Well, first all the good stuff- great roads, few main roads, well researched, very educational, great lunch, good company etc., more below.
Now the down side- Hurricane winds (especially Forth Road Bridge), loads of unscheduled stops, God knows where we were at any one time, except Linlithgow, Blackness & North Queensferry Hotel.
In reality, a great day. We managed to avoid virtually all the forecast rain, & maybe the Hurricane winds were responsible for that.
We gathered at the edge of Easterhouse, where the supermarket trolleys were locked up in a cage (didn’t see that during The Games?). After breakfast off we went towards Coatbridge, by Drumpellier Park (5 minutes from Easterhouse, but not on the day- est 20 minutes- so much effort to avoid M-ways, well done David)
As I say, very little knowledge where we went- sure, we had a few stops; bikes finishing up in all directions. But in the end, David blamed his Sat Nav, (with which we sympathised), & we all agreed he should donate it to one of our more deserving Members. Me-me!
At Linlithgow we stopped at the edge of Linlithgow Loch and Palace where we didn’t get a history lesson from David. It is however, very interesting, the birth place of Mary, Queen of Scots & I urge you to look it up.
Once comforted, off to Blackness Castle.
A very ancient edifice which has a very chequered history. It was used as recently (as I recall) as the 2nd World War as a munitions dump. Details on the Web.
Yesterday, however, Dave used an Ice Pick to climb into his pulpit, as per the Reverend I M Jolly, & ensure that we all took in details of the Castle’s history. Not bad for a guy who can’t read. (the notice, Dave- DO NOT climb the Walls).
We meandered (& I mean that) to the Forth Road Bridge, using some of the roads being laid for the new bridge. JG thought he had cracked it (driving over the Bridge without being blown off it), by going into the right hand lane & encouraging a car to drive level with him on the left- but the guy was “thick” & overtook him!
Lunch was first class, & we had the welcome company of Dave & Mary Stewart in their very nice Merc. Dave was looking so much better, almost back to his old self. See Dave, your UK operation was a miracle!
Post lunch, again followed our leader in total bewilderment. We passed a couple of villages where the flowers were abundant everywhere, and were astonishing- so much effort & pride displayed by their inhabitants. On one of Dave sorties into the “unknown”, Peter, doing his duty by marking the direction to go, (remember, we were facing in every direction under the occasional sun) decided to park his bike in a strange position. All was OK, especially the bike, thank Goodness
A quickie stop somewhere and back home via mixed routes.

A glorious day out, so let’s get more in before the gloom of Winter descends.
Many, many thanks, Dave.