Magazine of the Thames Valley HOG Chapter
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SEPTEMBER 2015
Hotline: 01753 578616 www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Issue 1, year 3. Yes, this is the start of my third year as Editor of our club’s magazine. How time flies!
SofER has been and gone - what a great Rally it was! I actually thought the rain on Friday night added to the fun. All the tables and chairs were brought under canvas and all the people were in one place, together. What a great atmosphere and party mood; dancing on the tables, swinging round the poles… (who got told off for nearly bringing the tent down?) For me, Friday night was the best part of the rally. No, it didn’t have anything to do with the bottle of Malt Whisky Don brought along… hic! On Saturday, for me, the ‘My Little Pony’ ride was a disappointment. I’d bought lots of dressing-up stuff and I’d decorated my trike, only to be told that trikes would be riding behind the tail. As far as I’m aware, the last man in a ride is the tail, so anyone behind that person is not in the ride. I refused to ride like this and was asked by Marjorie to reconsider. I stuck to my principles as I believe someone has to take a stand for trikes. That brought about a discussion with Elaine and ultimately, Marjorie asking me to attend the Road Captains’ training. I rode in the pack and was dropped off like everyone else. There was only one drop-off I wouldn’t take, that was on a sharp, right turn. He dropped me in the centre of the road, on hatchings that weren’t as wide as my trike! I know the person who I dropped in my place didn’t feel comfortable there, either. Anyway, after a long day and loads of drop-offs, it was good to hear people from other Chapters saying what a good, positive experience it was. One chap from the New Forest said he hadn’t fancied trikes in a ride-out but he had completely changed his mind after riding with me in the pack. I’m looking forward to the last rally of the year, Blazin’ 20s, and to the end of season party with a Casino Night theme. See you there! Sue
Inside this issue… Front cover
Jerry and Denzil pack up at SofER ready for their German holiday. Photo: Linda
September/October Birthdays
Page 2
Editor’s Thoughts
Page 4, 6
Director’s Update
Page 7
Reading Bike Night - Ann T-Jones
Page 8, 9
LoH - Sue’s Page
Page 10, 11
SofER
Page 12, 13
SofER pictures
Page 14, 15
Calendar
Page 16, 17
Barcelona or Bust!- Mike Connolly
Chris Needham
21st Sept
Page 18, 19
Europe Adventures - Janet Smith
Tony Robson
23rd Sept
Page 20
Boys’ Stuff - Mike and Ralph
Sue Lambe
25th Sept
Page 21
Mileage Programme Sign-off
Chris Earley
28th Sept
Page 22
Members’ New Rides
Sue Poulter
29th Sept
Page 23
Heritage Motor Museum - CJ
Page 24
Committee 2016 - Nick West
Page 25,26
Thunder in the Glens - Pat Adams
Page 26,27
News and fun
Back cover:
Meet the committee
Brian Wilson Thelma Bryant
3rd Oct 11th Oct
Happy birthday to you all!
A bigThank You to ALL who have sent copy for this month magazine: Don, Sue D, Mike, Ann, Elaine, Hayley, Linda, Sue M,
Hi All, Welcome to the September edition of Tales from the Riverbank. A few weeks ago I heard that a great old friend of mine, and also a friend of many Thames Valley members, Richard Noble, had been knocked off his motorcycle near Romsey. Richard was taken to Southampton hospital by ambulance for emergency treatment and was found to have a broken femur and a small bleed on the brain. Colin, Hazel and myself drove down to the hospital in Southampton on the Sunday, immediately after the accident, to visit Richard. We found him to be full of drugs to combat the pain he was in, which made him very sleepy and not really with us. Richard had an operation on the following Tuesday afternoon to repair his broken femur. I have spoken to Sue, Richard’s wife, recently to see how he is and was told he is having physiotherapy to help get him back to walking again. The hospital are hoping to move him soon to Frimley Park which will be closer to home. He is expected to be in hospital for another couple of months. Since last club night we have had to cancel our ride on Bank Holiday Monday to Blenheim Palace for the American Car Show but, in the way of all good Road Captains, Sue Dodds made the phone call to Nick & myself to make the event a drive out instead. Well done Sue, sorry to hear the weather didn’t brighten up. Chris’s (CJ’s) ride to the Motor Museum near Warwick turned out to be a great day although rain had been forecast for most of the time. When it did rain, we were in the Museum looking at a fabulous collection of vintage vehicles. Outside the museum, in the rally area, was a fantastic collection of buses and coaches from days gone by. The weather stayed dry for our ride back, down the M40, which was great. Another great choice of a venue for a ride out.
