Having delivered my 3.0si to mr wilks the day before I felt a surprising amount of relief in having made the decision to keep the M and great anticipation in getting the M on the road. Leading off the M felt wonderful and I was a lot more relaxed and deliberate once we got to the twisties - really enjoying myself. Amazing what a difference selling the Zed had made
.Needed petrol at Alston (no the M's not that bad 
I'd just not topped up before heading out) and Dave pointed out we were going to be very early so he suggested a short run to use up the time. No argument from me and Dave and Brian set out ahead. Even though it was a busy Sunday we had an enjoyable run up and then over Hartside when we saw there was no room in the carpark 
Great to see so many bikes and cars on the road - a real sense of occasion). 
Our fun was somewhat held up by a coach but he did a great job on the descent (though Dave said he nearly choked on the brake fumes
)
Time to enjoy the views and chill
Made sense to have our coffee at Melmerby and it was enjoyable sitting in the garden watching and hearing the bikes and cars passing. . . no Zeds yet though.
We'd seen another Forum member (Gareth in his orange E89) enjoying a clear road coming up from Melmerby and whilst we were drinking our coffee he gave me a ring. Quick arrangements made to head back up to Hartside Café where we'd wait for cerbera and his group. Cherrym was up there as well when we arrived.
A face appeared in the door at the café and Gareth recognised cerbera from another meet. Time for a bit of a natter and briefly to meet the other members of the group and then our lot had to set out for Middleton in Teesdale. (We had hoped to join cerbera's group on this part of the route but they'd already come from that direction and were heading towards Carlisle
Had time to look at the rather tasty Zeds that had come along with cerbera - beautiful carbon interiors, impressive wheels and brilliant condition. Nice stuff lads
cerebra's E89 with CSLs; never seen that before and they looked great
Beautiful condition of this pre facelift E85 very impressive (as was the carbon interior in the Zed parked next to Gareth's E89 in the photo above).
You never know what you'll see at Hartside and there were 3 tasty Cobras parked up - only got a shot of two of them.
This one blew the dust up each side of it as it left the carpark - very dramatic and got everyone's attention!
It was a brief meeting in the end as many of us were time limited. We had a pleasurable run back via Middleton in Teasdale, leading off Gareth, Dave and Brian before waving Gareth to take the lead half way there. It's a lovely road and traffic conditions were fairly good.
Great to get the M out and always a pleasure meeting other forum members. Nice one cerbera organising the run and giving us all an excuse to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather.
Cheers Dave for the call and see you all again soon
)
