RoadHOG May 2013

May 2013 Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter INSIDE

Features

7 - Group Riding

10 - Soaring in Somerset

11 - New Tyres

12 - Coleford Festival

13 - Back Chat

14 - IOW Weekend

Regulars

2 - Director’s Cut

3 - Between the Covers

3 - Ladies of Harley

4 - Rally Co-ordinator

5 - Secretary’s Update

8 - From the Front

9 - Cangen Cymraeg

17 - Cockers Bits

18 -10th Anniversary

Events

19 - Safety Officer

20 - Pete & Duncan’s

Pump Stop

22 - Orchard Trust

23 - At a Glance

H.O.G.® Chapter 6655

Hi All,

Firstly congratulations to the five new Road Cap-tains who suc-cessfully com-pleted their course at H-D Oxford. Three of these are from Cangen Cymraeg

which is great news for ensuring we keep a good monthly ride programme in South Wales. I also hear there are a few members from Cangen Cymraeg who are willing to put themselves forward as Marshals which all helps.

Our monthly meeting nights appear to be going from strength to strength with a great turnout at both venues. The Cross Hands Hotel was packed to the rafters, perhaps a bit of curiosity to see the new surroundings after refurbishment? Whilst on the subject of the Cross Hands, Sonja Beddow has offered to sew on patches at future meetings for a small donation to charity. Thanks Sonja.

Our 10th Anniversary events are gathering

momentum and, as a participant, I can say the IOW “Gentlemen’s” tour was a great suc-cess, with numerous calls for a similar events next year. Our thanks go to Martin Rich and staff in PJ’s for getting us off to a great start. You’ll be able to read some of the printable highlights from Dave Vass later in this issue. I won-der if he’ll be brave enough to explain why he volun-teered for the write up! and does he include who has been nicknamed “Slick”!

Then, hot on the heels of the IOW was the Night Ride which was blessed with good weather, albeit a bit cold during the early hours and some pea soup fog on the return into Bristol. Again it was a great success and I’m sure the red eyes disappeared after a good night’s sleep.

Of course our 10th Anniversary events will only be

as good as we (the Royal we, our members) make them, so I now want to bend your ear on some of the others! Firstly Hogs in the Hayfields is only 5 weeks to go and I’ll sleep better when our ticket sales creep above 200, instead of the current 95. I know this is the normal lag but this year is going to be blisteringly hot, so come on! Not forgetting pins & patches are limited to the first 225 tickets. Also, for the rally, we need some volunteers for “Stars in their Eyes”; currently it’s me and Mrs Two Talls leading by example with a duet.

Some of you will know I’m trying to encourage Greg Payne to sing Delilah for “Stars in your Eyes” as it’s a great song for everyone to join in, but Tom,aka Greg, says he can’t sing. Well Tom I beg to differ after spotting your secret below in the aptly named

Great Western Hotel whilst visiting Newquay recent-ly with Stu & Jane Scott.

Don’t be shy, it’s not a singing contest, it’s about havin’ a laugh.

The lucky winner for the March rally draw was Jeff Lancastle.

Lastly, on the subject of 10th Anniversary, we’re half-

way to our target for the Hilton dinner but need your deposits by the end of June, so please don’t leave it, thinking October is a long way off.

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

mailto:[email protected]

Hi Ladies,

Firstly, I would like to say what a brilliant turn out for the April club night and the Cross Hands, after the re-furb, is now very posh.

I helped Yvonne distrib-ute the t-shirts and

found myself going around asking a lot of folks their names; not sure how long it’s going to take to re-member you all, so be patient. A suggestion from a new member was to have name tags but as the rid-ing season is upon us (hopefully) we will see more of each other as a group, so the memory box will not have to work overtime. That’s my thoughts any-way.

I’m sort of semi-organised for the events that are happening this year. Rally tickets have been paid for so I’m hoping mine will be the last one to be picked out at the May club night (lol), but we still need members to purchase their tickets as it’s going to be a good one this year, what with so much going on. On the Friday night there’s “Stars in Your Eyes” - we must have a girl band in our Chapter, so please come forward, its’ only a laugh. You’ll need to con-tact Anita for this one as you have to put your name forward before the event, as rehearsals are at Cleve Rugby Club on the 18

th May at 2pm. Then of course

it’s the one and only Gurzels on the Saturday night, one not to be missed, and there is talk of a Balloon dance but guys lets hope your practice will make perfect eh.

The Hospitality Tent rota is up and running so I’m taking names if you are interested in making tea/coffee on a 1 hour shift (contact details at the bot-tom of the page). If you want to make cakes this year it’s 1 whole cake or a maximum of 20 little ones.

Well the money has now been paid for the “cruise” down the River Wye so Queenie and myself will be starting our training. That must mean building up strength in our arm muscles, so it’s plenty of fluid lifting; hopefully we will be able to manage that over the coming months. Of course we will be raising money for the Orchard Trust, by way of estimated finishing time slots. So, all I can say is put your money on us girls!

Hope you are all looking forward to the London trip and most ladies have now met their room mates. I’ve been asked about what to wear: well I’ll be wearing jeans on Saturday as we don’t go to the hotel until after the show, so then its’ back to get ready for the evening meal and disco and a chance to dress up in your posh frock or trousers. Then I’m

back into jeans on the Sunday and into London for a few hours.

I’m sure us Ladies have had some interesting tales told to us from the Men Only tour, with their discus-sions on razors, lipsticks, shoes plus so much more but glad they all had a good time.

Well ladies that’s about it for this month, I’m sure some of us will have caught up at the Cider Rally, it’s the first one of the year so everyone looks for-ward to it.

Take Care All.

Jane x

Ladies of Harley

Any questions, queries or moans contact details.


Mobile: 07894 086626

Ladies of Harley By Jane Scott

Between the Covers

Hopefully Jane won’t mind me squeezing in next to

her and nicking a bit of her real estate….

As you’ve probably realised there’s a lot going on in

this month’s issue, who’d have guessed given the

(insert appropriate adjective) weather currently. Me

‘n’ Neats were on the ‘Sliding in Somerset’ rideout

and were relieved to get home shiny side up.

So what can you expect in this issue? Well to start

with ,there’s the ‘Soaring in Somerset’ rideout report

from Mike Sage along with a cautionary tale about

new tyres, plus an article by Mike Ludwell on the

Coleford Transport Festival.

However the pièce de résistance has to be Dave

Vass’s piece on the Gentlemen’s Isle of Wight tour,

though I’m convinced this is the abridged version.

By the way ladies I’m down to my last ‘Back Chat’

article so if you want to have your say…..

Mark

Editor

Email: [email protected] Mobile: 07900 496711

(Note: Views expressed are not necessarily those of the

Editor)



Hi all,

This is my last attempt to persuade you to dig deep,

and buy some “Hogs in the Hayfields” tickets. Only

the first 225 tickets sold will receive a rally patch and

pin, so don’t leave it till the last minute and miss out.

We`ve put together some great entertainment for you

over the weekend.

Dave Curtis will be our resident DJ.

Friday night we have a special “Stars in their Eyes”,

to give you a chance to show off your talent. For the

winner there will be a free bar for

the night, courtesy of Cleve RFC.

If you were at the first GWC Rally,

held at Margam Parc, you will not

have forgotten the Chapter’s own

version of the Balloon Dance.

Well, much older but none the

wiser, they`re back!

To round off the evening we have

a new band to us, called “Maxwell

Hammer Smith”, who have been a

big success at other Rallies.

Saturday afternoon we have

“Dave Curtis” taking requests to

play from his huge songbook, cov-

ering the fifties to the modern day.

Saturday evening we have a West

Country bumpkin theme, fancy

dress optional. (Maybe we could

find a prize for the best dressed).

To carry on the theme our first

band are a well-known West

Country act “The Skimmity Hitch-

ers”.

We have your own “Gurzels” and

to close us out, back by popular

demand, “Devious”.

Also throughout the weekend we

have the Rideout on the Saturday

morning, the usual fun and games

in the afternoon and a Ride in

Bike show with prizes. And not

forgetting, “The Ladies of Harley”

Hospitality tent.

There`s free camping, or local B&B`s and Premier

Inn.

Cleve RFC will again be feeding us, with a larger

selection for breakfast and an all-day BBQ plus

longer opening times, for the snack bar.

This event will be a great opportunity to catch up with

old and new Chapter friends.

Hope this has worked and we’ll see you there.

Tony James

Hogs in the Hayfields 6 21

st- 23

rd June 2013

Hi Everyone!

