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September 2013 Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter INSIDE
Features
3 - Barcelona Harley
Days
8 - SOFER
11 - Ice Cream Sundae
13 - Facebook Investiga-
tion
14 - Rhayader Weekend
16 - Highland Hootenan-
ny
19 - A Rhode/s Trip
21 - Life’s a Bitch
21 - Roving around
Resolven
Regulars
2 - Director’s Cut
4 - Between the Covers
5 - Secretary’s Update
7 - From the Front
9 - Cangen Cymraeg
10 - Ladies of Harley
12 - Cockers Bits
20 -10th Anniversary
Events
23 - Pete & Duncan’s
Pump Stop
25 - Orchard Trust
27 - At a Glance
H.O.G.® Chapter 6655
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Hi All,
It’s been such a good
summer I’m almost
thinking of putting my
wets on eBay but then
again they leak, so may
not hit the reserve!
We continue to have a
steady flow of new members and I see many new
faces at both meeting nights. The trouble is, new
faces mean new names and I still have trouble with
the old names! Please be assured this is nothing
personal, just a sign of old age.
To all new members, we say, get involved and you’ll
very soon feel part of the family.
Whilst mentioning our meeting nights I must again
say thanks to Sonja for another sterling effort sew-
ing on patches, this time at St Mary’s. Sonja was
beavering away in the corner of our dimly-lit meeting
room for over two hours and raised £50 for the Or-
chard Trust.
I hope you’ve been enjoying the usual monthly
rideouts and there have been a few events since
last month that are worthy of report.
The Orchard Trust held their summer fayre, which
was again a huge success on a sunny day. Circa
twenty of us attended the SOFER rally and thor-
oughly enjoyed the Illegal Eagles on Saturday night.
We also came away as winners of the Clay Pigeon
Shooting Chapter challenge, including Top Gun!
A few of our members attended the Starlight day at
Popham, helping to make it a truly memorable day
for seriously and terminally ill children.
We took up our usual slot at the Bristol Bike Show
and a special mention must go to Bryan Sheppard,
who stood for over six hours shaking the collection
pot for the Orchard Trust. Even more remarkable,
when you know Bryan has a bad knee and was due
to go in for a knee replacement that same week.
Well done mate and hope you’re up and about
asap. Also on the day we had a rosette winner in,
Big Al, for best American bike, even when it was
parked next to mine. ‘Should have gone to Specsav-
ers’ - only joking Al.
By the time you read this, another two of our 10th
Anniversary events will have come and gone, name-
ly the Canoe Fun Day and the Go East Tour. No
doubt both of these will have been full of memories
and you’ll be able to read all the printable highlights
soon. That only leaves the Celebration Dinner, in
October (so book your tickets now) and the LOH trip
to London in November.
Unfortunately one of our members, Trevor Thomp-
son, has been knocked off his bike during the week-
end 17/18th August. Trevor was completely station-
ary at a roundabout and was rear-ended. Thankfully
he did not break any bones, but has a very sore
knee plus some whiplash. Just goes to show you
need eyes in the back of your head on a bike.
The Charity Questionnaire deadline has now
passed, so we’ll be feeding back the results during
September.
As announced during the August meeting nights,
your Committee has decided that GWC will not be
launching a Facebook page. We realise this will not
please everyone, so I have prepared a summary of
the decision-making process, which you can read
later in this issue.
Planning for 2014 is already underway, with an invi-
tation for GWC members to join us for the Euro Fes-
tival Port Grimaud in May. Also, our Hogs in the
Hayfields rally will be back at Cleve in June; so, if
you would like to be involved in the rally planning,
please contact either Tony James, Anita Cockwell
or myself and we’ll include you on the list for a rally
planning meeting end of September/early October
this year.
For full details of all our events please visit the web-
site as this is being frequently updated as events
firm up and if you find anything missing please re-
mind us, we’re only human!
Barry “Bazzzzer” Aggett
Director
Email: [email protected]
Home: 01291 620371
Mobile: 07907 351650
Director’s Cut By Barry “Bazzzzer” Aggett
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Having had enough of the cold weather, we booked
a last minute holiday to see the sights of Catalonia,
Spain in June - a mix of beach, sight-
seeing and some cycling in the
mountains. After a quick check of
some dates, we ended up tagging a
few extra days onto the end to make
our way into Barcelona to the Harley
Days event taking place on 5th 6
th &
7th July.
We were staying in Salou so, having
decided to visit the event on the Sat-
urday, we made our way to the train
station. Whilst there we met a few
members of the Bridgwater Chapter
who had ridden into Barcelona the
previous day and being put off by the endless tolls
and heavy congestion decided to ‘let the train take
the strain’. The journey along the coast was effort-
less, air conditioned and just over an hour.
So a few coastal stops later we arrived at Estacio de
Sants, the 1st Train Station into Barcelona, and then
headed to Montjuic, Plaza de Espana where the
event was taking place.
Plaza de Espana is one of Barcelona’s most im-
portant squares, built on a site that had previously
been used for public hangings and forms the junc-
tion of several major thoroughfares - an excellent
location.
This year’s event had the aim of celebrating both
the 110th Anniversary and its 5
th edition and is al-
ready known as Harley Davidson Europe’s biggest
urban event. Barcelona Harley Days is free and very
much aimed at public of all ages. The new feature
this year was a commemorative tent showcasing a
retrospective look at the H-D brand throughout the
last 110 years.
Barcelona Harley Days had it all. Visi-
tors could have their photo taken
astride one of Milwaukee’s finest at the
‘Me on a Harley’ attraction and the
‘Jumpstart’ experience allowed H.O.G.®
members of the future to ride a real
Harley, with its motor running and
wheels turning, on a fixed stand. Those
who brought along their bike licence
could try one of the many different
demo bikes and take a trip through the
city. For the smaller guests there were
inflatable castles, magician shows and
temporary tattoos!
(Continued on page 4)
Barcelona Harley Days By Tim Brown
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With this year being H-D’s 110th Anniversary, there
was also a replica of the 10 x 15 foot wooden shed
where William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson built
their first bikes way back in 1903. They say from
small beginnings!
The event started at 11:00am daily with demo rides,
custom bike shows and entertainment from the main
arena tent. There were lots of shops, restaurants,
bars and various trade stands so there was plenty to
see and do.
The event also included 2 daily guided bike tours of
Barcelona, led by the Barcelona Chapter in groups
of 20. The last tour starting at 10:00pm when the
weather was a bit cooler, so was very popular!
There was almost non-stop live music from 11:00am
until the early hours, on two stages, with the Span-
ish winner of the TV contest ‘The Voice’, plus rock,
country and Elvis tributes, so a varied musical
theme across the 3 day event.
Planned for the Sunday at 11:00am was the ‘Salida
desfile de banderas’ – the parade of flags, when
approximately 4,000 bikes would snake their way
through the centre of the city for the parade and ac-
cording to the papers later in the week ‘created a
stunning spectacle as the gleaming chrome con-
trasted against the rich colours and mosaics of Gau-
dí’s architecture’.
In total, more than 300,000 people were expected to
attend each day of the event meaning that nigh on
one million people experienced the excitement of
Barcelona Harley Days 2013!
Tim Brown
Between the Covers
Hi All,
Welcome to the Sep-
tember issue of the
Great Western Chap-
ter’s RoadHOG maga-
zine.
Again this month I’ve
been lucky to have plen-
ty of excellent articles
submitted by various members of the Chapter and to
you I send out a big thank you. However this month I
want to re-iterate the need for volunteers in order to
keep these articles coming. On approaching people
I often hear the response “I can’t write an article” but
what I’ve received to date contradicts this.
Every month there are two rideouts, which it would
be nice to have rideout reports from and, in addition,
I aim to include another three non-committee arti-
cles. This equates to 60 articles per year which, giv-
en our current membership of over 300, works out
that if each member were to produce an article
they’d only need to submit one every five years.
So, if you’re attending an event, or going your own
way, consider writing an article. Deciding you’re go-
ing to write one beforehand makes the process a
whole lot easier and you’ll remember to take photos.
Can I also ask that if you’re attending a rideout that
you consider putting your hand up and volunteer to
produce a rideout report. The teams that put these
rides together put in a lot of time and effort into mak-
ing them as enjoyable as they are.
