Tales from the Riverbank April 2016

American Legends

Under African Skies - Two go wild in SA

Biker down - The course that could save lives

J.R. Hospital Run

April 2016

Editor's thoughts Hello! First of all I would like to thank Sue for the excellent work she did whilst looking after the magazine, every month producing it to the high standards we are all familiar with. This, I may add, hasn't made my job any easier ;-) I know that we all appreciate the work Sue has put in. Now all I have to do is not foul it up!

I am really pleased to be able to contribute a little to this great club. But I do need your help. If you have any articles that you would like to share, please email them to me (editor@thamesvallethog.org.uk).

The magazine is a lot less daunting to produce when you have content and a lot more interesting with a good variety. You don't need to be a published wordsmith to do this, just have something that you think is of interest.

Ann and I recently picked up our new bikes. The ride home greeted us with a very British blend of rain, sleet and hail. Luckily we aren't far from the dealership and quickly defrosted.

Since then, we have been grabbing any small opportunity to get out and ride. After having had "Roxy", my old Iron since 2009 I'd forgotten how long those first thousand miles are.

With the new season starting, like many of you I have been weather watching, looking for an opportunity to get and put a few miles on the clock. Some of our members couldn’t wait and headed to warmer lands. To be honest I think most of wish we had too.

Membership Renewals At the start of the season, don’t forget to renew your membership.

You can either do this on line at http://thamesvalleyhog.com/membership-renewal/ or you can download a form at http://thamesvalleyhog.com/join-the-chapter/ Any queries, you can email membership@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk or talk to Chris.

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We do have some great ride-outs coming up this year. I’m off to try and appease the weather gods looking for a fantastic year's riding. I hope to be sharing many miles with you.

Andy

Inside this issue

April / May Birthdays

Front cover

Mountain Pass (see pg 20). Photo Michael Walters

Page 2

Editors thoughts

Page 4 - 7

Director's update

Eric Chipping - 23rd

Page 8 - 9

Ladies of Harley

Gopher - 30th

Page 9

New members

Page 10 - 11

Biker Down

Page 12 - 13

Ride out Guildford HD

Michael Friend - 9th

Page 13

Boys Stuff - Caption time

George Bunby - 10th

Page 14 - 15

Calendar

Clive Skinner - 18th

Page 16 - 17

John Radcliffe Hospital Run

Page 18

American Legends

Page 19

Poker Run

Page 20 - 23

Under African Skies

Page 24 - 25

Saturday Social

Page 26

Bovington Tank Fest

Page 27

Just for fun

Back cover

Meet the committee

April

May

Ian Tatton - 20th Mia Radacovsky - 27th Happy Birthday to you all.

Huge thanks to all who have sent copy in for this month's magazine: Michael, Thelma, Ann, Chris, CJ, Linda, Ralph, Sue, Don :-) 3

Hi Everybody, This month, I need to start my piece by thanking all of the membership for their cards and generous gifts for my 60th birthday. The celebration started on March 12th at our Saturday social at The Three Frogs in Wokingham, later on that day Hazel had arranged a surprises gathering of friends to join in the birthday celebrations at a Hong Kong restaurant in Windsor, a great start to a special birthday. Once again thank you so much for your very kind generosity.

Saturday March 19th a large group of Thames Valley members met up at Sportsable for a ride over to Guildford Harley Davidson to celebrate the dealership birthday, this turned out to be a great day out with beautiful weather a free Hog roast and a great band playing for most of the day.

The Jake Spicer memorial ride again attracted over thirty riders from Thames Valley and many gifts for the children who are suffering from very serious illnesses at the John Radcliffe Hospital. As the parade ride entered the hospital grounds we could see many children and their parents had already come down from the wards to greet us.

The staff at the hospital collected two large trollies of toys and gifts which will be distributed around the wards of the hospital.

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On behalf of the John Radcliffe can I thank all those who were able to make the ride and bring a smile to all those poorly children. Our day finished with a very disappointing lunch at H Cafe.

While the rest of the chapter attended the Toy Run, three of our newly appointed trainee road captains started their journey to becoming qualified road captains. They have attended a two day intense training course at HOG headquarters in Oxford, with some class room work and then out on the road to practice the role of a road captain. Hope you three had a great couple of days at Oxford.