The pile of tee-shirts is

steadily decreasing as a

result of our Club nights

in April. We hope we can

deliver all of them to

members as soon as

possible. If you can’t col-

lect yours at our May

Club nights, I’ll let you know when I’m next in Rid-

ers, so that I can arrange to give them out there.

Meet Mike Guy who designed the back of our Anni-

versary t-shirt!

My, what a huge number of you attended our April

Club night at the Cross Hands! I’m wondering if it

was out of curiosity to see what the refurbishments

looked like! We hope to look into the uncomfortably

high temperature with so many of us in the room

that we use, or was it all down to hot air from the

announcements! Our meeting at St Mary’s was busy

too. It was good to welcome so many new members

to both meetings. A total of £224 was raised in our

raffles at both of our Club nights, for the Orchard

Trust, thank you.

Jeff Lancastle was the lucky winner of the monthly

draw for a free Rally ticket. Not long now to the big

event. Have YOU bought your rally ticket yet?

Sonja, Philo’s better half, has kindly offered to bring

her sewing machine to future Club nights and sew

on patches in return for a contribution to our charity.

Welcome to our new members: Matt Sargent and

Hazel Barry from Bristol, Richard Banner from Mil-

ford Haven, Alan and Ellena Rose from Pontyclun,

David Jones from Ebbw Vale,

Ian and Victoria Troughton,

Murray Toombs,

Dave and Sandra Silsbury,

(Continued on page 6)

Secretary’s Update By Yvonne Roberts

Simon Bulmer,

and Steve Lane.

Please make them welcome if you see them.

Meet our new Road Captains, who are all from

Wales: Greg Payne, Si Griffiths and Ian Mead,.

Here they all are, being presented with their RC

patches by Baz, (taken on Peter’s iphone)!

Please check out our website for details of all our

Merchandise, or see me at our Club nights.

The summary of the GWC Committee Minutes for

April will be published in the June issue of

RoadHOG, due to the late date of the meeting.

Ride safe,

Yvonne

Secretary


mob: 07557 413830

Home: 01225 751017


Group Riding – Enjoyment for All

Hi All

Over the past 6 months a small sub-committee, led by myself, has been looking into the way the Chapter con-ducts its organised rides. The sub-committee was formed following an action resulting from a Committee meeting in Q4/2012. It was felt that a number of issues needed to be addressed. The objective was to look at the current state scenario, and then look at ways of addressing some of the constructive feedback we have received from various Chapter members.

One of the main complaints received is the perennial problem of individuals not making progress whilst riding within the group. Now this issue applies to a very small minority of riders but it does impact on the vast majori-ty. In my time as Head Road Captain it has been up there as a concern on a fairly regular basis. This one subject seems to drive more frustration than any other. As a Chapter we have tried various ways of tackling the subject but always with limited success.

The sub-committee also looked into a wide range of other topics connected with riding. Most of which were deemed not to be broke, so why try to fix them was the consensus view. However, the subject of new riders was one the group felt needed looking into and was on the list to address.

As always, the focus, when looking at these two topics, was on maintaining continued enjoyment on group rides and ensuring safety is not compromised. It is the results of these two items that I would like to inform you of. That way there are no surprises to anyone who at-tends rides. The Chapter intends to bring into operation the couple of changes below over the coming months.

Making Progress on Rides

On all organised rides, the Road Captain leading will conduct the ride, taking into account the prevailing road conditions (weather, road type and road condition etc.), whilst observing the current road legislation (highway code). Taking this into account, the expectation of the Road Captain team is that individuals riding within the

group maintain a speed that keeps the group together at a safe distance (e.g. the 2 second rule in dry condi-tions). Failure to do this is what causes the frustration to both riders and other road users, such as cars and lorries. Large gaps appear and the group very quickly gets strung out over a long distance. This is often when safety becomes an issue with vehicles overtaking, where perhaps they should not. So, what can we do to address the issue so that the majority can enjoy them-selves? In future those consistently identified as strug-gling to maintain the ride pace will be asked to ride be-hind the breakdown man when attending rides. It will then be up to that individual to determine the speed and distance that they wish to travel at. Ultimately if the indi-vidual does not keep up with the group, then getting detached will firmly be that individual’s own accounta-bility.

That said, if any individual feels unsure, or lacks confi-dence in group riding, then please highlight it to me or one of the other Road Captains. We will do all we can to advise good practice. Remember the Chapter does offer the opportunity of new / refresher rides. This is a great way to build confidence in a safe environment.

To re-enforce a point, though, the Road Captains plan extensively to try and ensure the safety and enjoyment of those attending rides. Please remember that ultimately safety is each individual’s responsibility. Do not compromise your’s or other’s safety.

New Riders

Historically, new riders are briefed before their first ride. They then generally slot into the riding group, either to the middle, or to the rear. That way they can observe what goes on. This usually means taking note of how the ride progresses and how second man drop works.

As a change, and to endeavour to take the pressure off new riders, the following modification to the way we operate will be introduced. New riders will be asked to position themselves in-between the Sweeper (last Orange Vest) and the Breakdown (last Person). De-pending on each individual’s confidence and compe-tence, they would be expected to do this for their first three rides. We are also looking at introducing an attendance card for signature for all new riding mem-bers with the view of getting their initial rides signed by one of the Road Captains on the day.

I hope you will look at these changes as a progressive step. The objective is intended to heighten the pleasure and safety of group riding. However, I will continue to monitor and review how successful these changes are. If they prove to be unsuccessful, then as Head Road Captain I will take the appropriate action to make the necessary changes.

Ride Hard and Ride Safe.

Alan “Big Al” Stokes

Assistant Director & Head Road Captain

Hi All

First this month I would like to congratulate Ian Mead, Mike Sage, Greg Payne, Si Griffiths and Mike “Badger” Brake on successfully completing their Road Captain’s training in April. Well done guys. The feed-back I have received

was very positive and I believe they all found the course both helpful and thought provoking. It’s good to attend these sorts of events as practices change as times move on. Hopefully the guys will share the learning with the rest of us old hands.

As the riding season gets into full swing, May will see Chris Harding and Nige Garnett run one of the Chapters “New Riders / Refresher” courses. This will be held on Saturday 18

th May, 2.00 p.m. at Rid-

ers of Bristol. The session usually last about 2 hours and combines some theory, plus an opportunity to get out on the road and practice what has been learnt. So if you’re new and have never been in-volved in group riding, this is a great chance to come along and find out all about it in a very safe environment. It is also suitable for those that would just like to brush up on what they know. Please come along, meet some new faces and get in-volved. I’m sure you will find it a worthwhile experi-ence. Full details are on the websites “What’s On” page.

Lastly, I would just like to mention that a small sub-committee, led by myself has been working to try and tweak a few of our riding practices to further the enjoyment and safety of those that attend ride-outs. I have gone into this in more detail in a separate article in this issue, and will reinforce it at Club-nights. Please take the time to read it.

And now onto the forthcoming rides ……

Sunday 12th

May 2013 – Greg Payne, Ian Mead, Si Griffiths & Ian Johnson

“Coastal and Valley Meanderings”

Why not join the team on a ride that will take in the coast before lunch and head into the valleys for the afternoon. This one will be led by Greg Payne who has used his local knowledge to come up with a route, which should have something for everyone. The ride will basically be confined to A and B roads for the duration.

The plan is to meet at 10.00 a.m. at McDonald’s, The Coldra (Newport) A48 by the Premier Lodge Hotel. Please be fuelled up ready to depart at

10.30 a.m.

We will ride to the Coldra roundabout and take the 2

nd exit along the Southern Distributor road past the

transporter bridge, then turn left on B4239 Light-house Road and through Dyffryn, Peterstone, Wentloog, Rover Way and on towards Penarth. Then it’s along the esplanade, on to Barry Island for a tea and a comfort break at Marcos cafe. After-wards, we head towards Llanwit Major on the A4226 through Southern Down and to Hillsborough Place car park, Porthcawl, for a lunch stop at about 12.30 p.m. Leave there after an hour and head to Margam via A48, then Afan Valley road on to the B4282 to-wards Maesteg. Then it’s the A4063 towards Brid-gend and finally finishing at McDonald’s, Pencoed M4/J35.

This is classed as a Level A ride of circa 90 miles.

Sunday 19th

May 2013 – Stu Scott & Team

“EVO’s to Evesham”

This will be a re-run of the cancelled ride last No-vember when Evesham was basically under flood water. The ride will be led by Martin James.

The town of Evesham is a great destination and hopefully the ride will bring pleasant Spring weather.

