THE SPARKL E TOUR
BLAZIN ' BIG FU N
R
IN R A M OC K
NIGHT RIDERS www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
October 2018
Ed Quarters Welcome to October's issue of the Tales from the Riverbank. Autumn is now most definitely here. As I write this, the steady and now familiar sound of the rain falling outside has made sure that I should know that Summer has ended. There are many of the Chapter who have braved the weather and made the journey northwards for this year’s Ride To The Wall. I hope your waterproofs held true and you haven’t grown webbed feet. This month brings the end of the Chapter Mileage Challenge. I know that most of you would have clocked up more miles than me this year (on going injury), but however many or few, please get down to the Dealership on Saturday the 27th for Harleyween. We will be down there taking your mileages. If you can remember to bring down your HOG membership card, it will save us time afterwards. As the end of the year draws ever closer, we are looking at the committee for next year. If you are interested in learning more about the Editor role, what it takes to create the magazine, etc… then please let me know. It is a very satisfying role and I get to work with some wonderful people doing this. If this is something that you would like to apply for, please make sure you grab one of the nomination forms. As always, if you have any pictures, stories, favourite rides, etc… that you would like to put in these pages, please email me at editor@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk or upload them directly at www.tvhogmag.uk
Ride safe and have fun! Andy
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Inside this issue Front cover
Launch of the FXDR 114 at Reading Harley Davidson, 4th October
Page 2
Ed Quarters
Page 4
The HOGlines
Page 5
Alexander Devine Santa Dash
Page 6 - 7
Ladies of Harley
Page 8 - 11
The Sparkle Tour
Page 12 - 13
Max's Diner
Page 14 - 15
Last Flanders Field Night Ride
Page 16
TV Times
Page 17
Committee
Page 18 - 21
Blazin' Big Fun
Page 22 - 23
Hashtag
Page 23
FXDR - 114 Launch
Page 24 - 25
Bike Night
Page 26 - 29
Rock Marin
Page 30
Poker Night
Page 31
Dealerships of the World
Back cover
Expectations v Reality
Igor says...
Don't forget to get to the Dealership on Harleyween, 27th October. Get your bikes down for the end of the mileage program, the "Massive" cake sale and don't forget to dress for the occasion.
Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine: Alexander Devine, Cilla, Sue D, Mac, Mike J, Linda, Hayley, Mark, Lawrie, & Dave T
Your contributions are appreiciated.
The HOGlines The planning for 2019’s Valley Rally is now well underway. A dedicated team of volunteers are beavering to make sure that when you arrive at the gate, the entire rally is going to be a great time. This year, we are looking into the possibility of a theme for Saturday night. We have bounced a few ideas around but with your input we can make sure that we are onto a winning theme. What theme will you suggest for the Valley Rally? Please take the time to let us know. We will also be looking for volunteers to help us. We will be looking for people to help us with all aspects of the rally. If you are going and would like to help the Chapter make 2019’s rally awesome, please let Jamie know. Committee nominations for 2019 are now being taken. If you would like to be considered for one of the positions, please ask for a form. You will need to get a couple of signatures (to propose and second your nomination) from any Thames Valley Chapter member with current HOG membership. If you are not sure what is entailed in any position, please talk to us. We are holding the Annual Road Captains meeting at the end of this month. During this meeting we try to map out rides for the coming year that cover the riding season but also appeal to a wide group. If you have any suggestions for rides for next year and would like them to be included in this review, please let us know. You don’t need to have planned the route out, but ideas for destinations are very welcome. There are currently still some available places for you to attend this year’s Thames Valley Chapter Christmas Party. This is being held just around the corner from the Dealership at the Moat house Hotel on the 8th December. Tickets are only £32 per person. If you want to secure your space, please see one of our activities team. And finally, … A little advanced notice. December’s Club night is to be held at Reading Harley Davidson. Mike and his team have kindly extended the invitation to the Chapter for what promises to be another fantastic night.
