H.O.G Chapter 6655 May 2012 Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter Inside: New Editor Appointed See Page 4 Features: 5. Dingbats 7. 10th Anniversary 2013 9. Birthday Party 10 & 11. The Half- Marathon 12. Ride of Respect to Wootton Bassett 14. West Bay Rideout 16. Prescott Bike Festival Regulars: 2. Director’s Cut 3. Secretary’s Update 4. Committee Round Up 5. Safety Officer Update 6. From the Front 8. Ladies of Harley 8. Cangen Cymraeg 17. Pete & Duncan’s Pump Stop 18. Bazzer’s Page 19. “At a Glance”
Transcript
H.O.G Chapter 6655
May 2012
Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter Inside:
New Editor Appointed
See Page 4
Features:
5. Dingbats
7. 10th Anniversary 2013
9. Birthday Party
10 & 11. The Half-Marathon
12. Ride of Respect to Wootton Bassett
14. West Bay Rideout
16. Prescott Bike Festival
Regulars:
2. Director’s Cut
3. Secretary’s Update
4. Committee Round Up
5. Safety Officer Update
6. From the Front
8. Ladies of Harley
8. Cangen Cymraeg
17. Pete & Duncan’s
Pump Stop
18. Bazzer’s Page
19. “At a Glance”
Director’s Cut By Andy Ball
Page 2
Hi Everyone!
First of all I’d personally like to thank
Mike ‘Badger’ Brake for all his time &
effort as our Editor. Badger had held
that position for several years and has
done a marvellous job and also his
contribution to Committee decisions. So, a big thank you
from the Committee and the Chapter members. I am
delighted to tell you that we have been able to fill the
position with an enthusiastic volunteer - so welcome on
board, Ian Furey-King.
We celebrated the Chapter’s 9th Birthday party at the Ship in Alveston in April, themed as “Casino Royale”. It was good to see so many finely-dressed people with posh frocks and tuxedos, all with £150 worth of funny or ‘queer’ money to burn. I kept one or two for sentimental purposes, the rest I lost at the roulette table...oh hum! It was a great evening never the less, good buffet, good games and great friends.Thanks to all the members who came along, and special thanks to Tony James for or-ganising the party, Lorraine, Mike & Caroline who made and presented the Birthday cake...very nice too. Also to Bill for getting us to dig deep for the raffle; strange, but he wouldn’t take any £50 notes.
Great Western will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2013 and our anniversary subcommittee have come up with ten proposed events to be run through next year. Have a good read and see if there’s anything on there that takes your eye. It’s wide and varied and things can be changed. I’ve just realised that it will be my ninth year as a member....doesn’t time fly when you’re enjoying yourself. In those years I’ve met so many people and hopefully become friends with most, so to all those new members coming in to the Chapter, spread your wings and ride your bikes to both sides of the bridge ...no one bites and, if they do, ask them to remove their dentures first .
The first weekend in May saw the first rally of the season - Bridgwater’s Cider rally; a well subscribed rally, a thou-sand party goers and many a gallon of cider partaken and JD & coke. There may be a report in June if anyone can remember what happened. There’s about 8 weeks before our own Hayfields rally - we may not get the same numbers, but we’ll have a great time. It’s our commemo-rative 5th year rally, so let’s make it a good one. Ticket sales are going well and, before I forget, congratulations to Neil Lewis for having his name pulled at the raffle and getting his ticket money back. Contact Tony James our rally organiser for tickets - you will need a ticket booking form which is also available to download on our web page. For those who didn’t know, The South of England or SOFER rally tickets (3rd – 5th Aug) are now out on sale (£30 gets you in and camping). For the first time ever I was lucky and got hold of a cabin: that’s a private room a steel bed & army blanket, wash basin, radiator & a chair....heaven! All for an extra £43
Andy Kendall our Safety Officer has prepared and pre-sented our Ride-out guidelines, which are up on our web site. Please read these, that’s old and new members alike and, if adhered to, it makes for a well-executed safe and stress free ride-out. and enjoyable to all.
Still plenty of time fill in your H.O.G® mileage forms, and stamped by Riders, of course and handed back to Chris Harding or myself.
Natter night continues at the Ferry Inn, I hear March’s natter was one of the best attended, typical the first one I’ve missed, I had a family anniversary to attend, or was it because I wasn’t there...lol
That’s all for now folks
Ride safe Andy
RoadHOG Many thanks to everyone who has
contributed to this month’s RoadHOG,
and generally been supportive, during
my very brief stint as Guest Editor. It
is great that we have Ian Furey-King
revving up ready for the off! The Edi-
tor needs everyone’s support - ideas,
contributions, and importantly, getting
material in by the deadline. This is
usually the 20th of the month, but be-
cause of many people heading to
Cascais, deadline for the next issue
is MAY 16TH
Peter Roberts
Great Western Birthday Party Hi Folks
Many thanks for all those who attended our Chapter Birthday party, on Saturday
14th April.
I personally enjoyed the whole evening, and, from the feedback I`ve received, so
did most of you.
The Ship Inn put on a great Buffet, and the croupiers made all guests welcome at
the tables, even helping some of you win more chips. But, don`t get fooled into
the bug, this would not happen in a real casino. Quite, the opposite in fact. Our
two biggest chip winners of the evening were Lyn Brake and Darren Sharp. They
received the Crystal Trophies. Another big winner was, The Orchard Trust Charity
fund, which will receive around £300 raised that evening.