The plan is to meet at Severn View (Aust) Services (M48/J1) for 09.30 a.m. and be fuelled up ready to depart at 10.00 a.m.

We’ll be heading over the Severn Bridge to Chep-stow and winding our way up through the Forest of Dean passing through Tutshill, Coleford, Mitchel-dean and Ashton Ingham. We will then head on to Newent where we will have a comfort break. Then we will make our way to Evesham via Upton on Severn, crossing the River Severn towards Pershore and into Evesham for lunch.

Departing Evesham will be via the A46 to Ashton Underhill and Ashchurch. From there it’s on to the A38 to Tewkesbury, Longford and then the A40 to Hingham. Here we pick up the A48 down the West bank of the Severn, finishing the ride in Chepstow.

This is classed as a Level B ride, mainly on A and B roads and circa 130 miles.

Saturday 22nd

June 2013 – Big Al & Team

Meet at Cleve RFC car park at 10.30 a.m. and be fuelled up ready to leave at 11.00 a.m. Fuel can be obtained prior to meeting at the local Sainsbury’s (approx. 2 miles) on the A4174 Ring Road.

This will be the “Hogs in the Hayfields” rally ride (N.B. open only to rally ticket holders), so ensure you are sober enough to come along and join what


From The Front By Alan “Big Al” Stokes

promises to be a unique ride. This year’s ride will take in the both the Old Severn Bridge and the New Severn Bridge, plus the Avon Bridge and Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge. The ride will head out across country taking in the Old Severn Bridge first. Leaving the motorway we head across the local Welsh countryside to rejoin the M4 at Magor. From here we head over the New Severn Bridge and pick up the M49 which will take us onto the M5 southbound and over the Avon Bridge. Leaving the motorway at Gordano the ride will head towards Bristol and over the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Once over, we will travel down to the Portway and around Hotwells before heading back along the Portway. This route will allow the riders to see the bridge from a different perspective. At the end of the Portway we will pass the Avon Bridge on the left hand side, again a different view. From here the route will take us back along the River Severn, via

Severnside and across country back to the rally site.

This is classed as a Level B ride of circa 70/80 miles with Motorway, A and B roads included.

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

Well another month has gone by, so it’s time to put my thoughts on mat-ters affecting Cangen Cymraeg on paper. As I type, it feels like Spring has really arrived with the promise of better riding weather.

The March meeting at St Mary’s was really well attended with a few old faces returning. Good to see Andy and Candace Row-lands, and Paul Lant. Andy recently had his Road King re-sprayed and having seen the finished arti-cle, Candy Apple is the new Black. Also there were Lynne and Barrie Avery fresh from their Antipodean adventures (could be an article) plus Kay and Ian Mead from Daytona. Having seen videos on YouTube I was especially looking forward to Ian’s pics, while having a pint at the bar, but what a dis-appointment - not a patch on last years.

Bazzer gave a run through of future events and was only interrupted once, a record for Cangen. There is still a small take-up of GWC members for our Rally. If it will help I can take camping equipment to the rally in my campervan, cost will be minimal a few pints of cider. Just let me know, so we can arrange it. A lot of effort goes into organising this rally to make it a success so come along; day tickets are available, there are hotels close by for a short taxi fare.

As you were aware there were no Welsh rideouts in April as myself, Ian Mead and Simon Griffiths attended a Road Captain’s Course in Oxford. There were 20 attendees from other chapters and I believe we all thought the course was professionally run

and all of us gained valuable experience and knowledge of leading a rideout safely.

On this theme, if anyone would like to assist the Road Captains as Marshals let me know as any as-sistance is really appreciated and you will get a sense of satisfaction and purpose. I know Bryn Wilt-shire, Neil Lewis and Jonathan St John have volun-teered and anymore would be welcome.

Mark and Min Chivers have moved to Gorslas, West Wales, so there could be another entrant in the mileage stakes. Hope everything went smooth dur-ing the move and let us know WHEN THE PARTY IS.

Last weekend I spent a terrible weekend away from my family and attended what was described as the Isle of Wight Gentlemen’s Tour. There was I, amongst 35 testosterone-fuelled hairy bikers, head-ing south led by Bazz, Sharpy, Hardarse and Wide-boy. My fears were well founded as I soon got mixed up with various leatherclad bikers who had thirsts on them worse than a dromedary in the Ara-bian desert. The only saving grace was an encoun-ter with a nice lady in a hula hula skirt who gave me 2 garlands of flowers for Brian Johnson’s birthday bash. I can’t say anymore as I believe Dizzy Dave has been tasked with the write-up and, with his jour-nalistic experiences, the piece will be full of hard- hitting facts and downright lies (tour stories stay on the IOW).

By the time this article is read quite a few of us

would have attended the Cider Rally which is the

start of the Rally Season SO BRING IT ON LET’S

RIDE HARD AND PARTY HARD.

Greg

Cangen Cymraeg By Greg Payne

“Well sliding actually”

March’s rideout would normally be in reasonable

weather and attract a satisfying turnout, many using it

as their start to the season, like playing golf again after

watching the Masters on TV! Unsurprisingly that wasn’t

the case this year.

I’d started planning the route in my head before Christ-

mas, travelling around Somerset whilst working. You

know the sort of thought: “blimey, this would make a

good rideout road, log it for later.” Andy Kendall (Snr)

joined me for a recce on the bikes on 1st January. It

was cold and dry on the day but there was localised

flooding about. All was going well, we did about 70

miles before reaching Priddy on top of the Mendips.

There we came to a grinding halt confronted by a

flooded road we could not ride through. We were start-

ing to feel the cold so called it a day. It turned out to be

a bad omen for the future....

Further refining took place, including a group recce in

the ‘Team Big Al’ tour bus provided by AK. (We’ve for-

bidden him from selling it, it’s too useful, enabling us to

discuss the route and details without continually getting

off the bikes.) That went well and the route was

agreed. A spanner was again thrown in by the weather

– Cheddar Gorge suffered with torrential rain, damag-

ing the road surface and closing the gorge road. The

same happened to Draycott Steep past the Gliding

Club requiring a rethink and change of route, all of

which was achieved in time for Sunday’s ride. Surely

late March would be fine? A quick check with Big Al

on Thursday and we decided to go for it. I think every-

one was getting a bit stir crazy and needed to get out.

Sunday morning, cold and windy but dry we started to

gather at McDonalds, Brislington. Another spanner:

Andy Kendall (RKK) had kindly stepped in to assist the

road team to replace LBD who had pulled out after

claiming some sort of wimpy injury was keeping him off

two wheels. Good move in the end LBD, wish I’d

thought of it myself. Anyway RKK went down with the

flu and couldn’t chance it. No problem, KEEP CALM

AND CARRY ON.

Why is Badger (breakdown man) not in bike gear and

arriving in a car? Bike trouble – bu**er! No problem he

could still fulfil his role – like Bazzer in Belgium! Re-

member: KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.

Anyway, 12 bikes and 13 hardy souls gathered for my

first briefing, a sympathetic audience I felt with the ex-

pected ‘useful’ heckling. Mrs Cockers, resplendent in

leather and obviously feeling the nip in the air was the

only pillion. Honourable mention has to be made of

Darlow Lloyd who turned out on his Road Glide from...

Bridgend! Respect.

So off we set, A37, Chew Magna and a quick stop by

the Chew Valley Lake, normally an idyllic location with

wading birds and gently lapping water. Today it re-

minded me of the Baltic on a stormy day. Onwards and

a nice weaving ride down the A368 to Burrington

Coombe. Roads were fine, not much traffic. “Hmm not

as many cyclists today” thinks I. Omen number 2.

At the top of the Coombe I was looking forward to giv-

ing the Hog its head and flying across the Mendip Mo-

torway. Nope, roadworks for 8 minutes! What a day to

dig a trench across the whole carriageway. Anyway it

gave me a chance to notice the frost in the trees.

Omen number 3.

Once we were released by the road crew (wouldn’t

they be more tolerable if they had some cheerful wom-

an with a flag like American roadworks?) we started to

make some progress but I did notice some gaps ap-

pearing in the convoy and also the drop in tempera-

ture, “ease up Mike” I made a mental note.

After the Castle of Comfort PH and approaching the

next crossroads we started getting flashed by oncom-

ing vehicles. I immediately reduced speed and

watched while a woman in a red fiesta slid gracefully

across the junction and mounted the kerb. Sheet ice.

Not good news, Omen number 4. Anyway onwards,

carefully past Waldegrave Pool noting where cars had

left gouges and tracks in the verges and banks!

