Its ten thirty am Sunday the 13th of March, and by now you would have thought the weather might have taken a turn for the better,,,  not a chance!

We had planned to get an earlier start this week, so the plan was I would meet Trevor at the Odyssey in Belfast approx. 10:30 a.m., then we would ride on over to Mikes at the Glynn where Wesley(  not a 49-er may I add ....but this does not make him a bad person) and Mike c. would meet us.

The roads down to Larne were an absolute mess, I've never seen so much salt on the roads before, but as we reached Ballynure it became obvious as to why the local council had been so liberal in their salt spreading, The verges of the road were snow covered as were the fields and the houses visible from the road..

Any how by the time we reached Glynn, my Bandit looked more like a white bike than its usual shiny black...

We decided that the run for today was to be coastal, then across into Ballymoney to visit Joey Dunlop's memorial, from there over to Portrush via Coleraine.....

We had only got as far as Carnlough when it began to snow heavily...so we opted for the mountain route thinking heading inland would be a little less cold...

Mike L. and Trevor huddle together for warmth, while Wesley (who is not a  49-ers) tries to find the heater switch on his R1  ...

Stopped off for a cuppa and a hot sausage roll not far from Ballymoney, It was a real stinker of a day, but great fun too.

We arrived at Joeys Memorial garden with the  snow still blowing round us.

Then as if by a miracle the sun came out................ 

This Memorial to Joey Dunlop is a real treat to see, the detailed work on the bronze memorial just has to bee seen to be appreciated. You could just imagine the motor kicking into life and Joey riding off for another lap or two.

Reading  through his list of his achievements in motorcycling as the inscribed plaques reveal  ..is very humbling,

It was then on through Coleraine to Portrush  stopping off at Brian and Norma's new house for a quick visit,( and to check that we were still welcome to park our bikes there for the Northwest 200 ) then it was time for lunch .

 Everyone had a light salad  extra lettuce,, except  for Wesley ( he's not a 49-er you know ) he had an 18oz. sirloin with double chips and extra gravy.. said he needed a little more weight to try and keep the front wheel on his R1 down....  only kidding Wesley  we all enjoyed your company , and hope you ride out with us again real soon...

Home was next............. and a damn good hosing down was needed to get the salt off ( the Bandit needed a bit of a wash too ).

                                                      . See you all next week.............