Hi Ladies! Well, what a month it has been! Since my last article, I’ve been lucky enough to take part in two fantastic eventsthe Sparkle Tour South East and Blazing Big Top Rally. There’s so much to share with you about the Sparkle Tour that I’ve saved it for a separate article in this magazine, so let’s get on to the highlights of Blazing Big Top. The weekend was off to a great start with an excellent qualifying Road Captain ride led by Gary Watts. We had a very impressive turn out for the parade ride on the Saturday. The weather was kind, the bikes were shiny, and the spirits were high! We did very well in the bike show, winning four categories between Sue Knight, Jo Green and I – a great result for Thames Valley Ladies! In the evening, we all donned our circus themed fancy-dress outfits in preparation for the talent show.
What can I say? All those rehearsals at club night (and last minute at the venue) paid off. We had a blast out there on stage and the cheering and clapping we got from the audience was so encouraging. I had so many people come up to me afterwards saying how much they enjoyed our performance, so I’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone who took part. There is already chatter from this year’s talent show team about making things bigger and better next year…I can’t wait!
Now looking to what the next few weeks hold for us. As the riding season is coming to a close, the date for registering closing mileage at the dealership will be 27th October and this will be combined with a fun Harleyween event. There will be a fancy-dress competition and a charity cake stall. I’m very much looking forward to making some Halloween themed bakes! If you’d like to bring along a cake or savoury donation, these can be left in Mike’s office on the Friday afternoon, but take a picture to prove it and to deter him from eating them. Alternatively, you can bring your donation to the stall on Saturday. I will be sneakily bumping up my mileage the week before the closing registration as I will be embarking on my first Iron Hog challenge on 19th October to raise funds in memory of my grandmother. Javier and Mark will be joining me to visit seven dealerships in a maximum of 53.5 hours. It’s a goal that I set myself – to complete the ride within a year of getting my bike license and I’m both excited and scared. Fingers crossed that we have good weather. Fast approaching is our ladies weekend away to the 70s and 80s party at Camber Sands. As the date is drawing closer, I will shortly be releasing more information about what is planned, travelling times, lunch stop off for the Friday etc. so keep an eye on Facebook or on email for updates. Well, that’s all folks for another month, see you soon! Cilla
Ladies of Harley Sparkle Tour South East 2018 Many of you will know that one of the reasons I wanted to learn to ride a Harley was because I wanted to take part in the Sparkle Tour this year. Looking back to last year, I saw the excitement and anticipation in the ladies’ faces as they got ready to depart and, on their return, even wider smiles and elation. I wanted to be part of that. So, fast forward a year, licence sorted, many miles of practice under my belt and bike packed – I was ready to go! We started off the weekend with a meal at a The Poachers Pub on the Thursday night, which gave a good opportunity for us to welcome the ladies travelling from further afield and staying locally overnight and for the very organized Jo to hand out our packs which contained our itineraries, phone numbers for emergencies and our lovely Sparkle Tour t-shirts. Early on the Saturday, the ladies were gathering at Reading H-D, who gave us oil and air checks to ensure we were in good stead for the weekend’s riding. Unfortunately, Sue Moyler arrived at the dealership with a flat tyre but the dealership was on hand to get her back on the road again. Ten bikes, two trikes and fourteen ladies were given a wonderful send off by Mike, Nick and all the gents who came along to wave us off, with fireworks and confetti cannons. It was such a great way for us to leave and make our way to Guildford H-D. The weather was on our side as we made the journey over to the dealership where we were greeted with sugary goodies to refuel us and given lovely mugs as gifts. After a leg stretch and a quick leaf through the clothing
racks we were ready to get back on the road for our next destination – The Crown Inn in Cootham. After a lovely lunch stop, it was time to get back on the road and head over to Shaw H-D. Unfortunately, on the way to the dealership, Sue’s tyre became deflated again. We all found a convenient place to stop – a petrol station - and wait for Sue who skilfully rode her bike to join us. Even though we had stopped off at a petrol station, sod’s law would have it that their air machine wasn’t working. After a few phone calls were made, arrangements were in hand for Shaw H-D to come to the rescue, so we left Sue and Mandy to wait for help and we continued on. After a quick rest at Shaws where we were met by Sue and Mandy, we headed over to our hotel for the weekend – the Landsdowne Hotel in Eastbourne, via a very scenic coastal ride. Day two brought us a visit to Maidstone H-D and Lakeside H-D via a long ride through East Sussex, Kent and Essex. Due to it being a Saturday there was a lot of traffic, which meant…. filtering!! Not something I’m overly confident in, but I for one – and some of the other ladies – felt a real sense of achievement when we made it through to the front of the queue. Particularly memorable parts of the ride were travelling the Dartford crossing – the 1.4km tunnel where some of the ladies (not naming names) made the most of the acoustics and made our presence rather well known and the views from the QE2 bridge on the way back.