Omens coming thick and fast now, number 5. Gingerly

riding the dry line and avoiding dark glistening patches

we rode on to The Hunters Rest PH at Priddy

(remember Priddy?)

Big Al had gone on ahead in his capacity as Marshal

and was stood next to his bike waiting. More sheet ice.

We crossed the junction, feet down and stopped safe-

ly. The Road Team had an O group and jointly agreed

it was too risky/dangerous to continue with more than

half the outward leg still to do. The right decision, eve-

ryone was in agreement.

Someone at the back had new tyres fitted on Saturday (Continued on page 11)

‘Soaring In Somerset’ Rideout Report By Mike Sage

and had obviously made the wrong tactical decision

choosing to go out on intermediates instead of full

wets. (All the best racing drivers have made that mis-

take). So KEEP CALM AND BACK TO McDONALDS,

by the safest main road route. (Someone? stopped off

to see a “sick auntie” on the way back. Never miss an

opportunity eh Mike?)

Back at McD’s and full of hot coffee but still visibly

shivering, we decided we’d survived without physical

injuries apart from mild frostbite. (Priddy weather re-

port : 28⁰F -1⁰C feeling like: 15⁰F -10⁰C) Every cloud

has a silver lining, Mark Chinnick was grinning be-

cause he’d notched up one more ride than RKK and

Keith Swarbrick. The last memorable sight of the day

was Darlow leaving on his long ride back to Brid-

gend....

Thanks to all those who turned out and to those that

didn’t... fair shout. We will return to this one again, and

get past b****y Priddy!

Mike Sage

Please read on and I’ll explain.

Back tyre looking a little worse for wear and with some

good rides planned for the immediate future I decided

to bite the bullet and get Riders to do their thing, I

knew the front was a bit on the “thin” side as well but

thought I’d leave it for a month or so, but then came

the dreaded (but half expected) phone call, “Riders

here, do you know your Front tyre is borderline illegal?”

So, not much in the way of options I gave them the go

ahead to do the front as well.

So far so good!

This was all on Friday 22nd March, hanking down with

rain so I’d leave the bike with them and pick it up on

Saturday (23rd). Forecast cold but no rain - all still

good!

Still with me?

Now Sunday 24th and a nice rideout planned – well it

is Spring now - Yeah right!

Checked the forecast – still very cold but no rain – text

from Big Al around 10pm last night – ride is on! Good

stuff.

I had a look at our outside thermometer before I left the

house at 8.45am it was telling me it was -2°C!

All was good – very cold but ok – till we got on top of

the Mendips by the Castle of Comfort pub – a strong

side-wind blowing and the temp was down to -3°C;

factor in the wind chill and it was more like -10°C, defi-

nitely not good riding weather. Tthe back end had al-

ready twitched 3 times, then on the 4th attempt the bike

won, the front end twitched and dumped me uncere-

moniously on my arse!

The road was sheet ice!

Big thanks to the council that didn’t bother to grit that

piece of road, all the other riders on the day reported

the same “twitching” of the back ends. I’ve since heard

from someone who lived on that bit of road that the

council never bothers gritting up there as there is a lot

of heavy vehicle traffic from a local quarry. The council

relies on them “dropping” enough crap in the road to

keep it clear – will have to write to them and let them

know it’s not working!

Getting back to the tyre issue – was it the new tyres

that caused the spill? I don’t know for sure, but the

next time I get some fitted I will make sure that I do the

100 or so miles they recommend before taking any

chances on extremely wet or extremely cold rides!!

At the end of the day – not all bad – no blood spilt and

little damage to the bike despite coming off at 25–30

mph – bit of a scratch on the end of the exhaust pipe

and a graze on the crash bars – they did their job! It

could have been a lot worse!

Big Al had gone ahead of the group to “mark” the next

junction, parked his bike in another pub car park, on a

gentle slope, and watched as his bike started to slide

down the slope on the kickstand!! About as cold as it

gets on a bike!!

It was quite sensible that the ride was terminated at

that junction of the road and a cautious, more direct,

ride taken back to the starting point of the day,

McDonalds Brislington, for a warming bite to eat and a

hot cuppa. Then back home for a very welcome hot

bath.

New tyres – not recommended?

Yes of course they are – but – as I said above, take heed of the advice given and treat them gently till they “scuff up” a bit to give you maximum adhesion to the roads – and unlike me – stay upright! Ride safe – have fun.

New Tyres “A Cautionary Tale”

April 1st 2013

It was a very overcast, very cold, morning to venture

out to meet with just three of the 5 people who said

they would attend the Coleford festival for 2013. As

usual with these events they are all day, start from

7.30am and finish after 4pm due to all the health and

safety requirements of the day.

Everyone arrived at Severn View services in time to fill

out the registration forms and we were on our way by

8.30am. Interestingly, all of us were on red bikes, one

with the added bonus of the beer barrel trailer.

It was a cold ride from the off but now snow flakes had

started to fall and the sky got darker and darker. The

ride took about half an hour and was made confusing

by the fact that we hadn’t seen any other type of vehi-

cles on their way to the show. Had we got the right

day? Were we at the right meeting point?

Suddenly, from the other direction, came a blue Mas-

sey Ferguson tractor with its driver looking so cold,

even colder than us and as we turned into the high

street there was just a small queue of people making

their way into the square. Timed perfectly! We parked

up just beneath the clock tower and outside of the

pub... Ideal place to be put.

There were 18 Harleys altogether and a separate dis-

play of mixed bikes in an adjacent street. Time for a

walk around and take an early bird view. There were

vehicles from all categories and especially the Classics

including more smart cars than I had ever seen in one

place. They really have picked up a cult following, a bit

like the VW caravanettes that had also turned up in

massive quantities.

From Triumph Stags to Bubble cars, from the usual

A30 Austins to TVRs, in all over 600 exhibits for the

public to view free of charge on a family day out.

We were pleased to see some very welcome faces of

past and present Chapter members who popped by for

a bit of a chin wag. The snow did not get to much but

did persist several times during the day and maybe this

was the reason for the lack of interaction from the pub-

lic. There were plenty of them but they just glanced

and very few actually engaged, this I think was down to

the low numbers of Harleys that attended.

Plenty of parts and spares, plenty of food and every

one seemed to be enjoying the day.

By 3.30pm we were allowed to leave and head for

home as we were at the bottom of the High Street.

Cold it was, but very enjoyable just the same. I'm sure

the organisers will be well happy with the turn out as

we were with their organisation.

From the man with the red bike

Coleford Transport Festival By Michael Ludwell

Hi I’m Nicky and I’m responding to an e-mail about experiences as a pillion.

The photo above is on Route 22 on our way to Shaw Harley. We’d only had the Harley for a year and decided to ride to the south east coast and back in one day, about 375 miles. The trip started very unplanned really: we decided to ride to Camberley, in Surrey, to McDonalds for a coffee and see how we felt. After the coffee we thought we would ride to Guildford Harley, I mean it would be rude not to af-ter all we were already in Surrey. We arrived at Guildford Harley to be treated to free coffees and doughnuts, Wow! After lots of chatting and drinking we rode on to East Grinstead via Dorking and Rei-gate, on the A25, stopping at McDonald's for lunch and a coffee. While in the restaurant someone helped themselves to my husbands motorcycle gloves that he’d left in the side panniers. Silly boy.

Off we went again onto the A22 heading towards Eastbourne. We arrived at Shaw Harley at 1600. This ride, with stops, had taken us nine hours.

Shaw Harley was fantastic and well worth the ride. Not only were they very friendly, but hospitable too. They showed us around the dealership and gave us a tour of the work and customising shop as well. We stayed much too long and left Shaw at 1800, riding to the pier, then up to Beachy Head to see where the Scooter had gone off the top in the film Quadro-phenia.

The last stop before home was the Blue Dolphin in Hastings for a plate of fish and chips with mushy

peas and a mug of tea. Full and tired we strolled out of the restaurant to find it very dark and extremely cold. This is the point my husband actually realised his gloves had been borrowed.

One hundred and seventy five miles to go and oh no, no gloves. The exhaust gave out its lovely growl which helped drown out my husband’s moaning about how cold it was.

We road out of Hastings towards Eastbourne. The time was getting on now and we were dressed in our summer leathers. My husband took the motor-way home and cranked the old sportster up to 85 mph . Now we were really cold. We didn’t get home until 01.00 but we had a fantastic day out. We are planning to do this ride again this year with friends Michael and Julia.

This is me outside Shaw Harley at the sunshine coast.

This is the car park in Bibury by the trout farm oppo-site the Swan Hotel but that’s another day and an-other ride.