The chapter visit up to Harpenden to Three Rivers Chapter club night was a great night out. Eight members enjoyed the perfect evening's weather which was ideal for riding and with only 26 miles to cover we arrived in Harpenden in around forty minutes. We were greeted by Martyn, Three Rivers Chapter director and taken into the Harpenden British Legion for a drink, and were made to feel very welcome by their members.

During the evening a member of the Instute of Advance Motorist gave a small presentation to the members gathered. An enjoyable evening.

Two of our members have had to visit hospital this month, Chris Earley better known as CJ had a small problem with a diesel spillage on a road in central London and after fighting with his new Glide to keep it upright and bumping into a cab he managed to badly cut his nose open on the windshield of the fairing and needed hospital treatment.

After an overnight stop in Northwick Park hospital surgeons have managed to repair the damage to CJ's nose and save his good looks.

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Paul Major has been taken back into hospital and has had an operation to remove a small bleed from his brain. Paul has had a bit of a rough time recently but is now on the way to recovery. Good luck mate!!

I hope you both have a speedy recovery and are back with us soon enjoying the summer's riding.

The last of our Saturday socials held during the winter season was held at The Shire Horse public house and restaurant.

Again a great number of members attended for a lunch time bite to eat and a catch up with friends. As the winter season's calendar finishes, so starts the summer, with the first Poker Run at the Cunning Man in Reading.

More about this later in this magazine.

Entries for The Chapter Challenge Mileage Program have slowed down over the last few weeks.

We now have 80 members signed up for the challenge. There is still plenty of time to get your details registered for the challenge.

Send them in via e-mail or catch up with me at the dealership or club night.

Next club night we have Hogsback Chapter visiting for a social evening.

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Thames Valley will be hosting a BBQ on the patio at the Grenadier Club during the evening to welcome our guests.

Reading Harley Davidson will be hosting its first bike night of 2016 on April 28th from 6:30pm. The dealership burger van will be open for business selling a wide range of hot food and soft drinks during the evening.

May 14th Reading Harley Davidson will be celebrating its 1st Birthday with a birthday bash to remember.

Food and music has been arranged to enhance the party mood. Mike has some special birthday deals arranged for the weekend.

A ride out has been arranged by the road crew so that Thames Valley can arrive on mass to the dealership.

The chapter gazebo will be set up in the carpark again this year, with information about the chapter and events for potential new members.

We are going to be looking for some help on the day to man the car park and the chapter gazebo. If you are able to help then please let us know.

Have a great riding season and let's enjoy the year ahead.

Ride safe and have fun.

Don Director

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Ladies of Harley Hi Girls, Well, the rideouts/weekend rallies are well under way. The Jake Spicer Toy run to the John Radcliffe Hospital was very well supported with plenty of toys, games & books generously being donated to the children's ward.

The Oxford Chapter road crew did a fantastic job marshalling the ride from Oxford dealership too.

Looking ahead, on Thurs 28th April we see the return of the Bike Night at Reading dealership.

The Cider Rally (Bridgwater Chapter) is fast approaching - am so looking forward to all the fun & frolics, lol! It's the rally's 25th anniversary and the optional fancy dress theme this year is silver/ chrome, hope you've got your outfits ready girls!!

Saturday 7th May is International Female Ride day, which just happens to tie in very nicely with a ride I'm leading from Sportsable to Oxford's dealership for the LOH Charity coffee & cake morning. All club members are very welcome to join the ride. We meet at Sportsable at 9.30 for a 9.45 depart : after which, Nick West has very kindly offered to take us all on a ride to Bourton-on-the-Water, in the Cotswolds, leaving Oxford dealership at 12 noon - hope you can make it :.

This year's theme for the Ladies of Harley rideout at the SoFER Rally (12th/13th/14th August) is Leather & Lace, we have plenty of time to get that sorted ;.

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Check out the Thames Valley website calendar for more details on rideouts etc..By some miracle I have managed to synchronise the TV calendar with my gmail calendar so there's no excuse for me missing a ride out !

