Tales From The Riverbank - August 2018

Café

South Coast Challenge

Café

Prag

ue 20 18

s r e d n a Fenl ly Ral

Thames Head Trois Tasse De Cafe www.thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

August 2018

Ed Quarters Welcome to August's issue of the magazine.

It’s the first time I have actually thought about getting summer specific riding gear. It has been too hot on occasions, especially wearing my usual leathers. Of course, if I do invest in such kit, there will be a mini ice age on its way ;-) Recently Harley Davidson announced some new models coming up in 2019 and beyond. With project LIVEWIRE coming next year, seeing Harley’s first in a future line-up of electric motorcycles. I can’t wait to grab a test ride on one when they are available. Whilst it doesn’t have the familiar Harley sound, it is "blindingly quick". All that torque from standstill.

On top on this, there were new models planned for 2020 and beyond. These included an Adventure Tourer, a very aggressive looking Streetfighter and a very muscle looking custom. I certainly need to start grabbing the odd lottery ticket, just in case.

I know a lot of these innovations won’t appeal to some of you. These models however are in addition to, not replacing the Big V Twin machines we love. However, by launching these new lines and models, they offer a future where Harley Davidson can also continue to provide these awesome machines.

If you haven’t seen these yet, check out Harley Davidson UK’s website.

The summer is still far from over. We have some great rides and events lined up. Check out the TV Times in the centre of this edition for further details.

As always, a huge thank you to all who contributed to this magazine.

Ride safe and have fun!

Andy

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Inside this issue

New Members Welcome to the Chapter

Front cover

On Parade - Prague 2018

Page 2

Ed Quarters

Page 4 - 6

Westie Writes

Page 7

Alexander Devine

Page 8 - 9

Club Night

Page 10 - 11

South Coast Challenge

Page 12 - 13

Motor Museum

Page 14 - 15

Fenlanders Rally

Page 16

TV Times

Page 17

Committee

Page 18

Thank you

Page 19

Llangollen

Page 20 - 21

Thames head

Page 22 - 23

Bike Night

Page 24 - 29

Prague 2018

Page 30

HD Croatia

Page 30 - 31

Trois Tasse

Back cover

Lads Weekend

Byron Cost, Chris Corey, Jackie Skelland, and Richard Tatchner

Byron Cost

Chris Corey & Jackie Skelland

Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine: Nick, Pat A, Lesley, Craig, Javier, Chris, Linda, Mac, Fred, Sue M, Sue K, Fiona G, & Mike J :-)

Hi All, It has to be said … WOW what a scorcher! As the summer months roll on this hot, dry spell is offering plenty of opportunity to get out and warm those tyres. The long days make it possible to get out after work for a scoot and to practice your bug removal technique!

We had great weather for the lad’s weekend which was a real hoot. We kinda hijacked this year’s trip as a double whammy with our webmaster’s (Robin) stag. Even before we had left British shores, Robin was sporting a tutu, GROOM specs and a blow-up sheep strapped to his bike. Border security played along with us and Robin was briefly chased by a customs guy snapping on blue surgical gloves and threatening a cavity search. And so, it continued … Plans are already underway for next year’s excursion... bring it on!

The Five Counties ride was a truly welcome ride with most riders clocking up over 250 miles for the day. Taking in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire it was a great route. A blast on some quicker roads got us into the Cotswolds within the hour and then onto the more scenic roads to Leominster where we stopped for lunch at the OK Diner, a great American diner experience. Back towards H Cafe via some gorgeous country roads to close the ride. Led by Michael Walters, the ride was excellent. Sadly Thelma (who was due to tail the ride) was not able to join us on the day but John Green stepped in to tail the ride.

The following week we laid on an inspired ride out to Thameshead, the source of the River Thames. Mike Joiner laid on a great ride to the other side of Cirencester as a training ride en-route to his Road Captain badge. Mike Connolly supervised and coached the effort which took us back into the Cotswolds but on an entirely different route to the one used the previous week. The ride went well

and it looks like Mike Joiner will make a great addition to our Road Captain team next year. On arrival at a nearby pub we had a short half mile ramble across local fields to the Thames Head where we were treated to a short squall.

