Gino's Travels: Scottish Guzzi Club Lunch

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

Scottish Guzzi Club Lunch

For the first time since the virus hit we had a Guzzi club lunch, organised by George Ogg from Edinburgh at the Lobster Pot in Blackness on the shores of the Forth which is also next to Blackness Castle and which I believe was used in the series Outlander. I was on the Mk3 Le Mans again, I rarely get to use it these days as Fiona blags it more often than not but she was Jackal mounted on this occasion. As we wobbled (at speed) down Perthshire's roads towards Clackmanan we came across a group of Classic Fords being driven in the opposite direction, mainly 70's and 80's but at least one from the 50's. For a split moment I felt we had been transported back in time, back in time to a much simpler life, a time when there were less choices and no Stasi type control on our day to day lives, a time when we could travel without hindrance and it was even possible to get a European type "passport" at the Post office for £3. That warm feeling was soon shattered though and here we are riding old (37 years) and not so old (18 years) bikes in 2021 on potholed roads which are overfilled with cars which nowadays nobody seems to own. That aside it was a braw run despite having to go through the industrial site at Kincardine which supplies our Petrol, hooray for Petrol, boo to E10, the cost of enjoying our hobby has risen thanks to the Governments obsession with dicking about and experimenting trying to find the golden bullet that will let them off the climate hook but slightly more expensive petrol is a price well worth paying to keep our older bikes on the road in my opinion.

It was great to meet up with everyone again, friends who some of which I hadn't seen for a while, it felt almost normal but of course our government dictates as soon as you stand up you must wear a mask, we all know the virus is devilish clever and only transmits whilst standing up, we are so lucky to have such clever people controlling our lives and curtailing our freedoms.

Anyway back to motorcycling, the Mk3 Le Mans is in my opinion a very usable bike, capable of sitting at high motorway speeds without complaint and great fun on the twisties, good brakes and not a "mode" in sight and once again it was great fun to experience.

After we had eaten there was much nonsense talked in the sunshine and the rain stayed away, not a bad way to spend a Sunday, not bad at all, thanks to George for organising it and Ian for coordinating a fine day oot!