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After the statutory all-day breakfast the situation seemed confused for a while. It eventually resolved itself into one or two groups who were riding straight back (I am sure they had their reasons, but I shall still refer to them as the quitters), an outing to the Cotswalds with John Tipper (too much like the FMT for me), and Chris Reed's traditional Silverstone loop, I chose the Silverstone loop, as always. The roads were good, for once the Deer Park actually had deer in it, including a clash of antlers at one point - very thrilling, and a petrol stop at which we colonised the car park outside Grafton Motorcycles and seemed to make life difficult for one of the salesmen there. The ride ended amidst universal acclaim at Buntingford. I missed Richard's Full Member ride to Diss on Sunday, 27th April. My wife and I were in France for a flying visit to admire the new paint job on her house there. Now the only thing lowering the tone of the cathedral square at Elne is the cathedral itself. There were seven on the ride with Gary, Mike and Colin as back markers, and it was a fine day with a nice tight ride. However I could attend Richard's next ride a week later on Sunday, 4th May. The same could not be said for Richard himself, who seems to share my wife's taste for gallivanting abroad. Mick Hewitt took over in his absence and eight of us enjoyed a fine day riding to the Stradishall Cafe. I am not sure what that is called now, but it doesn't matter because it will surely have changed name yet again the next time we go there. As to where else we rode; I think the answer has to be everywhere else in Essex you have ever been, but we ended the ride at the North Weald Airfield Essex Motorcycle Show, where EAMG had a stand. It looked well and the show itself was small, but perfectly formed, and well attended. I was delighted to see a couple of Hawk trainers, which I worked with during their developme0nt in the 70's. I always refer to them by their designation then; the 1182. There is no excuse for this; it is a piece of crass aviation snobbery. The following Saturday Geoff Preston held his annual Day Trip to France. This always seems like a good idea, and you book the Shuttle crossing in a surge of enthusiasm, before you do the maths and realise that it means getting up at 04:30. Since I live in South London I skipped the start at Thurrock and met up with the group as they
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