Day .. not really sure it all going so fast. We are in Coimbatore having left Ooty yesterday. Ooty sits in a valley and we first had to rise steeply out before a much longer drop down on to the plains on which Coimbatore is situated. The ride was stunning, bend after bend with the occasional 180 or sharper hairpin. All the riders are gaining confidence in the 1950 technology of the Enfield and hopefully learning skills that they can take back to their own machines.

For some reason Alan E was awarded the rider of the day award by the mechanics. I have blown all chances by admitting that I don’t use the clutch to change up. Ivan has not moved this far on yet and the subject caused much Indian conversation. Geoff lost the Chiai challenge and had to buy the whole group tea at our first stop, although the £1.10 that it cost is not going to break the bank.

Entering Coimbatore was a challenge and proves the importance of route planning had we attempted this on day one it would have ended in disaster I am sure but we can down the dual carriageway into Coimbatore which had major “Indian” road works sometimes the dual carriage way was as expected, then without the myriad of cones and signs that you would get in UK it simply changed to having apposing traffic on the same side. The road surface varied from good secure Indian tarmac to basically a field, nevertheless a well compressed field. The SYSTEM worked like a charm and we pulled into the hotel exhausted but all elated. CAG PRIDE is easy to find apposite the bus station and Gps coordinates accurate.

During the evening Geoff took us to an Enfield showroom where we Sam AJ and myself had an interesting time listening to the conversation between two obvious enthusiasts. I have found in India in particular once someone knows that you are genuinely interested they will talk and talk. Geoff’s expertise on the Enfield was more that apparent and I am sure if the workshops had been opened they would have had him in taking bikes to bits. Geoff clearly had more knowledge on the newer bikes and was surprised that there was a 8 months waiting list for models that he has readily available in his Taunton show room

photos are above in little pane more to come