A SECOND fundraising motorcycle ride has raised about £560 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The ride, following the same route as last year, from Howden to the White Swan in Newton-upon-Rawcliffe, was again in memory of the pub’s former landlord, Simon Duffy.

Mark Rodger, one of the participants, said the dubious weather forecast affected the turn-out but a dozen hardy souls turned out on a drizzly morning in Howden.

“Hopes of riding through intermittent showers were dashed as we came over the Wolds towards Malton and were met with wall-to-wall cloud, which very quickly turned into wall-to-wall rain of the stair-rod variety,” he said.

“Then the ride really became something worth sponsoring – if it wasn’t before. We went down one hill that had turned into a river with a nice little lake at the bottom. With visibility severely limited, we carried on until we came out the other side of the cloudburst somewhere near Thornton-le-Dale.”

Mark added that they arrived at Newton-upon-Rawcliffe in one piece but two riders short as one got lost and another found his waterproofs weren’t up to the job “We were treated to some very welcome carrot and coriander soup, courtesy of Lynne Duffy,” he said.

“Due to a lack of riders, we didn’t raise quite as much for Macmillan as last year but still got together a creditable £560-ish.”

And he added: “Here’s to next year and no rain.”