Club night November 20th 2014

A very good night once again laid on by Keith and Cyril to test our observation, we have been having these evenings for a few years now and you would have thought we couldn't be caught out but the tricky questions were such that the best score was 20 out of a possible 32!, ah well next time eh, so a big thanks to them both as I know it takes some hours to put the evening together. Now then we still need people to come forward and book for this years annual dinner, it will be held on Saturday the 6th December at the Tiverton Hotel, this event is in the middle of the day so no worries about coming out after dark, come along at 12 noon and have a drink in the bar and a chat before the meal, we have a private room and it's always an enjoyable do, right, now that you are interested, give Chris or Keith a ring and book your seat it only costs £14 per head.
Now another date for your diaries, we will not be running a new years run but will have a new years meet instead, meet at the fish n chips restaurant in South Molton square at 12 noon on the 4th January, they would not normally be open but are opening especially for us, we are hoping for in excess of 15 people to make it worth their while so come and bring the family, a great change form Turkey.
 Lastly a big thank you to people who brought draw prizes last night, we had 6 prizes in all, we would appreciate any draw prizes for the annual dinner on the 6th - thanks, hope to see you there.

Guy Fawkes run November 2nd 2014

A good turnout of 20 plus riders enjoyed coffee and tea cakes at the Corn Dolly in South Molton for this years final run, the weather was a little disappointing following quite a few warm and sunny days but the showers were light and it wasn't too cold. Chris had worked out a run on country lanes but after giving consideration to the weather overnight, he quite rightly changed too a run on better roads. With Ray and myself at the back, we were lead out of South Molton to Umberleigh then Atherington after which we have to travel over two of Devon's answer to Blackpool's switchback ride as the road falls and rises quite spectacularly. The route then was through Torrington and on to the Okehampton road, when at Hatherleigh we turned off to Northlew for dinner and then end of the run, an enjoyable 33 miles or so. Thanks to Chris for the run and to Ray for 'volunteering' to do back Marshal with me, we had a very nice ride back home which I hope you all did, sorry I don't have any photo's today but I was so engrossed in the day that I completely forgot!. Now please contact Chris or Keith to book for the Christmas lunch as soon as possible, cash or cheque with order please so that Chris does not have to go running around on the day, next club night is on November 20th for one of Keith and Cyril's observation evenings, these are always enjoyable so see you there.

Autumn run Oct 12th 2014

Lunchtime at Red post

The bikes have a breather

Mike the run leader getting ready to go

 Another eventful day out for the 21 riders who turned out at Sainsbury's for this years Autumn run, firstly my Triumph again gave me trouble which caused me to run home and swap bikes, then Dermot's gave troubles and he also turned for home, Brian's Triumph wouldn't start so he had to change bikes but all that pales into insignificance when Cyril's Matchless burst into flames on Sainsbury's forecourt which was quickly put out by a member of the supermarket's staff, Cyril escaped with a burnt jacket and singed eyebrows. The run took off in parallel with the A39 through kilkhampton and the edge of Bude before a lovely run along the front at Widemouth bay, then back to our lunch stop at Red post, here we were well looked after which set us up for the run in the afternoon to end at Torrington common for an ice cream finish. Thanks to Mike for the route and to Ian and Keith for watching the rear, though Keith was employed all day on Cyril's fire problem. Cyril recovered to home and is sure that his Matchless will live to fight another day. Sorry this write up is a bit late but I went off on holiday just after the run, don't forget the Guy Fawkes run November 2nd when we will endeavour to give everyone a less eventful trip.

Girder fork run September 28th 2014

The riders arrive

now where's the coffee

A bright sunny morning greeted the 9 riders who turned up at Ray's for the girder fork run, there would have been more but for family commitments. Each rider was served with a coffee by Di and Keith signed them on, there was even a jam donut for all. Nice to see Graham, Rays son riding today on Rays Matchless, he had that morning ridden all the way down from Swindon. After Jack and Rob had fuelled up it was time for the off with Brian C doing tail end Charlie. The route was out of Tiverton on the Witheridge road before turning off to Puddington and Morchard Bishop, a heading to Morchard road, and Bow saw the run arriving at Winkleigh for lunch and the end of the ride. An excellent meal was had at the Kings Arms and here the Landlord chose Johns Rudge to win the best bike, though I imagine this was some job considering the bikes that attended. All in all a good ride with no breakdowns and no straying from the route. Thanks to Ray for the route, to Keith and Di for their help at the start and to Brian C for being tail end Charlie for the day, oh and thanks to Brian, Rod and Keith who kindly sent photo's of the day, I have in fact got quite a few in total, I will put them on a stick and get Keith to put them on the screen at club night . Now whilst I have your attention, I still am holding a high viz jacket from the fall run, it has a round metal tin in the pocket containing a cable inner and fuse, is it yours or do you know who's it is?, see me if you do. Next run is October 12th, the Autumn run starting at Sainsburys Barnstaple see you there folks.

