District 1070 Ride 4 Rotary

Past President Ian Day took part in the District 1070 Ride for Rotary; he tells us all about it in his own words below!

“What the hell am I doing?”  I muttered to myself as I rode from Corby down the A43 to Towcester in pouring rain while being regularly doused by the wheel spray from the lorries as I overtook.  I was riding my pristine, newly restored 1981 BMW R100CS in order to take part in the first 1070 Ride 4 Rotary.  The plan was to celebrate 100 years of Rotary District 1070, promote a younger more active image of Rotary and raise funds for End Polio Now.  To achieve this we will ride around District 1070 stopping at or riding past as many Rotary venues as possible.  The target was 35 in 4 days.  This was the idea of Towcester Rotarian Alex Cooke greatly encouraged by District Governor David Kendrick.

As I turned in to the car park of the Saracen’s Head 20 minutes early Towcester Rotary already had their feather banners and Rotary signs up.  I was warmly welcomed.  A kind Rotarian went indoors to fetch me a coffee which warmed my fingers as well as my grumpiness.  The rain eased to light drizzle and soon the other bikers arrived, they were; Alex Cooke (Towcester) on a modern Triumph, David Smith (Northampton Beckett) on another Triumph, Mike Norman (Danetre, Daventry) on a Kawasaki, and Julian Winch (Kettering) on a modern BMW.

Alex had sourced orange Hi-Viz jackets with a large Rotary logo which we all wore.  We looked like a bunch of race marshalls as Alex led us out onto the road to Brackley where we received a Rotary welcome.  Then through Daventry and Kilsby to a lunch stop at the Triumph factory in Hinkley.  They do serve BMW riders there!

With the weather still improving we stopped briefly at Kibworth before Alex’s Satnav took us through the back streets of Leicester city centre to our first day’s destination of Ashby de la Zouch.  DGE Chris Knight, Jayne his wife and friends entertained us royally and then put us all up in their homes. An excellent end to the first day which had just got better and better.

Day 2 started with a re-group and lots of photos in Ashby town centre then we were off again through Loughborough and Leicester to a stop at the Wigston Holiday Inn.  As we headed out, we couldn’t see Julian in our mirrors.  We pulled over and David went back to look for him.  A puncture!  The mission is everything.  So, we abandoned poor Julian to the mercy of a national rescue club who were no help and he resorted to a mate with a trailer who got him and BMW home late in the afternoon.  Julian is not one to be beaten and he pulled a 1000cc Suzuki out of his garage and headed directly to our next overnight stop in Skegness.

Meanwhile we meandered through the southern back streets of Leicester and popped out onto the A47 heading for Uppingham.  We were now eating up the miles with stops in Melton Mowbray, Grantham and Sleaford.  Our Rotary Club ticking knew no bounds as we even joined Julian’s club Kettering on Zoom during one of our coffee stops.  In Lincoln we were joined by Duncan Moffatt (Sherwood Sunrise Rotary) on a very shiny BMW.  Alex met him on a ride across India and they have remained friends.  Duncan led us from Lincoln through Woodhall Spa before finally cruising along the seafront of Skegness looking for our hotel.  Alex had taken our journey times from Google Maps and added reasonable times for stops. However, he hadn’t allowed for Rotary chatting and a few wrong turns.  At times we were well behind schedule, but somehow we arrived in “Skeggy” on time which was a blessing as the Skegness Rotary had got the Mayor and Town Mascot (It’s so bracing!) out to greet us with a posse of club members.

After a shower and change we were soon out on the town. On our third attempt we found a Pub which did food after 7.00 pm and enjoyed a very expensive Fish & Chips and pint of Guinness.  On our return to the hotel Julian had arrived.  The team was back together.  They say that it is shared interests that bind people together.  Rotary is one of those interests and so is motorcycling.  When you put Rotary motorcyclists together, after two days we were a band of brothers.  Julian took out his frustrations of the day at the pool table, taking on allcomers including other hotel guests with hilarious consequences and we headed up to bed chuckling.

Day 3 and we left the hotel in Skegness with only a cup of bedroom tea.  The chef arrived at 8.30 to cook breakfast just as we were pulling out, but we had places to go to and people to see.  We made good time over the flatlands through Boston and Holbeach and met two Rotary ladies at South Holland.  Again, we were met by Rotarians at the Wishing Well Pub just north of Bourne, sadly the pub wasn’t open yet.  We headed back through Spalding and Peterborough and were met for brief stops in Oundle and Corby, our final destination for the day.  The others headed to their homes, but Alex accepted my offer of a bed for the night in Corby rather than ride back to Silverstone.  A wise move as President Norman of Kettering Huxloe had invited us as guests to their evening meal and meeting.

Day 4 and no lie-in as fellow rider David of Northampton Beckett Rotary had invited us all to his club’s breakfast meeting at Overstone Park Resort.  We couldn’t resist a cooked breakfast.  Brief stops in Wellingborough, Stanwick, Kimbolton and St. Neots gave us time for a relaxed coffee with members of St Ives Rotary.  We were getting good at this now and Alex’s route finding was (almost) faultless. Stops in Huntingdon and Thrapston soon led to our late lunch and dispersal at Rushden Lakes. 

We parted company promising to do it again.  It had been Rotary fellowship at its very best and thoroughly enjoyable – once the rain stopped on Day 1.  When I got home, I counted 36 locations, but they had become a blur.  Rotarians are usually seen in supermarket foyers holding tins.  Over the four days of our ride hundreds of people saw Rotarians on big bikes overtaking them or being overtaken and posing with their bikes in town centres all over the district.  A huge thank you to Alex Cooke who had the original idea and followed it through to the end.