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Many thanks to those of you who have given me some feedback on the good and bad from the SofER Rally. I will be putting this in a report and forwarding this on to the committee ready for our debrief meeting in November. I believe we had a great rally, which needs a few areas looking at ready for next year. You cannot always get it right on the first attempt especially a new venue as big as Hickstead. Over last weekend Paul Major and myself attended a Road Crew Training course at Harley Davidson Head Quarters in Oxford. Paul attended as a new trainee and I attended for retraining to bring me up to speed with the new ideas of conducting our ride outs. We both needed to be in Oxford for a 9am start which meant an early start for both of us. The first half of the day was spent in the classroom learning how to deal with different situations when conducting a ride out. After lunch it was time to get out on our bikes for a practical session using the Buddy System on a ride out. This worked well and seemed to operate better than the way we do the Buddy System at Thames Valley. Day two of our training started with some time in the classroom first thing in the morning and by about 10:30 we were dressed and ready to practice doing the pre ride brief, and leading and / tailing rides. This training had been arranged with Sue Knight attending on her Trike which gave each person leading, the opportunity to drop off Sue on her Trike, riding in the pack. If Sue was unable to take the drop she would point to the position where she should have been dropped for the person behind her to take the drop off. This system worked very well and is not that much different from the way we have Trikes in our rides. For me, the weekend was a great two days just catching up with what I did 8 or 9 years ago. Thanks, Sue, for attending on Sunday, it was a great experience for the other trainees to have a Trike on a training course. This is the first time our trainers have used a Trike during training and it was felt that it was beneficial. As the Mileage Chapter Challenge program comes to an end on October 31st, which just happens to be Halloween, members of the chapter will be at Reading Harley Davidson to record your finishing mileages. The dealership is also going to be decorated in traditional Halloween style. Halloween fancy dress is a must on the day but not compulsory. A bottle of Champagne will be given to the best dressed member of Thames Valley in a Halloween outfit on the day.
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RTTW Our next large chapter ride is up to Tamworth, in Staffordshire, to the National Arboretum for Ride to the Wall. We always like to see a big turnout of members for this ride. This is a great charity we support, which Thames Valley has done since day one of the ride. Our members do need to register in advance to receive their yellow coloured bands in advance, to save time at the Arboretum when we arrive. This can be done on line at: www.ridetothewall.co.uk A donation can be made to the charity and you will receive a year pin and a yellow wrist band which identifies you at the Arboretum as having made a donation. Merchandise is also available through the website. The end of season party on October 10th is in its final stages of planning with the Casino Night and a Band booked for the evening. We have some great prizes for the Male & Female, with the most Poker Chips at the end of the Evening. Reading Harley Davidson have very kindly donated one of the prizes and Thames Valley UK Chapter the other. We have an excellent finger buffet laid on, and some great raffle prizes organised. Tickets are only £15 per person available on line through the web site or at club night from Pat & Barry. Over the next couple of months we are going to be advertising the positions on the committee which are all available. All the committee of 2015 will be standing down at the end of their term of office and must re-apply for 2016. I am aware we will need an Activities Officer, Safety Officer, Road Captains and a Poker Run Coordinator for 2016. It does not matter how long you have been a member of the Chapter; if you think you can offer your club the help it needs to carry on being successful come and have a chat with me. I guess that’s it from me for another month, enjoy what’s left of our summer and carry on having fun.