lunchtime

the winner

starting off

Fall run September 14 2014

Now why doesn't my Triumph look and go like Brians

Jacks bike was much admired

What an eventful day!, where do I start?, well there was no run leader a week ago due to a misunderstanding so I agreed to step in to cover, I chose an easy route up to the North coast of Somerset giving some great views of the Bristol channel and Wales and lunch at Timberscombe followed by a run over the top back to the start in Bampton, what could go wrong?. First of all, my Triumph TR6P with newly rebuilt engine ran from Tiverton to Bampton then decided it had had enough and coughed and spluttered to a stop!, some fettling took place and with Keith behind me to make sure I came back again!, I returned home and swapped for the BMW, the TR6 took me all the way to my drive before completely cutting out. A swift return to the Blackberries saw that all the riders were fed and watered and eager to go as soon as Keith had paid for the coffee's, we had a  quick cuppa ourselves and set off after a briefing, now here is a lesson to all we run leaders, a quick glance around the assembled riders had shown me that I knew all but one of them so assumed that the drop off system would be safe after I had ascertained from the 'newcomer' that he was aware of it's operation. We set off through Bampton and turned left on to the Morebath road where a drop off marker was positioned, one rider however did not see him and ploughed on towards Taunton at a good speed causing Keith to go chasing after him on full throttle catching him up quite a few miles down the road before he could turn him around. All this led them to be late arriving at the turning  at Ralleighs cross only to find that the marker had moved on so more chasing by Keith was employed  once again to catch them and turn them back. The view from Ralleighs cross onwards should have been very nice but due to the heavy mist, we could unfortunately see little of it. I stopped everyone on the front at Blue Anchor for some sightseeing of the welsh coast, channel and Minehead but once again the mist gave us a very limited picture and it was 20 minutes before the tail enders hove into view, they advised me that there were no markers from Ralleighs cross onward. I had made arrangements with the Lion Inn in Timberscombe in the week for a booking of 12 to 15 riders for lunch, since I was unable to get a signal in Bampton, I took the opportunity to ring them from Blue Anchor where they told me they had no roast today!. We set off again but once again hit trouble when the heavy traffic on the A39 caused the run to spread wide and the arrival at Timberscombe was over a long period. I had been informed that the mill in Timberscombe , run by volunteers, was having one of it's rare open days today so 8 riders went off after their lunch for a look around, Jack realised that he was not that well off for petrol so was dispatched to Wheddon cross to fill up whilst I went for a liedown in a dark room!!. The run set off again at 1410 and we had a relatively easy and faultless run back over the top to Bampton once again for a very welcome cup of tea. Lesson for the day is that the drop off system has to be revisited at the start of every run, and to that end, Mike has volunteered to hit each rider on the head when they sign on to restate the rules.

My thanks to Ray and Keith for the back marker work they had to perform and I am grateful to Matt for the pics, as due to the events of the day, I had forgotten to take any!, now where's that brandy?.

Club night this Thursday folks for competition night, see you there I hope.



A quick look at the mill



Breakfast run 24th August 2014

I am relying on feedback from Ray and Keith as I was not on this run due to a family reunion. I understand that 12 riders turned up in the square at Hatherleigh for this breakfast run, 5 riders from Tiverton only just making it in time as Keith's Triumph decided on the way that his trousers were a bit dirty so it began to wash them with petrol!, apparently a hole in the downpipe was the culprit and this was soon fixed up. The run set off for Torrington where Ray had arranged a breakfast meal at the Torrington arms, this was seemingly very enjoyable and with full stomachs the run set off for Winkleigh via a choice of routes!!, due to some riders missing an unmarked turn and then losing the new leader, never mind, almost all safely arrived at Winkleigh and the missing rider was located at home. The weather turned out to be very much better than expected and the whole run was accomplished in the dry and all riders were home by mid afternoon. This was the first time we have put on a breakfast run for some time and we would like to know what you think to repeating it. Apparently a Badger accompanied the run but not quite sure how this came about, something to do with Dermot's Matchless?. Next run folks is the Fall run 14th September starting from the Blackberries in Bampton usual time of 1030 for 1100 start.

Club night 21st August 2014

16 members turned up at our ride a bike and natter night last evening, at the beginning of the year we were asked to provide a couple of evenings where their was no organised happenings so that members could just natter and this certainly worked as there was a good level of nattering going on all the evening. There were at least 6 bikes turn up, I presume more would have appeared if the weather had been a bit more promising, as it was the run in was in the dry and so was the run home, there was only a bit of drizzle whilst the evening progressed. Announcements made included the success of the fish n chips and evening meet runs this month, the competition night next month and the breakfast run on Sunday next at 9am starting at Hatherleigh square. I also meant to thank the people who brought draw prizes last night and previous club nights, last evening there were 4 prizes to be drawn - thanks folks. A bit of advanced notice for you all is that the date of the Christmas lunch this year will be the 6th December 12 noon at the Tiverton hotel, cost will be a subsidised rate of £14, that's very good for a full Christmas meal, names and monies together to Chris from now on please.
Our October club night will be a talk from our very own area rep Rodney Hann, Rod supports us very well so mark it in your diary now.