THE KENNET AND AVON RUN
Sunday 4th December 2005

Out of 13 bikes gathered on an almost freezing misty morning, we could at least claim it as a BMW run, with five GS's, a K1200GT, a K1200R (the most beautiful one there, of course) and a R1100S. Even when the 1100S left the run before it even started and two more "guest" bikes joined later, Beemer remained the dominant brand.

And with 3 newly accredited RoSPA Gold achievers, a quality ride was in prospect. As the weather warmed to allow finger-tips to thaw, John Barnes led us on a combination of old favourites and new routes through Andover, Hungerford and Devizes to arrive at one of our most intriguing lunch spots - a canal-side restaurant next to a lock with a floating barge dining. With the bikes lining the towpath, we certainly made an impression on the cute locality. A cosy environment, some good hot food. What more could one want? Well, another large handful, of course. How our youngest participant avoided a good slapping from the prettiest waitress, I'm not entirely certain.

Striking out after lunch, the return route led us through more new road, until familiar ground at Shaftesbury, Salisbury and the final stop at Stockbridge. Some interesting positioning, some determined testing of brake lights (it was just testing, wasn't it?) and some more "individual" styles of marking. Obviously the scenery was a tad too distracting in places! Or maybe some took the "handful" suggestion too leterally! But all seemed to have fun, all had cheeky grins and all had a great day. Thank you for organising it John and to everyone else for the company. I've only got one complaint - my bike's got some funny brown stuff all over it, and I'm not quite sure what to do next.....

Tim Considine K1200R