Nicky Dodd

Someone once said, “If all men were equal the world would be a boring place” well this weekend was far from boring.

FRI Day 1

I was up early and pulled back the curtains to view the weather, not bad, cloudy and rain in the air but OK. Ablu-tions done, it was downstairs for breakfast and then into the garage to pack the bike, just one Harley bag on the back, all packed the night before. Said goodbye to my wife, gave her a big kiss and she wished me bon voy-age and a safe trip. I can still hear her saying, “I hope you haven’t forgotten anything”!! Helmet and riding gear on I saddled up, a silent ride down the hill, then started my wonderful Harley. That lovely sound when all is quiet and my neighbours, still in their beds saying, “Dave's off, I hope he’s not forgotten anything”. The air was fresh but not cold and my next stop was at Magor services to meet my good friend Paul Evans. Both, with a little sleep in our eyes, we proceeded to Riders for the start. We were a little early so it was nice to see and hear the guys arrive with, I’m sure, a need to eat. I was right about that, so many plates of full breakfast. How did the lady manage to cope I don’t know, but she did a fantastic job, with a little help. The last time I saw eating like that was at Bristol Zoo.

Now for the off, it was great to hear the bikes, that great Harley sound and in my opinion can only be made by a Harley. So with excitement and anticipation we set off, with Baz leading and Nigel in the rear, or should I rephrase that, at the back.

The route was a su-per mix of A and B roads, to our first stop at the Warminster Bypass Services. Re-freshments were wel-come and all happy until the sight of rain-bows below one of the bikes brought concern, a dreaded oil leak or, if you’re Welsh, leek. Soon the concern grew un-til someone said (“Slick, you’ve got an oil leak” or was it “leak, you’ve got a oil slick” I’m not sure), well everybody at the ready shouting “Don’t panic” Don’t Panic” but all was well, so then off again in our trusted formation. The ride was fantastic, with lovely twisty roads through the scenic New Forest, to Lymington for our ferry crossing.

The crossing was calm and tranquil so the bikes, all lined up, were safe on their side stands. Some decided

to brave the wind on the upper deck, while others were happy to just doze.

After a fantastic ride to Alum bay, where the wind was so strong the cable car was closed, we then went along the coastal road and the scenery was spectacular. We arrived in Shanklin a little thirsty and tired and as we parked up, I could hear the words, “I could murder a pint, where's the bar” and

this was about four o’clock.

Now I have to admit that alcohol and me do not get on, especially at my age, so to commence drinking at five was a very big mistake, ‘cos at six I was pissed, so the next few words are based on a hazy memory.

I’m not sure when we left the hotel to eat but my legs were not keeping up with the rest of my body. Finally we reached The Village, a most attractive pub down the hill. It was full of our bikers and others, so standing room only. I can remember the pints coming thick and fast and someone saying, “Come on Dave keep up” and I can remember taking a rest on a comfy sofa by a well-lit fire. Now here’s where my embarrassment be-gan, because I was hot and removed my leather vest and coat but forgot to put on the vest when leaving. The next stop was the Henry VIII pub a little way across the road and this is where the fun started. A nice meal, a dance and a good rock band “OBLIVION,” could any-one want more? Well two guys did, they just couldn’t resist doing a strip right down to the nuddy, with one

guy covering his pri-vates with both hands and the other guy with one and guess who they were, PHILO and BRYN what a pair of outrageous men. Can you imagine the sce-ne, all the guys shout-ing, drinking, whis-tling, breaking wind and know one wanting to bend down to pick up a five pound note off the floor, the whole pub was awash with laughter, it was with no complaints. I then thought, it’s time to go home so off I stag-

gered only to find myself in the Holland's Hotel Piano Bar, and guess who were with us? PHILO and BRYN plus many others. Could this get any worse, you betcha? More drink, more laughter but this time the scene was different, a nicer type of person frequented this place, until we arrived. The live act performing was


Gentlemen’s Isle of WIGht Weekend

14

a very nice attractive female singer, who must have been put off her stride by the sight of us. Not wanting to upset anyone we shouted quietly, then more drinks and then the two Great Western Strip-pers were at it again, removing their shirts and were about to remove their pants when the manager, who seemed a little scared, gestured NO WAY, not in my establishment. It seemed certain that hand movements caught on because BRYN gestured to the manager GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY at which the manager with hand movements replied GO AHEAD SEE IF I CARE, so they continued to strip to the buff and to the nice lady, who’s face was now turning red, had the sight of two naked back sides; must have been like looking at bulldogs chewing a wasp Too much for me and so to bed.

SAT Day 2

Not a good morning for me, my head was spinning and the thought of losing my vest made me sad and it was peeing down. But we soldiered on and, while others

rode off to see some sights, I went to the places we visited last night to find my vest, but no joy. As the rain was now hammering, three of us went to a little cafe on the front and it wasn’t long before the rest joined us. Baz thought it would be a good ideal, that’s what they say in Brizzle, to have a presentation. So would dizzy Dave

stand up, I thought oh shit not again, Baz very kindly gave me my waistcoat and that cheered me up im-mensely, yes I had left it on the sofa.

Then, back to the ferry and this time a choppy crossing. A speaker announcement asked if we could go to the lower decks to check our bikes. I was feeling a lot bet-ter now so I volunteered. I returned topside to inform the guys all’s well, only two bikes had changed places, when at that point a car alarm went off on the lower deck, I have never seen a lot of old farts move so fast - all headed down the stairs, pushing and pulling each other out of the way, anybody would have thought we were sinking. Off the ferry for a short ride to the Prem-ier Inn Portsmouth. We were greeted by a young lady named Louise who booked us all in quickly and then off to our rooms, I didn’t see Lenny. Super-clean and a big bed.

We met in reception and taxied to Jongleurs, but first we must eat, so Frankie and Bennies was fine. The service was good; the food was ok, orange and lemon-ade for me. I checked to see if I was wearing my vest and it’s just as well I wasn’t, cos I wouldn’t get in. They ask me for identification so I showed them my bus pass, no problem we are in. The atmosphere was elec-

tric, full of women, two hen nights and three birthdays, what fun this is going to be. Soon there was banter be-

tween the la-dies and the Harley boys, all good fun though.

Our compere was brilliant - reminded me of Smithy on Gavin and Stacey and so was BRYN, wearing his kilt and tam-my, shouting a few words to help the acts.

The first comedian was a female, who was struggling and the ladies weren’t very kind, but us guys gave her the respect she deserves. I think being in front of thirty hairy bikers is enough to scare anybody. The next act was a magician; he was a very clever guy, making balls disappear and return under three large cups and his hat, then turned them into pomegranates and a melon. The last act was a Canadian, very funny but very blue, so a good time was had by all and we came out intact.

I returned to the hotel with my two very good friends only to find the reception empty. One of my friends re-quired service and seemed a little agitated that the recep-tion was bare, so com-menced to ring the buzz-er on the desk and then the alarms went off, the lights went out, peo-ple were de-scending the stairs in their nightwear all because this guy had not read the info under the buzzer it said “ For emergency only “. He stood there frozen, eyes wide open with his hand in front of his face muttering “Oh **** what have I done. I will not tell you who this person is because BOB would-n’t like it. Paul, the nice, big, receptionist came running and found it quite amusing, so all was fine.

SUN Day 3

Up early for breakfast. I was not sure about the fry-up but had one anyway. Weather is dry but cloudy so the ride home looked good. It was nice to see all the guys, well nearly all because someone could have been left behind, I will explain later. Now most if not all the bikes are lined neatly on the road after our direction and safe-ty info. Bikes now roared into action, all except one; poor Wide Boy Nigel sat with a stare of disbelief, ‘cos his bike just spluttered, farted and stopped, oh dear


15

what a bummer. It was soon noticed by the guys, who switched off their engines. The young and strong came to the rescue with a push but no joy. It must be the plugs, so who’s got any spanners, the question was soon answered when The Pluggers came to Nigel’s aid. This spanner doesn't fit, nor does this one, try this, no that’s no good either. “You sure that’s not a Yamaha in drag”. After a while Simon And Bryn had the plugs out. “Now has anyone got a lighter” I saw so many shrug their shoulders and reply “ No I don't smoke” Eventually the Pluggers collected two plugs and it still wouldn’t start, so bring back the Pushers. Three quar-ters of an hour went by and a lot of pushing; the bike finally burst into action. You could hear a pin drop while the pushing was going on, but when it started the cheers were so loud all the rugby boys in the field op-posite went running in all directions. That’s what biking is all about “friendship”.