I would like to thank: Bob & Hilary Smith, who could not make that evening, and
donated their ticket costs into the Charity fund; Chris & Sue Ford who donated
the Poker set, which raised another £60; Caroline & Mike Filder, who made
a lovely cake and supplied the music; Bill MacDonald, who ran the Raf-
fle and you, the guests, who donated £120 into the Raffle prizes. Last,
but not least, Riders who kindly donated a free service.
Tony James
GWC Secretary’s Update By Yvonne Roberts
Page 3
Hi Everyone,
April showers bring forth May flowers, or so the saying goes! Still need the thermals when riding on the bike though. Roll on those lazy, hazy days of summer and all the exciting
Chapter activities that are lined up – you lucky peo-ple! It’s not long now to our own “Hogs in the Hay-fields” Rally, have YOU got your ticket?
We had a full house yet again for our Bristol Club night in April at the “Cross Hands”, with well over 80 members attending. It must prove that it’s an easier location to get to, and I did hear some very favoura-ble comments. It’s great that some of our Welsh members are coming over to join us too. If you haven’t yet attended a Club night at the “Cross Hands”, give it a go and see what you think.
Baz was pleased to announce how successful our 9 GWC runners had been in all completing the Forest of Dean Half Marathon, in support of the Orchard Trust. A stunning total of £2,000+ will have been raised by them! They all received a well-deserved round of applause at both Club nights. Martin James won the free service, which was kindly do-nated by Riders, by being the closest to guessing the combined average time.
Tony James held a draw for the free Rally ticket, and the lucky winner was Neil Lewis from Swansea, who was very pleased to have more beer money to spend at our Rally!
We had around 40 members at the Cangen Cym-raeg meeting the following evening, and were over-whelmed with new members who were all given a warm welcome!
Jenny and Bill organised our raffles, and as usual you were very generous at both Club nights by do-nating £91 at our Bristol meeting and £66 at our Cangen meeting, making a total of £157 for the Or-chard Trust.
It looks as though a good time was had by all at our 9
th GWC Birthday Party, if the photos on our web-
site are anything to go by.
We are pleased to wel-come 6 new members to our Chapter:
Phillip Lee and guest
Gerald Jones
. . . and Brian Jones, his
Brother !
Simon Evans
Lank and Vanessa
Golding
I think that Lank
must now hold the title of “Tallest person in the
Chapter”!
I am always available at Club nights, and you can also contact me by phone on: 01225 751017 or by e-mail: [email protected]
we should hold a “one off” charity event at Riders
sometime this year, in aid of military personnel suf-
fering from post-traumatic stress, and also the
emergency services. Andy, Jane and Jenny are
going to put their heads together on this, to plan the
details. Martin is also intending holding an open
weekend at Riders this year to celebrate the 10th
Anniversary of the opening of present Riders shop
in Bristol. So a busy time!
We gave a vote of thanks to Badger, our outgoing
Editor, and agreed that this position must be adver-
tised within the Chapter as soon as possible. We
also made plans to produce RoadHOG in the
meantime.
We agreed it was important that the proposals
made by the 10th Anniversary Planning Group, for a
programme of events in 2013, celebrating the 10th
Anniversary of the formation of our Chapter, should
now be circulated to our members to get some
feedback, before proceeding any further.
Other items that were discussed included: providing
First Aid Courses for Road Captains and Marshals,
agreeing that we would have a GWC stand at the
Bristol Bike Show in August, deciding against a joint
Christmas Party with Bridgwater Chapter for this
year, but would be pursuing this for 2013, and hold-
ing a presentation at our Rally of items we will be
donating to the Orchard Trust, involving our mem-
bers who took part in the Forest of Dean Half Mara-
thon.
Tony James joined us and gave us an update on
our Rally, with preparations and ticket sales all go-
ing according to plan.
The date of our next meeting will be May 12th at
10.30am at Riders.
A copy of the full minutes is available on request.
Yvonne Roberts, Secretary
Our Club Nights
St Mary’s Golf & Country
Club
Pencoed
Home of the Cangen Cymraeg
Branch of the Great Western
Chapter
Get together on the 2nd Wednes-
day of the month
7.00pm - 8.00 pm
Plus - “Natter Nights”
the “Old Ferry Inn”, Beachley on the 4th Tuesday
New Editor for RoadHOG
A big welcome to Ian Furey-King who takes over the
handle-bars of our magazine from next month. No
doubt he will be telling us a bit more of his and his
wife Beryl’s interest in WW2 vintage Harleys and
other vehicles
Safety Officer’s Update By Andy Kendall Snr
Page 5
25 ways to
park your
bike on its
side!!!!
Sound familiar???
1. Putting your foot into a hole when
stopping.
2. Putting your foot down on some-
thing slippery when stopping.
3. Locking the front wheel during
over-enthusiastic braking.
4. Not putting the side-stand down
when getting off.
5. Revving the engine, releasing
clutch, and putting feet on pegs when
the light turns green, but the bike's in
neutral.
6. Not putting your foot down when
stopping at red light.
7. Putting your foot down at a toll
booth on the thick layer of grease that
builds up when cars stop.
8. Using too much power when you
pull out of a greasy toll booth.