I am looking forward to hearing from Pat Adams re: her recent adventures up north touring ..on a V Rod.. HUGE respect to you girl x Ride safe Sue Dodds LoH Representative

ladiesofharley@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk WOMEN WHO BEHAVE SELDOM MAKE HISTORY

New Members A very warm welcome to the Chapter for new members, Mark Peck and Cilla Pierre

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Biker Down Course Marlow Fire Station

On a somewhat wet and chilly Saturday morning six hardy TV HOG members grabbed their crash helmets and headed out of their houses. They bypassed their bikes, jumped into their cars and headed off to Marlow fire station for a morning of biscuits, coffee and "Very Useful Information".

The "Biker Down" course is run (for free) by the lovely Keith Wheeler , Road Safety Officer for Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire and Rescue service. (And the equally lovely Mark. Whose surname I didn't manage to grab.)

The course is aimed specifically at dealing with road traffic collisions that have involved motorcyclists, and explains what actions you should take when you are the first on the scene and whilst waiting for the emergency services arrive.

Delivered in three well defined and easy to follow sections the course covered: How to manage the scene of a motorcycle crash (including your own safety) until the emergency services arrive.

Emergency first aid, including specifics such as the "if, when and how" you should remove a crash helmet from a casualty.

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What actions, as motorcyclists, we can take to make ourselves more visible to other road users.

I think it is safe to say that we all thought the course was very useful indeed, and that while a lot of the actions you would take are common sense, it's reassuring to know that they are the correct thing to do.

I haven't attempted to share all the information that we gained in this write up. Not because it's top secret, but because I couldn't do it justice. I'm sure any of us (see mug shots included) would be happy to chat about it when you see us.

Whether it is your partner, son, daughter or a total stranger, the actions you take at the scene of a collision can make a real difference to those involved. I know I feel happier knowing that I may have an idea how to help should it ever come to it.

So finally, a big thank you to Keith and Mark of the Bucks & Milton Keynes fire service for giving up their time and to Nick West for giving us the "heads up" about the "Biker Down."

Ann xx Check out more at https://www.facebook.com/ BikerDownBucksMiltonKeynes/ 11

The first ride out of the season After meeting at Sportsable, twelve bikes made their way to the Guildford Dealership, picking up three more bikes from the layby near Bagshot.

On entering the parking lot we saw Shirley and Bernie Churchill. They had come on the trike. Way to go Shirley! As always the hog roast was plentiful and yummy. The Ladies of Guildford had a cake sale on as well, so lunch and afters were sorted. As the day went on, more members of Thames Valley arrived.

The weather was overcast but we were out and all had a great time.

Linda

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editor@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk

Submit your answers to:

Sunday, April 24 Ride out to Southampton Dealership

Friday, May 13 13th to 16th St Ledgers Rally Saturday, May 14 Ride to the Dealership Reading Dealership's Birthday

Thursday, April 28 6:00pm Ace cafe Harley Night (open event)

Thursday, May 19 TV Club Night visit from Hogsback Chapter 7:30pm

6:30pm Bike Night at Reading Harley Davidson (Open Event)

Saturday, May 21 Fish 'n' Chips Eastbourne

Friday, April 29 29th to 3rd May Cider Rally Bridgewater Sunday, May 1 Ride to Wookie Hole

Thursday, May 26 6:00pm Ace cafe Harley Night (open event)

Tuesday, May 3 6:00pm Committee Night

6:30pm Bike Night at Reading Harley Davidson (Open Event)

Saturday 7th May International Female Ride Day.

Friday, May 27 Chill Out Weekend Bridge North 27th May to 30th

Oxford LoH Coffee & Cake morning Lunch - Bourton on the water (See Sue Dodds for details)

Monday, May 30 Spring Bank Holiday

Wednesday, May 11 6:30pm Poker Run

For all rides, check the website or call the hotline to confirm.

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Dates, events, ride-outs and activities.

Details correct at time of going to print.

Please check the website for updates and amendments.

RALLIES 2016 CLUB NIGHTS

Cider Rally 25th anniversary. Theme: Silver 29th April - 2nd May Eurofestival St Tropez 28th April - 1st May

May

19th

June

16th

July

21st

August

18th

September

15th

Wake the Lakes 7th - 10th July SofER 12th - 14th August Thunder in the Glens 26th - 30th August

MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTION DEADLINES

European Bike Week Faaker See 6th - 11th September

EVENTS May Club Night - 19th BBQ with Hogsback Chapter as our guests

May

12th

June

9th

July

14th

August

11th

Dawn to Dusk Ride Coast to Coast Charity Ride, June 25th

Check website for details on all events 15

John Radcliffe Hospital Run A well led ride by Paul Houghton aka Doughnut left Sportsable and headed to H CafĂŠ and then onwards to The John Radcliffe Childrens Hospital for the Annual Toy Run. The Thames Valley massive with a total of 30 Bikes and 3 x Trikes and 41 members had a really good turn out for this worthwhile event.