On returning to the hotel, we were greeted by the Twinkle Tour who were staying with us for the evening. Sue was celebrating a special birthday and courtesy of Mandy we were all treated to bubbly and a very chocolatey cake. The evening also included a live facetime between all of the Sparkle Tours – so even though there were approximately 90 ladies in different parts of the country celebrating the Sparkle Tour – we were all together! To round off the evening, Jo organised some games for us to play which ended up in a lot of chocolate being dished out as prizes – yum!
So, on to the final day of the tour. One of our ladies – Tracey – had a flat battery. Cue all of us ladies rallying around. Between us we eventually managed to muster a toolkit, jump leads, support vehicle and instructions on how to jump-start a bike…. we did it! I think we all came away with some new knowledge that morning. And so, many of us in disbelief that the weekend was drawing to a close so quickly, we made our final journey – to Max’s Diner in Horsham – via a bit of a detour due to road closures for a cycling race. The welcome party we received from family and friends was amazing! It was a beautifully sunny afternoon and we were so happy that so many people came to welcome us back and have a celebratory milkshake or burger (excellent food at Max’s!). What I will say is that the weekend exceeded my expectations and I was so happy to have been part of it. We laughed together,
mastered the variety of roads together, overcame our challenges together, we sweated uncomfortably in traffic together and all had helmet hair together. But we did it all together and that was the main thing. At Blazing Big Top, we had a little reunion (well, and one interloper) and it gave us the chance to meet the ladies who had been on other Sparkle Tours around the country and share some of Linda’s excellent ginger cake. On speaking to the ladies about what they enjoyed the most, I was told “The live link up with the other Tours was amazing and really helped to re-enforce the idea that each Tour is part of something much bigger and that the community of ladies getting involved is just so amazing” “The fireworks and welcome at Reading Harley Davidson arranged by DP, Mike Wilson and the huge support that our Tour had waiting for us at Max’s Diner” “The knowledge that a group of ladies become friends that stand by each other no matter the obstacles mechanical or otherwise! The frustration, smiles and laughter is what made it a Sparkling weekend!” “An unforgettable weekend with lovely ladies” So, I’d like to round off by saying a huge thank you everyone who was part of this weekend to make it in to a real celebratory event. To our organisers and road crew, the participants, the welcoming dealerships, to those who saw us off and welcomed us back – and for anyone I may have missed – Thank you!! I for one, can’t wait to do it all again.
Cilla
The Last Flanders Field Night Ride 15th September 2018 Rumour has it that this year was the last Flanders Field Chapter Night Ride and I for one will be gutted, cause it's a good weekend. For 25 euro's you get a good days riding along with the night ride and loads to eat and drink along the way. This year Sue & Malc, Ian & Pearl, Pat & Ron and me and Jan hooked up with six members of the Fenlanders Chapter on 14/09/18, to take the train across to Calais and onto to Cassel in France which is a pretty little town on the top of the only hill in the area with cobbled streets and several nice typical French restaurants. Then it was on to Roeselare in Belgium which is about 15 miles outside Ypres very close to the dealership. We unpacked had a quick nana nap and then hit the bars cos we're worth it. We had a fairly leisurely morning on the Saturday, in fact some of us rode to the Hooge Crator for some breakfast. Registration was at midday and the first ride set off at 2pm, I was told there was 250 bikes led by Jean Pierre, their head Road Captain and we meandered around the Belgium countryside for nearly 200 miles and popped into France briefly. During that time we had a drinks stop and a lunch stop all very well organised and included in your ticket price. Then we all descended on the main square at Ypres at about 7.30pm in time for Last Post at 8pm and the start of the night ride at 9pm. Thankfully this year Jean Pierre agreed to lead the Brits around the course which would have been impossible otherwise and we rode over to Nieuwpoort on the coast between Ostend and Dunkirk. I don't often ride at night and we rode at a brisk pace in the pitch black on some those small Belgium roads so it was quite a challenge and made a change and I did feel a sense of achievement having completed it.
