Category Archives: Club Runs
Cellar Re-Union 14/05/2017
I made my way to our usual meeting place at Denham for 11am departure. The weather was looking very promising therefore the turnout would be higher than usual.
On arrival Steve, Ian, Christian, Elisabeth, Ray and Bill were waiting. Not long before Sam and Rene arrived followed by Roger and Johnny. It was quite a surprise to see so many members but then the weather was on our side. Well done to Christian and Elisabeth for joining us as they travelled from the other side of London. Pat and Brian were to join us at the pub after their prior engement.
Steve led the way at a very reasonable pace and we arrived at the Black Horse Pub. On arrival the car park was quite empty but soon started to fill up. Ian Bullion was already waiting as he has just acquired a Sinnis 250cc. Big Dave arrived by car so that he could pick up Keith Ferries’s wife. Some of you may not be still aware but Keith a regular Cellar boy had passed away not so long ago.
All of sudden there was an invasion of mopeds which filled up the car park. It was a very colourful site. Mind you they would have defiantly stayed away from this place back in the days. It was nice to see Ken Joslin, Eric Patterson and some other familiar faces. There was no BBQ setup in the car park and also very much understaffed at the bar as we struggled to get any drinks. So some of us popped into Tesco’s across the road. After lots of banter and catching up we rode down to the Cellar by the river. After parking up we made a bee line for tea and cakes and as usual Pat went for the ice cream.
This was my first time here and I started to wonder what kind of atmosphere would have been especially with so many Rockers and also how the Modes would have been terrified. And imagining how some of the moped got thrown into the river. Of cause the Cellar is now turned into some kind of hotel.
Alas It was time to head home with a perfect day’s rid-out. It was nice to see few more member and we even managed to sign up two new members namely Roger Dale and Ian Bullion. Welcome to the Busy Bee lads!
Vinnie
Fleet Classic Bike Show 01/05/2017
Weather forecast was not looking too good for today. When I got to Denham lay-by Steve, Ian, Rob our newest member and Chris were waiting. Pat was still in LA doing a grand job with babysitting and spending time with my son and his family. The turnout was poor due to weather forecast because more people had agreed to come on the ride at the club night.
We left Denham promptly at 9am as it looked like no one was going to join us. The journey there was uneventful unlike in the past where bits had fallen off from older bikes that accompany us. We arrived shortly after 10am and went straight for egg and bacon rolls with hot drinks.
So far so good as the weather had managed to stay dry. At about 11am we were let loose and off we went on our thirty miles’ jaunt through the villages and those country lanes. The route is always well organised and sign posted.
As it is customary each year we stop at this pub for a bit of lunch. Not only you get a break roughly midpoint but it allows for the rest of the gang to catch up. As we pulled into the pub we had a short sharp showers which only lasted about 5 minutes. By this time Max turned up out of nowhere but then he does only live just down the road from here. He also joined us on the ride back to the starting point.
Once everybody had arrived back at Fleet, the bike show was held and the winners were announced to collect their trophies. There was also raffle held and the prizes were handed out. Monies raised goes to this great charity. As usual none of us won trophies or raffle prizes and so it time to go home.
We left just after 3pm and it was great ride through Sunning Dale on our way home. Very enjoyable day out.
Brian
78th Pioneer Run 19/03/2017
The weather was very windy with possibility of light rain. I put on my full winter kit plus my lovely heated gloves as it makes riding a lot easier with warm fingers these days. Barry said he might come along so we agreed, if his Blade was on his driveway then I would stop as it wasn’t so I carried on.
A bit blowy on the M1 but a good journey to M25, Laurie had said that he would meet us at Rykas so when I got as far as the A404 turning I could see that distinctive colour of his jacket ahead but he carried on as I turned off at Maple Cross.
Coming down to Denham roundabout I saw Chris waiting in the layby by the garden centre on the other side of A40. I signal him by waving my arms and pointing that he was at the wrong meeting place but without success. He waved back thinking that I was another friendly biker and I guess did not recognise me.
Got to A412 layby in plenty of time, Vinnie was happy that we hadn’t ridden off and left him like last year. Told everybody where Chris was and asked them to wait whilst I went back to get him. Eventually we were all together at the A412 meeting place and it was a good turnout. Pat & Brian, Vinnie, Chris, Steve V, Danny, Big Dave and myself were in attendance.
We set off for Rykas with Brian leading, Max joined our group along the way as he was waiting on one of the bridges on the M25. He managed to catch up to us on the A10 turn off. It was a good steady run all the way to Rykas. Laurie was already waiting for us and so we had a quick coffee break before setting off for Brighton. This time Steve led the way through the A roads and back onto M25 then onto M23.
Laurie was last in our convoy just behind me as we were making steady 65MPH, that’s when I noticed that he started dropping back slowly. I was watching him in my rear view mirror and assumed that he wanted to ride slightly slower than us as he often did but always arrived not too far behind us. When we parked up at Brighton it all become clear, Pat received a text from Laurie to say that his rear tyre had deflated. He thought that his bike felt sluggish due to the strong winds and carried on riding for a bit longer. As a result, the tyre was completely flat and came off the rim. It’s amazing how the radials cope with running on flat as opposed to old crossply tyres which would have thrown you straight off. That was end of Laurie’s day as recovery was called out and he was soon back home. Since then he is gone on holiday to recuperate no doubt!
As we carried on walking to inspect all the vintage vehicles parked up on the sea front we bumped into Bob Brooks. Apparently he got up at 5:30am to catch the train which stopped at every station and took him two and half hours. It was a nice surprise to see him there! Alas It was time for fish n’ chips before going for our walk about admiring hundreds of pre 1912 bike in fantastic condition. We did our usual wandering about with lots of banter and meeting few people we knew on the way.
Eventually it was time to go home and so we all went to fuel up our bikes. Journey back was slightly faster and everybody peeled off when they reached their turn off. Vinnie and Danny went on the M4 while Steve, Pat & Brian and Chris on M40 and I carried on up the M1 to Luton.
Had a lovely day and thank you everybody!
Ian.
