Download - Birmingham Advanced Motorcyclists

8Lakes TourFriday 10th to Sunday 12th MayThe Wedding ofMr and Mrs ShrekForewordAfter many months of planning from both Glenn & Tinaand Graham Hay, everyone was looking forward to theLakes tour this year as it would combine a weekend ofriding fantastic roads whilst staying in the picturesquelocation of Ambleside on the side of Lake Windermereand a trip to Gretna Green for the big BAM wedding!So with 28 bikes and 40 people going it was lookinglike being an action packed weekend. It is usual forsomeone to be charged with doing a write up for thenewsletter on runs and trips and I challenged Glennand Tina to do the write up – which they did and thisis their story . .Friday Morning - Day 1An early start as Graham had asked us all toassemble at Stafford for 8.15am. Alan Owen surprisedus all by managing to find the services this year andarrive early. Glenn didn’t surprise any of us by missingthe briefing by Graham Hay due to talking in theservices with guess who? Mr Owen! Having hit themotorway and enduring riding in drizzle and a strongwind we all managed to exit at junction 31a withoutany incidents. However were not sure if it was a greenShrek and Fiona but the local petrol station insisted onall riders removing their helmets (as announced overand over again on the tannoy). It was nice of Colinand Bev to eventually join us for lunch at the Roseand Crown having spent all morning chasing a crossdresser in Manchester (as a treat for Bev, insteadof making her suffer the pillion seat on his HondaSP1, he hired a Honda Crosstourer from a dealers inManchester who were a little slow in getting the bikeready that morning).Suki needs a lot more practise when polishing hishelmet in order to keep it off the floor. The weather,at best, was moist and yet again no heating on inthe pub due to the dismay of the ageing group. Kenmanaged to drop his keys on the floor and to theamusement of a few of the other members (who deftlypicked them up and secreted them) and went in toa bit of a panic going back to the pub questioning allthe painters and staff for any sign of his keys - only tofind when he came back outside his bike was alreadyrunning! By lunchtime Dennis and Bill had decidedthey had had enough and went off to do their ownthing - or due to old age couldn't remember what theywere there for in the first place.The doctor was found in a woolly jumper en route(sheep no 46 Valentino Rossi) with Anna having ablonde moment (or her new bike refusing to turn right)went off on an adventure of her own having misseda right turn clearly marked by Mrs Spence as due toold age Mr Spence had nipped off into a pub to go tothe loo.Alan (two levers) Boulter still scarred from last yearstrip having a phobia of low walls, was riding with extracaution unfortunately wasn't quite as cautious with hisside stand when marking a junction, and franticallywaving tony and Karen down like a mad man as hisbike was lying upside down in a ditch. A local farmer,not being able to understand his Welsh accent, wasn’table to help although the farmer did question whetherAlan was trying to race his no 46 sheep. Therewas also a close encounter of a third kind when anoncoming driver decided he wanted more than justLakes Tourhis side of the road and took out Adrian’s hand guard,but being a GS it fought back and a car was spottedheading for Anna minus its off side wing mirror.Tony and Karen ignoring the pre-planned petrol stopsthought their GS could run on fresh air and had to pullover in Hawes for a quick top up. Tony then decidedto make progress and in doing so overtook StuartLomas, which took him by surprise! Stu then took fulladvantage of Tony being polite waiting for Clive to getback on his own side of the road and slipped betweenthe BMW and the offside stone wall with the pace andelegance of gazelle.Colin Daniels was enjoying riding his cross dresserbike and was making good progress but when caughtup by other riders refused to be overtaken and put theHonda into turbo mode.Hartside Pass was part of the route and is an absolutejoy to ride when the weather is good however todayit was very wet and cold. Jill O'Connor, havingjust returned from Cape Verde, was struggling toacclimatise to the weather and if she had had the timeto nip in to a dealership she would have traded herFireblade in for a car with a good heater!Andy Burton was obviously being hampered by Lisatrying to keep the bike upright when he was tryingto bank it over into corners as he was overtaken bymost of the group, even though on the build-up to thetour he was baiting Shrek (me) who was riding a PanEuropean, and had to eat humble pie as he could notmatch the pace.Bruce as usual managed to do his best overtakeswhilst in the built up areas doing crafty passes in nearto stationary traffic and Brian the snail was makinggood progress on his fluorescent Kawasaki Versys andwas often heard via the roars of his Remus exhaust.On the final leg the normal route down Kirkstone Passwas allegedly closed (as our leader missed the ‘closedat night times only’ sign) took us on a 15 mile detourwhere we endured fog, hail and snow . . .Having arrived at Ambleside all 28 bikes avoidedparking on the gravel car park and went for the plushtarmac car park next door - only to see Suki dismountwithout engaging side stand and picking bike up offthe floor - right bang tidy! Anna having witnessedSuki’s dilemma went weak at the knees and threwher Hornet on the ground in sympathy, putting a nicedent in her silver tank which was met with a round ofapplause from her sympathetic fellow bikers.After a quick wash and brush up Quentin put onhis best bib and tucker (the Jack Wolf skin attire)along with numerous other labels and smelling likeGeorgio Armani went off with the leader and friendsto the Waters Edge inn expecting the usual femaleentertainment! Over the other side of town we knewJill and Claire were at home as the knickers wereflying low over Fisherbeck Hotel.Well, as nearly Mr and Mrs Shrek, we rounded upour close friends from Halifax and Ireland along withsome of the BAM possy and headed down townfor a Cantonese to finish off a fantastic start to theweekend – roll on the big day tomorrow!Saturday - Day 2 - Mr and Mrs Shrek’swedding dayMrs Shrek announced that she had the collywobblesand felt sick - was it wedding nerves or could shebe pregnant? Having looked at the weather forecastwe decided to make our own sunshine so . . . withwedding attire packed; two castaways and somethinggreen we set off for Gretna.9