Sheltering in some trees, we managed to get a mild moistening before the hike back to the bikes. I am sure if this ride had not been put together I may never have been to this spot. Well done, a truly inspiring destination and rideout.

Getting out on that Saturday proved to be a wise move as the ride on Sunday (to Studland) was cancelled due to storms. We’ll save that ride for another day.

As I am writing this piece I am looking forward to the ride to Wet & Wild near H Cafe. Having dropped by a week or so ago it looks to be great fun. I am sure there will be a report in next month’s mag.

By the time you read this, our webmaster Robin will be married to Jane. On behalf of the committee, I would like to wish them both long and happy lives together. Again, I feel sure that there will be photos for next month’s mag. Please join me in congratulating them both.

Next month we’ll be letting you all know about the Convergence Rally weekend which is shaping up to be a great weekend away.

After our August Clubnight, I will be taking a group to the Super Sausage Cafe in Northamptonshire and the following day Jamie will be running a trip to the Chilli and Cheese festival in Winchester. I hope that some of you will be able to join us as both trips should be great fun.

On the 23rd August some of our Chapter will be heading off to Thunder in the Glens for a long weekend with Dunedin Chapter and Hoggies from all over the world. The same night is August Bike Night at Reading Harley which continues to be a great night every month.

The same weekend, on Saturday there is a ride planned to Sycamore HD and on Sunday I will be taking a ride to a secret coastal location for a summer special for everyone who cannot get up to Scotland for the weekend.

In early September we can look forward to a day at the Froxfield Village Fete by special invitation of Pat and Barry Adams. Some of you will notice that there are a couple of Sundays in early September with nothing scheduled.

Don’t panic, we are looking at some possibilities for fun rides so watch the calendar for changes. We are not arranging a formal ride to join the Brighton Burn this year but details are in the calendar if it’s something that interests you.

Just before our next Clubnight in September we will be putting on a ride to meet up with this year’s Sparkle Tour. Full details are in the calendar so please come along and join us if you can.

To follow up on recent communications from the dealership, it is clear that they have made some progress on reducing the lead time for the workshop and I know that Mike is working hard to identify the resources needed to help create more time in the schedule. One of the things we can do as customers is to try to anticipate a little for those scheduled needs, things like servicing, customising, MOT, tyres etc. etc.

Obviously, breakdowns and collisions cannot be forecast and so we can only really help on the other things. I recently booked my bike in for a 20k service, I am only at 18k but I realise that the lead time is likely to be 4-5 weeks. I am within the normal 10% (either way) flexibility zone and so it seems the right thing to do.

If you are able to do this, please help through the busy period by scheduling as much in advance as possible. Whilst we are only around 20% of Mike’s customer base, he really wants to help and to offer us the very best service he can.

It now looks very likely that we will be announcing something about the Chapter Rally plans for 2019 very soon. Watch this space!

Keep on riding … and having fun!

Nick

Alexander Devine Thank you so much for inviting us to the Thames Valley Harley Davidson Owners Group Rally on 29th and 30th June in Beaconsfield.

It was great to join you and you’ll be pleased to know that we raised £259.76 over the two days with you. £80.38 came through the ‘people’s choice bike competition! Well done to the winning bike!

A big thank you to everyone for allowing us to join you all. Well done on organising your first rally and allowing us to raise awareness and funds for Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service.

Hope to see you again soon. Warm wishes to everyone. Julia x

Clubnight

Mark and Javier’s South Coast Challenge - July 2018 Ever since buying my Fatboy last year, I had really wanted to do a charity ride. After joining the club, I got talking to Mark Peck at one of the Thames Valley Chapter club nights and he agreed to help make it a reality.

It was great for me, being fairly new to Harley riding, to have Mark’s experience and knowledge to help plan and accompany me on the trip, which, unknown to me, would take place on one of the hottest weekends of the year! We had decided on a 2-day, 1,000-mile trip around the south coast, through Wales and then back home via Oxford.

We set off from Reading HD at 4.10am, and headed towards London. Because I work as a train driver for Great Western Railway, we thought it would be a good idea to take the format of the Iron Hog but stop off not just at HD dealerships, but train stations, too. We were able to chat to the railway staff and get their support too, at some of these locations and some were happy to join us for a selfie along the way.