9. Getting off your bike while it is run-
ning and forgetting that is in gear.
10. Bald tyres and a smatter of rain.
11. After getting fuel at a petrol sta-
tion and holding the bike level with
your legs, in order to fill it completely,
jumping off and forgetting that your
legs were holding it upright not the
side-stand.
12. Side-stand slowly burying itself in
hot tarmac.
13. Side- stand slowly burying itself in
soft ground.
14. Backing up perpendicular to a
steeply-sloped driveway and attempt-
ing to put your foot down on the
downhill side while on a large bike
with a high seat. (By the time your
foot reaches the ground the bike is so
far off centre balance you won't be
able to hold it up.)
15. Backing your bike down a plank,
by yourself, from the bed of a pickup
truck. Works great as long as you
remember that once you start moving,
stopping for any correction is out of
the question. Get two people to stand
on each side of you and the bike.
16. Assuming that all wet roads are
created equal. They are much more
slippery when it first starts to rain -
until the oil and dirt are washed away.
17. Assuming that the condition of a
blind corner is the same as it was the
last time you rode it. Instead you find
sticks, road-kill, oil, rain-wash, stones,
pot holes, rubbish, etc.
18. Using a little too much power turn-
ing the first corner after you've put on
new tyres (with that nice slippery re-
lease compound on them).
19. Being too short for the bike you're
riding, and coming to a stop sign.
20. Your rider hops on before you are
ready.
21. Park pointing downhill, don't leave
it in gear.
22. Park with side stand facing up hill,
side stand is too long.
23. Reaching down to pick up your
gloves/keys/glasses.
24. Forgetting to remove the disc lock
and taking off from the curb with
haste...Tends to break the front
calliper, too.
25. Falling asleep.
Dingbats to Make You Groan and Get Frustrated - Courtesy of Alan Tinsley X Mississippi X Rhine X Danube X Amazon Thames One more river to cross. NEPAINCK Pain in the neck L NCH L NCH Taking you out to lunch BIRTHDAYYY Wise after the event GREENVY Green with envy
ncle Sam Uncle Sam needs you Quack Quack Cluck Cluck Fowl language Tofee Toffe Tophy Toffie Can't spell for toffee Dea No idea HOWE Turn the house upside down GIN RUM A pair of shorts Fairy Wolf
From The Front By Alan “Big Al” Stokes
Page 6
Hi All
I’m not sure if I will get to see all of you attending
the H.O.G Eu-ropean Rally before you set off on your trav-
els. So, firstly I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those members travelling to Portugal in June a safe and pleasant trip. Un-fortunately, I cannot make this one and I am extremely envious of those of you who are going. It looks like a great location with plenty to do and see. Not unlike the
European H.O.G Rally in Spain 2007, and that was a cracker of a time. The sun always helps to put people in the right frame of mind and I’m sure Portugal will be blessed for that week. I’m sure you will do the Great Western proud and party hard. Another Chapter Challenge trophy for the cabinet at Riders would be a great result.
On a different subject, we are now a few weeks into the riding season and so far the weather has been kind. I’m not sure the water authori-ties would agree but heh ho that’s their problem. The ride-outs thus far this year have been well sup-ported, and we have a couple of front runners for this year’s chal-lenge trophy. So far we have Andy RKK Kendall, Ian Johnson and Keith Swarbrick all tied in first place for the most rides attended. Mark Chinnick the reigning champi-on is now one ride behind. This was due to having an unplanned lie in one Sunday morning. All to play for, so let’s keep the pressure on the front runners. I know Mark wants to retain his title, so watch out.
And so to the forthcoming rides:
Sunday 13th
May 2012 –
Graham Roach & Team
“The Cardiff Cruiser”
Join us for a ride that will take a scenic ride around South Wales, taking in the Bike Show at Whitchurch High School. The route will take the A48 to Chepstow, then the A466 to Monmouth. Then onto the B4233 to Abergavenny where there will be a comfort break for coffees, tea and a fag at the Bus Station car park. - always popular with bikers. Leaving will be on to the heads of the valley road to-wards Merthyr Tydfil before turning towards the A469 Rhymney and Caerphilly. Then it’s the B4600 into Cardiff and onto the B4562 for the bike show.
This ride will end in Cardiff.
Meet at McDonalds Car Park M4/J24 for 09.00 a.m. - 09.30 a.m. Be fuelled up and ready to depart at 10.00 a.m.
This is classed as a Level B ride.
Sunday 20th
May 2012 –
Steph Pocock & Team
“The Salisbury Spectacular”
This ride will explore the country-side in the Salisbury area taking in Salisbury Plain and the spectacular Zig Zag hill. Lunch will be catered for en-route.
Meet at The Little Chef (A350 roundabout in Chippenham) for 09.30 a.m. Be fuelled up ready to depart at 10.00 a.m. There is a fuel station adjacent to the Little Chef.
The ride is approximately 160/180 miles and is classed as Level B
Sunday 3rd
June 2012 –
Graham Roach & Team
“Royal Welsh Bike Show”
The ride will take in a route that ends at the Welsh Bike show in Builth Wells.
Final route is currently being con-firmed. Full details to follow, so please keep an eye on the website and next month’s magazine.
Sunday 24th
June 2012 –
Bazzer & Team
“Rambling in Radnor Forest”
Why not join us for a great day out in Herefordshire and mid-Wales. The team has pulled together a fantastic route for riding.