I’d like to finish by pointing out that I’ve had a lot of
positive feedback about the contents of RoadHOG
both from within and outside of the Chapter and its
not me that is producing this content, but you.
Again deciding you’re going to produce an article
beforehand makes things a lot easier and if you
need any help then drop me an email.
Mark
Editor
Email: [email protected] Mobile: 07900 496711
(Note: Views expressed in the articles are not necessarily
the views of the Editor)
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Hi Everyone!
Peter and I have been on
holiday in the USA since
my last article. We man-
aged to ride around
2,700 miles through Col-
orado, Utah, Wyoming,
Montana, South Dakota
and Nebraska, taking in Sturgis Bike Festival en
route! Needless to say we had a fabulous time with
some great people!
Slightly nearer home, we were at the Bristol Bike
Show on August 17th, where we had our usual place
in Small Street. The weather was threatening rain
for most of the day and it finally arrived around
3.30pm when we were packing up. Peter and I
dashed to catch the bus back to the Park and Ride
in Brislington.
We met up with Kathryn from the Orchard Trust,
who brought along buckets and tins to collect mon-
ey from passers-by. The star collector, as usual,
was Bryan Sheppard, who shakes his collecting tin
all day until it’s full!
Others who were doing their bit, by shaking the tins
and buckets, were Anita, Peter, Kathryn and me.
We don’t know how much we collected as yet, as
the money will be counted at the Trust.
We were also joined by some of the service users
from the Orchard Trust as well as meeting friends
old and new. Amongst the GWC Members who
were manning our stand were Dave Allen, one of
our Charter Members and Nigel Cobham, one of our
most recent Members! I think that the weather put
some people off attending, but it was good to walk
round the various stands and tents and view all the
bikes parked up.
Several people parked their Harleys in front of our
tent and Big Al was rewarded with a prize (Best
Americana) for polishing all his shiny bits!
Both of our Club nights in August were well attend-
ed and Sonja Beddow came over to St Mary’s and
spent the entire Club night sewing on patches and
raised £50 for charity! That makes a total of £173
she has raised as a result of her 2 sewing sessions!
I was impressed to see Sandra Silsbury, who had
ridden pillion with her crutches!
Spare a thought for Bryan Sheppard who will be
(Continued on page 6)
Secretary’s Update By Yvonne Roberts
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recovering from a knee operation when you read
this.
Al presented Steve Link and Neil Prescott with their
Road Marshal patches.
Terry Martin presented Baz with the pennant from
the H.O.G®
European Celebrations in Rome.
We held our usual raffles at both Club nights. I’ll
update you with the total we collected for charity
next month.
Dave Rogers joined the Chapter this month, and we
met several new and prospective members at the
Cross Hands. New members included Stewart and
Melisa Wallace,
Gerry Holmes,
Andy (Taff) Melton,
and Suzanne Blake, wife of Phil Blake.
As our next Committee Meeting is on August 31st
after the deadline for submissions to RoadHOG, I’ll
update you with a summary of the meeting in the
October edition of RoadHOG..
Please check out our website for details of all our
Merchandise and how to order items, or see me at
our Club nights.
Ride safe
Yvonne
Secretary
Email: [email protected]
Home: 01225 751017
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Hi All
With the holiday season
in full swing, there has
not been too much going
on apart from the month-
ly rides. They have all
gone to plan and have
been supported well.
Long may it continue?
Saturday 17th August did see me attend the annual
“Bristol Bike” show held in the centre of town. As
usual we had the Great Western tent in Small Street
but unfortunately not so many bikes on show this
year. In fact there was only the 5 of us displaying
bikes. The weather forecast for the day was to be
heavy rain all afternoon. I believe that probably put
a few of our regulars off attending on their Harley’s.
That said, the show this year did seem to have few-
er bikes around and was definitely quieter. The
weather actually held off until late on when the show
was winding down, so that was lucky. Still, some
were not deterred and we had a number of Great
Western members turning up on the stand at vari-
ous parts of the day.
All the usual entertainment was on and our location
placed in a good spot to listen to the live music. We
even had a couple of our longest serving members
having bit of a boggie …… you know who you are!
The highlight of the day for me was returning to find
my Harley had won a prize in the show. I won the
category for “Best Americana” which personally
made for a great outcome for the day. The rosette
and tankard are suitably displayed at home. As I
said to one individual who questioned my success, “
you have to be in it to win it”. So remember that if
you attend in the future, get registered.
And now onto the forthcoming rides ……
Sunday 15th
September 2013 – Si Griffiths &
Team
“The Real Deal”
This is a great chance to explore South Wales and
the English borders on a ride that offers some su-
perb ridings roads.
The plan is to meet at Magor Services for 09.00
a.m. and be fuelled up ready to depart for 09.30
a.m.
The ride will head up the Wye Valley on the A466 to
Monmouth. We will then take the A49 to Hereford
and onto the “American Diner” at Leominster for a
short break. The ride will then head out on the A44
Crossgates where there will be a fuel stop (approx.
85 miles). Next the route will head on the A483
Builth Wells and onto the B4519 / B4520 up over
Eppynt firing range to Brecon. Then it’s the A40 to
Llandovery for a lunch stop. The return route will
take the A4069 up over the Black Mountains to
Brynaman and onto the A474 to Pontardawe where
the ride will finish. Fuel is available at this point.
This is classed as a Level C ride of circa 160 miles
on A and B roads.
Sunday 29th
September 2013 – Stu Scott & Team
“Swanning off to Swanage”
This ride will be headed up by Andy “RKK” Kendall
who has planned a great day out by the coast. The
plan is meet up at McDonalds, Brislington (opposite
Riders of Bristol) at 08.45 a.m. Please ensure you
are fuelled up ready to depart at 09.15 a.m.
The ride will follow the A4 until the Globe pub round-
about where it will go up Pennyquick Hill and on
through Norton St Phillip. From here we will go onto
Warminster Services where there will be a quick
stop for other members to join the ride. The ride will
leave the services and head out onto the A350 to
Shaftesbury and onto the B3081 past Compton Ab-
bas airfield. It’s then onto the Blandford Forum area
for a short comfort stop.
After the break, the ride will head back onto the
A350 towards Charlton Marshall and Spetisbury.
Here we will follow a scenic route towards Ware-
ham, passing Corfe Castle and on into Swanage for
lunch.
On leaving Swanage the ride will take a route on the
A352 to Dorchester and follow a scenic route past
the Cerne Abbas giant (located in the hillside) and
on through Sherborne, Marston Magna. There will
then be a comfort break at Sparkford Services.
From here the ride will continue past the Haynes
Motor Museum, Castle Cary and then head back to
(Continued on page 8)
From The Front By Alan “Big Al” Stokes
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McDonalds, Brislington via the A37.
This ride is classed as Level C on mostly A roads
and is approximately 180 miles in duration.
For last minute updates please call the “Hotline”
on 08444 994508 and please keep a check on the
website for changes.
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 sections but
mainly a longer duration.
Until the next time, have fun and ride hard.
Alan “Big Al” Stokes
Assistant Director & Head Road Captain
Friday 2nd
– Sunday 4th
August 2013
Greetings Readers,
As a new member of The Great Western Chapter,
it’s thanks to Baz for volunteering me, that I find my-
self writing a few lines describing my first major rally
experience. I’d heard a lot about the SOFER Rally
from various people, so thought I’d go and find out
for myself.
Day One
Arriving at Bisley Camp on a very sunny Friday af-
ternoon, I was impressed that my new luggage was
still in one piece on the back. I already knew that
Baz was leading the main group up from Bristol ear-
lier that day, so a quick phone call and I had found
them. It must have been an impressive sight to see
them all arriving in convoy. There was Baz & Jacs
followed by Neil Prescott, then there
was............Erm! That was it!
So, unpacked and tent pitched, it was time to ex-
plore.
A two minute walk through a sea of Harley’s, tents
and motor homes, and I’m at the main event. If
you’re not the kind of person to rough it, for an ex-
tortionate fee you could rent a Bavarian style log
cabin, with all the fineries you would expect to find
there in. We were all so jealous of Mark and Anita,
until we later discovered it was a garden shed with
bunk beds and a sink. You still had to trundle off to
the portaloos to do your business.