We finished the night ride at 1.30am back at their club to be greeted by a large bowl of spag bol and soft drink. Sunday morning Kerry Fielding suggested we went to Tyne Cot the First World War Cemetery which is always chilling for me. I ended up standing on this slight bit of high ground and trying to imagine what went on there some 101 years ago. As you walk round the reception building there is a ladies voice resonating around the site reading out the name and age of the fallen it's very poignant. Tyne Cot is the final resting place of some 12,000 service men, 8300 of which have never been identified. They all died in the fighting around Ypres but most fell during the battle for Passchendale, the third battle for Ypres in 1917. This is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. Your roving reporter Chris Smith
Wednesday, 17 October 19:00 Club Night (Closed Event Members Only) Sunday, 21 October 09:00 A Ride to Jacks Hill Café, Towcester (Closed Event) – Esso Garage near Sportsable for 09:30 depart
Thursday, 29 November Ace cafe Harley Night Tuesday, 4 December 18:00 Committee Meeting (Closed event) Saturday, 8 December Thames Valley Chapter Xmas Party
Thursday, 25 October Ace cafe Harley Night Saturday, 27 October 10:00 – 16:00 Harleyween / Mileage Program Reading Harley Davidson Sunday, 28 October 09:00 Annual Road Captains Meeting (Closed Event) Saturday, 3 November 12:00 – 15:00 Saturday Social - The Golden Retriever, Nine Mile Ride, Crowthorne, Wokingham RG40 3DR Tuesday, 6 November 18:00 Committee Meeting (Closed event) Friday, 9 – Sunday, 11 November Ladies weekend away Wednesday, 21 November 19:00 Club Night (Closed Event Members Only)
Wednesday, 19 December 19:00 Club Night (closed event) At Reading Harley Davidson
Friday, 28 - Sunday, 30 June 2019 Thames Valley Rally Please check the website for the latest on all rides. CLUB NIGHTS November 21st December 19th January 16th February 20th March 20th MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES November 8th December 6th January 3rd February 7th March 7th
2018 Officers & Committee
PRIMARY OFFICERS
Nick West Director
Andy Tunley Assistant Director
Sue Moyler Secretary
COMMITTEE & SUPPORTING OFFICERS CLUB VENUE Burnham Cricket Club Memorial Ground, Taplow Common Road, Burnham, Slough, Berks, SL1 8LP
Priscilla Peck Ladies of Harley
Andy Tunley Editor
Chris Smith Membership
Mike Wilson Malcolm Poulter Dealer Principal Activities
https://www.facebook.com/ thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Lesley Lederer Treasurer
John Green Safety Officer
Robin Sasson Third Wednesday of every month 7:00pm Webmaster
Fred Cotsford Activities
Nick Ekendahl Activities
Jamie McLaughlin Mark Peck Hayley West Head Road Captain Social Media Officer Charities Officer
Linda Friend Photographer
Alex MacDonald Jamie McLaughlin Photographer Photographer
Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk
Blazing big top bonanza! What a weekend! The last and one of my favourite rallies of the year (Valley Rally being my fave obviously) and it didn't disappoint! Gary Watts bravely took the ride down to the site as his qualifying ride and what a fab ride it was, great route and lunch stop, well done Gary!! The New Forest Chapter excelled themselves again with a fantastic rally at this site. Many of you may remember the Haven site in Weymouth which i loved mainly for the location however the move to Mill Rythe in Hayling Island is a gem. Accommodation basic but clean and comfortable and the food plentiful in choice and quality, many comments on how good it is for mass catering! The weather was glorious all weekend which meant the parade ride was well attended and pleasant with many hanging around for ice cream and the allimportant bike show of which six TV members entered with four winning prizes. A huge well done and congratulations to Jo, Priscilla and Sue Knight, win or lose it was great to see so many entrants from Thames Valley! The icing and cherry on top was a fantastic fancy dress attendance from all members of Thames Valley and a show stopping performance from the TV Big Tops on Saturday night. Our dance performance didn't win however it was such fun and I know a few of us ladies got some comments about how we were robbed of the win! A huge thank you to all who participated and a special thanks to Sarah Polat for her time and patience with the choreography. I cannot express how happy (and surprised!) I was with the TV attendance and involvement over the weekend (even my Dad dressed up for the circus themed fancy dress!) It reflects well on the chapter and really makes it a fun and inclusive weekend for everyone. A huge thank you to those who made it a great weekend- your company made it all the better! If you haven't been to this rally before I highly recommend it. Watch out for the 2019 details being released in the next couple of months, I will definitely be booking for next year! Hayley
