It was a nice day when Julie and I left Doncaster early on Sunday the 26th July 2009 on our black 1800. Blue sky and white puffed up clouds sat above and a light, warm breeze played across us, we exited the M18 onto the M62 westwards. The weather would change when we left the motorway at the M606 junction onto the A58 and head on towards the Appy Wanderers Clubhouse in Keighley. The weather began to turn grey and depressing, we could see the drifting rain blot out the valleys off to the right as we passed through Denholme, we stopped to pull on waterproofs, it was July after all! Thirty minutes later and we arrived at the club house; Tina put the kettle on as Barry inwardly cursed Mother Nature for spoiling our day so soon in the day!
After a bit of chit chat and munching of chokkies we dropped down into Keighley centre to pick up the first of today’s Wanderers               

 Steve “Spanners”

There sat “Steve Spanners” and “Nick the Freak” two 1500 breadvan owners, “Spanners” is the mild mannered and ever smiling Mr. Whilst “Le Freak” is the special Nick “The Freak” Scott

Nick Scott from nearby Bradford, as you recall he has had a gammy hand, a result of an accident at work yonks ago, Nick agreed to let the surgeon lop off the two curled digits and streamline his hand, he is bandaged at the moment and in some pain but much MUCH happier with his lot. He is looking forward to wearing a pair of bike gloves when the discomfort subsides. Wow what a man! This dude is a proper biker don’t you agree? 10 out of 10 my man for keeping the faith. Please accept a shiny medal for your commitment to biking Nick!
We headed off towards Shipley to pick up Mark and Chrissy and their 1800 Purple Pussy, they were hiding from the drizzle under a tree. Just a couple of weeks ago we were both burning tyre rubber on glorious high Alpine roads and we were now reduced to this shitty weather…Still, it is July!
Off we shot towards Thirsk, two 1500 breadvans and three 1800 race horses. Barry’s ride was described as a candy shack by “Spanners” quite funny really as the colour of Barry’s is a bit on the girly side!  Heading out of Skipton on wet shiny roads, I saw both “Spanners” and Nick  do a quick shimmy as they piled on the coals coming off a roundabout and both back ends squirmed on the shiny wet roads. Breadvans they are but both ridden with style and pace! We skirted an old meeting point at Riply castle, nobody there today, we rode on, slowly leaving the grey muck behind, the road dried, the sky turned blue again. Thank you very much Mother Nature for the change in heart.

Thirsk  market town

We arrived in Thirsk at the familiar spot on the market square and parked carefully on cobbles and met up with the rest of the days riders.

The new guys

Bill and Lorraine came down from Newcastle way, take note you wimpy fair weather mile conscious Wingers! Theirs was another1500 breadvan, they had only had it a short while, this being their first ride out. They would soon iron the teething problems out of their unfamiliar ride over the next few months and before long they would be grinning instead of grimacing from ear to ear as their beast convinced them they could get a wiggle on in fine style and not crash into the nearest hedge!
Next came two more “newbie’s” in the shape of Deryck and Jan from the backwaters of York on their deep blue 1800, though technically they were not new because they joined Julie and I on the first fifty miles of “The Tea and Scones Run” in May of this year when we were making a parallel run back to join Barry near the M6, Jan became unwell as the morning matured, she felt so bad that they turned and headed for home…..But not today!

Ken and Jean Beck

Ken and Jean Beck from Harrogate were here today on their German 1500, they had recently succumbed to Barry’s pleas at Colin Appleyard Goldwing Centre and put some “dosh” down on an 1800 racing snake, Jean was not convinced of the luxurious comforts the 1800 offers over the 1500. No doubt Jean would soon decide the sexy beast (no not Ken) was to be the one for her, her leathered bum would soon squish the navigators seat to her satisfaction…keep persevering Jean!

Wakefield’s Tony and Heather

Tony and Heather came on over from Wakefield on their new red 1800. Heather smiled a lot today, she too is getting used to the new bike and looks to  be really enjoying herself, another converted soul, welcome to paradise city girl!
“Havatrucker” is here again, Gordon rode down from Leeds on his dirty golden 1500; it was getting more like a Warburton’s convention, ha ha ha! Today Gordon had fixed a big yellow trainers bag beneath his yellow workman’s light, I hadn’t quite worked out why, he did say during the day but his answer on the CB was very long and broke up several times in the morning breeze. It was getting late as we stood around chatting and taking the rise out of the usual suspects….Mark. It was after 1100 hrs when finally today’s group of ten Wings of Appy Wanderers pulled out onto the road. The cars played along and stopped, letting us all get out as one, a good omen for the day I thought, may the cars continue to behave.
We left Thirsk in the direction of Sutton Bank and as we twisted up the hill side I noted the clouds were still around but lightly coloured and few in number, the grey stuff looked far away to the west. The last right turn at the top is a bit wicked but not a problem for those of us that had just returned from the Alpine test tracks!  We cruised along the tops towards Helmsley, not stopping here today we carried on through and turned right towards Pickering, there wasn’t a large number of bikes in the square as there usually are, I saw just half a dozen this mid morning. Maybe they accepted what the weather people were saying and did “the family thing” today? Yesterday I brought a lady this way on the bike for a birthday treat and she loved the twisting roads to Pickering, reaching triple figures at times…that was 70.5 MPH (for the benefit of that Yorkshire snitch out there!!!)
Do you know the feeling when you often pass a road and wonder where it leads to? Well today I finally found out as Barry led us a “different way” towards Whitby. It wound its way to Hutton-Le-Hole. Once there we turned right and headed on over the North York Moors, the breeze was fresh and welcome. We rode over the waves of heather lined tarmac, we dropped steeply down and round into Rosedale Abbey turning right towards Egton Bridge.
In the distance I spotted an old castle or stately home of some kind, it was just visible on the skyline. I called to Barry what it might be; Tina shot back, “Its FYLINGDALES stupid!” We were on a parallel road but four or five miles apart from the main road going from Pickering to Whitby….the same road that the huge top secret RAF listening facility is located!!! Some wag chirped up on the CB “You go explore that castle and I’ll get you a good lawyer. Ha bloody ha!” Maybe that’s why I’m at the back and not the front?
We came to a difficult right turn, it was our small road leading onto a larger road, we had to turn right and steeply uphill at nearly ninety degrees to join it. We all got round by skill, luck and a prayer. It certainly made one sit up and concentrate, a common road over there in the Alps but not at all common here in England! We made a beeline for Goathland, it’s also known as Aidensfield village in TV’s Heartbeat series, for you “suverners” out there.