The first rideout of the weekend was by the Ladies
of Harley. This was a themed ride of “Liberty
Belles”, and from what I saw, every single lady had
entered the spirit of it and had dressed to impress.
Into the early evening and, after some food from
one of the many establishments serving some great
nosh, it was time to settle for the evening drinking
copious amounts of beer, chatting, and enjoying the
excellent music laid on.
Day Two
No chance of a lie-in here, we’re all woken at stupid
o’clock by the sound of gun fire. Were we being at-
tacked? No, just all the gun geeks having a blast on
the ranges.
There were two rideouts arranged for the morning,
depending on how quickly you got up and ready.
Both rides back in time for the Ride-In Bikes Show
with some really cool machines to drool over.
Just across the way on the green, during the after-
noon was the Chapter Challenge, what a laugh.
There were some crazy games going on, but all
very entertaining. I especially enjoyed the Zorb Ball
races.
Congratulations to The Great Western Chapter who
won the Clay Pigeon Shooting.
A slower start to the evening’s festivities, not sur-
prising though, a lot has been packed into the day.
Not long though until the music fired up again and
it’s off to the bar for more alcohol, more chatting,
dancing and singing. At about 10 o’clock, we stag-
ger across the way and with lots of “Oooooohing &
Aaaaaaahing”, a spectacular firework display was
put on.
Day Three
A bit of an early start back for me; luckily so far, we
have had non-stop sunshine all weekend. So I hit
the road once again back to Bristol. I can’t believe it,
dry all weekend, then at Junction 18 the heavens
opened and I arrived home like a drowned rat.
Well, all in all, a fantastic weekend. A big thank you
to 1066, Hogsback, Invicta, Oxford & Thames Valley
Chapters for organising the rally. I for one, will be
looking forward to the next one.
SOFER 2013 By Andy P.
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Well hello, nice to have
your attention if only for
10 seconds, this is
what has been happen-
ing for GWC members
this side of the water.
Since last month’s issue myself and Andrea have
spent 2 weeks travelling in the USA with 13 other
GWC members on a 6 state tour taking in the de-
lights of Yellowstone Park, Mount Rushmore,
Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer’s last stand and
the unforgettable Sturgis Rally. We covered 2,800
miles on Harleys rented from Mile High Dealers,
Denver. Big thanks to Pete and Yvonne Roberts
who organised the tour and for making it such an
interesting and memorable holiday.
Three days after our return it was the Cangen
meeting at St Marys and between jet-lagged
yawning I seemed to remember Bazzer mention-
ing several items of interest, not least, their being
a new charter for chapter members (at H.O.G.®’s
instigation).
Also mentioned was the Committee’s decision not
to set up a Facebook GWC page. This was de-
bated properly and also included members who
were in favour. It was decided unanimously that
no extra benefit would incur as horror stories
abounded of late night, alcohol induced FB en-
tries.
Bazzer also mentioned the success of the Rhaya-
der riding weekend and also the SOFER Rally.
Hoggin the Bridge was mentioned and a curry
lunch seems favourite, although it doesn’t pre-
clude members who wish to attend the race-
course venue.
Anita Cockwell (Cockers) our activities officer
mentioned the Bristol Bike Show, of which our
own Big Al won first prize in the Americana sec-
tion for his green goddess. Also mentioned was
the Canoe Glide (I use the term glide loosely be-
cause you know it’s a race) and the Orchard
Trust BBQ.
Our 10th Anniversary dinner is to be held at the
Hilton Hotel, Bristol, tickets are still available;
dress smart casual/black tie, discounted rooms at
hotel still available. Xmas party tickets are going
well and It’s been suggested that the fancy dress
theme this year might be MYTHS and LEGENDS.
I gave a presentation on the Euro Rally 2014
which is to be held at Port Grimaud, near St
Tropez, France. Myself and Ian Johnson had al-
ready decided to attend with our wives so we will
lead any GWC members who wish to attend this
rally and would like to ride with us. Eurocamp is
giving us a generous discount to stay in their mo-
bile homes at Holiday Marina which is near to the
rally site at Port Grimaud.
This rally is one of the premier H.O.G.® rallies and
is held in a stunning location bang in the middle
of the French Riviera, so get your names down
and ride with us along the spectacular Route Na-
poleon.
If you do intend to ride with us, please let me
know so we have some indication of how many
bodies we will lose in the French Alps (un petit
farce).
Must mention Bob and Diane Davies from Cardiff
who were sussing us to become members. That’s
all folks.
Greg
Cangen Cymraeg Rep.
Cangen Cymraeg By Greg Payne
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Hi Ladies
Here it is again, the
monthly update, so
what’s been happen-
ing?
First of all I would like
to thank Sian Fisher for submitting her article,
which briefly told us all about her journey and
fight with Breast Cancer plus, of course, we’re
very pleased that the £200 donation went to a
worthy cause, thanks Sian x.
I hope you all enjoyed reading last month’s maga-
zine; they seem to get better every month with
plenty of interesting articles and Tony’s pics of
our rally and treasure hunt were just brilliant.
Well, the Bisley rally came and went. Nothing
seems to change there. We did venture into
Guildford and had a walk around the castle gar-
dens but not an ice cream van in sight, pretty
poor on that one.
We did have a brilliant view of the fireworks as we
were stood with the fire brigade (that says it all
really) but there were certainly a lot of “Oohs” and
“Aahs”.
I’ve finally got around to booking our room for the
Dinner and Dance and at £50 it’s quite a good
price, especially with breakfast included. I must
try and get there early and make use of the pool.
Next of course is the reminder of the balance for
the LOH Theatre Break. The £95 has to be paid
by the 19th October and can be done by a BACS
payment or, if like me, you prefer the good old
fashioned cheque then that needs to be made
payable to ‘Great Western Chapter’. If you can let
me know when you have paid that would be great
and of course if paying by BACS do let Peter
know too.
**Due to a cancellation I have 1 place available **
If interested please contact me ASAP, details be-
low.
Of course I must say well done to the GWC girls
keep up the good work.
At the time of writing this article the Canoe Glide/
BBQ is nearly upon us. I must say I’m getting a
little worried and just hope Queenie and myself
stay upright and have enough energy to make it
to the finishing line.
WHAT HAVE WE NEXT
A LADIES THAT RIDE LUNCH ……YES THAT’S
RIGHT, LADIES ONLY
As our Ladies that ride members are on the up,
YES BOYS LOOK OUT, we will now do our first
‘Ladies Only Ride’ details below.
I hope you can support this one.
Yes, it’s a Saturday.
September 14th meet at Aust Service Station,
10:30am for a 11:00am departure all fuelled up.
This will be a level A ride stopping for a light
lunch (that means coffee and cake) and of course
a natter and hoping to return by 3pm.
That’s all for this month.
Take Care
Jane x
Ladies of Harley
Contact details for any moans, groans or queries:
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07894 086626
Ladies of Harley By Jane Scott
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I was first to arrive on the scene with the weather
forecast promising sun.
Sat with a coffee I waited for the GWC masses to
start arriving. First was my Marshal for the day, Neil
“Popeye” Lewis. We chatted about his duties for the
ride, as other members arrived all eager for their ice
creams no doubt! One or two faces I have not seen
before so I introduced myself and their names went
in my book along with all the others.
As Alan Evans rumbled in we noticed he had a long
haired pillion on the back, so I went over to get her
name. Helmet came off … it was Mark Chinnick be-
ing his bitch for the day while his ride was being
fixed!!!
It’s briefing time, so I introduce my team for the day
– myself as Road Captain, Neil “Popeye” Lewis as
Road Marshal, Andy Kendal “RKK” who had come
from “over the bridge” to act as Sweeper and new
Road Marshal, Steve Link, who got the job because
he said he had a hammer and some rope.
Route description given .. and it’s time to ride.
Heading down past Bridgend onto the A48 and
through Pyle, Margam, Port Talbot “Smokey Town”,
Baglan and into “Jack Land” Swansea. I’d told the
crew to look out for a big aggressive swan called
Cyril, at our first stop Caswell Bay, where my first
ice cream of the day was a plain ole 99; damn nice
too.