Just under an hour into the journey, disaster struck and I accidentally drove my front tyre through a large shard of glass from a broken bottle in the road which slashed the tyre deeply and stopped us in our tracks. The good news was that this had happened just around the corner after leaving Warr’s Chelsea, so we managed to limp the bike to the dealership and waited for them to open, hoping they’d have a spare tyre to fit and that the workshop would be open on a Saturday.

This had a huge impact on the schedule, as we ended up delayed by about five hours, but we sat down at a local café and refuelled ourselves with chocolate brownies and coffee while the new tyre was fitted. We were soon on our way again.

A short, sweaty trip (in 29 degrees!) later and we visited the legendary Paddington bear at Paddington station and dealerships in Mottingham, Lakeside, Maidstone, Shaw, Guildford and Southampton. The main road we were going to take to Exeter was diverted due to an accident, but it was a good job because we ended up going through a beautiful, winding local road with countryside scenery. A couple of hours later we arrived at Exeter train station. After meeting one of the GWR line managers and a quick selfie, we had to make a decision. We were scheduled to travel on to Plymouth, but because of our huge delay, we decided to shorten the trip slightly and head straight to our hotel in Bridgwater so we didn’t miss our check in or dinner. We peeled off our jackets and settled down to a burger and chips and a few hours’ sleep.

We started again at around 5am the next morning and rode to Riders in Bridgwater and then on to Bristol. Our journey took us on the M5 through a hilly valley stacked full of trees, and we could see the top of them just covered in the early morning mist and the amber-tinted sunrise beyond. The roads were empty, because of the early Sunday morning. We took more photos at Bristol Temple Meads station and again at Riders in Bristol and then headed for Bath Spa and Gloucester. There were more beautiful views over the bridge to Swansea, where we stopped off at Swansea Railway Station and the Harley Davidson dealer there, where a good old chap volunteered to scrub up and de-bug the front of our bikes.

Because of the early start on Sunday, we’d made great progress, and were running around an hour and a half ahead of schedule. so we stopped off for a coffee on the way to Cheltenham, before calling in at Oxford station and Oxford Harley Davidson. It was another hot day on Sunday, around 30 degrees - and our trip finished at Reading station and then Reading HD for a quick refuel before coming home. Once home, I jumped into the shower and cracked open an ice-cold beer. Beautiful!

It was an eye-opening trip, and I learned so much from Mark, who was absolutely great to ride with and provided his experience - and calm attitude when things went wrong! - during the journey. The trip has ignited my passion for HD ride outs and I can’t wait to go on the next one. I’d love to plan a trip to Europe next.

Between us, we so far raised just over £600, which will go to both Bliss, the premature baby charity and The Alexander Devine Hospice. If you’d like to donate, you can find out more at: https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/javiersouthcoast Javier Romero

Ride to the Midlands Motor Museum

Fenlanders Rally Thursday morning bright and early, the allotment watered (why did I bother? See below!), six bags of ice purchased and put in the cool box, van loaded, I head off to Fred and Yvonne’s to load up the rest of the gear. Jamie follows over on his bike and at 8.45 we all head off, me and Yvonne in the van, Jamie and Fred on their bikes to go and meet Gary and Karen and John at Beaconsfield services.

Next stop MacDonald’s just outside Newmarket and then onto Blackbear Harley Davidson for a quick stop. Then the final leg to the Fakenham Racecourse.

It was absolutely scorching hot and there we are putting up the gazebo and three tents, very thirsty work! Then in the evening, a quick bite down the road and back to the tents to chill out.Friday after breakfast we lined up for the ride out to Wells-by-the-Sea. We parked up in the local football ground and popped into the town for a bit of seafood from a local stall, followed by an ice cream. Then back to the Rally.

Fred and Yvonne went to look around the traders, followed by Gary and Jamie. Karen was having forty winks in her tent. This left me and John in charge of the gazebo!!!

We sat and watched the lightning coming across the field and thought how nice it was that it was cooling down, big mistake, then came the hail stones, that just got bigger and bigger, then the rain and then the wind. OMG! We spent the next hour hanging on to the gazebo and bailing out the water. When the weather calmed down the others came back from what had then been the bar, very merry indeed.

