Tales From The Riverbank - April 2019

un r r e e n o i p guildf o r d bi

rthda y

bash

easter egg run

www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

wrwr

April 2019

Ed Quarters This month's issue is packed with exciting news from the chapter rides, charity events and great photos of our ride outs!

To find out why there is an event on WRWR, read Jo’s article and to those who can find her name on the scroll there is a prize!

We now have more club members trained through the Road Captain course, who took us to great ride outs this month Guildford Birthday Bash, Pioneer Run and the Easter egg Run. There's been a great turnout at all events. They have been extremely well organised and a lot of fun! Our events are so popular now that a group of chapter members from Fenlanders have joined our chapter too! These guys ride 100 plus miles each way to every event that we have had so far! Kudos to these members (page 15).

My most favourite event for the month was the visit to the Alexander Devine Hospice as part of the Easter Egg Run. The place is awesome and the work being done by the staff and carers there is amazing! The facilities which have been built for the beautiful children are extremely state of the art!

The stories and the experiences that we heard definitely brought tears in my eyes and every time I think about it, I feel so proud to be part of it in some way.

This month young Mac (look at his picture with his article) tells us about what he has done to his 1999 softail since acquiring it in 2003.

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Happy reading and safe riding!

Mohit 2

Inside this issue Front cover-Easter Egg Run Page 2

Look out for our Facebook and instagram tweets

Ed Quarters Page 4 - 7 Westie Writes Page 8 - 10 Women's Riders World Relay Page 11 March Club Night Page 12-13 Road Captain Course Page 14-15 Pioneer Run 2019 Page 16-17 Gliding on By Page 17

Charity Appeal Page 18 TV Times Page 19 The Committee Page 20-25 Ride to Guildford HD Page 26-28

Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine:

Easter Egg Run Page 29 Hollycombe Steam Fair Page 30-31

Nick W, Jo, Andy, Mike (M1), Darren, Hayley, John, Mac, Gary, Nick E, Robin, Linda F, Payal Your contributions are appreciated.

Biker's Corner Page 32-33 News from Cloud Page 34-35 Events

Back cover-Sky Dive

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Hi All. It is hard to believe that we are only 6 weeks from summer.

We have been somewhat lucky with the weather through the spring and a few of our rides have been bathed in sunshine. April and May can be wet but we remain hopeful (perhaps we can arrange for all of the wet stuff during the week so that you can ride in the dry at weekends !)

One of the best of recent days saw the Chapter ride to support the Alexander Devine Hospice. Our egg run was the brainchild of one of our members brought to fruition by Charities Officer, Hayley. Sadly, after all of her work to make it happen, Hayley was unable to join the ride out but the success of the ride spoke volumes. Over 30 Harleys took a scenic route to the Hospice to deliver “Special” Chocolate Eggs that will be basketed for high income raffles by some of the Charity’s corporate partners. With over £250 collected from our members, the charity will be looking to collecting raffle moneys which will mount to more than double this. A truly great effort by all. Thanks to the roadcrew (well done Nick Ekendahl on a really good qualifying ride), to Chris and Janet Smith for transporting the eggs, to Hayley and the staff at the Hospice for all of the organising work and finally to all of the members who contributed (especially those who gave, knowing that they could not make it to the event).

Our ride schedule will soon be in full swing with many options for members on most weekends. Some of our Saturday rides will now 4

be run from Reading HD or the Cinema across the road.

One of the more exciting things to capture our interest is the upcoming event to support International Female Ride Day. Lady Riders on all makes of motorcycle will be welcomed at Reading Harley Davidson on Saturday 4th May. If you are not at the Cider Rally, please go along and show your support. The ladies will have a chance to take out a Harley on a demo ride (all demo rides must be pre-booked !), ladies clothing will be on sale with some special offers for the day and the Chapter are organising Cakes and refreshments.

Can you help ? If you can, please contact Gary Watts or Karen Barr.

Donated cakes will be gratefully received for the event and if you can help at the cake stand, we would love to hear from you.

Whilst we are on the topic of Lady Riders, some of our pillion members took advantage of a “taster day” organised by Cilla last year. I have already been approached by a couple of members asking if we could do the same again this year. I am appealing to our Ladies for a volunteer to help arrange something for our group again this year. Your committee will assist wherever needed but we would like to have some help to arrange the day / days and to co-ordinate efforts. Last year, a couple of our female members converted from pillion to rider as result of this activity. You don’t have to have any experience of this, you just need to be organised, enthusiastic and positive. Riders or Pillions who are interested in helping should contact me if you would like to help.

Jake Spicer Toy Run - We still need a few more volunteers to help marshal the route for the Toy Run on 28th April. We will be meeting the Oxford Chapter at their sponsoring Dealership in Abingdon.

Marshals will ride out ahead of the main ride and will witness the entire group pass through on the way to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

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If you can help please contact me via director@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

At the time of writing, our Summer Socials are about to start, the first being at an old favourite. The Cricketers in Littlewick Green will host our first of the year with a twist. Anyone who wants to participate in the 2019 Poker Run will be able to get their first card at the pub.

We have been doing the poker run for many years and every year people ask about how it works. It’s really simple. Each month at our summer social, you will be able to buy a single card for just £1. The card is recorded against your name and at the end of the season (after 7 summer socials) you will have upto 7 cards to your name.

These cards have now formed a hand which will be compared to the rules of poker and your best hand (5 of the 7 cards) will be presented for a prize. The cash prizes are a simple sweepstake payout with all moneys collected through the year being divided up into a first, second and third prize. usually over 50% of the take goes to the winner (often over £100), the remainder being divided between 2nd and 3rd place. The cash presentations are usually made at the Christmas Clubnight. Yes, it will probably be the longest lasting game of poker you will ever play … it takes 7 months ! You do not have to participate in the poker run to join us at the summer social, it is completely optional. Look out for details of the next Summer Social (Wed 8th May) in the chapter calendar.

Ahead of the 2nd Social a group from the Chapter will be heading to Somerset for the 2019 Cider Rally. We will be putting on a ride to the rally and likely a chapter ride over the weekend for anyone wanting a variation to the ride programme on offer by our hosts. And don’t forget that the chapter are joining Reading HD in supporting the International Female Ride Day on Saturday 4th if you are not going to the Cider Rally this year. Get along and support ladies who will be 6

riding in on all sorts of machines. Show them what a great community we have and welcome them warmly as only the Thames Valley Massive do !

Straight after the May Clubnight, on Saturday 18th May, Reading Harley Davidson will be celebrating their 4th Birthday with a live band onsite, A Specialist Food Vendor, displays and stand of many supporting businesses. Be sure to keep this date free in you diary.As always, we will be looking for volunteers to help with car parking and manning the Chapter Stand at the event. Let me know if you can help.

If, like me you are booked onto the HOGSTOCK Benelux Rally this year, you are likely getting excited about the ride and full weekend planned in the Netherlands. We have over 40 bikes doing the ride and some support for luggage handling both ways. If you want to transport any baggage for this ride, please speak to our activities team to make the necessary arrangements. There is a small fee per bag to help towards the costs of facilitating the support.

It is now time for all of our members who have not committed to the Valley Rally to get their tickets. We need your support to get our rally off to a great start, If you came last year you know that it is going to be an epic weekend ! You can pay by card, online or in cash, but don’t delay any longer, get your tickets now.

Details of the Convergence Rally in August are now available and weekend tickets including accommodation and meals are available and if you are camping / caravanning there are options for you too.

As always, please ride safe folks ‌. and have fun !

Nick 7

Women Riders World Relay WHY WRWR WAS FORMED… “I wanted to ignite a global sisterhood of inspirational women to promote courage, adventure, unity and passion for biking from all corners of the world and do something that’s never been done before to this scale. My aim is to WOW the industry into realizing the global market for women in Motorsports and to inspire women world wide.

Going into motorcycle stores and seeing a lack of choice, combined with stereotypical pink and being told “there just isn’t the market for women”, highlighted to me just one small element of a much bigger picture around women in Motorsports.

I want to show the industry the force behind the market that is so blindly overlooked.

I am doing this because WOMEN BIKERS CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN.” – Hayley Bell, Founder -UK WHAT WE DO… We organise and participate in, a world-wide women’s motorbike relay, covering even the remote, the daring and the vast parts of our world.

We aim to continue this event and more through global sponsorship.

HOW WE DO IT… We collaborate a global community of enthusiastic women bikers.

Women world-wide are responding to our call and sharing our enthusiasm for the event. We reached a huge milestone of over 15k group members from more than 80 countries in just 4 weeks due to this spirit.

Through our sheer masses, borderline bonkers aspirations, unity and determination, the women of WRWR can pull off the largest recorded world-wide motorbike relay.

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WRWR have a small team from numerous countries worldwide, who are collaborating to organise the event.

Sounds amazing right? I read all about it and decided that I really wanted in. Looking at my calendar and realising that there was only limited opportunities to ride UK legs – I signed up to join in Leamington Spa and ride to the Ace Café in London.

The ride encompasses all ladies and bikes manufacturers. Upon finding out that there were 70 ladies signed up to do the same leg – it seemed a good shout to use my Road Captain’s experience to sign up to be one the Ride Leaders and took on Group 3. I had 10 ladies with me of varying experience, bikes, tank sizes and confidence. The weather was awful in places, with a good soaking quickly became the order of the day. However, smiles all around were still in place as all the rides pulled safely in to a central meeting point to gather before arriving at the Ace Café to a very warm welcome. Ladies from all over, including quite a few LoH members and Marjorie Rae were smiling warmly and many cups of tea were consumed! There was a big, well organised event on at the Ace Café, with inspirational speakers and Industry representatives.

I spent Saturday night with my lovely friend Cathy in Central London before departing for the next day event, which took place at Sittingbourne Speedway. The winds were bad enough to close the Dartmouth Crossing, so instead a nice Sunday morning blast through the Blackwall Tunnel was the order of the day. I arrived at the Speedway to see the baton being ridden around the track at a cracking pace! I caught up with the other Guardians and wished them all well for the trip across the Channel that they had later on that evening.

Where is the baton now? You can track it through over 90 Countries 9

Worldwide here: https://womenridersworldrelay.com/track-therelay/ At the time of writing, the ladies are in Greece‌.

So why do it? Passion! A sense of wanting to get involved and be a part of something enormous. The WRWR is gaining media attention Worldwide and is having a real effect.

I have made new friends and gained fresh perspectives. The bravery and dedication of the riders is overwhelming and I missed being a part of it as soon as I was away from it.

Take me back! The American legs are later on in the year and if I can find a way to get there – you wont see me for dust.

Jo ps. can you find my name on the scroll?

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March Club Night Our ever popular club night saw 89 members attend the event with usual raffle...

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Road Captain Course Way back at the road crew planning meeting three of us had ride arranged for us to lead. There was only one problem, none of us had been trained / attended the road captain training course. There was a general feeling around the room that it was good to lead your first ride as soon after the training as possible. Mine had been planned for the Saturday afterwards, Mike (M1) on the Sunday afterwards and Nick (E) the following Saturday. This seemed like a great idea but meant that we would be planning the route and recee’ing the ride prior to having received the training.

The first of my rides was one that the Chapter regularly did, attending Guildford Harley Davidson’s birthday bash. After trying a few routes out trying to avoid the usual routes as much as possible and taking in a scenic country route wherever I could after four recees I was fairly happy with the route chosen. Mike and Nick had similarly been planning their chosen routes. Now all we had to do was get the course under our belts.

On the evening of Friday 15th March the last of the three new recruits arrived at the fabled Longwall having caused the others to wait far too long for something to eat. The first two managed to get away earlier and had set up camp in the watering hole. What awaited us over the next two days at Harley-Davidson in Oxford was our long-awaited Road Captain course. Being the conscientious guys that we are, we headed off at a reasonable time in readiness for the 9 o’clock start on Saturday.

The course itself was held over the weekend and covers as much as you should need to successfully plan and execute a fun and safe ride for any group of riders. We were three of some thirty in attendance from a great mix on Chapters.

The days would be a mix of class work and rides to practice and observe what we had learnt. The course was run by some very 12

knowledgeable individuals who volunteer their time to help spread the knowledge.Whilst out doing the rides we were greeted by the whole range of British Springtime weather- beautiful sunshine, high winds, rain showers and ofcourse, hailstones. To be honest, we were all enjoying ourselves too much to be bothered by the weather. The mind was definitely more focussed on the practice of safe drops, pickups and leading your section to the best.

By the end of the weekend the three of us had all lead rides, tailed and learnt a whole bundle of techniques and gained a lot of tools to help us carry out the rides to the standard that Thames Valley ride to. It is interesting to note here that all the best practices that were discussed on the course, we as a Chapter carry out, yet some were not regularly practiced at other chapters. I knew our existing road crew were good, but this reaffirmed that.

Andy Having been a Chapter member since 2005 and enjoyed many rides and times with. After a few years Marshalling and change of circumstances, time became right to accept the offer of a Road captains Course. So, Nick, Andy & myself attended Oxford HD Head Office for full on but enjoyable & informative “back to class” weekend.

9.00am start, lots of Scenario’s and learning of “How we ride”. The structure is done so as to make our ride outs as safe as poss and enjoyable. The Instructors are all Volunteers and a lot of ‘Free’ time that they put in is invaluable. You also become aware of work done behind the scenes of the Road Captains & crew we don’t see to make our Ride Out Calendar so full.

Qualifying ride Recces done just need to see if all works on day … and I can start repaying back into Chapter.

A thank you to all over the years.

Mike (M1) J Oh Ps… Thanks Elaine for waiting for the hailstones for our last riding session 13

Pioneer Run 2019 Beautiful sunny crisp Sunday March morning. Start of Our riding Calendar this weekend with Andy’s Guildford run. Nerves running high as my Qualifying ride for Road Captain. Tried to bribe Road Crew just to sign off the ride and we go to the Pub; but beer for a year is too expensive an option !!!

17 riders turned up including 3 new members. Had the “Bearded LOH” assessing, Nick with ‘spot the tail’ headgear ;-) and Ralph as Road Crew. Briefed and organised, ride Part (1) set off with a nice ride to Runneymede along the Thames, through Staines, Chertsey, Addlestone, then to the Surrey Hills, nice riding once out on the country roads. Through Dorking then a blatt to Cowfold on A24 for brunch at Orchard Café (great bacon rolls thanks Sarah) Part (2) Following some of the route of the “Pioneer Run”. This is an event run by the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club formed in 1924 this year celebrating their 80th Run. First was in 1930, only years has not run was due to War, foot & Mouth, Snow .. (last year we cancelled our ride because of Snow, they ran the event but left a ‘bit more of a Gap’ between bikes ; … Hardy bunch) These are Veteran motorcycles - pre 1915 collection of Solos, Sidecars, Tricycles from all over the World. Ride starts at 08.00 hrs from Tattenham Corner for a 49.7 mile ride via Riegate, Cowfold, Henfield, Shoreham, to 14

Brighton’s Madeira Drive. Yes these 105-123 year old vehicles still do the run some even Steam driven. There were a few ‘Casualties’ on route but hearty soles standing by their machines and fixing. So a nice ride with some History with folks lining some of the route and was great looking at the bikes and the characters that own them on Madeira Drive where they were on show.

I ‘Think’ all enjoyed (they said they did, no bribes), the new riders did well and picked up our way of riding which sets them in good stead for season ahead plus a “Cheaper” way for me to hopefully qualify as Road Captain!

Like to thank Mike (M2) (BLOH) C for all his/her help, advice & recces, Nick recce and Ralph & Mark on the day.

Oh and Greg for great Fish & Chips!

Mike (M1) J

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Gliding On By Hi All, I hope you’re all enjoying the slightly better weather (he says typing this whilst its raining outside) and have been out on the bikes a few times now.

We’ve had a few good rides already with three qualifying rides from our new Road Captains, all of which had dry weather which was nice. The birthday bash at Guildford HD was well attended and a lovely day (although ours will be better I’m sure).

This year’s Chapter Challenge mileages have been passed on to Mike for loading into the HD system and we have a total of 80 bikes and trikes entered which is fantastic – thanks very much for getting your mileages recorded.

Although we had a very well organised cake sale to support the mileage day will still do not have a Thames Valley Chapter LOH Officer yet this year, we would love to get this position filled if possible and although it may seem daunting it can been split out between more than one volunteer – please come and have a chat if you think you may be able to help in any way or if you’d like to find out more.

Last week I had a short notice business trip to New York and as well as getting some work done and holding a number of meetings I was determined to find a Harley dealer and get a poker chip. It turns out that there are two in Manhattan with one being within walking distance of our office and my hotel so I set off one evening following the map on my phone like most of the other people around me.

When I arrived it was a standard shop front, no parking and no bike showroom. The only bike was part of the window display with all of the interior being taken up by clothing (both HD and other brands), gifts, bags and a few boots and crash helmets. There didn’t seem to even be any parts for sale. Prices were high with dealer tees being around £50 when converted but I guess that is, in part at least, due 16

to the exchange rate. Still they had poker chips for $5 so all was well. I had a chat to the store manager and he said all three New York stores were similar and really classed as clothing outlets instead of showrooms as very few people rode in the city. This was borne out by the fact I only saw one bike all week, and that was a Suzuki.

I hope to see you all out on a ride again soon - thanks for taking the time to read this.

Cheers !!!

John Green Assistant Director

Crazy Sky Dive - Appeal for Charity Many of you may know I have always wanted to do a skydive so when the opportunity arose to participate for our chosen charity I had to sign up!

I will be throwing myself out of a plane on Saturday 11th May and I would appreciate as much sponsorship as possible for this. There is an opportunity for you to spectate as well as participate if you wish!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sponsored me already...I was overwhelmed with how much money was donated within the first 48 hours. Not sure whether to be pleased by this or a little offended that so many of you donated your hard earned cash to see me jump out of a plane lol! If you havent already donated and would like to sponsor me then please use the link https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/harleyhayley Thanks, as always, for your support!

Hayley 17

SUMMER SOCIAL May 8th June 5th July 10th August 14th September 11th October 9th

RIDE OUTS Saturday, 20 April Popham Ride Saturday, 27 April Bovingdon Tank Museum Sunday, 28 April Jake Spicer Toy Run (Oxford)

CLUB NIGHTS April 17th May 15th June 19th July 17th August 21st

Saturday, 11 May Matlock Baths Sunday, 12 May HaywardsHeath Sunday, 19 May Hollycombe Steam Fair

MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES May 2nd June 6th July 4th Aug 7th Sep 5th

Sunday, 26 May Porchester Castle Saturday, 8 June Bernies' Fish n Chips Saturday, 15 June Pocket full of Rye

Wednesday, 29 May - Monday 2 June 2019 Hogstock

Sunday, 16 June 3 Cuppas

Friday, 28 - Sunday, 30 June 2019 Thames Valley Rally

Saturday, 22 June Dawn to Dusk Wet n Wild

Tickets are now available

Sunday, 23 June Oxford Transport Museum

Please check the website for the latest on all rides.

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2019 Officers & Committee https://www.facebook.com/ thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

PRIMARY OFFICERS

Nick West Director

Andy Tunley Lesley Lederer Secretary & Ass.Director Treasurer

John Green Assistant Director

COMMITTEE & SUPPORTING OFFICERS

Mohit Khanna Editor

Fred Cotsford Membership

Robin Sasson Webmaster

Mike Wilson Dealer Principal

Mike Connolly Safety Officer

Jamie McLaughlin Rally Manager

Gary Watts Activities

Nick Ekendahl Activities

Hayley West Social Media & Charities Officer

Linda Friend Photographer

Alex MacDonald Photographer

Payal Khanna Photographer

CLUB VENUE Burnham Cricket Club Memorial Ground, Taplow Common Road, Burnham, Slough, Berks, SL1 8LP Third Wednesday of every month 7:00pm

Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

Ride to Guildford Harley Davidson – 10th Birthday Bash Back home after the course, my planning fun started again.

Checking the route for planned closures, road works, etc... on a daily basis managed to provide me the opportunity to have to rework the final route on a couple more occasions, including three road closures on my original route. This saw me checking out sections of the route right up to and including the morning of the ride.

Saturday arrived and what a turnout! Over thirty bikes for the ride down to Guildford. The route was a bit of a magical mystery tour but took us along some lovely roads. I would like to thank everyone for attending and for the comments I received. Leading the ride is a very different experience than being on the ride. You only see the few people behind you in the mirrors and you are dropping them, believing that the system of second man drop off if adhered to works. It is only when you arrive at the destination that you will know.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to go on the course and really enjoyed the ride.

Andy Message from Darren - our new member from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, a 130 mile trip each way Having just recently joined Thames Valley Chapter the ride out to Guildford Harley Birthday bash and Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice was an ideal opportunity to meet up with other members and support the great work being done at the hospice.

The sun was shining and there was a good turn out of bikes for the ride, everybody was very welcoming and great to ride around some new scenery. The ride was managed perfectly by the road captain with a good variation of road types and scenery, a really good fun day out all round. I’ll be back for many more ride outs 20

We now have 5 guys from Fenlanders as members of the Thames Valley Chapter - Allen, Sam, Darren, Colin and Tony, Welcome to you all.

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Alexander Devine Egg Run Saturday 29th March. Easter Egg Run to Alexander Devine Hospice, Maidenhead. Over 30 Harley's left Reading Harley Davidson in the sunshine for a ride around the Berkshire countryside. Destined to deliver higher value chocolate eggs to make raffle baskets for their corporate sponsors. A fantastic day with the hospice bathed in warmth, not all supplied by the sun ! Well done and thanks to all who donated. Thanks to Hayley for turning the idea into reality, for the roadcrew for getting everyone there safely, to Janet and Chris Smith for delivering the eggs to site and finally to all of our members, both participating and supporting !

If you have any photos or video of the day, which you would like to share, please let our photography team know.

Message from Alexander Devine To Our Friends at Thames Valley HOG Chapter Thank you for organising such a lovely ride out to the Hospice today.

We absolutely loved seeing everyone and it was so good to see so many new and different faces too as well as those that we know and love.

We are so thankful for all your beautiful eggs, they are going to make some beautiful hampers this week. Will take pics once we’ve made them up. Nick passed over cash collected on the day, which we’ll use to buy extra bits for the hampers that may be needed.

Thanks to Hayley for making this possible and to the Chapter for the time, energy and enthusiasm you always show. It was so great to see you again and thanks for all your ongoing support.

Julia Philipson 26

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Day trip to Hollycombe Steam Fair Sunday May 19th 2019

9.30am for a 10am depart from Reading Harley Davidson.

Cost of admission on a group rate (must be more than 15 people) Adults £15 Seniors £13. Ride will still go if not 15 people – but cost will be £17/£15. Pay once and visit as many times as you like with the same ticket. Sign up at Club Night Wednesday April 17th with advance payments in to secure the group rate.

Ride is approx 60 miles, 90 mins with parking on matted grass – so puck stands advised. Participants may make their own way back.

Hollycombe has a café and lots of attractions.

See https://www.hollycombe.co.uk/ If ride cancelled due to bad weather – then tickets will still be valid.

You just have to drive!

Lead Jo Green Tail Alan Miles 29

Biker's Corner Alex MacDonald (MAC) tells his story of his Heritage Softail “Coffin Dodger�.

What Year and Model I bought the bike from Thames Valley Harley-Davidson when it was in Altwood Road, Maidenhead. It was a 1999 Heritage Softail. I bought it in 2003 trading in my Triumph Trident 750. I went in to the dealership to buy a sportster after a number of minor accidents on the Triumph as my legs did not touch the ground on an unlevelled surface and you had to take the petrol tank off to do any work on the bike, that included getting to the spark plugs. I was fortunate to by chance meet Colin Wilkins. He introduced me to the idea of chapter riding. I used the Triumph Trident 750 to commute to work summer and winter.

What made me buy it?

Firstly I rode it to Marlow and back. I was just a very comfortable bike with bags of room for all my gear and I was rather taken by the three front lights, but foremost I can put both boots on the ground at the same time.

What Mods has she got.

When I bought the bike it had a rear and a sissy bar they may have been add-ons. I have not bought a great deal over the years. Eagle covers for the lights, a rear leather bag, an exhaust pipe, rear LED 30

brake lights an exhaust pipe and heated grips.

The Best Times This has to be my trips to Aviemore and riding around the Highlands.

The A82 is one of my favourite routes through Glencoe and Rannoch Moor with a stop at the Green Welly for a bottle of The Laddie. I have been making this journey since 2008. I also found a Little hotel and a nice castle while I was riding round Dumfries and Galloway. Christine and I were married there in 2010. I have enjoyed making friend on chapter rides, rallies including rides to France and Belgium with a camera in my bag.

The Worst Time This just has to be riding back from a great weekend at The Cider Rally. I was on the M5 on a pleasant morning. I took the lane from the M5 to the the M4. Suddenly black clouds gathered round and I could just see large bridge in the murky distance and a sign that read “Croeso I Gymri� with a rather large angry red dragon ???. At that point the heavens opened and I was thoroughly soaked from above and blown for side to side over the bridge into Wales. I had to ride a lot further 10 miles before I could turn around and head back over the Bridge for another gauntlet of rain and wind before I reached civilisation. Well that was the end of it, I was soaked to the skin and my goggles were half full of water. I headed home along the M4 to junction 9 then north to High Wycombe and a hot soak in the bath.

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News from Cloud I thought I’d recap on how the Chapter manages its online presence and communications to our membership and the outside world.

Facebook Thames Valley HOG Chapter Public Page can be found by searching Thames Valley Harley Owners Group or go directly to https://www.facebook.com/thamesvalleyhog.org.uk/. This is our main Facebook group and is Open to members and nonmembers Thames Valley HOG Members Page can be searched using 9746 or by going directly to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ thamesvalleyhog/. This is open to members only Thames Valley HOG Members Ladies of Harley page can be searched using 9746 LOH or go directly to https:// www.facebook.com/groups/TVLOH9746/ and is open to members only Valley Rally Public Page is open to members or non-members and can be searched by using Valley Rally or by going directly to https://www.facebook.com/ThamesValleyRally/ Websites We have two websites: The main Chapter website and a dedicated Valley Rally site . There are clear links within each website to open the other.

Main Chapter Website (https://thamesvalleyhog.org.uk/). This contains all our main content, calendar of social events and rideouts, Club photos, Club magazines, current and past editions, Safety information, Membership form, Contact information for all committee members, join mailing lists and SMS alerts Valley Rally (https://thamesvalleyrally.co.uk/) has Up to date Rally information and can be used to book tickets and See location and camping details 32

Phone App The Club phone app is available to members with smartphones and tablets; you can access all features on the main Club website including the all-important calendar.

To install the phone-app you’ll need to the install and signup to “Team App” application from your phone’s app store and then search for 9746, our chapter number.

It’s important to mention that no new information is on the Phone App, it simply links to existing website pages. If you don’t want to install it, you won’t be losing out.

Keeping in Touch with Thames Valley HOG Apart from social media and the websites, the Club does send out regular and emergency communications. These take the form of email and phone text messages.

We have two mailing lists: one for general Club news, and one focussed for Ladies of Harley. To join our mailing lists, go to the Club website and click the Contact Us or Mailing Lists links.

You can unsubscribe at anytime and we’ll never share your email address with anyone.

We also run a text message alert system. These are used in situations where the Club needs to get emergency or late breaking information to you, such the cancellation of a ride out due to weather. There’s a link at the bottom of every SMS message so you can unsubscribe, and we’ll never share your phone number with anyone. Only active Club members can join the SMS Alert system.

To join, go to the club website and click on SMS Alerts.

You’ll need a website user name and password to access this area which you can reset if you’ve forgotten it or send a message to webmaster@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk to have it reset for you. This may take a day or so to complete.

Robin 33

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