The others fol-
lowed and we
took in the
sights over the
hill to Verdis
Café in Mum-
bles, with Neil
going on ahead
to mark a diffi-
cult turn. At Verdis I decided to go swanky and have
a rum an raisin, Mmmm.
We were all bumbling around scoffing our ice
creams with the sun shining - all we needed, to
complete the picture, were some donkeys and ‘Kiss
Me Quick’ hats.
Stop number 3 was a monstrous 1 mile ride to the
renowned Joe’s Ice Cream Parlour, where someone
asked for a Knicker
Bocker Glory and Mark
Chinnick asked for a 69,
hmmm!
We left and headed for
our final stop at
Porthcawl, where we
rode into a police road
block. The main Mum-
bles road ahead of us
was closed due to an
incident. Neil came to
me and said to follow
him. This was his backyard and, a couple of side
streets later, we were back on track. Nice one Neil.
Finally, we rode onto the Porthcawl seafront, 20
Harleys rumbling along together, and parked up in
the main car park.
It was the end of the ride and one or two decided to
head off home while the rest of us walked the short
distance to Porthcawl
seafront for more ice
cream. I was all ice-
creamed having had
3, but a certain Mr
Swarbick managed
5! All in all it was not
a long ride, being
under 80 miles but,
as I was told, it was
fun and that’s what
counts.
I would like to thank my team for the day and those
GWC members that attended.
On a foot note “or should that be knee note” I wish
Flamesy a speedy recovery after the knee operation
that meant he wasn’t unable to lead this ride.
Si
‘Ice Cream Sundae’ Rideout Report By Si Griffiths
Page 12
Page 12
Hi Everyone,
August’s been and gone
so that sees the Bristol
Bike Show and The Or-
chard Trust Fun Day
events done and dust-
ed. Hopefully a good
time was had by all?
Bristol Bike Show - I see that Big Al and Yvonne
have included a piece in their articles so I won’t re-
peat it here, but just wanted to add my thanks to all
who turned up with their bikes, or visited the stand,
but especially to those that collected money for The
Orchard Trust (which was represented by Kathryn
and a couple of the Orchard Trust’s service users). I
was introduced to one of the service users, a young
guy called Max, who communicates through song; a
very humbling experience for me personally. So, if
anyone didn’t like our money collection tactics, then
I’m not going to apologise, but suggest they spend a
few minutes with Max and see why we do it.
I must admit to feeling like ‘Jonah’ on the day
though, as everyone kept telling me, that it “wasn’t
usually this quiet” and as this was my first time at
the show, it must have been me! Still, been there,
done it, got the experience now. (Note to self - take
ear plugs next year.) I’m afraid some of the live mu-
sic acts were a little loud and screechy for my liking.
Hot off the press!!! The total collected for OT was
£262.63 with £118.88 of that being collected/
extracted by Bryan alone, well done mate.
Moving on…….
10th
Anniversary GWC Dinner/Dance on 26th
Oc-
tober
As part of the celebrations and, as a bit of fun (and
the usual friendly humiliation), awards will be pre-
sented to the winning nomination in each of the cat-
egories (that we’ve just made up). So, it can be an
award for anything and anyone, provided it hap-
pened during one of the 10th GWC Anniversary
events. If you want to nominate someone, then let
either Bazz or myself know the details of who and
what happened. But, don’t tell anyone else as, if
they win, we want the award to be a surprise.
Chaps/Chapesses – if you’ve been out on the bike
all year and not shown your wife/partner/husband
enough attention and are getting earache because
of it, then make up for it by taking them to the dinner
dance! What better way to show you care? They
can wear their finest and be wined, dined and enter-
tained (and you can still be with your mates and talk
about bikes and exhausts and …..)
So just to recap ………. Its £30 per person. Monies
can be paid by BACS, cheques or cash. Please
contact Lynne Avery (St Marys Club nights)
[email protected] or myself.
Don’t forget that the hotel is also offering discounted
room rates for party-goers, so look at the 10th Anni-
versary Events page/website for more details, but
you must book this yourself direct with the hotel
(make sure you ask for Lucy).
GWC Xmas Party 7th
December 2013 -
St Marys Pencoed.
Lynne Avery and I are now selling Xmas
Party tickets at £27 per person which in-
cludes a three course meal and disco. The fancy
dress theme is still to be agreed, with the only sug-
gestion put forward so far being Myths and Leg-
ends. So, unless you suggest something else, that
will be it. Let me know!
We are limited by St Marys as to the number of
places, so please secure yours with a deposit of £15
per person as soon as you can, with the balance
paid by the end of November at the latest please.
Please book your own hotel accommodation, details
of which can be found on the GWC website under
Activities/Xmas Party. Transport to and from these
hotels will be available at a small additional cost.
And then on to next year………..
Ride to St Tropez taking in St Tropez H.O.G.®
Rally
What, as we all know now, started as a romantic
gesture by Greg (Payne) and Ian (Johnson) to their
long suffering wives (did I get that right Jane/
Andrea??) to ride down to St Tropez, has now been
adopted by the Chapter and is now an official ride!
Sorry ladies, how does the saying go?? …… “Two’s
company and forty is …… “.
(Continued on page 13)
Cockers Bits By Anita Cockwell
Page 13
Page 13
The group will arrive the day before the St Tropez
H.O.G.® rally (rally is held 8
th -11
th May 2014).
Please contact Greg if you want to join the main
group riding down, but please make your own
accommodation, channel tunnel bookings, etc. and I
suggest you do this as soon as you can.
The Eurocamp accommodation at Port Grimaud,
which we have managed to secure for GWC mem-
bers, situated a few minutes’ walk from the rally site,
has now nearly all been taken. However, some of
the three-bedroomed mobile homes are still availa-
ble at time of writing. May I suggest that you share
with other GWC members to reduce costs but also
to allow as many members to take advantage of the
rally site accommodation as possible. Please con-
tact me for any late Eurocamp availability.
Cheers “Cockers”
Activities Officer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07702 073361
As we know, Facebook is common place now for
communication and a few of our GWC members
had requested a GWC Facebook page. Your Com-
mittee therefore set up a sub group to investigate,
knowing the current GWC Blog is underused.
The sub group consisted of Chris Ford, Alan Stokes,
Chris Harding (Chairman), Peter Roberts and Mark
Cockwell.
Summary from sub group
2 types of Facebook page considered.
Pages
Used by businesses for advertising, posting to pro-
mote and encourage ‘Likes’ and interaction.
H.O.G.® has a controlled Page; no others post so
one-way, like a web page.
GWC could have a one-way Page to advertise/
promote GWC events but it’s NOT NEEDED as we
have a website and MailcChimp.
Groups
Used by organisations with control over member-
ship.
Can be Open - used and seen by anyone.
Can be Closed - used by invitees, other people
can see it exists but cannot add comments.
Can be Secret - only used by invitees, public not
aware.
Pros
Used by members to contact people re: rides,
trips, etc.
Administrators approve initial post.
Remove users that abuse guidelines.
Cons
Needs administrators for initial post, replies to
comments not controlled.
Needs administrators to add users.
Guidelines need publishing regarding topics
(GWC only topics, not Riders).
Sanctions need devising for miscreants.
Summary
If adopted, recommend Secret Group trial for 3-6
months.
Available to all members.
Need to agree guidelines.
Need to appoint administrators.
Need to publish info to members.
To adopt a Facebook page would require the
following:-
1) Strong guidelines on usage and acceptable sub-
ject matters.
2) The guidelines need to be listed in the annual
membership form, so we have a signature of com-
pliance from each member.
3) Guidelines must include a clear statement of dis-
ciplinary action in the case of misuse.
4) Appoint at least two administrators.
5) Amendment our by-laws.
GWC Committee Review Summary
1) Our website and MailChimp systems are working
well.
2) A Facebook page will require additional work to;
set up, check postings, add and delete people to
and from the group, police misuse.
3) To allow unchecked initial postings would un-
doubtedly lead to misuse.
In conclusion, there was a unanimous Committee
decision not to adopt a Facebook page because we
feel current communication tools are working very
well and the benefits of a Facebook page are not
worth the additional administration effort.
As a Committee, we understand this decision will
not please everyone and, as always, our members
are free to ask questions and challenge decisions.
All we ask is GWC members debate issues based
on fact, not corridor talk, hence why we’ve taken the
time to go into such detail on this matter.