Don Director
Thursday 28th August saw the third Open Bike Night at Reading H-D. The weather gods were benevolent and the rain stayed away to give a lovely late summer evening of clear(-ish) skies and comfortable temperatures. The turnout was good given the recent poor weather, and it was lovely to start seeing familiar faces at this event again, both from TV HOG, other chapters and elsewhere. As you’d expect, the bikes were all out on parade in all their glory (including, if I may say, a rather cute little Royal Enfield Bullet! ;-) ) with a couple of really interesting “modded” models to add a little spice to the view (I’m pretty sure the Honda CB750, “Made in a shed”, was sporting a saddle made from the arm off our old leather sofa…)
Of the four wheeled vehicle variety you couldn’t fail to notice the rather impressive Corvette Stingray in the corner, the whole floor shook when she was revved up! Inside the showroom the Chaps had a couple of new Custom bikes on show: A spangly Custom Fat Boy Special ,with a slick red and white retro paint job. And a custom Forty Eight sporting a matching “collar & cuffs” ensemble of white sprung solo saddle, white handlebar grips and white wall tyres. The music this week was provided by the very talented Adam Norsworthy. Playing an acoustic set inside the show room, it’s perhaps a shame that the music wasn’t audible to the larger audience outside. If you have a moment, it’s well worth having a quick listen to his music on YouTube! Or visit his facebook page (search Adam-Norsworthy) The nights are starting to draw in a little and people started to head for home as the sun went down on another very sociable gathering.
Ann
Hello Ladies, Well, as we approach end of season, cooler temperatures, less daylight ... Huh! There's still PLENTY to look forward to - check the calendar on our website. Last month it was great to see so many ladies at SofER that dressed up for the LoH "My Little Pony" ride out, very colourful indeed. A very well planned route, by Ruth Palmer the LoH Officer from Hogsback, was hampered somewhat by a rather heavy black cloud that seemed to follow us throughout West Sussex! Even though the weather wasn't kind to us we did have smiley faces at the end, plus boots full of rain for the tea party :-) Great fun had by all. Talking of dressing up... in October, girls, feel free to dress up posh or in whatever you fancy for our End of Season Party at the Clubhouse, Windsor, on Sat 10.10.15, with a live band & CASINO :-)
Also, on Sat 31st Oct, we have the Halloween Mileage Program Party at the dealership (day event) - Halloween outfit essential for the girls (& guys) lol, whether we change at the dealership or arrive in style! 8
Can I just say, well done to all the ladies that made the journey to the ACE Cafe on Sun 16th Aug for the World Record Attempt: World's Largest All Female Biker Meet. As far as I'm aware 9 Thames Valley ladies plus two pillions were able to make it - Sue B, Toni & Lesley S arrived earlier in the day, followed by (after SofER) Mandy M with Kayla, Jackie with Sarah , Sue K, Jo G, Michelle & me.. we did also have a male escort at the rear (x) Many thanks to Mandy for leading us to the ACE from Hickstead. In total - 618 lady riders, on all makes, were recorded riding their bikes to the ACE Cafe on 16.8.15, which has set a new world record, YEY ! What a fantastic way to end SofER ! We now have 15 ladies booked up for our LoH November weekend away - 27/11/2015 for 3 nights at Sand Bay Pontins adults only resort. Price incl breakfast & evening meal is £69pp, based on 2 sharing a chalet, £15 suppl per night for single occupancy. Please let me know if you’re up for it. http://www.pontins.com/themed-breaks/sandbay/tinsel-turkey/ I’ll be emailing you soon for the final balance, which is due for payment early October. If any of you fancy a ride out and or meet up, either after work during the week or on a Saturday from the dealership, please let me know. Ride safe x Sue Dodds Thames Valley LOH Representative 07775 913562 WOMEN WHO BEHAVE SELDOM MAKE HISTORY
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As I was in the advance party with Don we met up at 6am on the Wednesday to load up all the chapter equipment needed for the weekend, then set off to Hickstead to build the site for the rally. Our first task was to erect the registration gazebo. This was some task because it came in over twenty boxes and took us almost 4hrs to put together. We then set about with marking out the camping area and putting all the signs and bunting up. We helped unload the lorries and generally got the site ready for the weekend. On the Thursday morning Louise, Don and myself pitched our tents and set up our area for the chapter. During this period we had a record rainfall and at one stage we were emptying buckets of water and pushing the water away from our tents in an effort to keep our campsite free from flooding. On the Friday we all set to work on banding and making sure everything was in place for the weekend. Brilliant rally, we had a great time and are looking forward to next year.
