Jeff Wright Memorial Scramble

Hello all, it’s been a few months since I last posted here on this blog. So finally the country is starting to open up again and this was the first the camera has been out bar a few photos around home. The Jeff Wright memorial scramble ( motocross being the more modern name) is run by the Ulster Classic Motorcycle Club ( http://www.ulsterclassicmotorcycleclub.com) They only allow bikes built before 31 Dec 1984 / air cooled/drum brakes to race at UCMCC events. All proceeds from this meeting go to Motor neurone disease association the disease that took the life of Jeff Wright.

The event was run at the Laurelbank MX Park in County Down Northern Ireland and owed by the Temple Motor cycle and Athletic club.

There where three grades of riders A,B and C, the photos posted are in no particular order and I apologize if I get any names wrong.

Ryan McMaster 1979 400cc Maico
77 David Wilson 1967 500cc BSA

This block of images : 60 Billy Keenan 1973 400cc Husqvarna

204 John Guy 1982 480cc Honda

169 Steven Beattie 1981 490cc Maico
60 Billy Keenan 1973 400cc Husqvarna
89 John Shepherd 1974 250 CZ
Grade C start.
184 Joanne Halpin 1977 250 Swm
22 Johnny Reid 1977 400 Yamaha getting it sideways.
Motion in mud.

If you got this far, thank you. There are many more images for the race event, but hopefully you got a flavour of the evenings event. An event like this is not all about the racers but also about the people who attend the event. The families and friends who support the racers, the first aiders and organisers, the marshals who give there time so we can enjoy an evening like this in safety. Thank you all. To Raymond aka Nick a pleasure to meet you and hi to Billy Keenan ( number 60 ).

Stay safe and enjoy life

George.

Camera :Nikon D7200 with a Tamron SP 70 – 200 2.8 lens: ISO auto : Shutter speed priority.

Black & White Wednesday

DREAMING, this weeks photo was taken back in 2012, while walking around the shop I spotted this Victory Highball 106 cubic inch motorcycle. After a few tried it for size I thought I’d give it a fitting. Well it felt fine, I could hear ‘ Freedom of the road, The Drifter’ playing in my head and the wind blowing in my hair. Well it use to, honest..

The Drifter. ( Sherri T Hill )

Needless to say I’m still dreaming.

I still ride motorcycles, have done for 44 years but never had a custom style bike, I’m not finished yet…

Thank you for stopping by and stay safe.

George.

Scotland part 2

With the rain has my travelling company I continued north , With a stop for coffee in Aberdeen and a little sunshine starting to show I was on my way. It was just after Newburgh that I pull into a road side parking to get a photo while the sun was shining. Looking around I spotted and world war two  pillar box.

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With grass and shrub trees growing around it it was hard to get a good photograph of it. Would have had a look inside only it was full of rubbish. Sitting on the River Ythan  it had a good view of anything moving on the river.

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Has you can see for this photo the sky way just hanging on to the next shower of rain and I didn’t have to wait long.  I follow the coast through small town and villages. They  are all worth a photo but when on a motorcycle with all the wet gear on plus your camera in a tank bag inside its own waterproof bag. It’s not just a quick stop and grab a shot. So my next stop was the city of Elgin where I grabbed a soon food for to cook for my evening meal. with the tent up and the sound of waves breaking I started cooking has the rain drummed on the tent. There’s something very relaxing about the sound of rain on a tent. Yea I know weird guy. Well it relax’s me. Yes next morning the rain is still drumming only this time it’s got bigger drum sticks. Now packing up camp is no fun in the wet. but I’m getting to be an expert.

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One of my stop overs.

It’s of to Inverness and over the new Firth bridge. Road works and heavy traffic make for slow progress. The next bridge was over the Cromarty Firth and more roadworks to make me stop and admire the view.

 

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These were taken after I crossed the bridge. Seals basking in the foreground and traffic hold ups in the background.

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And looking the other way oil or gas platforms being worked at.

And at this point I will thank you for visiting and part 3 will follow soon.

 

 

Wet weather motorcycling in the Peak District UK.

So Friday the 8th September rolls round and its an early start for me. Motorcycle packed and its off to Dublin to catch the ferry across to Wales. Leaving the house the dark and wet morning wasn’t looking good for a 100 mile plus ride to the ferry. Heading south the weather picked up and by the time we cast off the sun had replaced the grey sky.