Meet at Severn View (Aust) ser-vices at 09.00 a.m. Please be fuelled up and ready to depart at 09.30 a.m.
The route will take M48 to Chep-stow. Then A466 to Monmouth bearing right onto A40 and left onto A4137 heading to Hereford on the A49. Picking up the A438 where there will be a stop for fuel, coffee and a pee at Sainsbury’s (approximately 20 mins). Then re-join the A438 and heading onto the A4111, left onto the A44 Crossgates and into Rhayader for lunch and fuel (if needed).
The return journey will be A470 Builth Wells, A479 Tretower, left onto the A40 for Abergavenny for a planned 20 minute coffee break. Leave Abergavenny and pick up B4598 to Usk, left on A472 and left onto B4235. Turn right on A466 to Chepstow, A460 to the M48 finish-ing at Severn View (Aust) services
The ride in approximately 170 miles and is class B. All are good A and B roads with nothing too chal-lenging.
For last minute updates please call the “Hotline” on 08444 994508 and please keep a check on the website for chang-
es.
Please see below some guidance details
of the rides:
Level A - Short and easy below 100 miles round trip.
Level B - Fine for average riders but may be a bit longer.
Level C – Can include some complex sec-tions but mainly a longer duration.
Firstly I would like to say a “thank you” to everyone who sponsored me to run the Forest of Dean Half Marathon. For me it was a great achievement to complete the run and I’m sure you will have fun reading the race reports from us all on Bazzer’s page.
Our 1st Gurzels rehearsals took place at Long Fox Manor, compliments of Les, and plans are in motion for our Rally. It’s not too late to join in, but you will have to make the May rehearsals. Please contact me if you are planning on joining us.
I will also be asking for volunteers to help in the hospitali-ty tent at our rally so that’s from the Friday 6th July – 8th July, serving tea/coffee, handing out rally packs; so la-dies, if you want to help out, let me know (contact details at the bottom of page).
We are planning on having a “pink” theme as some of us ladies wanted to run “the race for life” but due to commit-ments we were not able to find a race that we could all attend. So, yes you can come dressed in pink; also, for all the men that read this page: yes you can dress in pink too.
Stu and I attended the Casino Royale evening and it was great to dress up. The food and company were good - not so sure about the funny money though. Is it a king or a queen’s head on there? Perhaps he resides at the “pink palace” lol.
Whilst writing this article, the Cider Rally is just 16 days
away; not that I’m counting, but it the first rally of the year and not too far to travel. Plus we are up-grading this year: yes having a chalet, but I’m sure like most, it’s great to catch up with friends old and new.
After approx 2 years of being a Road Marshal for the Chapter, I’m off to do a Road Captain’s Training Course in Oxford with 4 other Marshals hopefully all the training and patience from Bazzer and Stu will pay off.
Looking at the “At A Glance” calendar, there are plenty of events to pick and choose from. Like most, I am looking forward to the Portugal H.O.G. â Rally - should be a good trip but, whatever you decide to do this year, have fun.
The day started early with the drive up to Speech House. One of the first to drive into the car park field and we left a track through the white frost(cold) on the ground.Coaxed myself out of the van to go and get my chip for the race, back at the van and Julie had made a cup of tea(hot).Went in search of the other mad members that were going do the race; they slowly arrived and we had our photo taken. Next thing to do was line up for the loo. 9.45AM first call for runners to go to the start (about 3000 runners). The race starts and along the road on the flat for about 1 mile then down hill which went on for a long while then the climb back up hill I think that went on for about 5 miles, down hill up hill and down hill at 11 mile to 12 mile it was the hill to sort out the wheat from the chaff, then the last mile over the rocks and the fin-ish line.
Sue Jack (2hrs 26m 34s) I avoid cold conditions at every opportunity, for example I do not join Stuart on any ride out if there is the remotest
chance that the weather will not be warm and sunny. Yet there I was at 8 o’clock, in the middle of the Forest of
Dean in minus temperatures, the frost was thick and white on the ground and slowly but very surely penetrating
through my trainers and into my feet. However the sun was shining brightly promising a beautiful spring day. Hav-
ing attached my timing chip, I was looking for my promised tee-shirt – not available – oh!! Now what shall I wear?
Then it was time for a photo shot before making the final preparations before I joined the 2000 other lean and well-
honed athletes to run effortlessly like a gazelle along the tracks and by-ways (No, Really!!). I left Stuart to juggle
with the four thick layers of clothing which had stopped me from freezing up to this point, also bottles of drink, cam-
eras, bananas etc., - all the necessities of the day. He’s fine; all he has to do for the next two hours is drink coffee,
eat bacon sarnies and talk rubbish. The course was not as bad as I had anticipated and I was keeping to my 10
minute mile speed up to the eleven mile mark. Then it all went pear shaped as the final two miles were over a
steady unremitting incline but eventually the “Finish” came into view and I breathed a sigh of relief, or would have
done if I could breathe!! We all completed the run reasonably unscathed. Jane had very kindly made reservations
for us at a local hostelry- thank you Jane, we appreciated that. It had been a long time since breakfast. A big
thank you too must go to Bazzer for all his work to co ordinate the day
Page 10
Bazzer (1hr 54m 47s)
Having done the same race 5 years ago
in 1hr 59 mins I wanted to prove to myself
I could still do it in under 2 hrs at 55, so
this time training was more intense with
longer runs like over the Severn Bridge
and back. On the day it was still tough
with a steep climb between 6 and 7 miles
and another climb right at the end fol-
lowed by a cobbled trail which felt like
running when you’re drunk, legs all over
the place! Anyway I was well pleased to
cross the line in 1hr 54 mins with no ill
effect the day after, apart from stiff legs
and a touch of the Farmer Giles!! Where
is Jackie with the cream when you need
help!!