t
September Club Night Thurs 17th, 7:30
October Ride to the Wall Saturday 3rd Meet 8:00 am Check calendar
The Royal County of Berkshire show Sat, Sun, 19th-20th Newbury Showground RG18 9QZ
Committee Night Tues 6th, 6:00 Reading H-D
Rolling Stones at Avebury And pub lunch Sunday 20th, 10:00 am Chieveley 10:00 for 10:30
Casino Night End-of-Season Party Sat 10th, 7:00 - 11:30 pm Club House, Windsor
Ace Café N10 7UD Thurs 24th, 6:00
Club Night Thurs, 15th, 7:30
Reading H-D Bike Night Thurs 24th, from 6:00 pm RG6 7HN
Poker Run 6 (last one) Weds 21st, 6:30 onwards Venue TBA check website
Blazin’ 20s New Forest Rally Fri 25th, - Mon 28th 10:00 am, BP station, Chieveley Services
Reading H-D Bike Night Thurs 22nd, from 6:00 pm RG6 7HN Ace Café N10 7UD Thurs 29th, 6:00 Mileage Programme Ends With Halloween Party at Reading H-D - ALL DAY! Fancy Dress (optional)
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Dates, events, ride-outs and activities Details correct at time of going to print. Check the website for updates and amendments www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Club Nights
Rallies 2015 Blazin’ Twenties 25th—28th Sept, Weymouth New Forest Rally (Club event)
Events End of Season Party Casino Night with live band and buffet Sat 10th Oct Club House 7:00– 11:30 pm
October
15th
November
19th
December
17th
January
21st
February
18th
Mag contribution Deadlines
Halloween Mileage Party Sat, 31st Oct At Reading Dealership
October
8th
Broom Farm Toy Run Sunday, 29th Nov
November
12th
Reading Toy Run Sunday, 6th Dec
December
10th
January
14th
February
11th
Check website for details on all events 15
Barcelona or Bust! A few months ago (over a beer or two), four of us decided we’d go to Barcelona - on the bikes of course. The obvious time to go was the Harley Days rally. It’s a free event but still boasts 3 solid days of bands, bikes, beer and traders from 3rd to 5th July (that’s “Julio” in local lingo). To make it more fun we decided to ride right through France, avoiding tolls as much as possible. And to make it a bit of a challenge we said we’d ride down in 2 days, 600 miles on day 1 and 500 on day 2! Strikes: On the day of departure the band of 4 was down to just me and Geoff and the ferry port was closed – disaster. But our good mate, Ralph, came to the rescue by letting us use his house in St Valery, 120 kilometres into France. That was a life saver as the M25 was closed (10 to 8) and the M20 was closed for “operation stack”. So we had to ride “cross country” for most of the 100 miles in the UK, filtering for the last 15 to the Eurotunnel. We arrived at our first stop at 1am after dodging some migrants on the roads out of Calais! Day 2: The weather forecast was 45º C (110 in old money) and we’d had one too many drinks to celebrate beating the Ferry strike. But we were looking forward to the ride – just over 500 miles to the Dordoigne. To counter the high temperatures we, of course, had to make several stops for refreshment - here in Chartres for example… We met a few bikers going the same way and one guy on a Road King confirmed his temp guage was at 110 Farenheit on the road! Only thing for it was to grind out the miles. This was made a lot easier though by the fantastic French drivers, cars and lorries, who pulled over to let us through whenever we came up behind them. Why can’t the 4 wheeled ashtray brigade in the UK do that? We arrived in Daglan just before midnight. We’d booked Eurocamp and they made a real welcome for us despite being so late – even letting us ride right up to our chalet (waking up the whole site). Day 3: We’d got into the swing of things by now and were up early to say our goodbyes to the Dordoigne – what a fantastice ride for the first hour – winding country roads with no traffic and the superb river and cliffs as our backdrop. Our plan was to grind it out on the route nationale to Narbonne and turn right on the A9 to Barcelona.
One tip – watch out for the Périphérique in Toulouse. We got lost twice – once on the way out and once on the way back!
