Download - Birmingham Advanced Motorcyclists

10Lakes TourLakes Tour11Alan Owen started the day off well deciding to marka corner that didn't need marking (trying to disguisehow late he'd left taking it). The leader once againpasses a road closed sign in order to test people'sslow riding skills. Adrian had been tactically ridingin order to not have to mark a junction all weekendand was met with Graham returning from the closedroad and ended up behind our leader and markingthe next junction! Alan (two levers) Boulter headedoff to acquire a new clutch lever and mirror but stillmanaged to get to Gretna Green in time for the bigevent.We arrived at Gretna Green early with plenty of timeto get ready for the big event. As requested by ourleader himself the sun came out in time for the BAMpaparazzi to get a number of fabulous shots of thebride and groom. Mrs Shrek appeared leather cladwith a veil and looking every bit of biking chic - whaton earth had Shrek done to deserve this we do notknow, hence from this day forward Shrek is to beknown as ‘lucky boy’!Standing outside the room in the Blacksmith’s shopand just as the piper started piping Mrs Shrek askedShrek if he had the rings and like every good manrealised he had left them on the bike - doh! The Brideand Groom were piped into the anvil as the BAMpossy made best use of all photographic equipment.Mrs Shrek became a little overwhelmed and a tissuewas passed and it took a while for the penny to dropthat her best friends Ann and Diane had actually madeit to the anvil. David Bailey aka Tony Spence wastold off by the Registrar for trying to muscle in on theceremony recording every close detail.An official Mr and Mrs Shrek left the ceremony to begreeted by BAM paparazzi again, plus rice and confettifor good measure. We’d arranged to have 12 of themotorbikes outside the Blacksmiths shop and it didn’tgo unnoticed that we’d got a pair of pink handcuffsacross the handle bars of the Pan. Numerous photoswere taken before heading back to celebrate.On heading back to Ambleside, Richard Atkinson(BAM senior observer) decided to be different andturned left out of the petrol station (our leader Grahamhad turned right) taking him on a 40 mile detour backtowards Scotland and then onto the lakes. Alan (twolevers) Boulter must have been unhappy with therecent acquisition as once again the VFR ended up onthe floor in the local petrol station requiring once againa new clutch lever!On arrival back at the hotel Mrs Shrek had anothersurprise for Mr Shrek with a Shrek themed weddingcake (‘lucky boy’ strikes again). Everyone gatheredat 7.30pm in the Fisherbeck Hotel for the weddingreception where the wine flowed freely unlike MrSpence’s speech as he was well and truly heckled– he also managed to break a jug trying to geteveryone’s attention! A lovely meal was had by all andwhilst Mr and Mrs Shrek headed for the town, MrsSpence and Colin Daniels headed for the bridal suitein order to give them a wedding night they wouldn'tforget in a hurry . . .The day finished with a topple by Alan when leavingthe pub, however this time it wasn’t Alan (two levers)Boulter, but our esteemed Mr Owen who couldn’t usethe side stand as an excuse!Sunday - Day 3 and cheerioAfter seeing off the BAM posse, Mr & Mrs Shrekalong with the Twiggs (Tony and Karen) headed intotown for a little shopping, unfortunately they neededto shelter from the pouring rain so headed for thenearest pub to let it ease off, surprise surprise 8hours later they fell out of the pub into the local curryhouse a little worse for wear......... Now that’s what wecall a proper way to recover from the night before...hair of the dog!!!! (and this is where their article waswritten! Ed)Mr and Mrs Shrek would like to thank everyone whocame on the trip for making their day extra specialand one to remember in more ways than one!!Glenn & TinaAnd the journey home (added by Adrian as theShrek’s and the Spence’s were getting inebriated!)Our tour leader, Graham, had arranged that we woulddo the route in reverse, so onleaving Ambleside we rode upKirkstone Pass, along UllswaterLake and then back across on tothe fab roads of North Yorkshirefor lunch at the Rose and Crownin Bainbridge, just outside Hawes.The weather to this point hadbeen reasonable and dry but thiswas soon to change! Sundaylunch was devoured, Bruce losthis keys which were handed inat the bar and they promptlydisappeared again into theclutches of the ‘key snatchers’and Ken went stir crazy andcould be seen standing on hischair in the restaurant shouting‘beef’ at the top of his voice,much to everyone’s amusement!The waitress carried on ignoring him and continuedpassing him to serve beef dinners to other hungryBAM members.As soon as we stepped outside ready to ride theroute back to Jct 31a on the M6 it started drizzlingand in the short time it took us to ride to Hawes therain was coming down with a vengeance. In the drythese Yorkshire roads are a joy, in the wet they canbe treacherous with farm muck and grit and gravelneeding handling with care. By the time we had gotto the loo stop most of us were well and truly soakedand thereafter I managed to get overtaken by thecross dressing Colin Daniels and Bev not once buttwice as riding in the rain is not my favourite and withthe wife and luggage I was happy to plod along whilstenduring the water running down most parts of mybody. At the last stop, the petrol station near to themotorway. Colin declared that coming up behind mewas like catching up on a car andcaravan and trying to overtakea slow moving vehicle – cheekybugger!Farewells were said and everyonewent on their ways to endure 90odd miles on the M6 in prettyawful conditions with heavy rain,spray and car drivers staying inlanes 2 and 3. All in all a brilliantweekend and everyone who wentwere very grateful to GrahamHay who spends a lot of time andeffort organising the weekendand leading the group down somefantastic roads.Adrian