Today was the official launch of our ride in Aviemore, and more importantly it was Tracy’s 40th Birthday! After a bit of a sleep in after the previous night’s festivities, we gathered around the bikes for our morning briefing.

We were joined by Marj and Dana from HD UK, who have been an incredible support in organizing our ride.

Some of the girls tied bouquets of heather on their bikes, and Grainne managed to beg an Irish flag from another biker to display her patriotism.

We were joined shortly after by George from the Dunedin HOG Chapter and two other road marshals to escort us to our starting point. Sadly, they were not wearing their kilts this morning on the bikes, but it was a bit nippy!

We rode up to the Macdonald Centre, the heart of the HOG rally, with police sirens from the marshal bikes wailing and found several hundred Harley riders waiting to cheer us off. Some of our girls are members of UK HOG Chapters and it was great to see them catching up with their friends before setting off.

Since we have been in Aviemore we have met several women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, or diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, all of whom have been inspired and heartened by seeing the girls on our ride, and all of whom have vowed to join us next year.

After speeches by George and Heather, we jumped on the bikes and headed out on the road, with our escort taking us the few miles on to the A9 headed south to Edinburgh. We rode back through some of the same country we had traveled through on our way up, but this time in gorgeous sunshine.

We’ve had a few messages posted to our blog by people who say we are talking about gorgeous sunny weather, but it doesn’t look like it in the photos!

One of the most dramatic features of the landscape here is how the weather and light changes so rapidly. We have long periods of sunshine, and then the occasional cloud will roll through, and the colour of the hills and the fields changes with every new shadow. We have been so blessed to only encounter one small rain shower on the road, and our wet weather gear hasn’t been seen!

Riding into Dunkeld we rode over a gorgeous stone bridge, and ate lunch at a pub by the river, with rising hills covered with forest around us. Back on the bikes we fueled up around the corner and back on the A9 and eventually the motorway south to Edinburgh.

On the other side of the Bridge, two of Edinburgh’s finest, motorcycle policemen, were waiting for us to give us an escort into the city. Although we made it out of Edinburgh by ourselves in great shape early in the week, there is no doubt it is more fun when you don’t have to stop for red lights!

The police also took us down Princes Road, the main street in the heart of the old city, that is closed to general traffic. Hundreds of tourist lined the street, all taking photos with their cameras or mobile phones as we made our procession. With the Edinburgh Castle on one side, and historic buildings all around, it was a ride to remember.

Then it was up Calton Hill, a landmark in Edinburgh with monuments on top and 360 degree views across the city. We celebrated our great days ride and took photos of all the landmarks we had ridden past. After a short break, we waved off our police escort, then made the short run down the hill, past Parliament and the Holyrood Palace back to Pollock Halls. Another fantastic day’s ride down!

We decided for Tracy we would go one better. After a toast of champagne all round, the waiter brought a plate of brownies with two candles, and the entire group stood on our chairs in the restaurant and sang Gloria Gaynor’s "I will survive!" at the top of our voices.

Between the ride down Princes St and our restaurant performance, there is no doubt that Edinburgh knows we are in town!