And then, at last, there was the Scottish Double Plus1, PART 3

There was hardly time to breathe after the Plus1 was over, and on the Friday, I was back to work and not home til about 10pm. While I was out, Mrs BC had received an instruction from Mr VMCC President, Bill Phelps, via Past Pres Harry Wiles, saying that I "must get Cubbie to Blairgowrie tomorrow for the National". Frown. I was all set to head off early in the morning to accompany Pilot Rae on his Ariel outfit, but not ready to have to extract Cubbie from the shed and devise a safe and suitable way to transport it one hundred miles south. But when The President gives an order, one finds it hard not to comply. So after my tea, Mrs BC and I nipped out to the shed and moved a whole lot of junk around, and wiggled Cubbie free from alongside Skorpy, where it had been sitting since about June, when the MoT expired. The rain was lashing down outside, and the night was of course, pitch black, so rather than load up there and then, we measured the hay trailer and the back of the truck - in case there was any chance it would fit in there. Well it probably could have been made to fit, but not without draining all the oil and petrol and cleaning the muck off, so I came up with a cunning plan, Baldrick. If I screwed some blocks of wood to the floor of the trailer, and wheeled Cubbie on diagonally, it would just about fit and the blocks of wood would stop Cubbie's back wheel from sliding from side to side. At goodness knows what hour, I packed my rucksack, put the camera batteries on charge and got to bed. Up at 5am on Saturday and at least the rain had stopped. Once I managed to get Cubbie out of the shed, backwards, with little room to manoeuvre, it was fairly straightforward to load it onto the trailer and strap it down, and then we were off.

I arrived at Blairgowrie bang on time, just as Pilot Rae was beginning to wonder where I'd got to. Parked the truck and trailer up next to Pat & Jim's caravan, kitted up, persuaded Pilot Rae to buy me brekky, signed on and then jumped onto the sidecar and was ready for the off. The weather was glorious, a thing called the 'sun' was shining in the clear blue sky, and we sped off out of town, straight through the lights before they had a chance to change from green, and out into the countryside. My job was not only to act as ballast, but also to navigate and hoot the horn as necessary. Well I would have done the third part as well as I did the other two parts but someone had failed to fix the audible warning device...although I'm assured it will be working for next year.



The Pilot really was in the mood to fly, and we overtook anyone and anything that threatened to slow us up on the twisty, single track roads that formed most of the morning leg. Even the President Elect, Colin Bell was blasted to one side (er, what I mean to say is he pulled over and let us by with a friendly gesture that only Colin could get away with!) enabling us to make good time and to have a bloomin' good ride. Having reacquainted ourselves with one anothers riding styles on the previous weekend at the S&T, we seemed to gel rather quickly at the National. I've no idea where the route took us, except that it was pretty darn good, and all too soon we were passing the layby near Glamis where Cubbie and I spent some time a couple of years ago when a battery malfunction occurred and we had the humiliation of completing the course on the back of the breakdown trailer. Into Glamis and park up at the Strathmore Arms for lunch - a huge plate of roast beef, just what the Doc ordered, and a good bit of banter with fellow entrants, and then before I knew it, our time was up and the Pilot was anxious to get going again. He really is a stickler for time keeping.

But it paid off, and even the sneaky checkpoint located just a mile or two after lunch didn't stop us from gathering multiple awards that night at the posh dinner-do in Blairgowrie. Talking of which, I must apologise for abandoning Captain Bill & Co at the dinner, as a spare seat next to Mr Pres was duly filled by an anxious GBC who had to find out just exactly what the Pres wanted with my bike!

A fine meal was followed by the prize giving, and after all the years of mickey taking by my good friend Shorty, the tables were finally turned. His previous mocking of a certain gentleman by the name of Mr Coutts had led to an embarrassing moment, as Shorty committed exactly the same little faux pas that Mr Coutts did - he forgot which bike he had booked into the Plus1. It isn't a big deal, but such slip ups don't happen often, so the most had to be made of it. I must thank Alan for announcing the Special Wooden Spoon Award for Shorty, and Mr Pres for presenting it with style. And Shorty of course, for accepting it with good humour. But you should have seen his face!!

SOME OF THE PRIZE WINNERS....

THE SUNDAY AFTER THE NATIONAL

I've never been able to stay on for the Sunday social run before, but this year was different, so I once again had the pleasure of accompanying Pilot Rae on the short ride to Bridge of Dun station in Montrose. The sun shone once again, in fact, it was quite hot. We arrived just in time to get a ticket for the ride on the choo-choo train, up the line and back, before having lunch and then heading back to the campsite. I read a fascinating Wikipedia snippet in the lunch carriage all about toilet paper orientation, a pic of which is below - what do you do? No, actually, don't think I want to know too much detail.

Jim from Oban. No, he is not looking for a Cubbie size spanner, he's looking for a Honda one, tee hee!

That'll be Terry, from Northern Ireland, who had to rush off and rescue his relative (son? Son in law?) who'd broken down. Pesky lights sat at red for at least half an hour.

Ah yes, almost forgot to tell you. Met a guy at the National called Bob, who was on his way north, north, north from Cheltenham to Helmsdale in his 1936 AJS Commercial outfit. What a man. The story behind the trip is that in the 1920s/30s, his grandfather worked as a chauffeur for a wealthy family, and was sent up to Helmsdale to 'electrify' a house. Love that phrase. This map is part of the route that Bob's grandfather took, there are pages and pages of it, and if you click on it to enlarge it, you can see it took him right through the centre of a small town called Edinburgh... Bob intended to follow the route to the letter, as much as possible, sticking to the original plans. You there Bob? Giz a shout and let me know how you got on.

So that was it, the Scottish Double Plus1 was over for another year. It was a little hectic, I think next year I might have to take the week off work, or maybe the week after, just to recover. As I write this, Cubbie is back in Scotland, complete with a swingy-thingy, but that's a whole other story. I'd better go and get some paperwork done or there'll be trouble.

Oh, just before I go, I spotted this nifty way of motorcycle transportation. Reckon you could get more than one Cubbie in a car like that....
And just before I go again, couldn't not put these pics up....

Lucky Captain Bill got to ride in John McD's Morgan on the Sunday run, but getting in it was another matter! When I saw him hopping around on one leg trying to climb in, I stupidly said "last one back buys the ice cream..."
WHOOOOOSSSSSSHHHH!!!!

And just in case you haven't spotted the new fangled video clippy linky thinky on the left hand side at the top of the page, there's a short video of pics and some onboard Ariel footage from the National over at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRIpmIat7qE

Can yar guess...?

17.5 is a figure I need to remember in relation to Cubbie. Can you guess what it's to do with? Is that too hard, do you need a clue? Go on, have a guess first, see what you come up with.

Oh guys, you're good, but maybe I need to shed some LIGHT on the subject....

Ok, do you give up? Some very good guesses there, some that didn't 'alf make I laugh, but I gotta let you know it was oh so simple. It was 17.5 turns of the headlight adjuster screw! I was told in no uncertain terms by Mr President that if I took the headlight apart, make sure I put it back together properly, so that the beam is set in the right direction, rather than down on the front wheel like it was before he fitted a proper screw complete with spring so that it could actually be adjusted rather than just held securely in place. Tee hee, well, that was a fun game, shall we play another?

Larry's still there.

Wowee, here's a cute little Cub snapped by Hairy Larry at the British bike show at San Jose, Calif. 2006.

Thanks muchly!

Scottish Double Part II

Helloo...is anyone there? I wouldn't blame you if you weren't, but if you are, sit back and have a read about the Plus1, to be followed shortly by a few pics from the National...

