Came round on the first Saturday of Summer Camp with that ringing round my head.  The fatigue of the Long Way Up, the day before and the beer from Tully’s Inn were numbing my brain functions.  Looked out the window to discover the sun glinting across Loch Lomond trying to disperse the remnants of the overnight rain clouds from off the hills.

It’s a beautiful morning, must get out on my bike.  The bikes, the bikes are calling.  Where are you going, one of the other 7 roommates asked?  It’s a beautiful morning, going for a spin on the bike.  Must get out on my bike.  The bikes, the bikes are calling. 

Bribed by the prospect of a hearty breakfast at Morrison’s in Alexandria, David and Olivier stumbled out of bed and started dressing.  See you at the bikes, I said, disappearing before too many wanted to come.

Later with bellies and tanks full of cheap fuel, David suggested a wee spin up through the Trossachs to the waterfalls beyond Callander and back round the other side of the Loch.  Sounds good, you lead.

We had a fab wee spin.  David set off on his Pan European, moving it with the dainty deftness of a dressage rider at Badminton, flicking it around the corners like a banshee on a broomstick.  We stopped for coffee and a scone in Callander, and waited for Olivier – he had stopped because of gravel on the road (aka - fag break).  I described David’s riding style to him, trying to get to understand how he achieved it.  Apart from the fact he has been riding for 30 years, he said he likes to use counter-steer technique because it gives him a light touch on the steering.  What exactly do you mean, I asked, trying to disguise my ignorance. 
 

OK, right now, across the club, a hundred heads are wagging knowingly.  You don’t know what counter-steer is, they are muttering?  Well I didn’t.  And I am thankful to David that he explained it to me.  This is important because it is the main reason I joined the club last August when I got my first bike.  I wanted / needed to increase my riding experience and to improve my riding skills, in part by learning from others who had been riding for much longer than I.

And in the course of the week in Scotland, I practised counter-steer for cornering.  And also started to try some of the other techniques suggested by Martin and Stephen.  Result – I feel my skill and therefore confidence at going into corners where the extent is unknown at entry, has improved.  So thank you, guys.

The Mull and Iona run was magnificent.  It was probably the best run of the week for me.  Starting at 7am and getting back at about 8pm.  We went from rain to stark sunshine highlighting the beauty of the valleys and hills and brown cows darting across the road in front of us.  Great ride back via Inverary, down to Helensburgh, some new undulating and twisty roads, an absolute blast.  Stephen and Olivier have some great pictures.

On our last day, Stephen and I went for a wee spin up into the Highlands to beyond Glen Coe to Loch Leven and stopped for lunch at Kinlochleven.  On the way back, that long high road across Glencoe took hold of our spirits.  With the butt backed up against the rear seat, the elbows dropped and the helmet tucked below the slipstream coming off the windscreen, I engaged warp drive.  The highland landscape fused into a streaking kaleidoscope of greens and browns and rainbows along the valley. 

I became aware of a Honda car creeping up behind.  Until that point, I had been doing the overtaking.  How dare he overtake me at that speed?  Anyway, I let him go, and focused on the next stretch.  As the road dropped down from the highlands and we got engaged in the slower traffic from Tyndrum onwards, I spotted the Honda leapfrogging the cars in the queue ahead, one at a time.  He was now the second car in the queue behind a Volkswagen. 

I skipped past a few and got behind him.  Clear stretch ahead, so started to pull out to over-take the Honda.  And he did the same.

OK, I thought, let's do a quick assessment here.  I am sitting on the right side of the wrong side of the road, hindquarter to the Honda.  He is hindquarter on to the Volkswagen.  I’m in 3^rd gear at just over 5000 rpm.  The road is clear ahead but the corner is now quite close.  The cars behind have realised what is happening and have eased back.

It was at that moment on the road to Damascus that I saw the light.  In a flash I realised what the extra 5000 rpm were for.  And at the revelation, I achieved a full understanding of Einstein’s theory of Relativity, as my blue bird blew past the Honda and the Volkswagen leaving them standing still, relatively speaking.

Phenomenal!

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