We went our separate ways for dinner and congregated back at the tent for the next round of weather. We all stood and watched the lightning in the sky for about ten mins before more rain. The rain was so loud you couldn’t even hear someone talking. When this eased, we entertained ourselves with some word games for an hour or so and then we all headed off to bed.

Saturday, after breakfast we lined up for the parade ride to Sheringham. What an awesome ride out, approx. 300 bikes travelling through beautiful countryside lined by so many people. We were led through Holkham Hall with the 1.5 mile ‘long ride’ with bikes end to end, what a sight, and then on to the Carnival at Sheringham.

Totally fantastic reception, from everybody. A couple of hours later we went back to the rally to find that there had been a mini tornado and that loads of tents/gazebos and awnings had been ripped up and tossed about, and were now in the skips. Fortunately, we only sustained minor damage.

Later in the afternoon we had the joy of watching the lingerie ride, well what can I say, you see people in a whole new light, I shall mention no names. Then off to dinner, a quick look around the marquee with the disco/bands and then back for a quick drink and bed. Sunday, up early to try to beat the rain, packed everything up and set off, we stopped just down the road at Browns café for a very nice breakfast before heading off home, in the rain.

Despite the weather we all had a fantastic time and I would recommend the Fenlander’s Rally to anyone, good venue and great fun with very well organised ride outs through lovely countryside.

Lesley

Wednesday, 15 August

Thursday, 6 – Sunday, 9 September

19:00 Club Night (Closed Event -

Circus Maximus

Members Only) Wednesday, 12 September Friday, 17 – Sunday, 19 August

18:30 Poker Night – The Fox & Pheasant,

Old Skool Rally

SloughSL2 4EX

Saturday, 18 August

Friday, 14 – Sunday, 16 September

Sausage Café ride – Esso garage near

LOH Sparkle Tour

Sportsable, 09:30 for 10:00 depart.

Sunday, 16 September Sunday, 19 August

Ride to meet the Sparkle Tour – Max’s

Chilli n Cheese Winchester

Diner, Horsham RH12 4QD

Thursday, 23 – Monday, 27 August

Wednesday, 19 September

Thunder in the Glens

19:00 Club Night (Closed Event Members Only)

Thursday, 23 August 18:00 Reading Harley Davidson Bike

Please check the website for the latest on all rides.

Night Sunday, 26 August Surprise summer ride (Closed Event) (Lunch and soft drink included for £5 per person) Thursday, 30 August 18:00 Ace cafe Harley Night (open event) Saturday, 1 September 14:00 Froxfield Village Fete

CLUB NIGHTS September 19th October 17th November 21st December 19th January 16th MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES September 6th October 4th November 8th December 6th January 3rdth

2018 Officers & Committee

PRIMARY OFFICERS

Nick West Director

Andy Tunley Assistant Director

Sue Moyler Secretary

COMMITTEE & SUPPORTING OFFICERS CLUB VENUE Burnham Cricket Club Memorial Ground, Taplow Common Road, Burnham, Slough, Berks, SL1 8LP

Priscilla Peck Ladies of Harley

Andy Tunley Editor

Chris Smith Membership

Mike Wilson Malcolm Poulter Dealer Principal Activities

https://www.facebook.com/ thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

Lesley Lederer Treasurer

John Green Safety Officer

Robin Sasson Third Wednesday of every month 7:00pm Webmaster

Fred Cotsford Activities

Nick Ekendahl Activities

Jamie McLaughlin Mark Peck Hayley West Head Road Captain Social Media Officer Charities Officer

Linda Friend Photographer

Alex MacDonald Jamie McLaughlin Photographer Photographer

Email any committee member at (position held)@9746.co.uk

Sylvia Pritchett 1947 - 2018.

As many of you are aware Sylvia Pritchett has been called to the Harley Dealership in the sky after a long battle with Cancer.

Sylvia was one of the original members of Thames Valley Chapter (along with Don) and served as Chapter Secretary for many years. She also supported Don when he took the responsibility of Chapter Directorship. Sylvia attended many of the early ride outs and HOG trips overseas and was a devoted and active Chapter supporter.

Don and family would like to say thank you to all who came to her funeral to celebrate this wonderful lady’s life. Also, to everyone who made donations to Thames Hospice, a heartfelt thank you.

Thank You The new Mr and Mrs Ashworth would like to say a massive thank you to all of the Thames valley Harley group that rode over to Easthampstead park for a photo shoot at our wedding on Saturday 30th June.

