My first group motorcycle run

We gathered outside the V8 Cafe in Inverness. Those less breakfasted or just in need of a top up went in for coffee and a bacon roll. I was quite excited to be among this great gathering of bikers and at the same time just a bit nervous to be riding with all these “advanced” types who all must know so much more about what they were doing.

As we stood around waiting for the pre-run briefing: the drizzle drizzled and I wished that, like others, I had brought a peaked cap or something to keep my head dry. For some reason I failed to take in most of what was said by the organiser but found myself in a subgroup and was glad that the rain had eased off as we began our journey.

As the air speed chilled my visor, it might as well have started raining inside my helmet. All that water on my hair was condensing on my visor. When I cracked it open to clear it, my glasses were cooled and the water condensed on them. I was in trouble! At Clephanton I pulled alongside another rider and explained my problem. He told me to pull over and together we watched the rest of our group disappear.

As I fumbled with helmet fasters and glasses, I was the living embodiment of “more hurry less speed”. Nick assured me that there was no rush as, parent like, he produced a drying cloth and got me sorted out. On our way again on my F700GS, I was determined to make “good progress”. We had the rest of the group to catch and I didn’t want to be holding Nick back on his S1000XR. I made a couple of less than brilliant overtakes and was surprised not to see Nick in my mirrors. When he still wasn’t there at Cawdor, I pulled over to wait for him.

Just as I was beginning to think something had happened and that I should go back to check: Nick appeared and rode on past me. I followed and just sat behind him all the way to Grantown. It was marvellously informative. His position always seemed to be just right and he seemed to get to that just right position with smooth and graceful movements. All I had to do was follow. Speed was a tad less than I was expecting and, I suspect, calculated to match my ability rather than his. Our couple of overtakes were notable for being smooth and seamless elements of the whole ride; not frantic moments of crisis.

We arrived in Grantown where, all along, Nick knew the others would be waiting for us. There was no indication that they had been waiting for more than a few minutes. I thanked Nick for looking after me and for being such a brilliant rider to follow. He said nothing about my riding and didn’t advise me on my lack of preparedness. Even now I feel the sense of rightness at having ridden in the tracks of someone who, to take a line from a YouTube reviewer, was “riding like there was nothing to prove”. He was with me and for me and transformed what, down to me, was becoming a frantic catch up disaster into an enjoyable unruffled education.

Seoras Mackenzie