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Irish ferries terminal Dublin Port. With a slight swell on the water it was out pass Howth peninsula has it projects out into the Irish sea.

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Leaving the harbour in Wales you could see the rain falling in the distance. It wasn’t long before the lovely welsh mountains disappeared  behind a curtain off falling water. When I arrived at The Royal Oak pub and camp site the with the sky grey but bright. The start of the tent village started to appear on the slightly sloping camp site.

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The last dry photo of the day before the rain returned. with a wall of water falling it was time for a beer and motorcycle talk in the bar. Saturday started like Friday finished, yep it was still raining. What should have been a ride out with scenic views over the Peak district. Turned out to spot the roadside hedge’s. Yes it was really a wet day. We hit lucky once and stopped at Lady Bower reservoir where I got a couple of photos.

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So this lasted about 5 minutes before …….. yep you guessed it. More rain.

It was great to meet up with friends old and new.

Sunday comes and its time to pack up and head home, or in my case head north to Scotland. Will be there on Monday and hope to get some posts done has I travel around the coast over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you all for spending a little of your time here.

George

Photo rally

Coyles cottage, number six on the map. In my last post on the rally I said I done one more rally point on the way home. Well this is it. Coyles cottages, the last remaining fishermans cottage on the shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland.

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Got here late in the evening has the sun was starting to drop but the flies were multiplying. So it was a quick photo stop before heading the last 70 miles home.

Here’s a link to a little history of the cottage: Coyle’s Cottage

Hope to do another 3 rally points numbers 2,3 and four tomorrow. Enjoy whats left of the weekend, have fun.

Thank you for visiting,

George

Eye of Seoirse

 

 

Irish Photo Rally 2017 (3)

So out on the road again, this time over to Boyle in County Roscommon. This is listed has number 23 on the rally map, link Here .

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While getting this photo I met a local lady, No name given but was told a little of the history behind the steam driven motor and the generator sitting to the front. She lived outside the town when a child. She is 80 years young and bright has a spark. Her father use to take her and her sister up onto a hill top close to her home to see the northern lights. It was only when she got older that realized what her father was showing them was the electric lights in the town of Boyle. It’s a Blackstone engine  and helped generate electricity for Boyle until 1965 with DC power. After our chat I did offer to take her a spin around the town on the bike, with a wink of her eye and telling me if she was ten years younger we parted with a laugh and a smile on my face. A wonderful women.

My next trip out was to County Mayo over on the west coast, this time to a remote, or  has we would say ” in the asshole of nowhere” to find a disused footbridge. The ride out to it was all single track roads, passing  a remote house out here you wonder what it must be like in winter since its flat scrub land and the wind was racing across it. When I got to the bridge the road ends and a private lane continues up to a farm about a half mile away. The river it crosses has brown water due to it running through the peat bog’s, and here’s a tip don’t drink the water.

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It turned out to be a long day in the saddle and the rain held off for most of the day.

My next ride out was up to the northern part of County Donegal, Glenveagh National Park area. The day was great with blue sky’s from early morning it promised to be a warm day. Going direct from home to the rally point was around 3.5 hours but I’m not known for going the direct route. The plan was to travel through Counties Monaghan, Cavan, Fermanagh and into Donegal. Up the shore of lower Lough Erne in Country Fermanagh to Kesh.

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This was taken from a view point just outside Kesh town in County Fermanagh, this is looking north up Lower lough Erne.

Then onto the small town of Pettigo which is in part of Northern Ireland (UK) and part in Donegal (ROI). Through Donegal town and a drive up the centre of the county to Church hill. Then follow the R251 (road)around the north of Glenveagh National Park and down to lough Dunlewy.

 

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This is looking down from the road on the side of Mount Errigal, Donegals highest mountain. The lough in Lough Dunlewy and the area with the church ruins in the bottom left is the Poisoned Glen. The history of the glen is linked with the photo rally point which is just out of shot in the top right of this photo. Here’s a link to the Poisoned Glen.

The church ruins in the Poisoned Glen was a photo rally point a few years back.

Next the Rally Point, this is number 1 on the map. It’s called Lugh Lambfada and another link. Lugh

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Not a great time of day for photography with high contrast but sometimes you have to make do. This is Lugh and here is the pilot of the bike to give scale to the sculpture

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Complete with body armour in case I had to fight him. I done another rally point in Northern Ireland on the return trip but well leave that from another post

Thank you all for visiting and be safe wherever you are.