Bazzzzzzzzzzzer
GWC Facebook Page Investigation
Page 14
R
ha
ya
de
r R
id
in
g W
ee
ke
nd
14
The Rhayader Riding Weekend: it seems just a distant memory now, so for you that
attended, here are some photos to jog that memory and, for those that didn’t.
This is what you missed….
Page 15
R
ha
ya
de
r R
id
ing
We
ek
en
d
15
Page 16
Page 16
It was 6am when I awoke, bleary eyed and not par-
ticularly in the mood for doing anything. I looked out
the window and groaned – it was cloudy and didn’t
look very warm. The forecast had promised sun-
shine and high temperatures, but hey, this was
Scotland in June, so I was just happy it was dry!
Still, it was early, so there was plenty of time for im-
provement.
I was in Falkirk, staying at a friend’s house in prepa-
ration for a trip with my Dad, Charlie (Dunedin
Chapter), that we had been planning for the best
part of a year. Our plan was to tour Scotland on our
Harleys – mine a 2000 XL53C Sportster, Charlie’s a
’92 Heritage Softail. This trip was something I had
wanted to do before any long-distance international
trip – a pilgrimage, if you will, around my homeland.
We would be travelling up the west coast, island-
hopping between the isles of Mull, Skye, and Lewis
& Harris, before returning via the Great Glen to our
starting point, four days later.
After a very welcome cup of tea, and the usual faff-
ing around with leathers, luggage straps and ancient
Celtic rituals to bring good fortune (not really), we
saddled up and set off towards Oban – at least, I
hoped so. On our journey up from Bristol the day
before, Charlie almost turned our trip into a Tri-
Nations Tour as he missed the M5 turn-off and
headed towards Wales with cries of “Richard, that
bridge is getting awful close...”, so I was naturally
hesitant about letting him lead!
A couple of hours later, and a quick pit stop at Cal-
lander for more tea (where I took the opportunity to
check the map, just to make sure we weren’t head-
ing back towards Wales again), we pulled into Oban
ferry terminal. The sun had arrived too, and so, after
skipping past all the cars waiting for the ferry, we
parked up and sat back to enjoy the start of what
would turn out to be an amazing few days of perfect
biking weather!
We didn’t have to wait long for the ferry, which
transported us smoothly over to our first island ad-
venture on Mull. We were to take the long way
round the island, avoiding the main road up the cen-
tre, to our overnight stop in Tobermory. We had
spotted from the ferry that Duart Castle was near
our route and decided that it would make a great
lunch spot. Of course, true to form, we completely
missed the turning for the castle and never found it,
but all was not lost! A short way up the road, in a
small glen near a quiet farm croft, we stumbled
upon a beautiful pebbled riverbed where we
stopped to enjoy a lunch of sandwiches and Irn Bru
in the sun.
After a quick chat to a local farmer and his dog (the
dog wasn’t much of a conversationalist) we hit the
road again, buoyed with enthusiasm and excitement
borne from a combination of the glorious weather
and the large quantity of sugar we had just con-
sumed!
Although we were taking in the stunning scenery, in
the best way we knew how – from the back of our
Harley-Davidson motorcycles – eventually we could-
n’t resist it any longer, and had to pull the bikes over
to take in the view that lay before us. A glittering
blue bay dotted with rugged islands, themselves
speckled with small white crofts. It was a true pic-
ture-postcard moment, and sitting in the shade of
our bikes, sipping tea, Charlie flashed me a big
cheesy grin – this was the life! This was what we
had come all this way to find!
(Continued on page 17)
Chic and Rik’s Highland Hootenanny! By Richard Beckett
Page 17
Page 17
Eventually though, we had to get going again. We
were here to ride, as well as enjoy the scenery after
all! We continued on our way to Tobermory, eager
to see what else Mull had to offer us. As we reached
half way around the island however, we decided to
jump onto the main road and head straight on up to
our overnight stop. The roads on Mull were single-
track, with patches of loose surface and kamikaze
sheep, which was proving tiring. We were also be-
ginning to hanker for a nice cold beer.
We arrived in Tobermory – the colourfully painted
town made famous by the children’s television show
Balamory – and set about finding our hotel, which
turned out to be up quite a steep hill. After checking
in, we dropped off the bikes and wandered back into
town, eager to find out: “What’s the story?”
We soon found out what the story was – beer! Prob-
ably not what the makers of the children’s show in-
tended when they asked that question, but our an-
swer suited us just fine! After a few pints of the local
brew, Charlie decided that I ought to test out just
how waterproof my Harley-Davidson waterproof rid-
ing boots were. It turns out they work very well, but
they aren’t designed for wading into the Atlantic!
With my feet soaking, we decided it was time to get
some dinner – a delicious wild venison burger and a
pint of Terror of Tobermory local ale!
The next day dawned bright and sunny, and we
knew we were in for more gorgeous weather as we
prepared for our ride to the Isle of Skye. The ferry
took us from Tobermory to Kilchoan, on the Ardna-
murchan peninsula – the most westerly point of the
UK mainland – and passed yet another castle.
Needing to press on to Mallaig to make our ferry to
Skye however, we couldn’t stop for this one.
Much to our dismay, Ardnamurchan greeted us with
more single-track roads! However, a handy fuel
tanker ahead of us – clearly familiar with the area,
judging by the speed he was taking the corners,
ensured any oncoming cars would pull over, and we
soon made it to Mallaig. Unfortunately, we arrived
just too late for our ferry, but a little sweet-talking of
the lass in the office and we were on the next sailing
an hour later. Time for an ice cream!
Another beautiful and smooth ferry crossing and we
arrived in Armadale, on the Isle of Skye. No single
track roads for us here, as Skye’s famous and fan-
tastic road network (with no speed cameras!)
opened out before us. The scenery proved once
again to be stunning, and we were soon having a
blast, roaring along the coast and through the
mountains. Our plan was to once again ride around
the smaller roads, avoiding the main road up the
spine of the island, and stop at a couple of sights
along the way.
The first of these was, naturally, the Talisker whisky
distillery in Carbost. I was leading, but it was now
time for me to eat some humble pie after teasing
Charlie for his Welsh navigational error before, as I
almost missed the turning! “Dunvegan straight on,
Carbost to the left” I said, followed by a harsh exple-
tive and equally harsh braking to make the turn!
It turned out that we had arrived just in time for the
last distillery tour of the day, which proved to be an
extremely interesting (and tasty!) experience. Of
course, we couldn’t do more than sip a single glass
of the taster at the end, but a bottle of Talisker
Storm, purchased in the gift shop, would sort that
out later!
Our overnight stop on Skye was at the northern
town of Uig – a picturesque town spread around Uig
bay. Dinner preceded an evening stroll around the
bay backed by a stunning sunset, and then a return
to the hotel bar for a few beers and a nightcap of (Continued on page 18)
Page 18
Page 18
Charlie’s favoured Macallan 10-year-old.
Day three dawned with a cloudier start and a quick
check of the forecast showed that our luck with the
weather was beginning to run out. A weather front
was pulling in from the Atlantic to the west, and we
were cleverly heading towards it, as we boarded the
ferry to Tarbert, on the Isle of Harris. Oh well, we
had a good run. As long as it stays dry, we thought,
we still have our Harleys and two more days of holi-
day, so we can still have a good time!
The Isle of Harris passed all too briefly as we head-
ed up towards Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis. A
quick stop at the crossing point between Harris and
Lewis for a photo opportunity and it was on again,
leaving the rugged mountains of Harris behind for a
remarkable and dramatic change of scenery to the
open, heather-clad moors of Lewis. We soon arrived
in Stornoway, where we took the opportunity to drop
off our gear, grab a quick and warming lunch (and
another cup of tea), before setting off again to ex-
plore the island on our now un-laden hogs.
As we toured the Isle of Lewis we passed the fa-
mous Callanish standing stones near the village of
the same name – a very impressive circle of stand-
ing stones erected nearly 5000 years ago that
draws tourists from all around the world. A little way
down the road, near the town of Carloway, we
stopped at the famous Dun Carloway Broch – an
ancient Pictish roundhouse.