…I remember when…

We pulled onto the forecourt of Scripps garage and saw two more Appy Wanderers sitting having a drink or two as they waited for us to arrive. This was Chris and Eve from the Hull area who rode a deep red 1800, we don’t see them much these days, I hadn’t seen them for about twelve months so it was nice to catch up with them. These two came on the original Appy Wanderers tour in 2005 where I conducted their mock wedding in Lake Garda! We took over the tea garden and several benches. That was a funny affair!  People looked on as we ribbed each other and recalled several tall stories, both true and a bit false, like Chrissy and her 25 mile orgasm on the Grossglockner. If the grandkids could see and hear what was being said I’m sure they would look at us in a different light! This is what Sundays were made for don’t you think? The Geordies

We waved goodbye to the tea man, people gathered around the bikes as we made ready to leave with cameras poised as they waited for us to zip up, climb aboard our 15’s and 18’s. The road cleared and we made good our exit, I was last to leave making sure we had all actually left! We rode down into the valley over the railway bridge and back up the other side to join the Pickering to Whitby road; just a mile or so away to the right stood Fylingdales Stately Home in its entire slab sided grey metal splendour. Silly bugger me!!
Barry thought we might park in a different spot today in Whitby and took us into the top car park under the whalebone monument; we gave ourselves an hour and half here, ample time to wolf down fish and chips from a tray whilst sitting on the harbour wall. The trick was to keep ones shoulder between your food and the HUGE George Segals (seagulls) that flashed close by all the time. To say it was supposed to be a wet day there were plenty of folk milling around and the usual “Goths” looking for Dracula. We had a browse in the dark ages as we explored some of Whitby’s crooked back streets before making our way back up the hill to our bikes.

Rocky sizes up the team shot

It was time for the team photo, we put just a couple of bikes in front of the whalebone monument, Barry arranged everyone around the bikes, even getting my Julie to get on her knees so the small Schnurfler from Bolton could be seen at the back. 

 Appy Wanderers team shot in Whitby

Tony and Heather were not present for the photo as they were having just another slice and a cup of tea down in the town somewhere. They returned as Gordon lit up a huge cigar and let slip that he was only smoking it because he had run out of baccy for his pipe and that his wife usually bought the stuff.  It was suggested he brought his pipe and some money and buy fresh baccy here in Whitby. “Well, the wife normally buys it and I don’t know where to buy it”.  I couldn’t tell if Gordon was taking the rise or if he was genuine, his explanation made everyone laugh all the same.
After that gem of a story we all rode off with a smile on our faces, we headed toward Scarborough on the coast road, it’s a fine road which sweeps along dipping and rising on nice tarmac, we took it easy and sat in the traffic because our turn was imminent. We turned right into The North Riding Forest Park, this is a quiet pearl of a place, Barry and I “discovered” it last year on one of our Thursday research and development days, the roads are really small and have little tufts of grass growing here and there, it’s generally high banked with hedges and bushes so you need to take good care for other road users, we usually only encounter one or two cars, the odd tractor, chickens and a pile or two of cow dung otherwise it’s a fine little tour, by far it’s the prettiest of today’s roads.
It wasn’t long before we joined up with the A64 again, it was busy, it’s always bloody busy! The weather turned, it looked very grey ahead, in fact it looked to be wall to wall grey as the promised rain front arrived from the west. We stopped at the first garage after Malton, topped up the tanks and made a decision to end the ride out here instead of at Squires Café twenty miles further into the rain, it was after four in the afternoon so I don’t think any of us felt cheated. It had started wet at the beginning of the day and was going to end in the wet, but to be fair it stayed dry for most of the day and we all enjoyed ourselves. Today’s new guys can now chalk up their first ride out with Appy Wanderers, I think they really enjoyed themselves and didn’t feel out of their depth. I’ll finish off by saying I think the 1500 breadvans and 1800 candy wagons mixed well today!
Tilateronthen.
                     The Wanderers Scribe