Now we are off to the Southampton Dealership and what a palaver, lots of road works, which means lots of cars, which means lots of frayed tempers but we even-tually got there although a little late. This is a good time to relax, look at the bikes, keep your money in your wallet, have coffee and have a pee. We said good-bye, checked that Nigel’s bike was running well, that he has his new plugs and off we go to Chesil Beach, with a stop at Charmouth. No rain at this time but a very strong wind, which may have caused Christof to doubt his sat Nav because we stopped a few times. On one of those stops some guys thought a pee was a good

idea just behind a very sparse hedge - big mistake ‘cos four or five of them were doing pirouettes trying not to spray themselves as the wind blew, causing them to face the road with hanging bits showing, just as well the cars were as sparse as the hedge, then returning to their bikes with wet boots and leggings. Back on the bikes and off to Charmouth for a sandwich, cup of tea and a plate of chips.

The ride home was very wet but, needless to say, very enjoyable.

I would like to thank Peter, Baz, and all who helped to organise this trip. For me it was one of the best rideouts I have attended.

Dave Vass

Philo ‘THE GOOD SAMARITAN’

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN… and there I was having just de-gruded the Softail.

Trundling slowly into Ryde on the hunt for the pack, in front of me blocking my considerable bulk was a scoot-er and two people of the female persuasion. Pulling across the junction to help protect the young ladies I sprang into action…

The situation was this, a scooterist pulled out of a side road, gave it a handful and hey presto, flat out, face down and whimpering!!

First glance and the injured party was making a noise, (the only time it’s good to hear a whining female voice) bonus she’s alive!

A quick check to see if the scooter was safe and the other young lady had phoned the correct people, now to begin the chat up.

Name: Trish

Age: 17.

Eyes: Brown

Boyfriend: No

Cold: Yes

Having struck up a repartee I attempted a quick as-sessment, (easiest way is, “Tash tell me where it hurts? Right ankle and calf, time to make her as comfortable as possible. Jacket around her shoulders and keep the chat up. Reassurance, anything to try and keep the situation calm, above all maintain the flirt!

The traffic was becoming a real problem, suddenly from nowhere a woman started directing, fearless as she was, cars blaring horns she gave no reaction just calm and collected, WOW I thought she was amazing….

It wasn’t until much later I discovered she was deaf!

I stayed on the scene until the ambulance arrived, it took 45 mins.

As for Tash one fractured leg and a wonderful smile.

16

So this is the May edition which means we have been thorough April al-ready (yes I know I’m bright like that!) which means we’ve had one ‘Go Your Own Way’ and two 10th Anniversary events. 1st April saw the Coleford

Carnival of Transport (renamed ‘Cold ford’ for obvi-ous reasons), an annual themed event with this year celebrating Harley- Davidson’s 110th anniversary. Un-fortunately, due to the very low number of Harley-Davidson exhibits (H-D bikes were to be centre stage), the organisers removed the H-D theme from their ad-vertising but, having said that, the Chapter was repre-sented. You can read Mike Ludwell’s write up in this month’s edition of the mag. So we tried something new, the weather didn’t help, but unfortunately, unless we see a bigger interest,I don’t think we will see this on our list for next year. The second of our 10th Anniversary events was the Gentlemen’s Weekend Away to IOW from the 12th -14th. The rotten weather wasn’t going to stop our in-trepid bunch sailing across the high seas to the IOW and having a great time, So bikes fuelled up? Check! Riders full of English breakfast? Check! ……And that’s where I’ll leave it as you can read the full story from the ‘horses mouth’ in this month’s mag. Who knows, perhaps we could see this as an annual event (provided that is we have the corresponding Ladies weekend!) Take a look at the video on the web though, another Christoff masterpiece. The week after the IOW weekend saw the Night Ride on Friday 19th April. This event was always going to be weather dependent so all eyes were looking sky-ward but, as the week progressed, mercifully, we saw the weather improve. A small group of us went up to wish them a safe and enjoyable ride and count them out but when we arrived at McDonalds we weren’t sure if they had cancelled the ride or perhaps they had gone early? Where were the bikes?? Thankfully it wasn’t cancelled and we weren’t late as one by one they start-ed to arrive with the rumble of each bike being heard some way off due to the clear evening skies. Whilst they waited for others it was funny to see them check out and compare who had the best LED lights or who had the brightest back/brake lights, it was like being at a disco! Still, it makes a change from comparing the chrome I suppose. Then the time came for them to depart and off they went into the night. It was now about 10.00pm and time to get home and open that bottle of wine and slump in front of the TV but, as we rode home on the bike, you couldn’t fail to notice that the temperature had started to plummet. Hopefully the guys had their thermals on; it was going to be a cold night.

Saturday morning came round which saw an even big-ger ‘Welcoming Committee’ to see the group safely counted back in. Thankfully the ride went without inci-dent and all returned safe and well, if not a bit knack-ered. Anyway I’m not saying any more about the actual event as we will have a full write up on the night ride in next month’s mag (the Editor thought it mean to ask for the write up the same day they got home!). Dinner/Dance 26th October As mentioned at Club nights the majority of events, where hotels etc. are involved, need us to pay upfront, so it’s vital that we need to know we have sold the minimum number of tickets by the end of June in order to cover the overheads. So whilst October may be a number of months away we are taking bookings for the 10th anniversary dinner/dance at The Hilton, Bradley Stoke, so please register your interest by pay-ing a 50% deposit of £15 per person by the 30th June (full payments can also be taken as well!). This will be the penultimate 10th anniversary event of the year and therefore we hope to see and celebrate with as many members as possible to round off our very special year. So just to recap ………. Its £30 per person for the din-ner/dance, so we will need at least 50% deposits by the end of June please. Monies can be paid by BACS, cheques or cash. For more details, or to register your interest, please contact Lynne Avery (St Mary’s Club nights) [email protected] or me (at Cross Hands club nights). Once the full amount has been received you will be given a ticket as your receipt. Don’t forget that the hotel is also offering discounted room rates for party-goers so look at the 10th Anniver-sary Events page/website for more details. You can check in from 3.00pm and then use the hotel facilities such as the pool/Jacuzzi…. bar. Your room rate in-cludes a full cooked breakfast served up until 11.00am Sunday morning, so you can have a lie in too! And one last thing, Mike Filder is looking for volun-

teers to set up/man a variety of games at the rally. We

will have a number of fun games (remember the Piggy

race?) so need self reliant peeps to help out over the

weekend. Please contact Mike direct on his mobile

07788 298623 or email [email protected]

And don't forget to contact me to take part in ‘Stars in

Their Eyes’ - rehearsals 18th May at Cleve Rugby Club.

Having a laugh is more important than singing ability!

Cockers


Mobile: 07702 073361

Cockers Bits By Anita Cockwell




Our Remaining 7½ Events in 2013

Event 4 – 12th Benelux Rally, Silverlake Beach, Mol,

Belgium – Flemish Kempen H.O.G. Chapter, 20th

Anniversary, June 7th- 9th

Details are on our Chapter website or contact Chris

Harding for full details.

Event 5 – 10th Anniversary Rally at the Hayfields,

June 21st - 23rd

This will be held at Cleve Rugby Club, with loads of

great entertainment, and a special rideout encompass-

ing our bridges. Tickets - £25 for the weekend or £18 for

Saturday, now on sale from Tony James. See the spe-

cial rally page on our website for a booking form. Buy

early and you have a chance of winning a free rally tick-

et in our monthly draw! Tony is also looking for volun-

teers to help.

Event 6 – Rhayader Riding Weekend, July 11th-14th

Bazzer will lead a ride to Rhayader on Thursday July

11th, and Nige will lead a ride there on Friday July 12th.

There will be a planned ride for both Friday and Satur-

day, through the Elan Valley and Snowdonia, as well as

planned evening entertainment centred round the many

pubs in Rhayader. Details for booking accommodation

can be found on our website on our 10th Anniversary

page. Just in case you didn’t see the message sent out

on MailChimp, if anyone has booked accommodation at

the Bear, Greenfields or the Brynafon Hotel, you need

to book elsewhere as the owner of these has gone into

receivership. Please inform Yvonne Roberts if you in-

tend joining us: [email protected] as it will

help Dave (LBD) Roberts in planning the rides and the

Rhayader entertainment Committee in planning our

evening entertainment. So far 66 people have let me

know they are coming, including 14 Road captains.

Event 7 – Treasure Hunt, June 30th, a day of mys-

tery, mischief and mayhem!