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Thank you for making our little boys day special today and making a change from ward life! Being treated at 3 years of age for AML he is undergoing intensive chemo and a treat like this brightened him and his siblings day. Thank you all xXx Rich Lou Charlie Isabelle George and Henry #fightforgeorge 17

And they're off...

On Sunday We managed a rolling 20/03/2016, a pick-­�up collecting Sue handful of Thames Knight on her trike as Valley's finest we came off the M25. followed our leader Despite all the London Malcolm Poulter to traffic could throw at us Wimbledon oval race we managed to stay circuit to see the Pictures courtesy of together and arrive on andy.crayford@crayfordmedia.com if you American Legends want copies of these or others from the race possibly for the mass albeit a bit cold. It night check them out on the Andy's website last time at this track was a good run out and as it's threatened with closure. We did have if you haven't done it before I a vested interest in so much as Richard thoroughly recommend it, it's Poulter (son of the great man himself) was certainly not your normal ride entered in the three races that night. He won out. two but following a minor error got knocked back to 7th for the last race.

Chris S

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Aces High

Out with the old, (haha,) Nick West and in with the new Malcolm Poulter, assisted by the lovely Sue. The first poker night of 2016 has taken place at the Cunning man, Burghfield Bridge, and a great success it was too, as you all can see. Choices were made of cards, drinks & dinners.

Attendance: 31 people and 8 bikes.

Linda

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Under African Skies As a South African with a job that takes me to cities around the world at someone else's expense, having Johannesburg added to the list gave me a chance to add a weekend at either end of a recent trip to my home country for the chance to take some time out for a catch up with relatives.

My wife, Thelma, had some holiday to be used so decided to tag along and had the idea of adding the hire of a couple of Harleys to the agenda as well and a weekend in Cape Town would provide us with a perfect opportunity to experience the highs and lows of the countryside (quite literally). March, being late summer would also be a great time for the weather.

Arriving in Cape Town on Friday we made a pre-ride visit to the local dealership for a little retail therapy and we found out pretty quickly that travelling from the UK and with the exchange rate as good as it is, shopping was easy; so much so that a new suitcase size Harley duffel bag had to be purchased!

The Cape Town Harley Davidson dealership staff made us feel very welcome (just like the great folks at Reading Harley Davidson!). We visited the rental team where we met Trevor and Doreen with their stock of 50+ bikes who showed us our bikes; Street Glide for me and Heritage Softail for Thelma which we would pick up the next day. Everyone spent time getting to know what we were planning to do and giving good advice to help us on our way.

That night we stayed with my cousin in Hout Bay and had, one of many, beautiful meals experienced on the trip. It is fair to say that South Africa is a country of many things! Great food and excellent wines at very reasonable prices are certainly amongst its finest!

Next morning (Saturday) we arrived at the dealership and within the hour we were on our way heading for a circular route down around the Cape of Good Hope. It was a perfect day for visiting Cape Point, deep blue azure sky and very little wind with our first stop in Simon's Town where I spent a number of years of my Naval career.

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To get there we would navigate out of Cape Town and over a mountain pass called Ou Kaapseweg (The Old Cape Road), via the Silvermine nature reserve. Although we had actually headed over a what to most would look like a serious mountain, the roads were smooth and for anyone who enjoys riding twists and turns, there were lots of those as we meandered our way up and down the other side. The scenery was stunning from a bike and having ridden these roads as a young adult in cars, and on smaller bikes, the feeling was a little unreal. Had I ever imagined riding through these old haunts on a Harley Davidson?

Never in a million years back then!

After a quick lunch break on Simon's Town's Jubilee Square, we rode on past Boulders Beach famous, for its colony of penguins without stopping as we were keen to get to Cape Point. With more scenic riding we arrived at the pay point for the National Park, and on to the parking for the walk to the lighthouse, which is up a fairly steep climb. As we were dressed in our biking gear this was to be a hot affair. Luckily a 'funicular' was on hand to take us up most of the way, but there were still a couple of flights of stairs of final climb. We emerged to the perfect 360 view from the top lighthouse and a chance to see where the two oceans meet. Oh and, of course, the picture that most people have when they arrive there!