Anita Cockwell “Cockers No.630” (3hrs 2m
16s)
I blame Jane. I still recall her looking at me and say-ing........”go on Anita, go on” almost hypnotically. I thought about it (not enough obviously) and decided that I would be part of the Chapter team taking part in the Forest of Dean Half Marathon in aid of The Orchard Trust. I sent my email informing Baz I had signed up and his response was “had I had too many shandies when I did this”. But several months on (and not enough training) the morning of 1st April was upon me. I could do this, I think? Whatever fears I had it was too late. This was something I really wanted to do and complete, I wasn’t worried about finish times (ok I wanted to complete before they took the finish line down) but it was the achievement aspect in that I didn’t want to let the team, the Chapter , The Orchard Trust or myself down. It was a difficult run for me and ran the majority of time alone due to my somewhat slower pace of foot (and I must understand what ’ incline’ means next time)but once I had the 10 mile marker in my sights I smiled broadly nothing was going to stop me now. At the last turn towards the finish I saw Mark and Julie (who had already finished!) looking out for me and then I was caught up in all the encouragement being shouted at me by the other team and Chapter members with Baz and Julie now holding the Chapter flag behind me I crossed that finish line! What a feeling! I didn’t get the T-Shirt but I got the medal and that’s enough for me. I can’t thank everyone enough for the fantastic support they showed me before, during and after the race.
Jeff Gleed (2hrs 20m 41s)
To say I was nervous before the start was a bit of
an understatement, the training had been really
hard and we had only done 10 miles at most, af-
ter which I was hobbling like an old man. Fortu-
nately the buzz at the start of the race raised my
adrenaline levels so I felt as ready as I would ev-
er be.The first few miles were surprisingly easy,
although seeing Julie disappear into the distance
made me realise we were running quite slowly. I
began to think, “I might be able to do this”. That
was really quite exciting but then the hill started
and went on and on and on until my muscles
were hurting. Just had to fix on a person in front
and keep them in distance. I then got into a bit of
a zone and put one foot in front of the other,
ticked off the miles and push hard. Finally the
finish line was in sight, I wondered how I could do
the last uphill 100m until I saw Baz shouting at
me, then Julie farther on and I had made it. I real-
ised I was in a complete daze and only remember
Julie putting the medal around my neck and giv-
ing me an energy drink. It was really really hard
but really quite amazing and I would recommend
it to anyone.
Nigel Bateman (2hrs 12m 2s)
Sue Vass (2hrs 13m 18s)
1st April 2012 Page 11
Ride of Respect 2012 By Kevin Lear
Page 12
Whilst out for a ride on an unusually sunny February day, I noticed some road signs advertising severe de-lays for the Ride of Respect through Royal Wootton Bassett on Mother’s Day, the 18
th March. Having been
on the previous two year’s rides I made some en-quires and checked out the website. This year’s event was being organised by the Royal British Legion and was to be the last ride through Royal Wootton Bassett as the nearby airbase of RAF Lyneham, where the repatriation of British troops lost in conflicts had previ-ously taken place, had now closed. As both the previ-ous rides had been amazing and emotional events, I booked my tickets and made a few calls & e-mails in case anyone else was interested, as both previous years had prompted a good turnout.
RKK (Kenny Kendal) said he would lead the short ride and a meeting at Chippenham services was arranged for the 18
th.
The weather report was dry and cold for the day as we left for the ride to Chippenham – 2 minutes later and it was raining!! It only lasted for a few miles and by the time we got to Chippenham it was dry.
After a short catch up/coffee and Union Jack flags un-furled, 11 bikes and a trike headed off towards the start point at Hullavington airfield. There were plenty of other bikes around, most of which were also patrioti-cally flying flags.
After arriving at Hullavington we were directed to the airfield where bike tags and wrist bands were checked. This is where one member of the Chapter, who shall remain nameless, had to explain how he had managed to check four people in on one bike!!! (That would have been an interesting sight even though he would have surely been stopped by one of the numerous police supporting and marshalling the event)
We re-grouped and parked up with many others on the airstrip and, even though there was some confu-sion with the trike, we all managed to stay together. We parked by the stage where a rock band was blast-
ing out their set and the food, drink and merchandise stands were sited – a perfect spot!
With a fanfare of horns and waving flags our group left for Royal Wootton Bassett escorted by the police and members of the Royal British Legion Riders. Houses along the route were decorated with flags and goodwill messages. People of all ages were waving flags and clapping as we passed by. These people increased in number as we arrived at Royal Wootton Bassett and slowly rode through the High Street.
Page 13
The people and local community of Royal Wootton
Bassett have on all three rides shown immense sup-
port for the massive fundraising and all the bikers tak-
ing part.
