando looking good in the sun

Jim's 750 Commando

And from the other side

Alex's V7 Guzzi

Lesley, Tim and Gino

The Street Triple and the Big Yam

SCMC Wee Smokie 11/07/21

The last time we had been at a Wee Smokie was October 2019 how time flies. This one was in memory of former Classic Club member Derek Horne who had passed away recently. There was a very big turnout of 200-300 bikes making for a great sight and sound when Eric who when making a memorial speech asked everyone to fire their bikes up. It looked to be an emotional time for Eric but well done to him for holding it together and organising the gathering. An afternoon spent catching up with friends not seen in a while and we had a great run home in the sunshine.

Jake's Fonzie moment

Eric making his heartfelt speech

Just some of the bikes

A tidy Honda 400-4

Gino's Guzzi T3

Alan, Lesley and Marion catching up

Jim and his Commando

Gino's Guzzi

Custom Guzzi

Ali's BMW R65

Bridge of Cally Walk 10/07/21

We opted for a change of transport from two wheels to two legs for a walk from the Bridge of Cally Hotel. It would seem that we like the area regardless of how we get to our destination.

Days like these

Cairn o Mount, Lecht and Glenshee Bike run 8/07/21

We were both on holiday for a week, and with no plans to stay away, we were happy to be putting some miles on the bikes with day trips. We plotted a circular route of over 200 miles on the smaller roads taking in the Cairn O' Mount, Banchory, Suie Hill, the Cabrach, Dufftown, Tomintoul and back down the Snow Roads of the Lecht and Glenshee. It felt like we had the roads to ourselves, no tourist traffic and plenty opportunity for photo stops. It did take us about 8 leisurely hours but on days like these, we weren't in a hurry to go back home.

The Cairn O' Mount viewpoint

Knockespock House down in the valley and the Tap O' Noth Hillfort left on the horizon

A stop in Dufftown for fuel, not much else as it was like a ghost town

Thankfully Tomintoul was open for a cuppa

Corgarff Castle was once an army base for hunting down Jacobite sympathisers

A photo stop at the Watchers art installation on the Snow Road which sits at 637m above sea level, not the easiest spot to get the bike parked up

The Watchers

Our last pit stop for refreshments at the Glenshee Ski Centre

Our route cards for the day

Map of our route

Connel Bridge, Glencoe Bike Run 6/07/21

To make the most of the great weather, we went for a decent bike run of over 220 miles following the A85 to Connel then over the bridge to the cafe in Benderloch, which was closed so we were on the lookout for somewhere else for a cuppa, we found the a place to stop at the Castle Stalker viewpoint. There wasn't much in the way of food choices but the view made it better. We had a cracking run home via Glencoe trying to pay attention to the road rather than looking at the amazing scenery.

Lesley taking in the scenery under the palm tree

Castle Stalker in Loch Linnhe

Bluebell Woods Walk 3/07/21

We went for a local walk around the Bluebell Woods hoping to catch sight of some squirrels, thankfully they were too busy looking for food to bother about us.

Glen Quaich Bike run 5/06/21

We mapped out a bike run to Kinloch Rannoch via Glen Quaich for a change, it turned out to be a cracking day out with a stop off at the café in K.R before heading back via Aberfeldy.

The view to Schiehallion

Local Spitfire 28/05/21

I was in the middle of getting ready to head out on the bike, when I heard the amazing sound of what sounded like a pretty special plane flying overhead, I made a dash back to the house to get the camera out with the long lens to try and catch it. It's a replica Spitfire with a 6 litre engine instead of  the 27 litre one in an original. The pilot must have been having a great time as he flew over a few times.

Glenshee Bike run 15/05/21

The Big Yam and the Street Triple parked up beside the old Military Road, on the way to the Glenshee Ski Centre for refreshments. The roads were pretty quiet and the weather not too cold, considering there was still a few patches of snow in the hills.