Roll up, roll up, roll up! The circus fun is about to begin... And what fun it was at Mill Rythe Holiday Park on Hayling Island. A big thanks must go to the New Forest Chapter, whose goodie bag was brilliant. The food was plentiful and many choices, and of course the company was amazing. The Saturday afternoon bike show in Eastoke was truly memorable as the Massive came away with four awards. Saturday evening was a fancy dress bonanza, and I am sure the Thames Valley Massive will agree that we were robbed in the talent show. Sunday saw some people going home, but a lot staying, a mixed bag with some going for ride outs or just quick rides up the coast. Here's to next years Blazin! Linda
Hashtag Welcome back! It's been a super-busy year with many rallies, ride-outs and adventures. And it's been great seeing and following many Chapter members as they travel the UK and abroad. As you may be aware, our Facebook (FB) presence has been evolving and we have three groups and two pages. As a reminder, a group is a closed environment, typically open to members and close friends of the Chapter, whereas the pages are open to the wider public. We have one page dedicated to advertising the Chapter itself and more recently we now have one dedicated to the Valley Rally. No doubt you will see a call for ideas for the theme for the 2019 rally elsewhere in this issue and it would be great to hear your views. The page will then adapt and develop as we make progress toward the rally date. And I'm glad to report that we now around three times as many followers of our main Chapter page as we have actual members. This is a great achievement and helps to publicise the Chapter to a much wider audience. But, we want to grow it some more! To do that, we need you! Or, more precisely, your photos and videos. So, it's fantastic that members have posted into the Chapter groups. But, we'd like to see submissions for the main page we can share with a wider audience and help promote the club too. You can do that by either messaging or emailing me contact details are at the bottom. Don't worry if you think your video or pics need editing first - I can potentially help and am more than happy to work with you to get a finished product you are happy to share. If you're not on FB or not sure where the pages and groups are: Pages: Main Chapter Page: https://www.facebook.com/thamesvalleyhog.org.uk/ Valley Rally Page: https://www.facebook.com/ThamesValleyRally/ Groups: Main Chapter Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thamesvalleyhog/ LoH specific Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TVLOH9746/ Please be aware that to see content within the groups you will need to request to join the group if you have not already done so. The pages can be viewed anytime and do not require you to specifically join - although, I do encourage you to "like"
and "follow" the pages to keep up to date as we post more content. If you want to contact me, you can do so via: FB: https://www.facebook.com/socialmedia.thamesvalley.7 Email: socialmedia@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk In Person: Can sometimes be seen wandering around with a vacant look at club nights and the dealership! Regards & Happy Riding! Mark Peck Social Media & Comms Officer
FXDR - 114 - The Launch
The Last Open Bike Night of 2018
“Rock Marin’s” ‘3’ Emme Edition Chatting at Club Night “Rock Marin’s Festival” mentioned. Good small local biker rally near to Ralph’s place at Saint Valery Sur Somme. May be the last one held so a plan hatched, plus Mike Connolly’s B/Day so a double reason to go ;-) Some staying at Ralph’s other at his friends place. Weather forecast for trip good. Motley crew of 11 gathered at the Tesco’s M20. First stop lunch at Le Touquet . Took the coast road we used on ‘The Lads Weekend’ lovely ride and views. Then arrived at St Valery and agreed to meet at a bar at the mouth of the estuary to watch the sunset. Then to a beer house next to our ‘gite’, great selection of different beers had to be sampled, before restaurant next door. Great start ;-) Next morning Stevie Erle & I walked through St Valery & along the banks of the River Somme to the rally site to register. St Valery has a lot to offer quite a lively town old & new with selection of shops, restaurants and bars. Also boats, canoes you can hire has a chilled feel to it and a steam train (later) + lovely walk & not far from UK. Rally had some really good trader stands with lots of different things to buy. Not only leather goods, artefacts and clothes but knives, knuckle dusters even sword walking sticks. Wasn’t quite sure how Customs would feel about those found on the bike!!!! Also some very nice custom bikes on show. Good music playing all day, sun up and really relaxed atmosphere. Others arrived on the bikes so a gathering at the bar. Later our group went to a really nice restaurant in town and Ralph’s crew went evening session at rally. Sunday market day on the banks of the river. Lots of interesting items for sale very different than UK & extremely busy, so few things bought. Watched the guys come past on the rally town ride out. Then we rode to the rally to join them and watch the Rolling Stones tribute band oh & a bit of ‘retail therapy’. Back to town later for again a good meal.
