Girder fork run June 22nd 2014

Tony gets the hug

Brian's Triumph - triumphs

 

You can't win them all Rod

   

Daryl with his Ariel 

Rod has kindly sent me these photo's and some thoughts on the girder fork run last Sunday June 22nd. Due to commitments and double booking, only 4 riders were available on the day for the run, they were Daryl on his hand change Ariel, Brian on his Triumph, Tony on his Scott and Rod on his Vincent HRD. The run set off from the Town Arms for a run of about 40 miles through the lanes of North Devon with good weather, little traffic and no mechanical problems to deal with which made for a lovely ride enjoyed by them all. Lunch was taken at the Bell Chittlehampton where the lovely Lynn picked Tonys Scott as the best bike, ( I'm sure this was a very difficult decision for her ). Many thanks to Rod who organised the run and sent me the pics and thoughts on the day, there will be another girder fork run on the 28th September when it is hoped that a few more bikes will be able to make it.

Evening meet 16th June 2014

A nice sunny and warm evening saw 12 club members arrive at The Exeter Inn Chittlehamholt on Monday evening for the first of our three evening meets planned for this year, 8 of us came from Tiverton, we had a great ride out, though the piece of road from Thelbridge to Chawleigh did rattle Rays teeth a bit as he was riding his Matchless girder fork. The landlord was very kind again this year and supplied us with bowls of chips free of charge!, ( you must come tomorrow evening to our June club night to get the burgers to go with them! ). After a very enjoyable hour or so we set off home a different way, in fact I lead us back to Crediton and over the hills to Bickleigh and home for a smoother ride. The next evening ride is July 21st at The Anchor Exebridge, if it's a nice evening, there is a lovely garden to sit in and chat so come along at 7pm, there is a girder fork run this Sunday June 22nd starting at the Town Arms South Molton, usual time 10.30 for an 11am start, next full run is the Exmoor run starting at Bickleigh Mill on the 13th July, see you there folks.

Ron Ley run 2014

Bikes-coffee-loo-let's go

The Lion Inn - lunch stop

 16 riders turned up at the Quince honey farm for this years Ron Ley run, the weather was better than reported and the road works into South Molton had not yet started, nice to see Bill come to see us off, there was some interest from the visitors present too. I used the same route as last year, so we started off going back through South Molton and turning off towards Rackenford. After a few miles I led past the Wednesday cabin jaunt towards East Anstey and then down to Exebridge. Cyril pulled up to advise me he was heading back to Tivvy as he was on reserve, he almost made it but ran out at Bolham where family came to his rescue with fuel. Our route continued up over the top passing close to Wimbleball reservoir before dropping down into Timberscombe for lunch at the Lion Inn. After lunch, we were joined by Steve and so headed to Wheddon Cross where I turned us on the road towards Simonsbath. At Exford we turned off the road and made for Withypool before rising on to the moor heading now towards North Molton. A turn was taken towards Twitchen and thence back to South Molton, apologies here for the bumpiness of this part of the route which tried anyones rear end who did not have the benefit of teleforks!. We had just a short shower a few minutes after leaving the lunch stop, otherwise a good days riding. Thanks to Chris and Ian for bringing up the rear and to Brian for sending me a few photo's of the start when my camera failed, thanks for coming folks and see you next run which is an evening meet at the Exeter Inn Chittlehamholt 7pm on the 16th June, see you there.

good food, Brians smiling, so let's go

Nice and sunny - 5 mins later it rained!

Rays ramble 21st May 2014

Which bike did you bring today?

The bikes assemble but where's Keith?

The day of Rays ramble turned out dry and sunny, 11 riders set off though it would have been more had Keith's T100 not decided to seize up near the cabin which resulted in Cyril and Raymond going back to help, also Stan' had a misfire on his navigation and he arrived too late for the run.
Ray led us through Ash mill, Bish mill and South Molton then across the A361 toward Ilfracombe before turning off across the top of North Molton and over the moor to Withypool. Once through Withy, the route took us over the south part of the moor, passing close to Tarr steps and down to Dulverton. A sharp right just before Exebridge saw us back up to Roachill and back to the cabin, a total of 43 miles and with no mishaps. Many thanks to Ray for a very enjoyable route and commiserations to Keith, Cyril, Raymond and Stan who missed it, next run folks is Sunday June 8th at the Quince honey farm in South Molton, see you there.