Unfortunately, because we were playing about on
the road taking photos of each other riding past, we
got caught in the rain and had to cut our visit to the
Broch short. Oh well, back to Stornoway and the
pub it is! A few pints shared with a local MSP and
extensive discussion about the pros and cons of
Scottish Independence (which I won’t get into here),
followed by a tasty meal at the local curry house
(nothing like authentic Scottish food!) saw us to bed,
ready for our early start for the 07:00 ferry back to
the mainland.
We pulled in to Ullapool mid-morning and made a
bee-line for the nearest petrol station, where we
donned waterproofs. Yes, sadly the rain had caught
up on us! It wasn’t too bad though, just light drizzle,
so we pushed on, determined to enjoy our final day
of the trip, down through the Great Glen!
A slight detour through Glen Affric – during which
my humble Sportster reached the grand age of
11000 (miles) – saw us arrive at Drumnadrochit, on
the banks of Loch Ness, in the dry and even some
sun! We took the opportunity for a quick photo stop
at Urquhart Castle and some monster-spotting. No
sign of the infamous Nessie though, so we pushed
on.
Some fantastic riding roads took us down the banks
of the many lochs that comprise the Great Glen, and
eventually led us to the Commando Memorial at
Spean Bridge. Although tired and stiff, from four
days of almost non-stop riding, nonetheless we
stopped to pay our respects to the many men that
have given their lives for our country in the Com-
mando regiments.
After a respectful and humbling stop at the memori-
al, we jumped back on the bikes for the last time this
trip. One last ride through the stunning, if wet and
cloudy Glen Coe, followed by the complete contrast
of the barren and windswept (but still cold and wet)
Rannoch Moor, and a quick stop to help a broken
down biker (who’s girlfriend had ditched him and his
broken bike to ride off on her own to the shops in
Stirling!)
Eventually we pulled back in to my friend’s house in
Falkirk, stiff and wet (and not in the good way), but
thoroughly elated after a truly fantastic trip! Nearly
700 miles on the clock, 4 days, 3½ islands and plen-
ty of ideas for future adventures. Time to start plan-
ning a GWC Scotland trip... well, maybe after a well-
earned cup of tea!
Page 19
Page 19
Well after our unexpected return from France and 3
weeks of absolute crap we decided on taking a trip
to the Grecian Island of Rhodes. This was decided
after talking to Jane’s brother Charlie, who now lives
out there and I can see why with 360+ days of sun-
shine to ride in and it doesn’t get colder than 15-17
⁰C in the winter months.
Out there, most of the Harleys tend to be 883
Sportsters with the odd 1200, so he tends to be the
big wheel with his 15:50 S&S Custom Softail. We,
on the other hand, had to hire a 600 Yamaha Cruis-
er thing made from recycled plastic cups and old
ashtrays.
Pulling away on our fiery steed we soon found out it
didn’t like two up, hills and mountains tending to be
a bit of a struggle. We did make it all the way
around the island in one day, all 220km of it, to suss
out places to return to for a visit on a later ride. Our
first stop was Lindos, a beautiful coastal town with
medina, acropolis, amphitheatre and the entire pop-
ulation of Germany. It was a bad move parking
down in the town square, we should have stayed up
on the main drag and took photos looking down to it,
which we did after we managed to coax the Yam up
the narrow road out. We now head off in the direc-
tion of the south end of the island, but Jane got dis-
tracted around lunch time by a Taverna sign point-
ing up a road and into the hills. So it’s lunch in an
out of the way village in a traditional taverna. Jane
says she was feeling quite peckish so it’s a beer
(got to keep the fluids up in this heat) a starter and a
Greek plate for two. She says she couldn’t manage
a sweet, but could have an ice cream later! You
trained her well Jac!! I can feel a couple of new
patches coming on “The Hungry Sisters” to go with
the Nuns of Anarchy. All very nice too, but I
should have parked the Yam in some shade,
this bringing a whole new meaning to hot ar**d
bitch and, while on the subject of shade, it
seems to me that’s where everyone likes to
ride or drive in, no matter what side of the road
it’s on!! Drivers are another thing to put up with
and, while going down through the mountain
twisties, at just about as fast as the Yam would
go (100kph), around a sharp left hander we
meet a car backing up on the same side as us
to take in the view!! Pr*** and a few other
choice words which happened to escape my
mouth, while taking evasive action to miss him
and get the line into the next set of hairpins to stop
us from going over the edge, THE DUMB ****!!! Lat-
er on that day, after a few stops here and there, we
just so happen to come up behind the same car.
With a nice long straight ahead now’s my time to
overtake, stop him, and give him a clump for nearly
killing us, but alas this didn’t happen as he spots us
in his rear view and toes it. I kick the Yam down a
couple and give it a handful but nothing happened,
bar a lot of complaining from the Yam’s motor. Oh
for my Softail. We didn’t see him again.
We stop to take on some liquid refreshment and a
squint at our map for our next nosey around - butter-
fly valley out into the hills, again a nice lot of spaces
to park in but a grumpy old Greek parking attendant
told me to move the Yam to the mottos slot. With a
walk through the woods via a stream, with pleasant
and cool breezes and loads of flutterbys (does this
have the makings to the start of a romantic novel,
NO) we soon reach a chained gate ‘CLOSED’! So
that’s why there were so many parking spots. The
grumpy old Greek had gone as I wanted a word in
his ear as to why he didn’t tell us the place was
closed for the day. So it’s back on the Yam to con-
tinue our circumnavigation of the island. Not much
further to go, but one last stop in the small town of
Laysos at the Kahlua Café and Jane’s ice-cream.
Flippin heck (being polite here) I never knew there
were so many flavours and colours of the stuff and
all in a glass vase used normally for a bouquet of
flowers. I have a coffee frappe. After scoffing the
Kahlua special she tells me she’s a bit disappointed
with it, as there is NO liqueur in it and after all a
Kahlua special should have Kahlua in it.
(Continued on page 20)
A Rhode/s Trip By Stu Scott
Page 20
Page 20
Our next day’s ride takes us to the places we have
sussed out previously, so in traditional Rhodes rid-
ing kit, shorts, vest top, sandals and Raybans
(remember the hot ar**d bit) I wait while Jane goes
to the store for our water and it just gets hotter and
hotter. 10 minutes later I go looking for her and
she’s nattering with a woman from our apartment
block saying how nice and cool they keep the
stores! OI! Come on get yer ar** on the saddle and
let’s get moving and, with that done, it’s off climbing
through the mountains, then down and along the
coast stopping off at various coastal towns and
beaches. The Yam seems to be running better to-
day, or am I getting used to it? We did get it up to
120kph but not for long, a hill got in the way near
Lardos, so a break was called for to give our ancient
Japanese friend a blow and talking of blow what’s
this strange 7 fingered leaf sweet yet pungent smell-
ing WEED growing wild on the sides of the roads.
From Lardos it’s on to a small fishing village Plim-
miri for lunch and not fish and chips but three types
of salad, grilled red snapper for me and tuna steak
for Jane, all cooked over an olive wood fire and
overlooking the harbour; just what the doctor or-
dered. Next it’s onward to Prassonissi, the most
southerly part of the Island, which is joined to a
smaller island by a bar of sand where two seas
meet: the Aegean to the east (calm) and Mediterra-
nean to the west (waves), once again full of our
Germanic friends.
On our way back, the Yam sputters and I think oh
f*** it no mobiles with us and no number to call but,
as luck would have it, I go down through the gears,
wham, open the throttle and it clears whatever it
was and we are soon back up to 90kph again. I just
knew there would be a heart-stopping price to pay
after such a good start, another ice cream stop (not
as big as yesterday’s) and a natter to the owner of
the bar who tells us Charlie’s always in, and he tells
me he’s a grafter, I’ve seen how they work out here
- not a lot! Nearly back, so a few minutes in Carre-
four for a stroll around the freezers to cool down and
then return the bike.
Yes I did cuss it and it was like riding a concrete
block but, all in all, it took us to places we wouldn’t
have seen if we had done coach tours, we also
done it in our own time. Oh yes, and remember the
Greek motorist has no sense of ‘think bike’, they
hate them.
Stu et Jane
Our 10 Anniversary Events in 2013
Now we have only 1½ events to go!