After riding through the town a pre-arranged spot was
chosen to re-group. However due to RKK following his
Sat Nav TOO much there was a slight detour before
the stop. Just goes to show (once again!) that Sat
Nav’s are dangerous when followed blindly – a bit of
common sense and vigilance is still needed!!
After getting fed and watered (no takers for the petrol
tank burger!) we left Royal Wootton Bassett via a sce-
nic route over the Marlborough Downs through
Avebury and then returned back to Chippenham to
complete a memorable and humbling day.
The three rides through Royal Wootton Bassett have
all been special and memorable with thousands of
bikers taking part each year. It is one of the most
worthwhile charity events as it supports ten Service
Charities including the Royal British Legion, Walking
with Wounded, The Army Benevolent Fund and The
Forces Children’s Trust. The repatriations have now
moved to RAF Brize Norton so who knows what will
happen in the future.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think that the repatriations of
British servicemen and women would stop, and that
there would be no need for a Ride of Respect in
2013.........................
Ride of Respect (continued)
Great Western Rally update.
We have had three winners so far this year, getting
their ticket cost refunded.
January: Paul “Flamesy” Bromhead
February: Yvonne Roberts
March: Neil Lewis
Well done. And it could be you next month if you`ve
bought Rally Tickets.
See you soon
Tony James
Wandering to West Bay By Andy “Kenny” Kendall
Page 14
Upon arriving at McDonalds Brislington, for our team ride to West Bay, I was secretly breathing a huge sigh of relief that it was finally going to happen! We had problem after problem during the planning and reccy riding of the route and even the very day before the ride we had to change yet another part of the route again and re-ride the route due to roadworks on the A303. As it turned out, the final change was even better than the original route removing the need for the group to travel on the A303!
I wandered round saying Hi to everyone and gave the briefing which gave rise to the usual heckling and noted that we had a lot of bikes and a trike too, 47 Bikes and a trike according to Eileen. We were on the road, as planned, promptly at 9:30 and headed off towards Podimore services on the A37. This part of the ride was pretty uneventful, apart from Tony Yendle, with his cam-era, taking his life in his hands by standing in the road with the bikes passing either side of him! He was so close I could see the whites of his eyes when I passed him!
We arrived at Podimore Services for our comfort break and were met by a few more members joining the ride. During our stop the entertainment was provided by Dave Vass who was having ‘a little go’ on Keith Swarbrick’s Trike, It was hilarious watching him trying to turn the bike around in the car park but I don’t think he remembered that the wheels at the back are wider than the handlebars on the bike and he very nearly caught one wheel on a parked car!
He even seemed afraid to take his feet off of the ground, not that the trike could actually fall over!!
We carried on towards West Bay via Crewkerne. The
weather was absolutely fabulous, but then I did book the weather for the day back in January!!
As we arrived at West Bay I was beginning to get that feeling of déjà vu as I had only been there the day before and, as much as I had liked the really nice little fish and chip shop which I had found in the harbour, I was begin-ning to tire of them.
We had two and a half hours there, which was more than enough time for everyone to have lunch and wander round the harbour and look at the sights. Some of us also had a look around the bike clothing shop situated at the top of the harbour. I think they did very well from our group, I should have pre- negotiated us some group discounts.
Finally, it was time to go so we mounted up and headed out on the coast road towards Weymouth, which was a really nice twisty scenic road with Chesil Beach and sea views in the distance. Then we cut across country towards Dorchester, which we skirted around and headed up the A352 passing the Cerne Abbas Giant on the way to Sher-borne.
Wandering to West Bay (Continued)
Page 15
There was an amusing little incident on the way that I was told of which involved a cyclist, a tractor and Terry Reece, if anyone wants to buy me a pint or two I may be tempted to reveal the details!
We arrived at Sparkford services for the final comfort break and to say goodbye to the riders who left the ride there. We passed Haynes Motor Museum on the way back which resembled a building site, it looks like they are extending the buildings, perhaps we should revisit it again when it is completed.
How many of you saw the ‘Sheep’ on the roundabout at Shepton Mallet? I guess it helped to make some of the riders feel at home!!
I hope that everyone enjoyed the ride. Thanks for your sup-port and the positive feedback. I look forward to seeing you all on the next one.
Thanks to Bazzzzzzzer, Stu, Jane and Martin for their help with the planning and execution of the ride.
Our Teams’ next ride will be led by Jane Scott and will be on Sunday 24th June where we will be “Rambling in Radnor Forest” See the Website for the full details. Please arrive fully fuelled up and with an empty bladder!!
Well after a week of checking the weather reports daily, instead of looking forward to an early start and a full day out, by Friday every-one was hinting that “I might have to work this weekend” or “my wife wants me home” due to the gloomy damp forecasts!!!! But when Sun-day morning arrived, with glorious sunshine, all talk of work and keep-ing the Missus happy went out of the window. Rising at 4 a.m. (an hour before the alarm - well it was the first time out on MY bike for over 4 weeks) I decided to head downstairs for a coffee, making up a thermos to keep me going for the unusually early meet. Leaving the house at 6 a.m. to head off to Cardiff Gate (5 min ride) I was sure I’d be the first as usual… but no, our Cangen Cymraeg rep was already there, having left his house at 3.15 a.m. !!! Now that is what I call dedi-cation! By 7 a.m. we had 12 bikes ready to go, so with Graham leading off, Green Hornet (AKA Shrek) playing Sweeper and yours truly as break-down man, we made our way down the M4 with our Director join-ing in the pack at Junction 28, then Wideboy slotting in at Magor. We slung a lefty onto the M5, picking up Dave Norton before pulling into Michael Wood Services to pick up the Bristol crew, giving us a total of 26 bikes and 29 people. Amazing what a bit of sunshine can do!!!!! We finally arrived at the show about half nine, to endure the un-pleasant task of parking on a wet slippery field. I am happy to say we all completed this first challenge. The trade stalls and hill climb were quite good, with plenty of old and new bikes and cars doing runs up the hill; even found time to catch up with Holly and Duncan at the Riders Ducati stand but no sign of
a free Ducati hat to keep my
The Group
Now that’s a fishtail pipe, Andy!