It was an amazing and beautiful day.Everyone loved the bikes and we got some amazing photo's and video clip.

Thank you again.

Gemma & Alen

Llangollen weekend in June 2019.

There is an annual ride out and weekend away that many of us have enjoyed over the last few years, Next year’s is now being spoke of and booked, the dates are 15th -19th June 2019.

We will be staying at the Hands Hotel, there will be ride outs on the Saturday and Sunday.

Places we have visited in past years include, Harlech castle, Anglesey, Portmerion, the Great Orme in Llandudno, and Ponderosa cafĂŠ on horseshoe pass. Also, in Llangollen is the steam railway, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, with a canal boat ride with an engine or horse drawn.

If you are interested in going please contact John Ingram at club night or call on 07904117618.

Thames Head Ride - The source of the River Thames After all this blistering heat looked like rain / showers on ride. Despite being Chapter Member since 2005 first “Official” lead.

Involves recce’s which luckily Mike C & I did 2nd one, two days before as found road just closed for six weeks and no diversion signs, Re-route sorted. Interesting the planning, putting together and of course the extra riding. You learn, observe a lot more of group riding and it doesn’t always go to plan!

Sun up, met at Esso garage then run to “H” Café via Marlow Bridge for a change. Ron protested saying we always do Henley. My ride follow, Me… ;-) Pick up few more at “H”s. Nick’s Aviation weather skills came into play and sheltered inside for briefing as heavy shower passed.

Then headed off to Abingdon A415 then to Lechlade A415/A420/A417 next Cirencester A417 before finally A433 to Kemble and The “Thames Head” Pub. Bit of traffic mix up in Abingdon but rest nice roads that you could ride a descent pace with sweeping bends with nice villages & not a lot of traffic even for a Saturday!

Good Pub lunch before a walk to the reason for trip. This involved climbing over fences, across an open railway track & fields to a pile of stones with a plaque saying “Source of The River Thames” …

When did recce it was dry and you thought this is the source??? But it decided to rain as we got there so the stones were wet as were we!!! Ron reinvented the “Stone Age” Umbrella. Rain stopped then back to Lechlade. Parked at the “Trout” Pub on the River nice Olde English music playing from the garden as we walked across the bridge to The Lock gates. Lechlade is the furthest navigable point on the Thames for the bigger boats.

Small craft can go about a mile further up river. The Statue of ‘Old Father Thames’ was at the source but now moved here. Seems one of our chapter members has close resemblance maybe “Son of Father Thames” ;-) Then back to H’s which was closed. Nick suggested Waterpark which was close by for tea & cakes … good choice, very nice.

Believe Hayley is doing a ride there soon.

Again, rain as we supped our tea and ate

extremely nice chocolate brownies in the dry with view over lake. Rain stopped said our goodbyes and nice dry ride back.

Thanks to Mike C helping plan, advise, recce’s & tea. Gary & John, Weatherman Nick keeping us dry Nicola and Ben at The Thames Head, a good pub and to those that came for making it a good day out …

Cheers Mike J

Bike Night

Prague 2018 After the wet ride to St Tropez this year I was looking forward to a ride in sunshine, as was predicted for the Prague rally. O.M.G! Was It hot or what? Riding in rain is not nice but riding in 100° is even worse.

The weather continued at very high temperatures throughout the rally which was quite exhausting and made it difficult to explore the vast area of the site.

Having said that, the site was wonderful. All in one place, plenty of seating, indoor loos, good food, reasonable prices and very good bands. Plenty of parking in a huge area in front of the site made it easy to look at the bikes as you walked through.

There were quite a few TV members there, Dave and me, Paul and Gill, Mohit and Payal, Pat and Barry, Lee and Lou, Ed and Sue and Mandy, and Nick who we didn’t manage to bump into. (Apparently, he got stuck in the Jack Daniels enclosure!!)

Gill Mogg had arranged for all the Brits to meet at the Hard Rock Café area on Saturday evening, wearing Hawaiian gear, for a group photo. There were so many there, too many to even try to count. Marjorie Rae was brought to tears at our rendition of the National Anthem (on the day England beat Sweden) A great evening mingling with people from so many UK chapters.