Event 10 – GWC 10th
Anniversary Dinner at the
Hilton Hotel, Aztec West, October 26th
This will be a smart dress event. The cost of a ticket
for 3 course dinner and disco is £30 per person,
with hotel accommodation at £50 per room for B&B,
including the use of all the hotel facilities. After-
wards, there is a late bar for residents only. Rooms
can be booked now by calling Lucy Robinson on
01454 893436. Dinner tickets are available from
Anita Cockwell, Activities Officer, 07702 073361
[email protected] and at Club nights. To
guarantee your ticket you need to pay at least 50%
of the ticket price as soon as possible. The maxi-
mum number of tickets is 140 and subject to availa-
bility, we will continue to sell them up to 2 weeks
prior to the event, when final numbers and menu
choices are confirmed. See our website for details.
Ladies-Only Weekend Away in London, Novem-
ber 23rd
Bookings are now closed and we hope all of the
ladies who are coming on this trip have now paid.
Bazzer, Anita, Nige Garnett, Dave Norton, Chris,
Tony Yendle, Martin Rich, Peter and Yvonne
Roberts - the Planning Group
Page 21
Page 21
Life's a Bitch by Mark Chinnick
Most of you will be aware by now that my bike broke
down (big-time). Fortunately, being a member of a
really great chapter, I had no shortage of offers to
ride pillion to any events until it was back on the
road again. Note that I’ve not been as pillion since
my teens, as I prefer riding.
The first event was a harmless W-S-M bike night.
The infamous “RKK” asked if I wanted to attend this
meeting and I enthusiastically accepted. The ride
down was brilliant, with speeds well in excess of the
ton. After chips on the seafront, we rode to the en-
trance, I told Andy I had 2 quid in my pocket, so he
shouted out to the collectors, "My bitch is paying".
The rest of the evening saw the word ‘bitch’ used
frequently.
My next master was Alan Evans, who asked if I
wanted to do the Calne Bike Meet. So, I found my-
self on the back of a Glide. I was certainly getting to
try out different bikes.
Tales of how I was now a ‘bitch’ abounded to the
amusement of all we met there from the chapter.
‘Roving around Resolven’ Rideout Report
Again on the back of Alan's Glide we met the Chap-
ter at Aust services; it was dry and looking fine. Var-
ious chapter members were pointing at their pas-
senger seat as a gesture that I should get on their
bike, shouting various proposals, and laughing. I am
beginning to see what our female members have to
put up with
Off we go leaving Aust services showing a bitch’s
eye view of the road ahead.
Queuing at the Bridge to get into Wales. No, the bitch is not paying.
Stunning roads and scenery as we made our way
through the Welsh countryside. Notice the blue sky.
(Continued on page 22)
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The bonus of being a passenger is you have plenty
of time to look all around and take photos.
After ages of fighting a way to the front of all the
bikes, the nice man in front on the green bike start-
ed to signal that we had something wrong with the
bike. We pulled over for a few minutes but didn't find
anything wrong. Damn, by the time we started again
we were right at the back of everyone.
(A pillion’s perspective of second man drop)
Note the angry clouds moving in.
Onwards to a welcome break. Keith really should
cut down on eating out, look at his halo.
After walking about a mile through the woods of
Resolven we came across this beauty; it’s much
bigger than the picture suggests.
After riding through a heavy rain shower we arrived
at the Gower Coast, seaside and sunshine again.
A brilliant day, thanks to the organisers.
Getting more used to being a passenger now but
will be glad when my bike is back on the road. Many
thanks to all those that have offered me lifts during
this bikeless period.
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Things have been pretty busy since July’s edition of
RoadHOG came out. It seemed that, no sooner was
Rhayader done and dusted, Yvonne and I were off
to Heathrow to meet up with Christof, Greg & An-
drea, Ian & Jane, Ian & Kay, Kev & Carol, Bry &
Doreen and Mike & Jo for our BA flight to Denver.
By Saturday evening, we had collected our bikes
from Mile High and ridden 260 miles along Interstate
70, over the Rockies to Grand Junction. The riding
encompasses an ascent to spectacular heights and
chill, then down to the scorching high desert. So,
there we were relaxing in the Rock Slide Brewery,
with beer and our friends from Western Slope Chap-
ter. They are great guys and make us so welcome.
Sunday was a planned “rest” day with a rideout with
some of Western Slope. They had thought of a re-
run of our 2011 ride up onto the Grand Mesa, with
its spectacular views. The only blip on the horizon,
was a weather forecast of rain, so we agreed to de-
cide on whether to ride, or play pool and drink beer
all day, the following morning. Sunday dawned and,
as became the pattern, we were all up around 6.00
am and ready to get cracking straight
after breakfast. Not a bad day at all, so
a ride it was to be. Unfortunately, the
clouds soon demonstrated their content:
it poured and then it hailed, as we as-
cended onto the plateau, in freezing-
cold conditions. Before we knew it, how-
ever, it was all change; the sun was out
and we were heading off the Mesa
down a long series of twisties on the
DeBeque Cutoff Road, back into the
34ºC swelter of Grand Junction.
Much to our surprise, and pleasure, the
following morning PJ (Western Slope Director) and
Neil (Past Director), waved off by his partner Jo,
decided to ride with us for 90 miles as far as the top
of the twisty Douglas Pass, where we posed, well
wrapped up for a group photo.
So, after bidding goodbye to our Western Slope
friends, our adventure truly began – 12 days of trav-
elling through some of the most stupendous scenery
(including Grand Teton and Yellowstone National
Parks), finally arriving for the 73rd
Sturgis Rally,
which is a truly mind-blowing event with half a mil-
lion bikes spread across a 25-30 mile radius around
the small town of Sturgis.
A detailed report of what we got up to on the trip,
plus an inside view of Sturgis, will appear in the
November issue of RoadHOG, courtesy of other
members of the group.
We all took so many pictures along the way and, of
course, Christof was avidly videoing the proceed-
(Continued on page 24)
Pete & Duncan’s Pump Stop
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ings, as well as our persuading/cajoling assorted
volunteers to take photos of us. One of the many
fun encounters was when we visited Mount Rush-
more, in the Black Hills, and met members of the
very recently formed Barbed Wire Chapter, from
Dekalb, Illinois.
First they captured us – though neatly omitting the
Presidential monument:
Then, they hijacked our flag and we photographed
them (note the monument)!
Other random events, worthy of comment, include
our ladies trying on ethnic American bonnets
And, definitely not to be outdone, Ian – presumably
after seeing the numerous road-kill examples, in-
vested in a racoon hat, nicely set off with bunny fur.
Most of the time it was much too hot, but will un-
doubtedly come into its own during a Welsh Winter.
Here’s Ian pictured with Jesus (pronounced
Heysoos!) at Fort Collins on our last evening. Talk-
ing of which, Neil, Jo and Jesus rode 300 miles from
Grand Junction to come and have dinner with us
and bid farewell the next morning. Just brilliant!
Neil and Jo are really keen to come over to the UK
next year to do “Thunder in the Glens”. Hope they
do!
That’s all from me, so over to Duncan and 2014:
Hopefully by now most of you will know that the new
and exciting Harley Davidson 2014 range is here,
and wow what a change to some models.
Starting with the baby of the family our all new
Sportster now comes with ABS and keyless ignition,
not to mention new calipers and discs, along with
new stylized hand controls, aluminium master cylin-
(Continued on page 25)
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der and stainless steel braided brake lines.
The Dyna Fatbob has also been refreshed to in-
clude new style tank graphics and console with inte-
gral ignition switch, new wheels, new seat, and my
favourite, a trimmed rear fender with LED tail light. It
looks awesome.
As you may know the main changes have come
about due to Harley-Davidson’s Project Rushmore.
This is the name given for the customer-focussed
journey they have gone through to fundamentally
improve the riding experience for touring customers.
There have been four main customer focus areas.
Listed below are some of the key changes:
Control
1 - LED Daymaker lights for improved visibility.
2 - Electronic combined ABS for improved braking.
3 - High output 103 engine for more passing power.
4 - Air and liquid cooling to help maintain optimum
engine performance whilst redirecting heat away
from the rider.
Infotainment (what a cool name)
1 - Sat Nav.
2 - More powerful sound system with less distortion.
3 - Larger buttons with touchscreen for easier oper-
ation.