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Day 4: We woke up in Barcelona - what a ride - Geoff was pretty hardcore as there can’t be many who’ve done an 1100 mile iron butter on a 1995 sporty. We were so keen to get to the rally after breakfast that we arrived before it even opened. But that did give us a chance to have a sneak preview and chat to some of the H-D staff, many from the UK. Barcelona Harley Days: What a rally at the Plaza Espana! How do they do this “entrada libre”? Three days from 11am until 2am, 28 bands, 15,000 bikes, 25,000 square meters of exhibitions, bars, shops, restaurants and 3 massive H-D showrooms – just awesome. Not surprisingly, the Brits we met said they’d been coming back for years and we met a lot of Brits… Here’s a view of the stage end of the rally area – at night the pools in the foreground become illuminated fountains. Saturday: This was the big day - it opened an hour earlier so we rode our bikes in. Geoff bought a waistcoat for his TV Hog patch. We had great Tapas and we even managed to spend some time at the Magic Fountain, a great place to chill out with a beer and catch your breath. The last band of the night was a U2 appreciation band called 100% U2. They were great but both Geoff and I agree that the best band was actually on earlier in the afternoon, ”Clara Plath” a fantastic mix of Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) and Debbie Harry (Blondie). And if you’re a country fan they put on 3 hours of line dancing too, complete with cowboys and cowgirls. Next day the main event kicked off with a parade of flags with 10,000 bikes doing a circuit of the City. We gave that a miss (maybe next time) as we wanted to spend more time in the Dordoigne and St Valery sur Somme. So we say ”adios”, but let’s just take one last look at the winner of the custom bikes – what a machine – this is what a sporty can become if you have the time and the inclination… Back home: We had a great time and hope you enjoyed hearing about it.
We can recommend Barcelona H-D Days and will be doing it again soon, maybe with a few more stops as our iron butts took several days to recover from this 2,200 mile round trip.
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Mike Connolly and Geoff Cutting
50 Shades of Europe with the Oldies What can I say? Fantastic holiday with fabulous friends, Sue & Malc Poulter. We travelled through 7 countries and did around 2500 miles and 15 alpine passes. Day 1 - We rode down to Dover for the ferry crossing to Calais, which was very smooth and calming after driving through all the traffic. After that we had a great ride through the French countryside stopping off at the lads’ weekend accommodation, for 2016, to pay the deposit. The weather was hot, 290. We carried on to Maubeuge for our first stop. Day2 - Another hot day, 300. We rode though France, Belgium and Holland, 150m. We arrived at the Randwych Hotel in Maastricht, which was lovely. That night we went to see Andre Rieu in concert, in the square in Maastricht. It was brilliant. We had a great time, great seats with a fantastic view. We got back to the hotel around midnight, as Andre did not seem to want the concert to finish. Days 3 & 4 - Now on our way down Germany to An Der Loreley, 207m. We rode through beautiful countryside to another great hotel with fab food. Weather still hot, 29 0. The hotel was right next to the Rhine. The view from our room was beautiful. As we were staying for 2 nights, the next day we walked into town (yes Malc did walk) and got a tram up to a castle on the hill, wonderful views. In the cafe Sue and I had a cuppa and of course the boys had a beer or two. By this time on our trip, Sue needed to wash some undies, so she washed them in the hotel room. By the morning they were not dry, so she held them on the bike to dry!! (It made a good photo riding up the road). {W here are the photos? –Ed} Day 5 - Moving further south down through the Black Forest to the Hotel Waldblick in Donaueschingen Germany (210m). Lovely ride, no motorways, stunning views again all the way. The hotel was perfect. We had a lovely evening meal, sitting in the garden soaking up the evening sun and chilling. Day 6 - Today we went 145m further down to Fussen. We had a lovely ride down the side of Lake Konstanz. We stopped for tea by the lake, it was just breathtaking. We had 1 night at the Steakhaus, the view of the mountains from our window was one of the best. The parking was a bit steep for the bikes, but it worked out fine in the end. On our way to Austria