October 9th saw the first of the two ride-outs for the month. The PECAM Group offers two ride outs each month throughout the year for members. These rides are also open to Associates who are very close to being Advanced Test ready and, importantly, have their Observers support to join the ride. These are social rides, and not training rides. They provide a safe group of Advanced Riders for members to enjoy exercising their riding skills. For this ride in the sun we had 17 members and one with a pillion passenger.
We officially met at 9:15am for the ride briefing, although some of us had been their earlier to grab a coffee and have a chat with other members. The briefing covered the main points to look out for on the ride, and also covered the group riding system we were going to use, in this instance the Second Man Drop-Off. On a social ride, and in every other instance where members take part in PECAM activities, the individual member is responsible for their own safety, the safety of there motorcycle and their legality. When we use the drop-off system the person marking the junction only has two things to think about, their own safety and being able to be seen by the riders following.
We headed out of our usual meeting place at Peterborough Haddon Services and headed one junction north on the A1, then made our way through Cambridgeshire’s flowing ‘B’ roads towards Rutland. We skirted the southern edge of the Rutland Water reservoir and then cut east to skirt Stamford and head up to the Bitchfield Bends. After Grantham the route took us through Lincolnshire and into Rutland for our coffee stop at Wymondham Windmill.
After refreshments (including excellent Bakewell tart for some) we headed towards home. The route took in the delights of Oakham, Uppingham and Caldecot, under the rail viaduct (twice) at Harringworth and onto Corby. From there we took to A427 towards Oundle, but stopped before Benefield at the Deenethorpe Aerodrome for a quick cuppa and chat with the guys (and a cheeky blast along the runway). Most of the group made their own way home from the Aerodrome, but a few of enjoyed a spirited ride back to Wansford where the ride officially ended.
We had fabulous sunshine and dry roads throughout and although it was ‘fresh’ to begin with, the day warmed up nicely. Fabulous outing!