Monday - Mikes birthday … four of group left. Meant Stevie Erle & I would have to cook our own brekkers. Thanks Karen, Yvonne you did a great job ;-). Ralph had planned a non ride day on the local steam train around the bay to ‘Le Crotoy’. Was thought best as few beers may be sunk !!! Was like going back in time & you can feel what it must have been like travelling across Africa or India in bygone days. Two places Ralph/Mike knew were sadly closed on Mondays but suitable alternatives found. Had moules and frittes washed down with a few beers .. Return to St Valery and met at friend of Ralph’s restaurant for really good birthday meal and then a gathering back at Ralph’s .. Think Mike had a good birthday ;-) Tuesday Ralph, Geoff, Stuart, & Alan left. We decided to go to ‘EU’ Lovely church/ cathedral dating back to 966 SaintLaurent d-EU and associated with Richard II, links with Hastings and Normandy. Then went to Mers –les-Bans. Had some nice crepes there and viewed the cliffs that looked like Dover. Sure were attached to millions of years ago. Good ride back on empty roads. Just 1 Gendarme found with a speed camera !!! That evening walked to Mike as on his own now with a rum from Bermuda as a starter tipple. Went to a great cheese restaurant just round the
corner and was served platter of cheeses and cold meats with smooth red wine served by the lovely Laura. Wednesday woke to dull day ‘Dieppe’ was the plan. Wets on as precaution. We found there was a kite rally on with amazing kites of all shapes and sizes from all over the world. Wind was up and they were flying. Had lunch in the harbour before setting off to call into ‘Le Hourdel’ to see the seals. Managed to see one playing but not many around. Last night, back to cheese bar. Owners son explained the flavours of the cheeses and meats plus the order to eat them in to gain the best flavours that complement. Very interesting and flavours were "delish", oh and the wine. Back to Mike's final tipple as we were leaving Thursday and he was staying on to Recce ‘The Opale Shore Rally’ on his return Friday. Was a great chilled, relaxed break and thanks to all for good trip and company and hope rally organisers can continue for next year cos we’ll be there….. :-) Mike (M1) J
Poker Night Here we are at the penultimate poker night, everyone trying to make their poker hand even better. A firm favourite the Fox and Pheasant at Stoke Poges Linda
Visit to Antalya dealership The holiday is finished so I thought I would share my trip. So, after laying in the sun and drinking and eating far too much, I thought it would be a good idea to visit the Harley Davidson Dealership in Antalya Turkey and buy some poker chips. So, I hired a car with air con and set off all good so far after driving for nearly three hours we get to the outskirts of Antalya where the satnav throws a fit and packs up. Great! On the outskirts of a large busy city cars and bikes everywhere. So, out comes my phone trusty Google Maps which send me down a tram line I didn’t go down. It finally found the dealership and a lovely welcome coffee served to us as we looked around. Quite small with only a few bikes, most of them second hand. They had a nice 2016 orange trike, 44,000 euros, ouch! I found a couple of dealer tee shirts and a dealer pin took them to the counter and asked about the poker chips. “Sorry,” the girl said. “no poker chips as gambling is banned in Turkey.” Great! With this, I brought the tee shirts and pin. Wow, did I get a shock! Nearly £100.00 for them. I will never complain about Reading’s prices again. Lawrie
The Brochure
Reality
V