4 - Voice recognition for hands free phone opera-
tion.
5 - Bluetooth capability.
6 - USB connection for iPod connection.
Feel
1 - Aerodynamically designed styling to reduce buf-
feting and maximise rider comfort.
2 - Rider and pillion comfort via new seats and arm
rests, increased space and relocated saddlebags to
give more pillion leg space.
Style
1 - New styling from front to back for a modern look
whilst retaining Harley styling.
2 - One touch design philosophy so that every com-
partment can be operated with one gloved hand.
3 - Intuitive hand controls for easier operation.
Most of these changes are to the FLHTCU and
FLHTK and I can't wait to ride them. These are ex-
citing times and with new colours and hard candy
custom paint, 2014 will be a great year for us all.
Once again, Ride Safe
Orchard Trust By Kathryn
Hello everyone
Well the Summer Fayre 2013 was a huge success
with about 600 visitors! We were so lucky with the
weather again, with just a few drops of rain. It was
great to see Great Western Chapter members soak-
ing up the atmosphere! ….. And, as usual, many
people commented on the beautifully turned out
bikes! Thank you to everyone who contributed to
the day: Stephanie with her ‘guess the name of the
Harley bear’ (they had their photo in our local pa-
per!), Mandy and Hannah who came a long way to
help us on the stalls, everyone who made and do-
nated cakes, or other items and of course, all GWC
members who came along and supported the event.
We made about £3000, which was fantastic!
This weekend I joined GWC members at the Bristol
Bike Show and Jeff and Helen brought Kelly and
Max, who live at Sevenoaks, along during the morn-
ing. Thank you for inviting us to join you and to eve-
ryone who shook buckets and collection pots on our
behalf. Being next to the music stage, we were able
to shake our collection pots and buckets to all of the
classic rock songs! We raised an amazing £262.63,
despite the Show being quieter than usual. A spe-
cial mention goes to Bryan, who was determined
(Continued on page 26)
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that he was going to fill his collection pot and with
his technique of ‘gentle persuasion’, succeeded with
£118.88! Thank you everyone for your support.
On 11th August, Graham, Caroline, Tammy and
Lindsay from Kimberly Drive took part in the Bob
Cook Games at the Athletics Track in Swindon.
They had a great time and were very successful –
bringing back a total of 9 medals between them,
coming, 1st, 2
nd or 3
rd in the sports, which included
bowling, walking and running. Well done everyone!
During the summer, the tenants have not only been
relaxing in their garden, but busy gardening too and
have been digging potatoes and just cut their first
cabbages.
Graham celebrated his birthday at the beginning of
August with a party at the Causeway Club in Cinder-
ford, which included a pig roast and a disco.
This summer, everyone at Sevenoaks has been
enjoying the activities they’ve planned. Everyone
went on a trip to Bristol Zoo and enjoyed spotting all
the animals! At the circus at Taurus Crafts in Lyd-
ney, Nicola, Lorraine, Christina, Kelly and Claire all
enjoyed the clowns, fun music and the dancing dog.
Service users also had fun listening to music rang-
ing from pop and rock to soul at the Hard to Handle
Music Show in Cheltenham. They’ve also enjoyed
trips to local beauty spots like Beechenhurst and
Mallards Pike for a leisurely picnic or two.
Sevenoaks organised and all took part in a car
treasure hunt a couple of weeks ago, across the
Forest of Dean, to fund raise for their home. Some
service users have also been on holiday. Kelly went
to Newquay and had a great time on the beach! Al-
so, Helen and Nicola went to Sandy Balls in the
New Forest and both enjoyed shopping in Salisbury
and Portsmouth and had fun in the sun. Max also
enjoyed his holiday at Butlins, Minehead, especially
all the music and entertainment. They’ve got much
more planned at Sevenoaks, with more holidays
going on during September and they’re looking for-
ward to the Canoe Paddle and BBQ.
Our Admin Office is always busy ‘behind the
scenes’. Recently, Val organised the second meet-
ing of the newly formed parent group and I was in-
vited to talk to them about fundraising within Or-
chard Trust. Also, we now have seven well estab-
lished volunteers at the Trust, thanks to Tina's effort
in recruiting.
It has been a busy month at Offa's Dyke - the beau-
tiful sunny weather has meant that they have spent
lots of time relaxing outside on the patio, and play-
ing with the giant Connect 4 game (sheltering under
one of the gazebos GWC bought for them when the
sun was particularly hot).
Several service users have been on their summer
holidays and a trip to the Calvert Trust proved a
great success. There were lots to do for those
brave enough, including abseiling, biking and a zip-
wire! Offa's Dyke staff were busy leading up to Sum-
mer Fayre – baking for the cake stall. The kitchen
looked like something from the Great British Bake-
Off! It was very worthwhile though, as almost all the
cakes were sold and the Service Users and staff
enjoyed the leftovers!
Well, we’re looking forward to our joint GWC/
Orchard Trust event at the weekend now as it’s only
three days to go to the Canoe Paddle/BBQ/
camping. I’ve been checking my ‘to do’ list and
planning what needs doing Saturday morning before
the paddle. I know Stephanie will be up bright and
early on Saturday as she’s collecting Krispy Kreme
doughnuts at 5.30am in the morning! The weather
forecast looks good for the weekend, so it should be
a really great event!
Thank you all for your support and best wishes from
everyone at The Orchard Trust.
Kathryn
The Orchard Trust
Page 27
Committee Contacts
Sponsoring Dealer
Duncan White 0117 9588777
Director
Barry Aggett 07907 351650
Asst Director/Treasurer
Peter Roberts 07540 164157
Asst Director/ Head Road
Captain
Alan Stokes 07766 237242
Secretary
Yvonne Roberts 01225
751017
Webmaster
Chris Harding 07801 562011
Activities Officer
Anita Cockwell 01761
471385
Safety Officer
Andy Kendall 07905 397474
Editor
Mark Cockwell 07900
496711
Photographer/Historian
Tony Yendle 07787 551612
Ladies of Harley
Jane Scott 07894 086626
Charity Co-ordinator
Stephanie Evans 07983
259752
Cangen Cymraeg Rep
Greg Payne 07976 913004
Rally Co-ordinator
Tony James 07940 895921
Road Captains Barry Aggett, Mike Brake,
Paul Bromhead, Nigel
Garnett, Simon Griffiths,
Paul Groom, Chris Harding,
Martin James, Ian Johnson,
Andy Kendall, Andy Kendall,
(RKK), Ian Mead, Greg
Payne, Dave Pocock,
Stephanie Pocock, Dave
Roberts, Mike Sage, Darren
Sharp, Jane & Stuart Scott,
Alan Stokes, Tony Yendle.
Road Marshals Tony Cole, Steve Crook, Neil
Lewis, Steve Link, Neil
Prescott, Bryn Wiltshire.
RoadHOG is printed
by the Woodside Press
All details on GWC web site
www.greatwesternhog.co.uk
At a Glance - 2013 GWC Activities Calendar
Contact Anita Cockwell if you have any other events you would like to see listed.
Tel: 01761 471385 or mobile: 07702 073361 or e-mail: [email protected]
For further details on any event listed visit “What’s On” on the GWC website.
September
10th Club Night Bazz Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
11th Club Night Bazz Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
15th Ride Out Si Griffiths ‘The Real Deal’
24th Natter Night Bazz Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley
29th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes ‘Swanning off to Swanage’
October
5th Activity Cockers Ride to the Wall
8th Club Night Bazz Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
9th Club Night Bazz Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
13th Ride Out/Activity ‘Big Al’ Stokes ‘Blasting the Big Pit’
20th Activity/Ride Out Bazz /Christoff Hoggin the Murg (formerly Hoggin the Bridge)
22nd Natter Night Bazz Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley
26th 10th Anniversary Dave Norton Dinner, Hilton Hotel Aztec West
November
10th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes TBA
12th Club Night Bazz Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
13th Club Night Bazz Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
23rd/24th 10th Anniversary Jane Scott LOH weekend trip to London
24th Ride Out Steph Pocock‘ Wild Wanderings Around Wiltshire
26th Natter Night Bazz Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley
December
7th Xmas Party Anita Cockwell St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
10th Club Night Bazz Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
11th Club Night Bazz Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
15th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes ‘Tinsel in Tetbury’