Meet for 10am at a suitable meeting place (to be con-

firmed but there will be coffee and facilities!). After reg-

istration there will be a vague woolly explanation as to

how the hunt works. We will then issue people with their

clue packs (top secret!), and send them on their

way! It’s more fun if people are in teams. We aim to

send the first teams out at 10.45/11.00am at timed inter-

vals. We take great care to plan a safe riding route and

avoid anything that could be hazardous...it’s about hav-

ing fun and following the clues, not dodging traffic! We

give fairly precise directions...we figure it’s more fun to

take part than get lost! The clues aren't hugely challeng-

ing. Cameras will be needed. We are aiming for it to

take about 4 hours including time for tea/beer breaks

and the finish will be at a suitable eatery, (we take or-

ders for food before the off so that we can let the eatery

know the numbers). Allowing for any bribes etc, the win-

ner(s) will be announced and presented with "The Tro-

phy", currently on display in Riders showcase!

Event 8 – Charity Canoe Trip on the River Wye, and

BBQ/camping at the Orchard Trust, Saturday Au-

gust 24th

33 x 2 person canoes have been booked, so we cannot

take anymore bookings. We also plan to run a competi-

tion to raise money for the Orchard Trust, and end up at

the Trust for a BBQ & camping. Stu Scott is also plan-

ning a rideout for this event. More details to follow.

Event 9 – UK Tour Go East, the Road Less Trav-

elled, September 5th- 8th

We have 49 people participating in this tour, and book-

ing has now closed.

Event 10 – GWC 10th Anniversary Dinner at the Hil-

ton Hotel, Aztec West, October 26th

This will be a black tie/smart dress event. The cost of a

ticket for 3 course dinner and disco will be £30 per per-

son, with hotel accommodation at £50 per room for

B&B, including use of all the hotel facilities. Afterwards,

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 Cock-

well, Activities Officer, 07702 073361, accock-

[email protected] and at Club nights. The deadline for

the Chapter to pay 50% of the balance is the end of

June. Therefore to guarantee your ticket you must also

have paid at least 50% of the ticket price by this date. If

tickets are still available, we will continue to sell them up

to 2 weeks prior to the event, when the payment of the

final balance is due. See our website for details.

Ladies Only Weekend Away in London, November

23rd

Bookings are now closed.

Bazzer, Anita, Nige Garnett, Dave Norton, Chris, Tony

Yendle, Martin Rich, Peter and Yvonne Roberts - the

Planning Group.




French Law update

Travelling to Europe? Then you will probably have to go through France. Here are a few amendments you should be aware of to the current road traffic legislation in France.

Breathalyzers

1 March 2012 – The French Government confirmed that from 1 July 2012 drivers of all motor vehicles and motorcycles (excluding mopeds) must carry a breatha-lyzer. The regulation will be enforced from 1 November 2012 and anyone stopped after that date who fails to produce a breathalyzer when requested will receive an on the spot fine of 11 euros.

October 2012 – The French Government announced that the implementation of the sanction for riders not carrying a breathalyzer – a fine of 11 euros – has been postponed from 1 November 2012 to 1 march 2013.

January 2013 – The French Government announced that the implementation of the sanction for riders not carrying a breathalyzer – a fine of 11 euros – has been postponed indefinitely.

Basically they still require you to carry a breathalyzer, but if you have not got one, they cannot fine you!!!! So why bother possessing one at all???

Please note that the French Government have started to crack down on Drink/Drive offences. The legal limit is half of what it is in the UK. So to get round this, wait till you get to the rally, dump your bike, and then get legless!!

Reflective Clothing for motorcyclists

January 2012 – the French Government announced that from 1 January 2013 all riders and passengers of a motorcycle over 125cc or and motor tricycle must wear reflective clothing when riding their vehicles and in the event of an emergency stop/breakdown.

January 2013 – The French Government announced that the law that made reflective equipment compulso-ry for motorcycle riders and passengers in France from 1 January 3013 has been abolished.

Please note. There is still a requirement to carry a re-flective vest with regards to breakdown etc.

However, unfortunately, there has been for some time another (stupid) piece of legislation forcing all bikers in France, whether residents or visitors, to wear a helmet with reflective stickers on, and this one has not been scrapped. Bikers caught wearing a helmet without stickers may face a 135 euros fine payable on the spot and 3 points taken off their licence. The police have recently been enforcing this rule quite severely in Paris

and other locations throughout France.

All helmets must have four reflective stickers: one on the front, one at the rear and one on each side. The surface of each sticker must be 18 cm2 and, within each sticker, you must be able to draw a 40 mm diam-eter circle, or a 12.50 cm2 rectangle with a minimum of 20 mm length.

Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) have stated that they have not heard of any British rider being pulled up and fined on this piece of legislation, to date.

Sat Nav and Speed Camera Alerts

Sat Navs with speed camera warning software are still illegal in France. If you are caught by the police in pos-session of one of these they can seize your sat nav and possibly your bike, and you will probably be fined for good measure. I was told the police do not have the power to seize or interrogate your sat nav, but would you say no to a guy with a gun who does not speak your language. If you feel more comfortable then you can always remove the French speed camera site lo-cations from your device before travelling.

The French Government have also removed from the roadside all advanced warning signs of speed camera locations. Please beware.

Gentle Reminder

Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) are the people re-sponsible for looking after the interests of motorcyclists not only in the UK but in Europe as well. Without their constant pressuring on the UK and European Parlia-ments we would be blowing down tubes for a pastime and look like ‘over the top’ Christmas trees whilst riding our bikes. I urge you all to join MAG in this, their 40th year, so that they can continue to look after our inter-ests. If you are already members, then sorry to be preaching to the converted but I am looking to all the new members to support this organization. It will only cost £25 per year, less than 50p per week. Go to their website and join today. You will also see the many benefits you also get with membership, such as legal advice, discounts etc. etc. They will also keep you up-dated with regards to changes in the law and proposed attacks from governments in an attempt to curb our way of life. The above two u-turns made by the French Government have come about due to the pressure MAG have exerted, both here and in Europe.

Ride Safe.

Andy

Safety Officer


Mobile: 07905 397474

Safety Officer By Andy Kendall


I expect that all of you are very familiar with the

story of the Davidsons’ ancestral home in Scotland

– Netherton Cottage, a small dwelling house over-

looking the fields of the county of Angus. The dere-

lict building has recently been fully restored by Har-

ley-Davidson enthusiasts. It was in this cot-

tage that Alexander “Sandy” Davidson

brought up his family of 6 children and

worked as a wheel wright in his smithy. In

1851, however, they packed their bags and

headed off for a new life in the USA, settling

in Milwaukee. Their second youngest son,

William C. Davidson and his wife Mary also

had 6 children, the youngest of whom was

Arthur, who had the mechanical skills of his

Grandfather. Throughout his childhood, one

of Arthur’s best friends was William Sylvest-

er Harley and, when they were just 21, Wil-

liam designed an engine that could be

mounted on a bike and Arthur built the

frame. As the project developed, the two

friends brought in another friend, Henry plus

Arthur’s older brother, Walter, and so the rest is well

known history.

So, while the Davidsons originated from Scotland,

where did the Harley family come from? The clue to

this can be found in Cambridgeshire, in the small

fenland village of Littleport, 6 miles north of Ely.

Much to my surprise (and thanks to Mike Filder for

showing me an image of this a few Saturdays ago in

Riders) the village boasts a splendid “Harley-

Davidson Motorcycle Monument”.

The monument is made out of stainless steel and is

a full-size replica of a 1936 Knucklehead, and was

unveiled in Church Lane, in

2003 – the 100th Anniversary

year of Harley-Davidson. Why?

Initially I thought it must be

something to do with the fact

that Cambridgeshire has 3 ac-

tive USAF bases nearby, and

that it was an American tribute

to H-D. Not so, I discovered af-

ter a few hours of research.

Looking at the 1851 census data

for Cambridgeshire, I discovered

that in a small cottage, number

64 Victoria Street, Littleport,

lived a family named Harley: William, aged 46 and

his wife Hannah (48) and their children, Mary (18),

William (15), Hannah (14) and Joab (8). The 2

youngest are listed as ‘Scholars’, while the rest of

the family are described as ‘Agricultural labourers’.

In 1859, son William, now aged 23, married a local

girl, Susan Scolls in St George’s Parish Church.

Later that year they left Littleport forever, and emi-

grated to the USA, where they settled in Owego, a

village on the Susquehanna River, 200 miles from

New York City. Today, Owego has a population of

20,000, and relies mostly on tourists visiting its his-

toric centre.