Someone preparing for the years after two wheels
The Usual Suspects
A few golden-oldies head dry. Our ride increased to 28 bikes and 31 people as we located a couple of late arrivals (Messrs Payne & Bryn), who believed a 7 a.m. depart was just way too ear-ly!!! Weather continued to hold out with just the odd shower here and there. Even so, we were dreading getting the bikes out of a field car park that had turned into a mud bath, so had a pleasant surprise when this wasn’t as bad as feared and we got On The Road Again….only to have the heavens open up on us! Luckily, although heavy, the rain lasted for just 10 minutes or so, leaving us a dry ride for the rest of the homeward trip. As the ride came to a close, we pulled into Michael Wood for a chance to say our goodbyes then it was just the final leg to the M4 and home. Considering the various dismal forecasts, the weather was kind to us and we had a great day; but as I sat down to write this I spared a thought for our dedicated Rep who still had another 2 hours to go to finish off his 16 hour day out!!!
Pete and Duncan’s Pump Stop
Page 17
‘A quarter of the way through 2012 and it’s starting to warm up at last’, or so I said last month. April does seem to have been pretty chilly and has reverted to what we used to expect for the month, with sudden torrential showers. Cloud-watching has become a pre-occupation, while trying to figure out whether we do, or don’t, head off for a ride on the bike. Hopefully, though, it might indicate the possibility of a decent summer and some great riding trips ahead. As I’m writing this, It’s only 45 days until we head off to
Cascais for the European H.O.G. Rally, in the company of Graham Roach, Sean, Darren, Si, my “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” buddy Ian, et al., plus spouses. It’ll be great for Yvonne and me having the route and accommodation all planned out for us, for a change. However, we do need to be thinking about buying that warning triangle and spare bulbs; then, of course there will be those mandatory sin-gle-shot breathalyser kits to buy on the ferry, now that it’s the law in France. Need to buy 2 – one, in case you’ve been drinking, and the other to prove to the gendarmerie that you have a functional one to test yourself. At least we won’t have to think about hi-viz clothing for getting through Europe until January 1st next year and then Ire-land the year after – what fun! The weekend, just past, was very busy – early Saturday afternoon I was in Riders, working my laptop while Chris Harding gave a PowerPoint presentation for the “Refresher Ride” afternoon. He was accompanied by Safety Officer, Andy Kendall, Head Road Captain, Big Al Stokes, Nige “Wide Boy” Garnett and Tony Yendle. Very impressive indeed, particularly as it was all for the benefit of just two members who came along (Jim Plummer and Darrell Hall – both very experienced riders). While I shoved the projection screen and other gear back in the car, they all headed off for the ride. I went along last year and had a great time. Just doing something focussed like that, every so often, is good. It’s rather like Bike Safe, which helps get you out of your bad habits. The following day, it was the Prescott Bike festival, which was a new one for me. From Michael Wood services, it was a ride straight up the M5 until we joined the A46, just past Cheltenham. Riding about two thirds of the way back, I was bemused to watch a group of ten or so bikes in front of me repeatedly pull out en masse to overtake – sheep or lemmings? Some candidates for the Chapter’s Refresher Course? Don’t mention “Parking” at Prescott – a sodden cow-field complete with the brown stuff in abundance. I saw one sports bike parked horizontally (maybe this should be number 26 in Andy Kendall’s article), but aside from Nige Garnett’s rear-end trying to do its own thing through the mud, we all survived, but dirty! Sean Gully has written more about the day, but I did grab this pic of the Blood Bikers riding The Hill.
Later in the day, after negotiat-ing my way out of that field, the ride back involved a wash, courtesy of a Porsche 911 pow-ering past me with its screen wash on full blast – tasty face-full. Then it was the rain to wash the tyres (caked on the side-walls though) and finally, coming up onto the Cotswold
edge at Dyrham, high above Bath, there was a hail storm – gee that really hurt on the face. Home, a serious bike wash – so much mud to get off – and then over to Salis-bury to take grand-daughter Emily home and to pick up our daughter from the train station, after running the Lon-don Marathon in 3h 12 min (not bad for a forty-something year old!)