Back on the bikes we headed back towards Simon's Town and then off back to Hout Bay via Chapmans Peak Drive; along an amazing stretch of coastline with the road literally "carved" into it (care of Italian PoWs). A small toll fee to pay for the upkeep of the rock catching nets and we were on our way as a sea mist headed in.

Luckily we were on it before they closed the road and we parked up about half way along to take in the sights, while the road was engulfed by the mist powering up the mountain side. What a spectacle and an amazing end to an approximately 150 kilometre day one.

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For Day two, we were heading inland on another circular route through the famous, and quite spectacular wine regions of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The sea mist had left behind a duller and cooler day so with a quick burst along the motorway, we headed towards Stellenbosch and into the sun again, past wine farm upon wine farm, through a countryside that is lush, green and covered with vines.

Then it was over "helshoogte (hell's heights) pass" and on into Franschhoek, where we stopped for an early lunch / late breakfast.

Franschhoek is a beautiful and very quaint town renowned as one of the food and wine heartlands of the country.

Being at the end of a lovely valley there is only one real way out, (unless you go back in the way you came in!) and that is up and over the mountain pass.

On your way up, and if you are brave enough to take a look, the scenery is amazing as you look down on the wine lands for as far as the eye can see.

Heading in the direction of Hermanus, a town on the coast famous for whale spotting at certain times of the year, we wound our way towards Betty's Bay and rode along another stretch of beautiful coastline towards Gordon's Bay; this being another road that I would never have imagined I would ever do on a Harley during my naval officers training days based there.

Nearing the end of day two we headed back to Cape Town and over Kloofnek pass between Cape Town centre and Camp's Bay, "but wait" I thought‌ "Thelma seems to be have handled 4 pretty serious mountain passes in one day pretty well, so why not have one more challenge?" So we took a small detour up Signal Hill from where there are breath-taking views across the whole of Cape Town, Table Mountain and the surrounding areas before heading back to Hout Bay for the 22

evening after a day riding approximately 350 kilometres through some amazing countryside, wishing at times that we had been riding in shorts and flipflops to keep cool, however, better safe than sorry!

So how would I summarise our trip?

South Africa has a great deal to offer and for you Harley riders out there the roads around the Cape are in better shape and better maintained than most I ride on in the UK. If you like wide and winding roads, stunning scenery and don't have a fear of heights this may be somewhere to try. All that with great accommodation, food and drink available where ever you stop.

You've probably heard some of the stories of how unsafe it is which, as with most places in the world, can be true. You need to be as cautious as you are in most major cities, however, with some pieces of local information you can have a wonderful trip. Thelma travelled there solo with her mum a couple of years ago and is still here to tell the tale :-) Our two days of riding in the Cape have now inspired us to plan a longer trip there as soon as we can make it happen. If you fancy planning your own trip or hearing more about how you would plan yours, then let me know as I would be very willing (and I hope able) to help!

Michael Walters 23

Saturday Social April the 9th saw the last Saturday Social before the riding season kicks into full flow.

The weather had its moments, most of which were on the wetter side of dry.

Although it was a damp day, over 10 bikes made their way to this particular old favourite, the Shire Horse at Littlewick Green.

Attendance was good with approximately 36 people attending, filling it up quite nicely.

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Can you guess which of our members is pictured here?

Just for fun

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2016 Officers & Committee

PRIMARY OFFICERS

Don Wibberley Director

Pat Adams Asst. Director

Nick West Asst. Director CLUB VENUE Grenadier Guards Club Maidenhead Rd, Windsor, Berks, SL4 5EY

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

Colin Wilkins Treasurer

Sue Moyler Secretary

Third Thursday of every month 7:30pm

COMMITTEE

Sue Dodds Ladies of Harley

Mandy Mussong Merchandise

Barry Adams Activities

Andy Tunley Editor

Malcolm Poulter Activities

Lee White Webmaster

Linda Friend Photographer

Chris Smith Membership

Chris Earley Photographer

Email any committee member at (position held)@thamesvalleyhog.org.uk