It was October 2023 when it was first announced that Graham Brown would be organising a tour of Scotland the following Easter. He gave details of four Premier Inn hotels that needed booking. Loch Lomond, Oban, Inverness and Edinburgh Park. Immediately I along with many others were connecting to the Premier Inn's website so as not to miss out. Numbers quickly rose steadily to over forty. It wasn't just Graham's own East Midlands branch either, all of West London, Oxford, 3 Shires and  Durham & North East were represented. Durham had an impressive four members on the road trip. Other HOC members came from Cheshire, Gloucestershire and Norwich.

A number of riders had to set off on the Wednesday, These included Penny and Tony from Norwich, Mel and Graham Shute  came up to the East Midlands the night before from their home in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. For Crosby Katsholo and myself "west was best", we met having ridden separately to north west England at a cattle auction in Gisburn prior to a a ride through the Dales with my brother in law Peter.

The main party was gathering nice and early at Castle Donnington Services. Their route up the A1, then across on the A66 perfect for meeting the Durham contingent at Scotch Corner.

The following day we assembled early to get on the road. It was a bit of a damp start, but any rain quickly passed as we made our way up past Loch Lomond and parked up briefly at Luss. It was Luss that was the setting for a Scottish daytime soap opera "High Road".  It ran for over 20 years on UK daytime TV. But we needed to make progress and we were soon back on the road....our next stop was the beautiful Inverary. For me this is where the tour really got started. The A83 hugs Loch Fyne for around thirty miles, initially for just a short distance on its eastern shore but it soon swings round at the top of the Loch and clings to its western shoreline. The sight of Inverary was something I'll never forget. It's a small town with a harbour and impressive castle that looks down over its streets. But it was the sight of the many white painted houses on Inverary's seafront, reflecting in the clear waters of the Loch that we saw whilst riding that last half mile that will stay with me forever. It wasn't possible for me to stop for a photograph as the road was tight and there was no chance of pulling to one side.  Thankfully though, Tina Haynes, sitting on the front passenger seat of one of two tail cars, was perfectly placed to capture the view and later share it with us on Facebook.

On leaving Inverary Roger, Becky and myself went ahead to position ourselves for photographs. For Roger and Becky though something more poignant as they paid respect to Mum and Grammy by laying rose petals on Loch Fyne.

Our route continued first south then turned north just short of Lochgilpead in the direction of Oban. We did do a small detour  which  led us, albeit briefly, off the mainland. In fact we could argue that we crossed The Atlantic on the Clachan Bridge to reach the Isle of Seil. Because the Clachan Sound connects at both ends to the Atlantic Ocean, and might therefore be considered part of that ocean, the bridge has therefore become to be known as the "Bridge over the Atlantic". It was a great place to relax and pose for a photograph. It was now just a short ride into beautiful Oban.

Saturday's run was to take us out of Oban and head east to Tyndrum and the Green Welly Service area. There was a little light rain for us to contend with there...but the biggest downpour was waiting in the wings. Leaving here it was north towards Glen Coe and Fort William. But before reaching Glen Coe we pulled over at the Loch Tulla viewpoint. The sun was out and we were all encouraged to do a huge group photo.  Back on the road the skies darkened and we had at least 3 hours of rain. Glen Coe was still impressive but for lunch at Fort William we made for a rather less impressive Morrison's Supermarket cafe.  At least it was dry inside.

At Spean Bridge the inclement weather had now cleared for the day, allowing another chance for photos at the Commando memorial, including another go at a group photo. Leaving here it was up to Inverness along the line of the Caledonian canal and Loch Ness - yes I looked but saw nothing. Again the Premier Inn was ideally placed. Most of us enjoyed a wonderful meal at The Mustard Seed restaurant.

Sunday proved to be the best day for riding as it was sunny and dry all day. We headed south down the A9 through Aviemoor (nothing much to see here) but a turn left and we were heading up to over 2,050 feet and the Cairngorms base station. There was quite a lot of activity up here, nursery ski slopes for beginners, and lifts to take you to deeper snow further up. We thoroughly enjoyed a coffee in a wonderful cafe.

Our ride down the east side of the Cairngorms I described as the best motorcycling route I'd ever undertaken. Glenshee. It was amazing. The roads were quick, technical and every different kind of corner you could imagine. Most had clear views allowing you to "attack" the bend. Everyone was smiling from ear to ear as we got out at a log cabin cafe. We later had the opportunity for a visit to Balmoral or fish and chips in Braemar, We unanimously chose the latter. I'm told the haggis at the chippy was very nice but most of our attention was focussed on a yellow VFR800Fi which pulled in whilst we were there. To cut a long story short it was a bike that had been uppermost in our biking conversations to the point that we'd looked at one for sale on Autotrader. This one was definitely not for sale but its owner Graham Boyne, having met our Graham, was soon signing up to HOC membership.

Arrival at Edinburgh Park Premier Inn, may in some ways  have signalled the end of the tour. But this hotel is a great place to access the city on a tram. Graham had scheduled two nights here allowing us to visit the city. Which we did in large numbers. Graham took on the role of guide, pointing out with his umbrella nothing more interesting than unusual car parking signs with his huge umbrella. Up at the castle he successfully managed to point to The Castle. At this point Marc and Tracey decided we needed cheering up. I mentioned at the start that our trip could be described using four classic films which included "Singing in the Rain".  They danced and sang their way around the Castle Esplanade, spinning their umbrellas and splashing in the puddles in true Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds style. Once the show was over we all decided a tour bus would be the better option...here Graham came into his own, using negotiation skills Henry Kissinger would have been proud of, he managed to get us on board at the child rate of £10 each.

It was fantastic that we were joined in Edinburgh by Dennis Elliott who having had issues with his Goldwing drove up in his car.

Huge thanks to the following for making it such a brilliant trip. Apologies if I've missed anybody out/got a name wrong. If so please let me know and I'll amend.