With the latest restrictions,and the advice from the BMF, its not looking like a very promising end to 2020 for those of us who like to keep riding.The year started quite normally, with the weather being the only stumbling block as far as riding was concerned, and we did manage a few normal club nights before the March lockdown hit us. We were not alone as many clubs faced the same issues about meeting and travelling. Clearly clubs could not encourage any rule breaking. We were lucky that our host at the Alma made a lot of changes inside and out,and when the restrictions eased we were able to hold our August and September clubnights within the rules and they proved to be popular. Thanks to some local knowledge,we were able to have a socialy distanced fish and chip run to poverty island on a lovely evening. Colin worked hard to keep a weekly newsletter on e mail during the first lockdown,and how revealing it turned out to be! Im not sure my mother would be happy with me mixing with some of you! With material drying up ,Colin has had to reduce the frequency of these messages so if you have anything interesting that you want to tell us ,do get in touch.I have tried to keep the website up to date,as well as the section notes in the jampot,and I hope to continue to do so. Dont forget there is a 2021 club calendar available, thanks to Kevin, and if you want one contact Colin. So far there has been no response to the photo competition so it may have to be abandoned,along with the rest of the awards for 2020. However it is a good time to thank Colin for all his work during the year in trying to keep us all in touch. The BMF has been active throughout the year,and we have been able to keep up to date with the official recommendations for riding etc,within the rules. We will be renewing our section membership this month, in anticipation of a more active year in 2021. We need to support them all we can as they keep the motorcyclist at the forefront of the political agenda, and make sure that we can keep using the road. While its clear that the governments plan to stop the sale of cars with internal combustion engines is cloud cuckoo land without building any new power stations, there will be implications for motorcycles as well at some point. According to the FBHVC, there are 1.5 million historic vehicles registered in the uk, worth £7.2 billion to the economy, and we motorcyclists are part of that. We dont want to be forced off the road on the whim of some unelected political advisor who doesnt like motorcycles! In the mean time, lets hope that the situation improves in the next few months so that we can start to enjoy our bikes by riding together and meeting up for a good yarn in 2021. I am looking forward to that. Keep safe. Gordon
