A MOTORCYCLE
touring club, which was founded four decades ago this year, will be reeling in
the years this weekend.
The Dublin
Motorcycle Touring Club will celebrate the milestone in Blackrock College Rugby
Club, Stradbrook, on Saturday, September 17 from 8pm.
The club, which
holds monthly get together meetings for its 115 or so members in the tennis
club in Shankill, was founded by a number of several loosely connected groups
of motorcycle enthusiasts from Finglas, Raheny, Bray and Deansgrange, in 1971.
Many of the
club’s original members still enjoy touring in Ireland and abroad to this day.
One of the
founder members, Jim McGrath (64) from Blackrock, explained that longstanding
members of the club as well as newer recruits have forged strong friendships.
“The average age
in the club now is about 50,
? he said.
“Many members have been at the club for
years. We would all holiday together and a lot of us would spend time together
at the weekends. We ride out together on Sundays and we would have our Christmas
party together. There have been some very good friendships made over the years.
“Once a month we
meet in Shankill and we talk about holidays and trips, and what new bikes are
coming on the scene. Even though some of us are in our 60s we still go on
camping weekends and tour together as well. I have toured in Norway, America,
France, Spain and Portugal.
?
In addition, Jim
said that many members make a special effort to attend the club’s two biggest
touring events of the year.
“There are two
main two rallies that we run. There is the Way West Rally, which is always held
in the West of Ireland. There could be about 150 people at that and it is a
social get together where we all meet up.
“The other that
we have is the Riders’ Rally, which is held during the August bank holiday
weekend. That is a point-to-point navigation rally where you don’t know where
you are going.
“You start off
at one point and you travel maybe 100 miles and when you get there you are told
where you will find the next checkpoint. It is like a mystery tour over about
600 kilometres. We try to avoid main roads and use only regional roads to keep
it as scenic as possible.
?
Jim is
encouraging current and past members of the club to come to the 40th birthday,
which he says will be a night of nostalgia.
“At the moment
we have about 150 people booked in,
? he revealed.
“It has the makings of a good
night and we will be going down memory lane and talking about the very early
days of the club because there are people in it now who wouldn’t have been around
in those early days.
“The theme of
the evening will be the story of the Dublin Motorcycle Touring Club,
? he added.
“We might have a few bikes from the 1970s at the party as well and we will have
some photographs of days gone by. We will also be remembering the deceased
members of the club who have gone before us. We have invited all past and
present members.
?