Well, I feel much better now having just taken part in my first ‘ride out’ of 2008. The weather may have been better, with us having to brave rain, hail stones and snow but it was well worth it!

The organisers of the Annual Across Ireland (AAI) event put this on for 2 main reasons. The first was to make up for the lack of a motorcycle show this year (No RDS & No BSB at Mondello) which leads on to the second and most important reason. This was the organisers opportunity to ‘meet & greet’ those who took part in the AAI previously and those who are new to the event, like myself. So today we had the opportunity to register early for the main AAI event in August, get sponsorship packs and other bits and pieces.

So we all met up at the Coachman’s Inn Pub for registration. From what I heard, over 100 bikes had registered before we set off just after noon, though there were plenty more then that. Many registered after arrival in Trim as well.

There were a large number of marshals taking care of us on the roads and who did an excellent job of getting us all there safely. While the Garda Traffic Corps provided us with an escort out of the city. The whole event seemed to be very well organised and went very smoothly. Though I did here that one motorcyclist came off at a roundabout, though that is all I heard!

The photos I took should show the varied amount of bikes that took part, the only thing not there was a trike! There was a Ural side-car outfit present which became a very popular talking point!

While on the road we looked liked a huge snake sliding through the city, then slicing through the green countryside. Riding in pairs with the marshals leap frogging to the front after getting us safely through each intersection. There was even a support truck behind for any problems that may have been encountered.

On arriving at the Trim Castle Hotel, we all parked in the underground car park then upstairs to a conference room that had been booked. There we had complimentary tea, coffee & biscuits and the bar was open, while big projector screen had WSB and BSB showing live. After which the organisers gave a brief thank you to everyone involved and a raffle took place!

All in all a very enjoyable afternoon and an excellent preview for what is to come in August. Now I just need to get out there and start raising money! For more information or if you would like to take part yourself please visit the AAI website by CLICKING HERE. While you can find a few pictures from the event by CLICKING HERE.

Keep the rubber side down