Sue Knight After a couple of minor mishaps, Ed & I left early on Monday following the Valley Rally for the start of our ride to Prague. More frequent stops were needed to stay hydrated in the heat but we weren’t in any great hurry. Regularly peeling off sticky clothing & putting it back on wasn’t nice though!

Once we had finally navigated the Brussels ring road we headed for our first overnight stop Trier; just over the German border from Luxembourg. As we came down the hill we had a great view of the City & the Mosel river which looked lovely.

We didn’t have time to explore much, so we found a busy square near the hotel for a beer & some food (after we text Mandy to translate the menu!) & then crashed.

The next day we headed to Landshut near Munich where we stayed for 2 nights to chill & catch up with some German friends.

Thursday dawned very hot again & we set off on the final 260k to Prague. Ed knows this area of Germany well as he used to do a regular HGV run there & we followed a lovely scenic route. Now we started to see more & more Harleys’ who had the same idea.

We stopped for a coffee & fuel. Shortly after a large number of bikes pulled in & fuelled up very efficiently with Marshalls manning the pumps & filling each bike in turn.

They had some awesome bikes, many with large front wheels & were very friendly. The lead rider came over to speak to us & explained they were on an organised ride package to Prague from House of Flames Chapter in Munich.

We crossed the border in to the Czech Republic more quickly than I expected & followed a lovely scenic back road towards Prague.

The last stretch on the approach to Prague was a mare. Roadworks brought the traffic virtually to a standstill on the motorway, the heat was awful & filtering was difficult.

A poor guy on an old Harley in front of us had to keep pushing his bike as it was over heating & wouldn’t start.

Eventually we made it to the city & to my relief the sat nav got us straight to our apartment building, via yet more road works, unbearable heat & burnt legs. We were just checking in when Mandy arrived in a taxi from the airport, looking very refreshed. We, on the other hand were dripping, dusty & looking like something the cat had dragged in!

The apartment was lovely, just a short walk from Wenceslas Square. The only down side was no parking as is the case with many hotels & apartments in the city. We were told the parking was walking distance away – Errrrrm yeah. We had to park at the train station; half an hour uphill walk back, along a VERY busy oneway street with no pavement. It cost us 70 Euro each for the weekend but to be fair they were in a secure underground area, camera monitored & with other Harleys.

After unpacking & freshening up the three of us headed out for our first recce of the rally site & awesome it was too.

Friday morning, we walked to Wenceslas square & decided to buy tickets for the ‘hop on, hop off’ bus with the view to eventually ‘hopping off’ near the rally site some 12 stops away. Well, after a manic, far too fast ride over the cobbles & tram lines, being bounced & thrown all over the place we decided enough was enough & ‘hopped off’ at stop 5 which was the Castle. We chilled out at the Starbucks for a bit soaking up superb views of the city & then, not wanting to risk hopping back on the bus we got a taxi!

The rally site was buzzing. It was hard to know what to look at first but the Jack Daniels enclosure was our first port of call; funny that. Walking the site was tiring & thirsty work in the heat so we eventually settled in the HOG tent &

were later joined by Pat & Barry. Much beer, wine & merriment later, food was the order of the day. We had discovered that we were staying just a couple of streets away from each other so as Ed & I had to be up early for the Parade, we all took the Subway back & chilled out with an Italian meal near our apartments.

The Parade line up started at 8.30am so Ed & I walked down to collect the bike bright & early. We had collected the Chapter specific 115th flag the day before & after fitting it to the flag pole we were ready for the off. The line-up point wasn’t that far away so we were roughly within the first 200 bikes to arrive.

The VIP’s would be at the front of the ride & they were lining up next to us, the parade of flags was meant to follow with all the other bikes at the rear. It didn’t quite pan out like that though as there was confusion over who should go where when you came in so all the bikes ended up amongst the flag bikes.

We had a long wait, the 4000-bike line-up was stretching further & further behind us & we were all pretty crammed in. We just enjoyed watching all the characters & talking to those around us. So many different Chapters & countries; Russia, UK, Poland, Italy, Malta, Germany, Czech Republic (all with dramatic painted faces & ‘Santa’ – no idea what that was about but I have since seen them all featured on the official HOG video), the list goes on & on.