we stopped off at Neuschwanstein Castle (the chitty chitty bang bang castle) for a few hours. Days 7, 8 & 9 - Carrying on to Zell Am Ziller in Austria 108m. We went over the Fern Pass, absolutely breathtaking scenery. We had an apartment for 3 days which was nice because we could do our own thing. The next day we went for a rideout over the Gerlospas and the Grosglockner. Then a bit further on Sue & Malc found some new friends - cows surrounded the bikes, had a quick sniff, then moved on. Obviously we smelt wrong!! Weather still 300, thunderstorms at night, but still hot. Went into Innsbruck for the day, it was really pretty. The architecture was stunning. Had a nice lunch, tea and strudel for everyone, then back to the apartment for a few beers. 18
Day 10 - On our way to Bormio, Italy now, 176m. Weather still fab 30 o. Over the mountains and finally over the Stelvio Pass. It was spectacular and scary at the same time. Sue and I were very nervous, but when we reached the top it felt great. Malc did brilliant, he had the trailer on the back of his bike. We had a cuppa and a rest at the top and coming down the other side was not as bad. We finally made it into Bormio. The hotel was good, but it had no restaurant. We got a lift into the local town, by "Grampy", the owner’s Grandad, for our evening meal. I just might add I felt safer on the bike than in the car going around those mountains roads! The meal was delicious and everyone was very welcoming. The ride back to the hotel wasn't as bad, one of the waiters took us in his car (he was a bit of alright). Day 11 & 12 - Now onto Switzerland, 167m. Across the mountains and over another 6 passes: Foscagno, D'eria, The Forcola Dilivigno, Del Bernini pass, Albulopass and Oberalpas and down into Andermat. Alpen Hotel Schlussel, another lovely room with a balcony and we were staying 2 nights here. Wonderful views everywhere. The next day Chris and Malc did another 3 passes: The Furka, Grimsel and Sustan. Sue and I had a nice gentle walk around the town and shops. We watched a helicopter bring in supplies to build a new ski lift up on the mountain. It was fascinating. The helicopter was going back a forth up the mountain like it was a remote controlled toy. When the boys got back we had a nice evening and ended up going back to our room for some more drinking. Day 13 - Moving up through Switzerland to France now. Hottest day yet 95 o. Up through a bit of the Gotthard Pass going up Lake Luzane. As it was so pretty we stopped at a lovely cafe on the lake, then back on the bikes to Basel to cross the border. We went over another pass in France which was called Col Bohomme in the Alsace region. When we got to the hotel in Colmar it did not look very good, the room was dreadful so we asked to be moved. They did this for a charge. Thank god we only had one night there. Days 14 & 15 - Quickly moving onto Reims for 2 nights. This hotel was much better with a lovely restaurant. The first night we walked to the cathedral in the centre of town to see a light show. It started at 11pm and went on for 25mins. It lit up the whole cathedral and told its story, it was fantastic. We were glad we went. The next day we went off into town and did some shopping. Sue got her boys some toys and we had a nice relaxing day, with a few bar stops on the way. Day 16 - Back on the bikes again for our ride to Calais. As we got to the port and waiting to board the ferry it started to rain and it did not stop until we got home. That was the only rain we got caught in. I would just like to say a big thank you to Sue & Malc for taking us with them. We had a wonderful holiday, with fantastic people and hopefully they are still our friends, after putting up with us for 16 days.
Janet & Chris Smith.
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And now for something completely different‌ Gerbiling! If you don’t think you are getting enough attention when you are out on your fastidiously cleaned and polished Harley, maybe you need one of these. Invented in 1931 by M. Goventosa from Udine in North East Italy, the Motoruota is a motorised monocycle (or monowheel). The single wheel is a large ring driven by smaller wheels pressing against its inner rim. It is powered by a single cylinder air-cooled engine and the rider sits within it. The photograph shows that it was fitted with a steering wheel, although it is difficult to imagine how this could have worked. This remarkable machine was capable of a maximum speed of 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph). Scary!