How many of these are for the run?

Club night 15th May 2014

Mays club night was a teaser quiz set by Cyril, it was enjoyed by 11 section members. Cyril had set us the task of identifying which motorcycle or parts manufacturer worked out of a given list of addresses, after much head scratching, Dermot proved to be the most knowledgeable and so took the prize, a cake cooked and supplied by Cyril's wife Doreen. It was very nice to see Stan and Rosemary on the night, Stan has promised to be at Rays ramble next week if all is well.
Don't forget Rays ramble next Wednesday 1030 for a 1100 start from the cabin and our next monthly run will be the Ron Ley run starting at the Quince honey farm on June 8th, this is not an overly long run so come along and join in, see you there.

Scrumpy run 11th May 2014

The girders line up

The teles line up early on

The Mayor deliberates

 The weather for the 2014 Scrumpy run was given out to be heavy showers off and on all day, however, I'm pleased to say that although somewhat blowy on the display site, it was sunny all day with no rain!. 25 bikes attended, we saw some well known faces and a few riders new to the run who told me they had enjoyed it so much they would be back next year. Signing on was effected in the café as Chris and Mike were just not adventurous enough to hang on to the tent with one hand whilst signing people on with the other. The wind even made it impossible to put up the red netting around the bikes so rope was used with extra attention from the Marshals. For the first time for 15 years, there were enough people on hand to let Ray and myself do at least some of the run, once down below the hedge line, the wind faded away and it became a very pleasant and enjoyable ride. I was pleased to see that almost everyone stayed for the Mayor to peruse the bikes and she picked Brian Chidgeys WD Velo as her choice for the Ilfracombe shield, the riders picked Tony Pethericks Scott as their choice and the highest combined age went to Norman Devonshire. After the awards, the riders set off to the theatre to grab a well earned cuppa and sandwiches supplied once again by the town council.
My thanks go to the members of the committee and the members who are not on the committee who turned up in good numbers to set up the site, to the Mayor and to the council, ( this was the Mayors last official appointment before handing over to a new Mayor on Monday ) and to the Ilfracombe dogs trust who made our run even more meaningful and added a bit of colour.

Is a single or twin best

 Don't forget Rays ramble Wednesday 21st May meet at the log cabin, and this Thursday evening for Cyrils teaser and natter.

No wonder he's smiling

Norman unloads
 

Relay rally 4th May 2014

Guard dog at Bickleigh

A busy Kitt hill

A refreshing cuppa

Jack at Abbotsham

An ex police bike lead all day

my gang at Bickleigh

Merv checks out the riders

Pretty well everybody just loves to be out and about on the relay
rally judging by the number of bikes I saw on my journey today
and the number checking in at our two sites, Bickleigh and
Abbotsham, course the weather helped a lot as it was a grand day,
dry roads, some sunshine, clear views and just the right amount
of cool air. We managed over 160 miles but I was told of a 150cc
Gilera which had covered 250 miles!, a very old Wolf was seen up north and down south, unforunately I don't have a picture of it though I thought I had taken one. I'm told I have to list where we went today as a member of my gang just followed enjoying the view, so our trip started at Tiverton, then
we checked in at Bickleigh to make sure Keith had everything under control, to keep himself in order he brought Di and to keep the visitors in order he brought his dog!.
We then flashed through Exeter before climbing up over Longdown to Moretonhampstead, then it was on to Two bridges and Tavistock to arrive at Kitt hill. Here they were kept very busy with a large number of riders transiting through. Our route then was on to Launceston and up the Bude road as far as Red post, here we had a spot of lunch. After another chinwag with old friends, we took off to the A39 up to give Chris and Mike something to do!. Here I made a terrible mistake!, I promised to stop on the common at Torrington if there was time, course by now we were running a bit late so I sailed past the ice cream van!, will my followers ever forget or forgive me?. After Torrington, I led the gang through Winkleigh, Copplestone and Crediton to drop down once again at Bickleigh so that Brian and Steve could check in here.
Once again I have to say that today was very much enjoyed by all I came across, my thanks go to Chris and Mike who manned Abbotsham and to Keith and Di who manned Bickleigh, also to Cyril who made the signs up, don't forget the Scrumpy run next week, please can committee members, and anyone else who can help, be at the site by 0900 to set up. See you there.