The most interesting though was the guy in front of us.

His bike was a very low custom & had long fish tail exhausts extending way out from the back of the bike.

Ed went to take a closer look & he told him that he & his 4 friends were from China & it had taken them a month to ride from there – fair play to them.

Finally, we were ready to roll, we watched the VIP’s go & then we were off. We pulled out in to a wall of people lining both sides of the road, progress was slow heading towards the city & everyone was feeling the heat.

At one point we went down through a tunnel, (awesome sound) & came back out in to the sunshine towards Wenceslas Square. The ride paused there for a few minutes, I’m not sure if it was due to the sheer number of people in the square but I suspect it was deliberate. Engines were given a brief time to cool & gave the crowds a good view of the bikes. Then we were off again, up past the apartment where we were staying & in to the city.

Here it became interesting with cobbles, many tram lines & narrow hilly streets.

Once again, the ride paused as we approached the Castle & the oldest part of the city where we were hemmed in by the spectators. Then we were off again for the final leg which ended at the rally site, as we were towards the front of the ride we were able to park up fairly easily. All in all, a great ride.

Fiona Gilbert from New Forest was somewhere along the route & later sent us an awesome picture she took as we rode past her. (See front cover) The rest of the day was spent exploring more of the site & later we donned our Hawaiian gear for the Brits party – what a hoot that was!

On Sunday, Pat & Barry had breakfast at our apartment & then the 5 of us went off to do the tourist bit & explore the city. We took a boat trip along the river, found a

nice bar / café on the river side for lunch then took a route march to the Charles Bridge & the old town. Finally, exhausted, we got the subway back. We finished the day off with a meal before saying our goodbyes to Pat & Barry & heading back to our apartment to pack; they were staying on until Weds.

Monday, we were up early to walk down & collect the bikes. We loaded up at the apartment & saw Mandy off to the airport. It took a sweltering hour in the road works to get over the river & head out of the city.

Our first stop over on the way home was back to Trier. This time we walked our feet off exploring this lovely Roman & Gothic city. The huge cathedral, the oldest church in Germany, was very impressive as was the ‘Porta Nigra’ (Black Gate) the Roman City Gate; both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Many shops & squares with lots of bars & restaurants to sit out & watch the world go by adorn this very pretty city & we couldn’t resist sampling one of the ice cream bars!

Our stop on Tuesday was Zuzenhausen near Sinsheim in Germany, a lovely traditional hotel with its own brewery next door! We had a lovely chilled out evening here & plan to re-visit some time. Our final stop was Gent. On Thursday we de-toured to visit Flanders Fields HD & managed to get an earlier train from Calais to get us home late afternoon.

An awesome trip, great company & 2000 miles covered.

Sue M

Dealerships of the World Croatia.

Very pretty shop ,boutique like.

But... About 30% more expensive than the UK The big disappointment - No discount using the HOG card Very friendly people. A nice experience.

Craig

Trois Tasses de Café Ride Arras > Lens > Bethune Even on a Lads weekend away the ‘3 Cuppas Ride’ French style took place.

Ralph planned a circular route about twenty miles between cuppas. Weather all weekend had been superb so set off in the sun to ARRAS. Nice ride to market square “No room at the Inn” (seemed dead to us with lotsa room) at first venue chosen p'raps didn’t like bikers? Walked across the square to a welcoming owner very happy to serve us just coffee and very nice it was.

Then to LENS. Not going to say my favourite place to park. Looked big open space to ride through to park in Square followed others, but a Pop-up Bollard was triggered and was knocked off my bike. Thanks guys for helping lift. Again, nice coffee relaxing looking into the square listening to the tone of Church bells.

Last stop BETHUNE. Decided lunch here so coffee ditched ‘Cuppa Beer’ took over to wash down the delicious ‘Moules’ most of us had. “ONE JOB” did a great job of sorting

the kitty which was his job on this trip which he did well, made a profit ;-) Then headed back ready for the BBQ that was planned for later. Nice easy

ride with lovely French roads.

Thanks to all who organised and who came on “Lads Trip” was a great weekend which we all enjoyed & lotsa fun. Robin you were a great sport as the STAG and wish you and Jane all the best for the future. Also my mate Bob for use of large vice and muscle to straighten Engine Guards.

Mike J