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Hand-cranked and pedal-powered, monowheels were patented and built in the late 19th century, but most of those built in the 20th century have been motorized. One of the main problems with most designs of monowheel is that if the driver accelerates or brakes too hard, it is possible that the force applied overcomes the force of gravity which keeps the rider at the bottom of the wheel, thereby sending him spinning around the inside of the wheel. This is known as gerbiling because it has some similarity to the situation of a gerbil running too quickly inside of a hamster wheel. It’s a sort of inside out wheelie! For those who might prefer a monowheel with more modern styling how about this racylooking model? It is made in the Netherlands and sells through Hammacher Schlemmer for $13,000. Don’t be deceived by its looks though, it is powered by a rather humble 31cc, 4-stroke 1 1/2-hp engine and has a top speed of just 25mph. I think I will take the Motoruota! Ride safe, drink regularly Ralph
MILEAGE PROGRAMME SIGN-OFF
At READING H-D on 31st OCTOBER ALL-DAY HALOWEEN PARTY
Lee and Lou with their Street Glide
Don and Hazel on their CVO Ultra Glide
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The weekend before my Ride out to The Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, I completed my recce of the route and was confident that we should not be met with any road problems. The Weather forecast however was not good for the coming Sunday and I was looking at the strong possibility of having to cancel the Ride-out. However, he of little faith! The Sunday morning of my ride arrived and we all sat at Beaconsfield services under a cloudy but partly sunny sky. After coffee and a chat and the RC brief all done we set off. The Ride was good and at a steady pace with minimal traffic along some very nice country and town roads under a mix of cloudy & sunny skies. Upon arrival at The Heritage Motor Museum we were pointed to the VIP parking (on the pavement) lol. Today was all about buses, old & quite new, but the one we wanted to see was the Route Master which is the chosen name for those TV members who ride Glides, lol. There is some ongoing debate about who is the Number One member but I won’t go into that. The collection of buses that greeted us was plentiful which provided great backdrops to our TV Massive Photos, and stirred the memory juices of a few that found the tyre sizes of great interest. At about midday, when we had seen about 50% of the buses, we saw our first rain so we ran for cover in the Motor Museum, which houses a splendid mix of old British cars including some famous characters like Shaun the Sheep in a Land Rover and Lady Penelope’s ‘FAB 1’ pink Ford car. The Thames Valley crew explored and sampled some of the cars & bicycles on offer and suitable photos were taken of individuals on board large vintage cars which were like todays people carriers & a three wheel bicycle which Bernie Dodds thought was an early trike. Once lunch was finished we ventured back out and finished looking at the remaining buses and then moved on to the Ice Cream Van for the obligatory TV Massive Ice Cream Selfie. It was time for our ride home which was under a sunny, sometimes cloudy, sky. I had promised earlier that it would be a dry ride home to disbelievers amongst us. I kept my promise, lol. Thanks to those that followed me that day and I trust we will have many more just like it. Regards CJ & Di 23
This month we will start looking for our committee for 2016. ALL committee positions are up for grabs, including those which are currently filled. Thames Valley HOG need you to think about how you could help our group get better. We have a number of unassigned positions which we DEFINITELY need help with and you may be the one to do it. We need at least ONE and maybe more activities officers to help us with our social program. Someone from the activities team would need to attend committee meetings each month (you could share this among the activities team ). It would be great to have a Historian on board as the club's history is an important part of who we are. If you think you could corral information from various sources and record it in one place for members to see, you should apply now. You would not need to go to committee meetings for this position (unless you need their attention or help). In terms of future proofing our committee we are interested in anyone who may be interested in "understudying" any of the positions. This may not land you a committee position straight away but it will let us know who is out there who has the skill and interest to help in the future.