So after the S&T it was back to work on Monday, and we squeezed in a run up to Portsoy to collect the herring for the *NEW* herring and ham supper we planned to hold on the second day of the Plus1 (Thursday) and then onto Peter & Lesley's at Mintlaw to stow it away in Lesley's freezer for a couple of days. Then it was along to the campsite to make sure all was ok for those entrants who had arrived straight from the S&T, which it was, and then home to do some paperwork for the the Plus1. It was just the small matter of putting the finishing touches to the *NEW* (for this year) Programme and then printing enough copies, and making up the rider packs. I can't remember why we didn't do that well in advance but there was a reason, and a really good one too, just that it escapes me at the moment. There was of course a small hitch with the print layout and trying to get the map of Inverurie town centre the right way round and in the right place, and then I had to go back out to work again. Very inconvenient but that's life. Tuesday and it was off to work early followed by another call to the campsite where Mrs BC and I carried out a bit of that good old fashioned highland hospitality - meeting and greeting the guests. Mr VMCC President, Bill Phelps and his good lady, Jean, had arrived along with Past Pres, Harry Wiles and his wife Fran and they were all settled in deck chairs and the like, with Pat & Jim from Oban who are great supporters of the Plus1 venture. By the time we left, most of the other long distance ones had arrived and pitched a tent or set up camper vans and were happily getting on with the tasks of making supper and settling in. The weather was bright and dry, despite a huge black cloud on the horizon, somewhere over near Cubbie Towers.

All was going so well until two of our entrants had a bit of bother with their B&B, and we had to hunt around for an alternative. Luckily the Saplin Brae hotel which is just a 5 minute drive from Mintlaw, had a couple of sumptuous double en suites available for the required number of nights, one of which even had a 4 poster bed, by gum. They say that buses come in threes, and sometimes, so do challenges. The next problem, sorry, challenge, to solve was a very last minute change of venue for our evening meal, due to be held on Wednesday night. It isn't easy to find somewhere to cater for nearly 50 hungry bikers at 24hrs notice, but Thistle Catering who run the small cafe at Aden Country Park somehow managed it. After a series of very frantic phone calls/texts during the evening, Mrs BC arranged for them to provide almost the same meal as we had originally planned, in the cafe at the museum, which also doubled as a small restaurant if we used the upstairs seating as well. We were actually in the middle of doing the shopping for the rest of the supplies for the herring & ham supper when these calls and text messages were flying around NE Scotland, so it was a relief to come home and get the final 'yes, we can do it'. But relief and happiness were soon knocked on the head when we discovered that our water pump, located in the cupboard inside the front door, had sprung a leak. It wasn't just a dribble, oh no, more like a high pressure jet of water bursting forth from the big red cylinder on the top of the pump, meaning that anything we tried to collect the water in, just had the effect of spreading and spraying it even further. It took a couple of hours for it to empty completely, during which time I carried on working on the *NEW* Programme finally getting it finished and printed and in the packs at some horrendous time in the wee small hours of PLUS1 DAY.

Wednesday dawned. That's about all I can say about it really. I'd love to be able to say it was bright and sunny and roasting hot, but it was kinda grey, dull and a little bit muggy. We were bang on time to leave for Mintlaw when bus (challenge) number 4 arrived in the shape of a very badly fly struck lamb. The poor little chap was being eaten alive by maggots and although the sheep are checked daily and thoroughly, sometimes you can't always spot the struck ones, and sometimes they can put up with tremendous amounts of pain and discomfort without acting any differently. If it had been a human having their thigh eaten by munching little wriggleys they'd be making one heck of a lot more fuss about it! So we had to catch him up and get to work with the scissors to trim the fleece back, and then administer the pour on treatment to kill the blighters. With the thundery muggy atmosphere being just right for flies we decided to put him and his mum and brother in the steading where it would be cool and dark. The whole job took an hour, so we were an hour late in leaving. Not to worry, with GBC at the wheel we somehow managed to arrive just 5 or 10 mins later than originally planned. We scurried about setting up the table and paperwork, and miraculously, just as we were ready, the entrants started to appear from the campsite. The set up at Aden Country Park is fantastic. The whole place is a huge country park (you would never had guessed that would you) with the campsite on one of the outer edges, and in towards the centre is the unique U shaped steading building, now a farm museum and cafe, and a small building opposite, which we used to sign the riders on in. It started to rain as Captain Bill and John got to work with parking and directing the bikes in the courtyard, and d'you know what, it DID NOT STOP ALL DAY. Mr VMCC President, all the way from Welsh Wales, did the honours of waving the first batch of riders off at 10am on the dot. I don't think he was too pleased with the fifteen foot square Scottish Saltire that he had to wave as it tried to smother him a couple of times. Tee hee. All the riders were away on time and then Terry from N.Ireland turned up. Great credit to him for getting up really really really early to come and join us from somewhere in the NE where he'd been visiting rellies, only to miss the official start and to have to get changed into biking gear and set off in the pouring rain. There was just time for a sneaky cuppa tea and a sticky bun before collecting the breakdown trailer from Peter's house (thank you Peter) and trailing round behind the riders.