Within 2 years the American Civil War was under-

way and William stayed in Owego until the winter of


Pete & Duncan’s Pump Stop

1862/63 when he enlisted in the army on January

2nd

, 1863 – fighting on the side of the Unionists in

the New York Heavy Artillery. He came through the

war safely and, following his honourable discharge

on August 6th 1865, he returned to Owego.

In 1868 a daughter, Katherine was born. It is possi-

ble that Susan died in childbirth, though there is no

hard evidence. However, in the next year or so, Wil-

liam married Mary and in 1870 their son Joseph was

born. The Harley family left Owego soon after and

moved the considerable distance of 780 miles to

Milwaukee. William gained work as a railway engi-

neer and, until 1896, they lived at 222 North Street,

which was the same road where the Davidson fami-

ly lived (at number 232). North Street no longer ex-

ists, and it may have become the current North Ave-

nue over time.

William and Mary went on to have a further 5 chil-

dren, including William Sylvester Harley, on Decem-

ber 29th 1880. Sadly, none of the other children sur-

vived to adulthood.

William Harley himself died on February 1916 at

647, 36th Street, Milwaukee.

The question you might ask is: how do we know that

the William Harley who left Littleport with a wife Su-

san, is the same William Harley who appears in Mil-

waukee and whose son, W.S. Harley, is co-founder

of the Harley legend?

Fortuitously, Kate Harley, the wife of John E. Harley

Jr. (Great Grandson of William S. Harley) set out to

investigate the Harley ancestral tree. Amongst fami-

ly documents, she discovered a letter from Mary

Fyson (née Harley) of Victoria Street, Littleport, ad-

dressed to her ‘Dear Brother William’. So, the link

was made. With the support of Harley-Davidson and

the efforts of the Littleport Society the H-D Motorcy-

cle Monument came into being in July 2003 and the

unveiling was attended by John E. Harley Jr. and

Margo Manning, the two Great Grandchildren of

William S. Harley.

As a foot note, the ancestral home of 64 Victoria

Street no longer exists. In its place is a row of 20th

Century houses where it once stood. Also, rather

sadly, further planned Harley-focussed events in

Littleport, since 2003, have come to nothing.

Anyhow, if you have signed up for the “Go East”

Tour in September, we will be making a special stop

to admire this unique monument!

Before then, hopefully, we’ll have some great

weather for the summer with nothing to get in the

way of getting out and riding.

So, the weekend is here and you get your gear on

to go and push the bike out of the garage. Only, you

find it bleeping at you and the alarm goes off even

though you have your alarm fob on you. That’s

strange you think and, after a couple of attempts at

trying to switch the alarm off, you go and get the

spare fob only to find that doesn’t work either. At

this point, you are at home so getting the manual

and the override code is easy and within five

minutes and a quick study of the book you have en-

tered the code and the bike now starts.

Put your hand up if you know how to use the code

and what it is. When the above happens at home it’s

not a problem but what about when you are on that

trip to the coast.

In your alarm fob there is a normal watch battery

which I would recommend replacing once a year.

There is no way of knowing how many times it has

been used and, for less than a fiver, is it worth get-

ting stranded? You should also get familiar with the

pin code and how to enter it. If you change the bat-

teries in the fobs yourself be careful, as they will go

in both ways and only work one way! If you’re un-

sure, just give us a call.

Once again, Ride Safe

Peter and Duncan@Riders

Hi everyone,

Well, spring seems to have finally arrived here at Orchard Trust. The woodland on the Stowfield site is full of wild daffodils, wood anemones and the first scent of wild garlic and we’ve had all of our lambs now on the Smallholding – eight altogether.

Numbers using the trampoline (with the Powermesh bed that you purchased for us) are increasing. We have a second trained staff member on site now who can offer out-sessions to people outside the Trust who would bene-fit from this kind of therapy - including people with learning disabilities and a young man with an acquired brain injury, who has just begun a course of sessions that combine physiotherapy with fun. We are also able to offer people the chance to work towards awards on a scheme called Winstrada, for people who would find the regular trampo-line awards too challenging. Orchard Trust staff are being regularly trained to use this facility with service users, as a great source of therapy, exercise and fun.

Hilltop service-users and staff have had a busy couple of weeks. Their new shower room is finished, which looks fabulous. Also a new resident, Kim, has moved in. They enjoyed a very nice Easter with all of their service users and also other service users who had come for a short break over the Easter period. They all contributed to mak-ing a festive Easter activity branch and then took part in an egg decorating session. When Sian, our Deputy Man-ager at Hilltop was asked if the egg with the pink feather in her hair was meant to be her, she replied “Yeah – so close to my hair colour it’s scary!!”

The Truly Scrumptious Team visited Vantage Point Busi-ness Park again last week as part of their mobile muffin and sandwich round. They sold lots of muffins and left some in reception for the staff there to buy. The team were fantastic and managed to bake 65 muffins, including 5 different flavours, by 10.30 and then jumped on the min-ibus to take them to the business park in Mitcheldean - the mini bus smelled lovely – just like a bakery!

We’re also delighted that Truly Scrumptious Café at The Learning Centre is back! The café will be open on the

following days, from 10.00-12.00: Friday 10 May, Friday 7 June and Friday 21 June. The team will be whipping up some delicious treats, with suggestions so far including Victoria sponge with strawberries and cream, 'Anthony's coffee and walnut cake', apple turnovers, quiche, toasted sandwiches and chocolate cake. Everyone is very wel-come!

Still on the food theme - the Kimberley Drive/ Morelands Chit-Chat Café in Lydney is doing really well. They have recently started offering meal deals and are pleased to be getting lots of support from the public. Everyone really enjoys running it!

We would like to welcome Stephanie as your recently appointed Charity Co-ordinator and look forward to work-ing with her. Gareth and myself were pleased to welcome both Stephanie and Anita at Orchard Trust recently. We were able to further the plans for the BBQ/ camping to follow the Canoe Paddle on 24th August. It was Stepha-nie’s first visit to Orchard Trust – so were able to tell her more about what we do and Anita was able to see parts of the site that she hadn’t had the opportunity to visit previ-ously. Scot, who delivers hydrotherapy and trampoline sessions for our Service Users showed them around the Swimgym and explained how the activities benefit the service users. We also had a walk along the “Great West-ern Path” on the Smallholding leading to the wildlife area. Thank you both very much for taking the time to visit – we enjoyed showing you around!

Finally, everyone at Orchard Trust would like to say a very big ‘Thank you’ to Bill for all the work that he did in his role as Charity Co-ordinator, including all the raffles and other fundraising activities he organised, the auction at our Summer Fayre, liaising with us here over our ‘Wish list’ and also, of course, for encouraging you all to support us – both financially and visiting us at Summer Fayre etc. We would like to wish Bill and Sam “All the very best” for the future from everyone at The Orchard Trust.

With very best wishes to everyone in GWC from everyone here

Kathryn

The Orchard Trust

Orchard Trust By Kathryn

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, Si 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.

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.

Date Chapter Events Organiser Details

May

8th Club Night Bazz Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed

12th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes ‘Coastal and Valley Meanderings’

14th Club Night Bazz Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury

19th Ride Out Stu Scott Evos to Evesham

28th Natter Night Bazz Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley

June

7/8/9/10th 10th Anniversary Chris Harding 12th Benelux Rally, Belgium



21/22/23rd 10th Anniversary Tony James Hogs in the Hayfields Rally

22nd Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes The 4 Bridges Rally Ride

25th Natter Night Bazz Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley

30th 10th Anniversary Jeff & Julie Treasure Hunt

July

4th Activity/Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes Weston Bike Night, “American Power”



11/12/13/14th 10th Anniversary Yvonne Roberts Rhayader Riding Weekend

21st Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes TBA

28th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes ‘Roving around Resolven’

August

11th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes Ice Cream Sundae



18th Ride Out Steph Pocock ‘Meandering to Sammy Millers’

24th 10th Anniversary Nige Garnett Canoe Trip/BBQ @ Orchard Trust

September

5/6/7/8th 10th Anniversary Peter Roberts Go East Tour

8th Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes TBA




October

6th Activity Cockers Ride to the Wall




20th Activity/Ride Out ‘Big Al’ Stokes Hoggin the Bridge

26th 10th Anniversary Dave Norton Dinner, Hilton Hotel Aztec West

November




23rd/24th 10th Anniversary Jane Scott LOH weekend trip to London

24th Ride Out Steph Pocock‘ Wild Wanderings Around Wiltshire


RoadHOG May 2013

Documents

Transcript of RoadHOG May 2013