Lastly, Mark Chinnick can’t possibly es-cape the Pump Stop this month. Not just con-tent with winning Chap-ter riding chal-lenges in 2011, he has
broadened his horizons, aspiring to win a prize for the best attempt to tow a London lamp post with his Super Low, by means of strong chain and front wheel. Regretta-bly, no photo of this heroic feat! And, on that note, here is Duncan’s Tip of The Month: Now that the new riding season is here, you’ve spent time and money making sure your bike is cosmetically and mechanically ready for the road. Everything is great, or is it .One thing that a lot of us don’t think about is our motor-cycle helmet which, as another season starts, means its another year older. There is a shelf-life for helmets which is 4-5 years max and, despite not dropping it and loving it as much as your bike, the shell does weaken with age. The helmet’s strap also has a hard life so check that it’s not frayed which can be easily done by catching it with your gloves when you put them inside, or from Velcro on your jacket. If you have a full-face helmet make sure the visor locks down properly and is clean. If it’s scratched, replace it, as this will only affect visibility. There are prod-ucts on the market which help protect the paintwork. Clean the inside and stop your visor steaming up, all of which will help you get the full use out of your motorcycle helmet. If you are in any doubt about it, replace it. Safe Riding
Peter and Duncan@Riders
Bazzer’s Page By Barry “Bazzer” Aggett
Page 18
Hi All,
It was a busy month in April for activities. On the 1st April we had the Forest of Dean Trails
Half- Marathon and what a fantastic job our GWC runners did in raising circa £2500 for the Orchard Trust, with help of course from our GWC members’ donations. The plan is to turn this money into purchases and present to the Orchard Trust at the Hogs in The Hayfields Rally, because this way we all get to see exactly how our support is making a tangible dif-ference to life at the Trust. Please see the centre spread to read about our GWC runners’ experiences from the day. Of course we have our competition winner; Martin James whose analytical skills managed to predict the average combined finishing time to within just over 42 seconds and so winning himself a free bike service at Riders - pure luck really but many thanks to Riders of Bristol for their generous donation to the cause.
Next there was the 9th Birthday Party “Casino Royale” on the 14th April, very kindly orga-
nized by Tony James. I hear it was a great success and again please read the separate article by TonyYendle, to learn more about the night and the winners of the funny money!
Next, on the 22nd
April it was the visit to the Prescott Bike Festival, courtesy of Graham Roach – again, see the separate write-up, by Sean Gully.
Last but not least Riders of Bristol held their road show at Abergavenny bus depot car part on the 29
th April.
Looking forward to May, we have the first rally of the season down at Sand Bay: “The Cider Rally”. Yippee, no doubt we will hit the ground running and GWC will be leading the 3 o’clockers. That reminds me, Rob Patson stills owes us a few T-shirts!! AND very lucky for me the fancy dress theme on Saturday night is DISNEY so the spotty dog below could be putting in another appearance, which reminds me of a joke in my recent mag:
‘On Saturday morning a biker was out in his front yard with his young son. Two dogs in his neighbour’s garden were getting it on. The boy asked his dad what they were doing. Not wanting to go into detail with his young son he explained, “The dog on top has hurt his paw and the one on the bottom is helping him home”. ”That’s about right Pop” replied the young son” try to help someone and they’ll sh*** you every time”.’
On that note, I think it’s time to quit whilst I’m ahead.
If you have any ideas for an activity please come and have a chat.
For further details on any event listed visit GWC website “What’s On”
Date Chapter Events Organiser Details May
8th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 9th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
13th Ride out Graham Roach The Cardiff Cruiser 20th Ride out Steph Pocock The Salisbury Spectacular 22nd Natter Night Andy Ball Ferry Inn, Beachley
25th to 27th OTRA Chris Harding Big Brum Bash
June 2nd Activity Barry Aggett Brian Johnson Curry Weekend 3rd Ride out Graham Roach 6th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
12th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 14th to 17th OTRA Chris Harding European Hog Rally Cascais, Portugal
24th Ride out Barry Aggett Rambling in Radnor Forest 26th Natter Night Andy Ball Ferry Inn, Beachley
July 5th Activity Barry Aggett W-S-M Bike Night American Power
6/7&8th Hogs in the Hayfields Tony James Cleve Rugby Club, Bristol 7th Ride out Alan Stokes Hogs in the Hayfields – Tetbury Trekker
10th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 11th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed 15th Activity Barry Aggett Treasure Hunt 24th Natter Night Andy Ball 29th Charity Bill MacDonald Orchard Trust Summer Fete
August 3/4&5th OTRA Chris Harding South of England Rally SOFER 3/4&5th OTRA Andy Kendall Somme, Northern France.
8th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed 12th Ride out Graham Roach 14th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 18th Activity Barry Aggett Bristol Bike Show 19th Ride out Nigel Garnett The Woolacombe Wanderer
23/24/25/26&27 OTRA Chris Harding Cornish Cream Rally 24/25/26&27th OTRA Chris Harding Thunder in the Glens Rally
28th Natter Night Andy Ball
September 4th to 19th OTRA Peter Roberts USA California
9th Ride out Graham Roach 11th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 12th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed 23rd Ride out Steph Pocock White Horses of Wiltshire 25th Natter Night Andy Ball
October 9th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
10th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed 14th Ride out Graham Roach 21st Activity Barry Aggett Hoggin’ the Bridge Curry? 23rd Natter Night Andy Ball 28th Ride out Alan Stokes The Shaftesbury Scrambler
November 13th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 14th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed 11th Ride out Graham Roach 25th Ride out Barry Aggett Evo's to Evesham 27th Natter Night Andy Ball
December 2nd Ride out Nigel Garnett The Christmas Spectacular 11th Club Night Andy Ball Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury 12th Club Night Andy Ball St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
