The weather was fairly awful with steady rain on Saturday 28th May, but that didn't stop over twenty of us on eighteen bikes (and one trike) meeting up at the Grey Horse, for the Leeds MAG Demo Run. The demo run this year was protesting against the proposed EU anti-modification laws, which if passed, will severely curtail riders freedom.
We soggily set off at 10:00 taking the A650 out of Wakefield towards Tingley roundabout, then the A653 and A6110, before heading past Leeds United's Elland Road ground, then onto Armley Gyratory, and the A647 Stanningley Road, taking a right onto Armley Ridge Road and the demo run meeting point at Gotts Park Golf Club.
We parked up at the Golf Club (which resembled a country mansion) and enjoyed tea's and coffee's in the sunshine !!!! (Leeds obviously enjoys nicer weather than Wakefield !!!).
Great to see so many other Yorkshire MAG members at the meeting point, together with numerous other riders.
A run marshals briefing was held, attended by the Police also, who were accompanying the ride and closing off junctions for us.
A speech by Nich Brown (MAG's General Secretary) followed, then we prepared to set off at 12:00. Several hundred riders enjoyed a marshalled rideout along the ring road, then into Leeds via Scott Hall Road. The ride through Leeds city centre started at the bus station, then onto the Calls, onto City Square, Whitehall Road, past the Yorkshire Post Building, then back onto Armley Gyratory and back to Gotts Park Golf Club.
The city centre element of the demo run had to be curtailed from previous years due to road closures and another demo at the same time protesting about the closure of the Childrens Ward at St James's Hospital. However, lots of people saw the demo ride, and we were videoed on lots of camera phones.
The marshals who were blocking junctions for our passage, did an excellent job of explaining to waiting motorists the purpose of the demo ride. The ride was also covered in the Yorkshire Post newspaper the week before (see below), so the profile of MAG's campaign against this crippling EU legislation should have been raised a few notches.
All in all, an excellent demo run, which should have generated a lot of publicity for the proposed draconian EU legislation hopefully NOT coming our way.
A huge thanks to the most impressive turnout from Wakefield MAG, in what were pretty horrible weather conditions. 75 branch points well earned for all Wakefield MAG attendees !!!!
Source: Yorkshire Post (Reproduced with kind permission of the Yorkshire Post Newspaper)