Chair's Chatter

Dear all,

I hope this CC finds you all well and not at odds with the current weather.

As I write this, we are experiencing 30 degrees C plus and a daily melting ritual; it's lovely weather and a lucky bonus for those staying in the UK. As an added bonus, those riding in the current heat get to experience the “removing your leathers” feeling usually reserved for summer in the Picos (and without the 23 hours of the Santander to Portsmouth ferry).

I have started a new phase in the new normal and for the first time in four months have returned to my place of work on a rota basis of a three day and two day week. London is an odd place at the moment. The trains are busy, the buses are empty and there is a huge increase of two-wheel transport but sadly not of the petrol, motorised variety. These are silent ninja stealth machines. I say silent, silent up until the point of impact when you suddenly hear ”oi look out”.

If you're one for conspiracy theories, then I suspect these electric scooters are designed and manufactured by the likes of Nero, Starbucks and Costa. I am convinced that their sole purpose is to make you spill your freshly crafted soya latte as you cross an empty street and suddenly silent death arrives upon you at 30 mph and it's all hipster beard, skinny jeans and tepid frothy milk everywhere - and that's just me.

A huge thank you to all of our observers who continue to provide one-to-one OR's for associates. I think the last number I heard was that we had accommodated 92 OR's since the restart and it's great to see so many associates wanting to continue their training and so many observers helping make this happen.

We also carried out a training weekend 8th/9th August in super-hot weather - thanks to all who booked their places and again to the observers who allowed us to run this over two days.

Well done to Jane Harle who ran the whole event and made sure it all went swimmingly - thank you from the committee. If you enjoyed the weekend, there are still places available on the Wales training weekend at the end of September.

Congratulations to Luis Lancos and Rupert MacDonald who passed their tests in August - well done both and we know you put a lot of time into achieving these passes and great results.

There's a lot of interesting articles this month but unfortunately, no pin-ups because the observer of the month demanded too high a royalty rate. Instead we decided to give you something to help you sleep on these hot nights (or throw darts at!)

Anyone read MCN? Well, we have a LAMkin featured in there and I am sure autographs will be free when you see him on a social ride.

Stay well all and see you on a Zoom or a ride soon (or Helmet City which appears to be one of our favourite destinations - don't forget to ask for your LAM discount or tell Bernie that Paul said you would get 25%!)

Paul