THE organiser of Scotland's biggest motorcycle event has urged bikers not to head to the Highlands amidst coronavirus fears.
More than 10,000 people travel to Aviemore for the annual Thunder in the Glens (TITG) rally at the end of August.
This year's had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, but it's emerged that some motorcyclists aimed to travel to the town regardless, despite a Scottish Government ban on mass gatherings.
Now organiser George "Mad Dog" McGuire has urged motorcyclists not to go — or risk tarnishing the event for future years.
He said: “Measures have been put in place to ensure that visitors who have booked and paid for the TITG weekend will be able to defer their bookings to next year’s rally, or alternatively be given a refund.
“A number of would-be attendees have indicated they would travel to Aviemore for the weekend in any case, but contrary to information that’s circulating there are no plans in place for any bands to be playing at either the Cairngorm Hotel or the Winking Owl over what would have been TITG weekend.
“In any event, this would be in contravention of current Covid guidelines.
“We’ve been approached by the police to ensure that visitors are aware that there’s no planned entertainment over the weekend.”
Built for Harley-Davidson fans, the full-throttle event has been running since 1997 and draws crowds of onlookers, as well as large numbers of bikers.
It is run by the Dunedin Chapter of the Harley-Davidson Owners Group (HOG) and is centred around the four Macdonald hotels that make up the group’s Aviemore Resort.
McGuire added: “All registrations made for TITG 2020 will automatically be deferred to 2021 unless we are advised otherwise.
“It’s obviously a blow to all of us, including businesses in Aviemore, but we are all living in uncharted, unpredictable and challenging times.
“As organisers we have to follow the official guidelines as they are announced and work in partnership with our sponsors and supporters involved in supporting TITG as we strive to work our way forward through this pandemic.
“TITG will be back next year and we’ll do our utmost to make it bigger and better than ever.”
For rally refund requests, email registration@titg.co.uk. Tickets for 2021 will go on sale from September 1.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel