Malle’s two Royal Enfield GT 650 support bikes at Eilean Donan Castle. [Darroch William]

From there, checkpoint two: Eilean Donan Castle, perched on its own tidal islet where three lochs meet, and usually the last big landmark riders pass before crossing over to Skye. Rebuilt in the early twentieth century after centuries left in ruins. From here the road turns toward Applecross, spirits were high with the anticipation of the Bealach na Ba.

Riders approaching the peak of the Bealach na Ba. [Darroch William]

The Bealach is one of the UK's great motorcycling roads on paper alone, a single-track climb of hairpins rising to 2,053 feet, but 252 miles into a day that started at Drummond Castle, it's something else entirely. At the top, the group calls a stop: a line-up for a group photo, and the drone goes up for some aerials, the hairpins fold out below in a way no ground shot quite manages, the whole rally reduced to a thin grey ribbon cut into the hillside.

BMW R12 GS Rider en route to Torridon. [Darroch William]

Checkpoint three is in Applecross, then it's on to Torridon Estate for the night. Torridon greets everyone with a wall of midges after a long day in the saddle, tents go back up, though a handful who'd booked rooms at the manor were suddenly looking very pleased with that decision. The courtyard has a firepit and a couple of fans mounted on the walls purely to keep the midges moving, and that's where the evening settles: whisky, live music from the hosts, and the particular kind of contentment that only comes after 250-odd miles of Highland roads. It's here, as much as anywhere on the route, that the rally does its real work, strangers from the morning's start line are trading stories like old friends by the fire, and more than a few of the friendships made around that firepit will clearly outlast the weekend. By midnight most riders have called it, day two is 224 miles, and the forecast isn't kind.

Robert sending riders off at the start line of day two. [Darroch William]

Day two. Waterproofs on before the first mile. Checkpoint one is Cawdor Castle, just past Inverness, but getting there isn't straightforward. Robert and I are last off the line, which means we're also the ones who have to catch the entire pack before the finish. At the first fuel stop, in Kinlochewe, we find one group still parked up, a Triumph Bobber running on one cylinder. Robert's on the phone to Leroy, the rally's support mechanic, and in the time it takes to explain the problem, he's already there. The Bobber gets pushed into a nearby shelter, and ten minutes later it's running clean again, no drama, no delay beyond what it takes to fix it.

Robert and Hanna at the entrance to Cawdor Castle [Darroch William]

From there it's a all out push through the rest of the route: Cawdor Castle for a fast coffee, checkpoint two at the Fife Arms in Braemar where most stopped for a quick lunch, checkpoint three in Pitlochry, and the final leg through Aberfeldy back to Drummond Castle. The weather had been much kinder than we expected with only the first couple of hours being in the wet. Robert and the support team already back at the courtyard, flag in hand, ready to wave each group in as they arrive.

Riders cross the finish line at Drummond Castle. [Darroch William]

By the time the last teams roll in, the bikes are already circled up in the courtyard, waiting for the closing ceremony. Two days. 476 miles. Another entry etched into the logbook, another one for the memory bank.

We did it, the Malle Rally 500 is complete, and what a high it was. Not the kind that fades by morning either. The kind that sticks around in your chest for weeks. It's funny how a couple of days on two wheels can leave you richer than you started, new friends who feel like old ones, old friends who feel even closer, and yeah, maybe a little damp around the edges. But that's the trade you make. Mud on your boots, stories in your pocket.

Worth every mile.

Godspeed.

Final moment of the day, the award ceremony in the castle courtyard. [Darroch William]