It was a little disappointing that the rain was so bad that none of the fantastic views could be seen. One of the points of including the programme this year was to feature places of interest. Colliestown, just north of Aberdeen and just south of Cruden Bay was once a hot spot for smuggling with over 8000 gallons of contraband being landed every month and it's also home to Britain's largest colony of eider duck, bet you didn't know that. And, Lawrence of Arabia once rented a cottage in Collieston. So there. AND, as if that isn't enough to attract you, there is also a stunning view which is worth a look if you're passing, but not on a day when the rain is wall to wall, so to speak. The lunch stop was in Inverurie this year, and we'd listened to the feedback from last year when people expressed a wish not to be sent to one eatery with a pre-booked sit down meal, so this time, a small map of the town was issued with all of the snack outlets, pubs, fish & chip shops and similar, listed for their convenience. Inverurie is also a nice old market town to wander around in, with a good mix of shops, architecture, the rivers Ury and Don and just a generally nice atmosphere. Unless it's chucking it down. Peter Nicol, you know, the former world squash champ was born there. That's another useless fact for you.

In the afternoon, we'd suggested a stop at a Pictish stone circle. Loanhead of Daviot is recumbent stone circle built over 200 generations ago (that’s a lot of great, great, great etc grandparents!) and historians think that it would have taken about 90 people to transport and position the main feature of the monument, the ‘recumbent’ stone, which weighs about 12 tons. They also estimate that all that work was for the rather paltry local population of about 30 farming folk. Would you get 90 people from nearby towns to come and help 30 country folk build a village hall or a barn these days?

Mrs BC and I were having a fun old time chugging round in The Truck with Peter's trailer, and we were just approaching the village of Fyvie when my mobile rang. It was Terry, from N.Ireland, although he wasn't in N.Ireland any more. The poor chap had broken down, and it sounded like he was miles off the route so we set off to find him. The rain had eased a little by then, and luckily for him, he had landed up at someones house, where shelter and assisstance was provided. A few minutes later the phone rang again. It was Terry, from N.Ireland. Panic over, the bike was fixed. We suggested he head straight down the main road from where he was and into Fyvie village, where we could get him back on track. He did, but he didn't stop, just carried on going towards Turriff - not on the route. After waiting ages for him to return we gave up and set off back on the route, from Fyvie towards Cuminestown and then my phone rang again - can you guess who it was? Good ol' Terry, from N.Ireland. So we gave him directions to get to us once again and waited for him. He turned up and spotted us this time and we gave him explicit directions back to base, which he must have followed as he turned up washed and almost dried, at the evening meal later on.

Talking of the meal, it all went without a hitch, which, given the previous two days was quite surprising really. The food was good and judging by the happy chatter and laughter that rang out into the dark and now dry, evening, everyone had a thoroughly good time. A HUGE thanks to Lorraine at Thistle Catering and all her staff for the professional and friendly service, especially Hamish who was our personal waiter for the evening, and for whom nothing was too much trouble. With the meal done and dusted we had to get through the prize giving and raffle ASAP as the only problem with having the meal in the park grounds was that the main gate closed at 10pm. I managed to negotiate a bit of leeway though which gave us long enough for Mr President to give a little speech and for all the various goings on that have to take place. Bet you can't guess who got locked in the park? Hmmm, tough one, want a clue? Darn it, you got it in one; me, Mrs BC and Captain Bill. Luckily the couple who are in charge of locking up were doing the rounds to make sure our guests had all got out and stumbled upon us at the gate.

Blimey, there's more. Thursday morning arrived sooner than I wanted it to, and Mick and Linda's Lunch Run was ready to depart from Mintlaw at around 10.30 I think it was. I wasn't able to go on the run having no bike, and having the day job to go and do, but the reports I heard afterwards from all who did go, were that it was a stunning little route with a great lunch stop, that coped admirably with the greater than expected requirements for food. Well done M&L, same again next year?

I've lost count of the number of times Mrs BC and I trekked over to the campsite and home and various other places to pick things up and drop things off, but while the guys and girls were on the run and before I had to go to work, we nipped up to Peter & Lesley's to collect the herring, and the rest of Thursday was spent prepping for the al fresco supper. Gordon Yule, one time member of the Grampian Classic Club, and hopefully future re-joining member, had popped over on Weds evening and erected his small marquee for us, and Bob P, John A and a band of merry helpers (aka Plus1 entrants, thank you) had positioned and erected the Garioch Vehicle Restoration Clubs humongous marquee on Thursday morning before M&L's lunch run so when we arrived on Thursday evening, all was ready - including the picnic tables belonging to the park, all lined up inside the big marquee. Bob P had the forethought to fit up some battery run lighting too. Big thanks to Past President Harry Wiles for his help in the 'kitchen' where he aided Mrs BC in preparing the fish while she cooked, and I, known for my culinary talents, dished up the rest of the food. Hazel Thomson came along to sing for her supper and entertained the audience with traditional folk songs from the region and beyond, and there was much foot tapping and joining in, even though the Doric bits baffled a few folk! Using a public campsite we had to keep the jolliness down and shut up shop quite early, but again, everyone seemed to have enjoyed it.

Friday (the 13th in case you're interested) morning and we had to pop back over to Mintlaw to take down Gordon's tent and we would have helped Bob P with the Garioch tent but by the time we got there, our help was not needed. We really can't thank all those entrants who mucked in and helped with various tasks over the two days. In a way, it makes it all the more enjoyable, rather than having just a couple or three people doing all the work.

With both tents packed up, trailers loaded and rubbish disposed of, it was goodbye from them and goodbye from us as people started to head off in their camper vans and cars with trailers. For me, it was back to work. You'll be pleased to hear that the little lamb with the maggots is all better and healing up nicely.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LENT / DONATED CHAIRS, TABLES, STOVES, TENTS, LABOUR, ASSISTANCE, MORAL SUPPORT(!), DID SOME ROUTE PLANNING AND LED A RUN, LENT A TRAILER AND A FREEZER, STEPPED IN AT THE LAST MINUTE TO CATER FOR US AND ALSO TO THOSE WHO ENTERED THE EVENT - WE WOULDN'T HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITHOUT YOU!!!

False alarm.

I thought I was going to get a chance to update the blog, but now I'm thinking if you pop back at Christmas I might just manage by then! Mind you, I can just tell you very quickly that I was riding a Sunbeam with sidecar, and a something called a Brough Superior on the weekend. WOWEEE indeed. I need to find some time to tell you about it properly.

No email.

I might not have access to email for the next few days, so please be patient (like you have over the lack of posts on here!) and I'll answer you in the next few days. Thanks muchly people.

Silence.

Sorry 'bout this, I am working on the Double Plus1 report, honest, just that there don't seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment. It's kinda 2/3 done but with no pics, maybe I'll get round to them tonight after I've designed the tee shirts for the UCAN charity run (19th Sept) and done the printing for the m/c Convention this Sunday and some printing for Mrs BC to take to the rare breeds sale on Saturday. Oh, and me new guttering is due to be delivered tomorrow. Yippeeeee.