Positions Include: * Assistant Director * Treasurer * Secretary * Webmaster * Editor * Head Road Captain * Safety Officer * Activities Officer(s) * Membership Officer * Ladies of Harley Officer * Historian * Merchandise Officer * Photographer(s) So, how would you be able to help? Committee Position application forms will be available shortly. POKER RUN. Whilst our Poker Run does not have a specific role within the committee, it is a traditional and very popular social event. Nick West has been running this for about 5 years and will be unable to continue next year. So, we need a volunteer to help with this. Nick will give all / any training but it is really simple! Poker Runs start in April and run through to October (seven months). All you need to do is find the meeting place and set it up with the location owner/landlord. We usually try to meet in pubs where people can get food for under a tenner; we often go back to favourites but we like to try a few new places each year, too. The bottom line is that YOU will decide where, and what you want to do to put your personality into this club favourite. Please let a committee member know if you are interested, or catch up with Nick at any of our social events and he will be happy to answer any questions. 24
THUNDER IN THE GLENS 2015 Well, the weather for our trip did not seem particularly promising so when the hotel we had booked for our first night rang to say they, in fact, didn’t have a room as they had double booked us – it seemed a bit of a blessing in disguise. We then decided to delay our trip for a day and to travel as far as Kendal in the Lake District on our first day. We stayed at The Rainbow Tavern, a pub right in the centre of Kendal, a possibility for accommodation for next year’s Red Rose Chapter Rally? I must say I rather like the idea of the rally being held in the centre of the town as there is a great pedestrianised area and lots of biker friendly pubs including the ever value for money Wetherspoons! I can recommend The Globe for great food and a friendly atmosphere! The weather grew steadily colder as we neared Scotland but the rain was not too bad. We were now two up on Barry’s V-Rod (not the most comfortable seat I have to say) as my bike decided she wanted to go home! Just as well we have learned over the years to travel light but there is still room for improvement there. We arrived in Aviemore to the usual cheery welcome at the banding station and made our way to the cottage we had booked. I hadn’t even seen any pictures online so really did not know what to expect. Our friends Glen & Marie had already arrived so the fridge was already well stocked. There was some food, I think. The cottage turned out to be fantastic with every facility you could wish for including a Sauna in the garage and a hot tub in the garden – what a bonus! It was a bit of a walk from the Rally site but worth every step. Friday evening Trudy and Shorty invited the Thames Valley members to their cottage for drinks and nibbles, it was great to meet up and swap our various journey stories. As usual all the venues put on some great live entertainment, not really sure why the firework display was on Saturday at 7.40 as it was hardly dark by then! Sunday was a great day weather wise, sunshine and blue skies so Barry and I headed up to the coast. Had a great ride up through Grantown on Spey on the A939 up to Nairn to a great beach and harbour. I had the most fantastic bowl of Cullen Skink, a soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions, if you have never had it you don’t know what you are missing its delicious! A new feature at the Rally was the Scottish Knight League, you may have thought that this was going to be a bit of ‘play fighting’ but no, they were out to defeat their opponents big time. They fought with Longswords, Daggers and Backswords in full metal armour. The Crashing of steel against steel was frightening especially the Last Man Standing tournament! There were certainly a few big dents in helmets!
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Monday we had to leave our lovely cottage. We made a scenic way to Perth – I can highly recommend it. North on the A95 onto the A939 to Tomintoul past Balmoral Castle onto the A93 Braemar, past the Glensee Ski Centre and on to the Bridge of Cally – you are so high up and the scenery just blows you away. Great to see the heather out on beautiful purple mountains! M90 round Edinburgh A720 ring road and then eventually onto the fabulous A68 through the Northumberland National Park. If you are fed up staying in Premier Inns there is a great hotel just outside Castleside called the Derwent Manor Hotel – rooms from £67. It’s a long way to go I know but a great rally and you just can’t beat Scotland for scenery and you will always get a very warm welcome . Are we going next year? I think so but would like to make it a bigger trip and the North Coast 500 is calling!! Pat Adams Assistant Director
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1) Who is it that rides like this? 2) Now what could Shorty and Paul be It’s not so bad being in TV HOG saying about this dish? that you have to ride incognito! Captions, please. Send answers to: editor@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
PRIMARY OFFICERS
Don Wibberley DIRECTOR
Pat Adams Asst. Director
Nick West Asst. Director
Email: director(assistantdirector)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Club Venue: Grenadier Guards’ Club Maidenhead Road Windsor, Berks. SL4 5EY
facebook.com/groups thamesvalleyhog
youtube.com/user/ tvwebmaster1
Colin Wilkins Treasurer
Sue Moyler Secretary
Third Thursday of every month
Email: treasurer/secretary@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
COMMITTEE
Sue Dodds Ladies of Harley
Sue Knight Editor
Lee White Webmaster
Chris Smith Membership
Barry Adams Activities
Toni Charles Activities
Linda Friend Photographer
Chris Earley- ‘CJ’ Photographer
Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk