e l a m e f l a n o i t na y r e a t d in e rid
rea ding birt bas hday h
ride to max's
hollycombe stea m fair porch k c o ester st g castl o h e www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
June 2019
Ed Quarters This issue brings you first of summer issue for this year packed with photos and articles of events from rides, birthday party and our most successful European tour as a club – the Hogstock! Temperature is still fluctuating between mid to high teens, and we are hoping for a good summer and most of us would be planning family holidays, rallies and trips with in UK and overseas! Despite these pressure many of you have managed to provide me with article and photos for this issue and beyond and I am ever grateful for these. Please keep sending them! I would like to continue on my environmental theme from last month as I attended oil(wo)man conference in London where there was so much discussion on climate and decarbonization! As an oilman we try to reduce negative impacts on the environment but are never in the forefront! During our Hogstock rides in Netherlands, it was amazing to see how the Dutch are so environment friendly, with recycling of waste, daily travel by cycle and great roads which are not only a treat to ride our motorcycles but also help is better fuel efficiency! The Hogstock was extremely well planned and we had great fun with Bbq’s, rides, rally & the in famous 60s dress up! Rabbit Hill, where we stayed, is a great place for a family break and everyone would definitely recommend to those who missed it to plan a trip by themselves and enjoy the serenity of the surroundings with wildlife all around you. Our other rides this month, summer socials and club nights were well attended. Cider rally was attended by some of our club members and there are few photos in the magazine for you to identify our members with wigs on! Our Road captains have planned many exciting rides to great : s to ion rg.uk places through fantastic routes every weekend over the s s i o bm og. .uk r su alleyh gmag summer, so do plan to join us for these and safe u o v o y nd ames w.tvh Se riding! h w @t tw a tor ed i pl oa d u r O
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Inside this issue Front cover-Hogstock
Look out for our Facebook and instagram tweets
Page 2 Ed Quarters Page 4 - 6 Westie Writes & Softail
Scribblings Page 7 - 8 International Female Ride Page 9-10 Cider Rally Page 11-12 Club Night Page 13 RTTW Page 14-16 Ride to Max's Diner Page 17-18 Hollycombe Steam Fair Ride Page 19 Ride to Porchester Castle Page 20 TV Times Page 21 Committe Members Page 22-25 Reading HD Birthday Bash Page 26-27 May Summer Social Page 28-30 Isle of Mann TT Page 31-37 Hogstock 2019 Page 38-39 Biker's Corner
Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine: Mike J, Mac, Gary, Linda F, Payal, John, Jo, Adam, SImon, Mandy Your contributions are appreciated.
Back cover-Valley Rally
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Softail Scribblings Hi All. Westie is wandering currently and is on his way to the USA for a well-earned holiday, so it has fallen to me to throw some extra words together in his absence. May kicked off with the 28th Cider Rally which was a great weekend by all accounts and a number of those who didn’t attend were at the Reading dealership for the event to support International Female Ride day. Sunday 12th May saw a ride to Max’s Diner led by Chris Smith and the following weekend saw the Dealership Birthday Party on the Saturday which was a great success starting with a Chapter ride from the H Café to arrive by 10 am for the party with burger van, noodles and some excellent live music. This was followed by Jo’s ride to Hollycombe Steam Fair on the Sunday, which was blessed with good weather and a scenic route to a working steam fair where many relived their childhood on fairground rides and as trip on the steam train (including a demonstration of how to put out a track side fire). The route home up the A3 took us through the Hindhead tunnel – always a popular choice. Andy led a ride to Porchester Castle the following weekend which I couldn’t make as I was on family duty whilst Jo was in France, but I heard many good reports from it. This was followed by the amazing Chapter trip to HOG Stock, more of which elsewhere in this magazine. I know Nick would want me to 4
pass on his congratulations to Nick Ekendahl and all the team involved, he was totally chuffed with the success of the Wednesday evening BBQ and we both agreed it was exactly what a good chapter be doing. Top Work all of you. As I type this the weather has turned a bit and unfortunately Bernie’s Fish and Chip run was cancelled which was a shame, however it looks better for Alan’s ride to Jack’s Café tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Later this month (although before club night and this magazine) are the Pocket Full of Rye ride and the Three Cuppas ride which is one of my favourites. At the end of June, we have the Dawn to Dusk Ride from Lowestoft to Lands End which a number of our members are doing – the route this year includes the Reading dealership as the second checkpoint. I’ll be there early to help with checkpoint stamping as the first riders are likely to arrive before 8am. It would be great to see some of you to support the riders as they come through. Later that day we have a ride to Wet and Wild, which is always a good laugh, led by Gary and on Sunday 23rd June Elaine and I running a ride to Oxford Transport Museum. The weekend after is the event of the year – The VALLEY RALLY! If you haven’t got your tickets yet, please get them tonight or see me asap. We need all of you to support our rally to help make it a success! As we move into July we have the Boy’s Weekend in France and the following weekend we are having a club stand at the Woodcote Rally where we will also be providing marshalling support for the car park. It’s been a busy time for me since my last article, you will notice my column title has changed from ‘Gliding On By’ to ‘Softail Scribblings’ as I have changed my bike and gone back to a Softail - along with a couple of other members (I must keep this one longer than 18 months … )
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HOG Stock was an interesting way to run a new bike in, 1,000 miles plus and 5 countries in less than three weeks of ownership. Finally HOG have revamped their mileage pages on the website to tie in with the move to Ride 365 – you now have the ability to customise your bike details linked to the recorded VIN. Mileages can only be updated by the dealership and you can send changes to mileage@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk for capturing an passing on in batches to make Mike Wilson’s life easier. We have a number of changes waiting due to members changing their bikes … 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
Many Thanks Thank you to every one who donated to our daughter’s charity – Brain Tumour Charity, in remembrance of her brother Daniel and husband Graham, who in the last 2 years, have died from brain tumours. The total collected amount is £160. We have donated the money on her Just Giving page under the name of Thames Valley HOG Chapter. Mick & Linda Friend
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International Female Ride Day
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Cider Rally Spot the Thames Valley members all sporting the same wig at the rally
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Cider Rally
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Club Night Our ever so popular club night saw 79 members attending and we signed up a couple if new members too.
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New Members Ruchir & Ritika 12
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Ride to Max’s Diner Most had been looking at the weather, should we or shouldn’t we. April hadn’t been good and the ride to the Tank Museum had blown a few off course, so with others we took the chance. Chris Smith was leading a ride to ‘Max’s Diner’, I know I hear you ask where’s that, like me had never been and thought why not. The route had been meticulously planned, so we arrived early at the BP garage on the A33; I was right, a bit cold, never mind a coffee soon warmed us up. I was sure that others would turn up and so they did, and they kept coming! bikes from TV Hog and Hogs Back. I thought at one point we had new road crew in training as a HD rider with florescent jacket swung into the garage but he thought better of it as he was now seriously out numbered! We were told the ride would take us along the A272 west of Winchester along the South Downs towards Horsham. After a briefing we set off, with Don tailing and Malc marshaling. We headed south on the A33, then turning left working our way across country before again turning left down a country road which 14
became a track only wide enough for bikes or a trike. As you would expect we weren’t going to see traffic here, how wrong we were, meeting a very friendly car driver who pulled up half way up a hedge and high fived the convoy. We then appeared to arrive on the A272, which took us along the South Downs where you could not be disappointed with the roads and views. Other bikes were now out riding, some racing like ‘Carl Fogarty’ in and out of the convoy! We continued to rumble on through spectacular towns and villages before calling into Loomies for a cup of tea. Well I say turn in, but the car park was rammed with bikes everywhere. I had never seen it so busy, they were all clearly lost looking for ‘Max’s Diner’! After a short stop and a regather of troops where a couple decided to terminate the ride, the remainder carried on the search for the ‘Diner’. The sun was now fully out with bikes everywhere as we continued rumbling on towards Horsham. We were finally lead to a location where your first thought was “Where the hell am I”, Chris had clearly got us lost as nobody is going to put a Diner here. Oh how mistaken was I, in the middle of Graylands Estate, was this fabulous small Chapel like Building. Some clearly knew the secret of this place and had arrived earlier by car.
Good planning by Chis and Janet ensured that staff knew we were arriving. We were met by friendly staff that served up an all American experience of fantastic food, including Burgers, Milkshakes and Ribs. 15
A relaxing couple of hours were spent sat in the sun surrounded by bikes and American cars. A great way to spend the afternoon, Chris, a fantastic ride and a superb location if you’re out that way stick it in your sat Nav: RH12 4QD. Simon & Mandy
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Ride to Hollycombe Steam in the country SUNDAY 19th MAY So, the weather looked dodgy at best for this planned ride out to Liphook in Surrey. Leaving from Reading Harley Davidson at 10am, the ride wound its way through some delightful country roads before arriving at Hollycombe just after they opened. Hollycombe is a privately run estate which houses the UK’s biggest collection of working steam exhibits. They have a full steam powered funfair, trains, traction and beam engines as well as a lovely garden and an early type of cinema – called a bioscope. The lively host played a silent Laurel and Hardy film whilst bringing piano mood music to the proceedings. It was great! We enjoyed all the fairground rides (including the big wheel, crazy mirrors, chair-o-planes, haunted house and we went on the steam train ride through the Estate which had some amazing views out over the Surrey Hills AONB. All went well until the train caught some brushwood alight which was on the track! A minor mishap in what was a lovely day out. Thanks to everyone that came along and to Alan Miles for tailing and John Green for being the Marshal. Jo Green Road Captain 17
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Ride to Porchester Castle - Sunday 26th May Having ridden the route several times to get it and the drops right (the last was the day before with Mark Peck, thanks to road closures, etc..), I felt confident that all would be good. I however, wasn’t expecting the turnout that I was greeted with that morning. Dodgy weather forecast, pre-HOGStock and the Sunday of a Bank Holiday, I thought about a dozen would be there, but there were over twenty bikes and a trike ready to hit the road. The route took us through Hartley Wintney, Odiham, Alton and down the A32 passed Loomies. We left the A32 at Wickham taking some local roads across to Fort Nelson and then down the hill to Portchester and its historic castle. Though I say it myself, the countryside we rode through was absolutely beautiful, with the weather improving the vista as we made our way. On arrival at the Castle parking was at a bit of a premium but a group of us were offered space in the drive of a local house, whose owner happened to be a fellow Harley owner. Once everyone was parked up we explored the castle and the fabulous location. A big thank you to Alan Miles and Mark Peck for helping the ride run so smoothly, and to all of you who were able to make the ride. Andy Secretary 19
SUMMER SOCIAL
RIDE OUTS Saturday, 22 June Dawn to Dusk Wet n Wild
July 10th August 14th September 11th October 9th
Sunday, 23 June Oxford Transport Museum
CLUB NIGHTS
Sunday, 7 July Ashridge Estate
June 19th July 17th August 21st September 18th October 16th
Saturday, 20 July Wet n Wild Sunday, 21 July Stratford on Avon
MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES May 2nd June 6th July 4th Aug 7th Sep 5th
Sunday, 28 July 5 Counties Ride Sunday, 4 August Summer Surprise Ride Sunday, 11 August Cotswold Bimble
Friday, 28 - Sunday, 30 June 2019 Thames Valley Rally
Saturday, 17 August Yeovil Fleet Arm Museum
Tickets are now available
Friday, 5 - Monday, 8 July 2019 Boy's Weekend Away
Sunday, 18 August Chilli n Cheese Winchester
Saturday, 13 - Sunday, 14 July 2019 Woodcote Rally
Sunday, 1 September Borde Garden
Friday, 9 - Sunday, 11 August 2019 Convergence Rally
Saturday, 7 September White Waltham Members 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
Reading HD Birthday Bash
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May Summer Social The Beaconsfield Rugby Club was a great venue - The food was excellent as was the ambience, and the company. Nick E gave us a pretty good presentation about Hogstock trip.
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“ 5 go Mad in Isle of Man …… TT “ A different Year from Last …Mike C managed to fit me in with his group as my guys a gap year. Weather last year blistering heat this forecast not so good. Good ride up and met Olaf and Johan in The Wirral. Saturday late morning Ferry so arrive for the 1st Evening Practice session. Cancelled due to the weather. Sadly the theme for the week. Had a meal in Douglas and met some Mad ‘Monkey Bikers’ Yep they ride the course on these ‘Tuned’ mini’s flat out 70+ mph. Sunday practice session from 13.30 course roads closed. Hikoe joined us. Got to ‘Sulby Glen ’Hotel in time to watch, lunch etc after a great ride round part of course and down to ‘Peel’. Met with ‘Cide’ the ‘Samurai Stig’ on his beautiful Kawasaki. Good Practice session went to ride the mountain on return but closed. Ride via ‘Laxey’ where you can get the train up to ‘The Bungalow’ to watch. Found good Curry House later before return Hotel bar. Monday looked like rain so decided to have an ‘Enid Blyton Mo’ and ‘5 go Mad in Isle of Man” and catch a lovely Old Steam train down to ‘CastleTown’ to watch the ‘Southern 100’. Great way to see the Island at a slow pace. ‘Southern 100’ is on a different Couse and it’s Classic TT Bikes from the past and sidecar outfits. Great to watch these old bikes still racing and not holding back. We were lucky with the weather dry South wet North, TT practice cancelled. Tuesday nice day 3 of us rode to Port Erin along some of ‘Southern 100’ course. Then to a deserted quiet Bay before lunch at ‘Niabyl’off the coast road. Rode rest of TT course but Mountain closed so an 28
Ice Cream at ‘Laxey’ before heading for evening session watching from the Grandstand. Met up with Steve an American staying at our Hotel who is touring The World by Bike. Distances he covers on ride outs even put Mark & Alan to shadow. Interesting Guy and wish him luck with his quest. Was a Freezing wind so descended to ‘Trackside’ bar then back to Hotel bar..!!! Wednesday a wet day. Some of guys went to the mountain early but said really misty and not fun. So a chill out day, found good local chippy doing ‘Queenies’ (scallops). Later went to Hotel Norman Wisdom used before going to a bar to watch some ‘Footy’ thing. Guys watching Footy one way Mike & I watching TT stuff other way. Johan seemed quite excited Steve said was like watching Tennis, ball just went to one side then the other …..Back to Hotel Bar…. Thursday an early attempt to ride the mountain before catching Ferry. Murky day but decided to ride complete Course. Good ride around but again the Mountain heavy fog but open. Got to ‘Creg-NyBaa’ end of mountain stretch rain started. Least Mountain part done, rode through Grandstand so did Start to Finish. ;-) Parked up visited Sidecar Outfit ‘The Found Brothers’ even these guys were achieving 112.4/114.2mph ‘Average’ times ;-0 . Think we took an hour + to do course they take approx 19mins…SuperBikes 16mins … 37mls….. crazy… Caught ferry loadsa bikes heading on to Island for TT week. We prefer Practice week as roads not closed off until sessions start in the evening so you can get around. Stayed extra night in The Wirral found great Turkish Restaurant after finding The Travellers Rest Pub stopped food early??? Friday Mike Olaf Myself met for brekkers at my B&B before departing our separate ways good ride back part non motorway after a great week away with good mates and meeting some interesting characters to boot. 29
Sadly as I write this news of a fatality Daley Mathison 27. No one had year, a nightmare for organisers and sadly riders. Thoughts with family left behind. So another ‘Adventure’ ends thanks to all for a great fun trip and yep we’ve already booked for next year ;-) Mike (M1) J
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HOG Stock 2019 I can remember Nick Ekendahl proposing a chapter trip to the 2019 Benelux Rally back at one of last year’s committee meetings and thinking how good it would be if we could get a dozen people over there and take a couple of chalets. Nick took the view of ‘Book it and they will come’ and how right he was. We ended up taking 10 chalets and 56 people travelled over on 40+ bikes, one car and one support van. Alan Miles kindly offered to leave his Breakout at home and drive his van over to carry everyone’s excess baggage along with his Sportster – a fantastic offer that was very well received by those on bikes. Some of the ladies were already over the channel following a Champagne and Chocolate tour the weekend before so they had an extra couple of nights away before meeting the rest of us on route. The majority of us were on a group tunnel booking leaving a 06.15 on the Wednesday morning and sensible decided to stay over the night before in hotels near the tunnel. I set off on Tuesday lunchtime with Ray Shepherd and we managed the whole trip without needing waterproofs, even though the roads were wet we missed the showers. Others arrived in various groups at a couple of hotels and convened in the bar for a cold beverage before dinner. The Travelodge in Ashford was excellent and even had a marked bike parking area under security cameras right outside the main reception – excellent. We were all up early the next morning (I did feel sorry for those with rooms behind the bikes as we set off) and boarded the tunnel in one group. Nick E carried out a briefing on the train and once disembarked set off for the first motorway leg followed by Alan in the van. The first stop was after about 90 minutes and unfortunately Burger King was closed much to Luke’s horror. The next leg 31
included the only real traffic of the day as we hit the ring road around Antwerp but filtering kept the delay to a minimum. At the second stop we met up with the ladies who’d been out earlier and after fuel and food set off for the last leg to Rabbit Hill which was a short distance from the rally site. Once we checked in and caught up with friends from other chapters the local Rock City chapter were on site to book us in to the rally and issue rally packs which saved time the next day. We had a chapter BBQ the first evening organised by our fantastic Activities Team and spent a good few hours all together socialising – such a good start to the rally. Thursday morning was a bit overcast but a number of us set out late morning for a ride out to Arnhem via a scenic route through the local national park stopping for a coffee before viewing the famous bridge (which wasn’t ‘too far’ ). We then returned via a photoshoot at the local dealer in Amersfoort (which unfortunately was closed) Thursday evening saw most of us at the rally site with a few beers in the bar listening to the bands and Robin almost buying a Dodge truck that was taller than him. Friday I spent at the rally site having a good look round the trade stands and watching all the bikes coming in with a cold beer in the sun. There were ride outs organised each day or downloadable routes for those wishing to do their own thing and some chapters organised their own rides – very much a pick and choose. Nick E organised another ride on Saturday to the American Motorcycle Museum in Holland whilst some of the ladies took part in the LOH ride out. After a good look round and coffee we headed of to the Amsterdam Harley dealership where we met up with some of the ladies who’d made their way over with Nick W after their ride. The journey back was interesting as the motorway was closed so we ended riding through Amsterdam. 32
Saturday night was fancy dress night – and TV HOG had some fantastic costumes – excellent effort. The traders had mostly stayed open and it was time to haggle for last bargains before they packed up late that night. We had a couple of vintage buses providing a shuttle service between the rally site and Rabbit Hill which worked perfectly, or very nearly perfectly. Sunday was the big Parade ride which we missed to go and visit some friends over the border in Germany, then the party moved to the dealership in Amersfoort where they were celebrating their 50th birthday along with the Rock City chapter’s 25th. Some of our members had left for home on the Sunday, the rest of us chilled out for one last evening and set off for the return journey on Monday morning with Nick E leading and Jamie and I at the back replacing Chris and Malc who’d left the day before. We broke the journey into the same three stages on the return and this time Burger King was open to keep Luke smiling. We made good time and checked in at Calais early and getting an earlier train. Once off the train we all went our separate ways home. In summary, it was a fantastic trip covering over 1,000 miles and 5 countries and I didn’t even need to wear my waterproofs. Massive thanks must go to Nick E and all the road crew – an amazing achievement. We must do it again. John Green Assistant Director
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Biker's Corner Our new member Adam Wise has a very touching story to share with us. Life, Death and Harley Davidson The 27th November 1999 was one of the happiest days of my life, as I married my wonderful wife Lisa. The years passed and we raised our 3 boys, happy and content with our lot, and as our boys became young men, our thoughts started to drift towards the adventures that lay on the road ahead for us together. The 2nd April 2017 was the saddest day of my life as I held Lisa’s hand whilst she took her last breath, after a short and brave fight against ovarian cancer. What I was about to find out very painfully was not only did I lose Lisa, but also all my hopes and dreams for our future, and my purpose! Life felt pointless and I descended into depression. I eventually found the courage to see a counsellor who helped me recognise, that yes my old life had gone, but I could build a new one, with new adventures and aspirations. As time passed I gave this some thought and a seed of an idea started to grow, I had never ridden a motorcycle in my life, and that had to change. The trouble with depression is that it can rob you of your confidence, and my new partner, Carmen, who had also lost her husband to cancer, recognised this. So rather then wait for me to get round to doing something about the dream, bought me a CBT course. In spring 2018 I rode a motorcycle for the first time, and loved it. That was it I had to get my full license and ride a proper bike. I had found some photos of Lisa from before I knew her, sitting astride a Harley Davidson, so the only decision to make was which model of HD to get. 38
I went down to the Reading dealership, and after spending a couple of fantastic hours sitting on different bikes, I found the one for me, the Fatboy. The deal was done and as part of the package my full licence training was booked. I passed the mod 2 test at the beginning of Sept, and when that day came, what a day! I had gone from never riding a bike to taking my Fatboy out on the road within 6 months. It should have happened sooner, but I have learnt my life is never simple, I was diagnosed with Kidney stones in the summer of 2018, which literally but a block in my path for a while! Lisa loved her rock music and one of her favourite tracks was ‘Black Betty’ by Ram Jam, so the Fatboy has been named ‘Betty’. Lisa also founded a local netball club which has grown in to one of the largest in our area. The club colours are black and red, so Betty has had a paint job in tribute to Lisa, (I’m pleased she choose those colours!). But ‘Betty' is not just about the past, she is also the future, and despite Carmen living in the South of France we have already enjoyed a number of road trips together, with more to look forward to. I have also decided to keep the adventures coming and have booked an EagleTours trip to the USA in Sept this year, riding through Arizona, Nevada and California. I have learnt the hard way that life is for living! Harley Davidson and the Thames Valley Chapter have given me a new perspective on my future, with new friends to meet, new dreams to achieve and new adventures to be had, but most importantly it has given me something that had become pretty rare - a smile on my face! Adam Wise
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