the bull pen 08
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BIRMINGHAM UK H.O.G - 6852 J U L Y 2 0 1 3 HTTP://BRUMHOG.NING.COM
A By the time most of you get around to reading this the Big Brum Bash will be a blurred
memory
Jason and the team have put a lot of effort into the organisa5on so let’s hope it was all worth it. Whatever the outcome we will hold a review mee5ng before we plan for next year, please get involved in that process if you have something that will help us to improve things, details will be on the web site soon.
The rally season got underway with the Cider Rally and BMAD. The Chapter was well represented at both, and a good 5me was had. It always warms my own cockles when we meet up with old friends from other Chapters, it reminds me what this biking lark is all about.
On a slightly sour note, over a beer at the Cider Rally I had a couple of people say to me that they have heard that people are not happy with certain aspects of the Chapter.
If this is the case please let me or one of the commiIee know what is wrong. We work hard at trying to make the Chapter a success, if we are missing something let us know and we will try and sort things out. BeIer s5ll get involved, this is our club, and most of us just want to ride our bikes with like-‐minded people and have fun. Sermon over!
A few words from our Director
THE BULL PEN
Talking of fun the HOT training in Milwaukee was certainly that. I was amazed at the number of Chapters represented. There were 1400 officers in training from every corner of the USA and every con5nent. The training was centred on mak i n g t h e Chap te r s a welcoming place for new members with the main emphasis on having fun. They went to a great deal of trouble to point out that the real measure of success for a Chapter is the reten5on rate of new members. They gave us some great ideas on how to improve on what we are doing, and I have commiIed to a few ac5ons that I am sure will benefit the Chapter. There is one thing we can all do that is really easy. Involve new members. If you see someone new on a ride out or at a mee5ng just say hello. It sounds easy…………..because it is.
At the April mee5ng I asked for volunteers to fill some of our vacant roles within the Chapter. The range of ac5vi5es we offer is something that we need to improve, so we are looking for a few people to act as the catalyst to geWng things moving. I say a few people because I believe we need a range of ideas and a team to spread the work load. If you fancy helping out please give me a call.
Another aspect of Chapter life that never ceases to amaze me is our charitable work. Whenever we get the call we always come up trumps. It is great to be involved with a bunch of people who care, and who are happy to help out. We have really pushed the boat out with our support of the Phoenix Centre. I
know that they have been blown away with the money raised and the enthusiasm shown by the Chapter. We had a great response to the call from the Cancervive riders. Richard Burns asked for support for the food banks. Who can forget young Harrison from the 2012 BBB? I could go on (and probably will!). Whilst all that has been done, and is being done is fantas5c I feel we need to think about how we best channel this for the future. I already have one willing volunteer to help co-‐ordinate things, but if you feel you would like to help out please give me a shout.
The biker’s calendar is geWng more and more congested. There are HOG events most weekends in the summer. There are also a myriad of other events well worth a look. If you see something that you feel that Chapter members may like to know about let us know.
As the long evenings are here I for one like nothing more than a short ride a^er work just to blow the cobwebs away………..which reminds me, what the hell am I doing on this dammed computer. Where are my bike keys?
Ride safe -‐ Ian
Directors Musings
Birmingham Harley Owner Group fundraisers on mission to help hungry neighbours
A city centre foodbank was given a boost when a group of Birmingham Harley Owner Group riders rumbled in to drop off a huge food donation. The Birmingham bike riders, all in impressive leathers, helmets and boots, rolled in on amaz i n g motorcyc l e s a l l i n formation with big waves and smiles.
Following them was a van brimming with donated tinned and dried food items for Birmingham Central Foodbank.
The foodbank volunteers helped the bikers unload the van full of food b e fo re t a k i n g t h e e x c i t i n g opportunity to go for a ride with a few of the bikers, which especially pleased some of the bike lovers on the team.
The donation drop off was arranged by Harley owner group member Richard Burns. Richard is also support worker for the Royal British Legion Birmingham who are one o f B i rmingham Centra l Foodbank’s referral agencies and have referred ex-servicemen in need of emergency food.
I a n B r a n n o n , ( D i r e c t o r o f Birmingham UK Harley Owners Group Chapter) said the group are hoping to support Birmingham Central Foodbank further.
“We are fortunate in many ways for the things we have and thought it was a good opportunity to give back to the community,” he said.
Birmingham Central Foodbank manager, Patricia Hoskins sums up the exciting day: “We got so excited when we heard a loud rumble of bikes approaching it was so exhilarating.
“Even though in some ways we may be worlds apart, today we all came together under one cause ‘to help feed our hungry neighbours’.
“Since the start of the welfare reform on April we are the busiest we’ve ever been since opening our doors in October 2011.
In the past year our foodbank has provided emergency food for over ‘3,700 adults and children. We are so grateful to the Birmingham Harley Owners Group for the food donation, the team had such an amazing morning with them – it totally rocked”.
Birmingham Central FoodbankBikers roar in to give Brum foodbank a boost
PICCIES
A lifelong ambition to cruise the Main Street of America will be achieved this summer when three bikers follow the legendary Route 66 to raise funds for St Giles Hospice.
On Friday 21st June, The CanCervive Riders will fire up their Harley-Davidson motorcycles at the start of an epic 13-day journey through the heart of the USA in memory of loved ones and in support of St Giles, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
For 2,500 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, Tamworth-based Richard Miller and his good friends Shaun Peaty (44) and Adrian Ashleigh (52), both from Cannock, will live their American dream and hopefully raise in excess of £2,000 for hospice care.
“As a biker, riding the historic Route 66 on a classic chopper is pretty much the ultimate road trip,” says Richard (50). “The journey has captured my imagination for years and it’s a holiday that we first started planning in 2011.
“But when my mother developed cancer, I postponed my plans while she was cared for at her home by St Giles Hospice – and then it was decided we would ride Route 66 in the memory of those we had lost.
“Shaun, Adrian and I have all lost loved ones to cancer and we will have them close to our hearts when we start our engines in Chicago.”
The three friends will each wear specially made The CanCervive Riders t-shirts throughout the trip, with the names of their remembered friends and family members – Sue Miller, Mel Lucas, Yvonne Rawlins and John Shaw, a former Sheriff of Lichfield –
emblazoned on the backs of their tops.
“We are extremely grateful to our good friend Dee Lucas for getting us The CanCervive Riders t-shirts,” says Richard. “Hopefully, the tops will attract the attention of the American public on our journey and encourage them to add towards our fundraising total.”
Route 66 was established in 1926 as one of the first US highways, linking Illinois to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. The road came to prominence during the 1930s as people migrated west along its course, while the highway also acted as an economic lifeline for the communities it passed through.
Despite being officially removed from the highways system in 1985, many sections of Route 66 still exist under different names and The CanCervive Riders will navigate as much of the original ‘Mother Road’ as possible.
“I’ve spent an incredible amount of time researching Route 66 on the computer and reading books about it,” says Richard. “There’s so much that we want to see and do along the way – from catching a cable car up Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visiting the Endangered Wolf Centre in Eureka, near St Louis, Missouri, seeing the Navajo national reservation of Monument Valley, Arizona, famed for its sandstone ‘buttes’, and standing under the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois.”
The three friends are all seasoned bikers, but each of them is more accustomed to riding Japanese superbikes. Richard, Shaun and Adrian recently enjoyed a Harley-
Davidson warm-up session at St Giles Hospice, courtesy of the Birmingham HOG chapter.“When around 30 members of the Birmingham HOGs arrived at St Giles Hospice, we couldn’t believe our eyes,” says Richard. “The bikes looked fantastic and sounded amazing.
“We are so grateful to the bikers for coming to St Giles Hospice and giving us the opportunity to learn more about these fabulous machines.”
The Cancervive Riders get their kicks on Route 66 in aid of St Giles Hospice!
This is a fantastic rally to attend, the first of the year, demand is high so book early to avoid disappointment, you then book your accommodation separately, we left our booking a little late so ended up with bunk beds, (oh dear Faye I bet Paul was not happy with bunk beds – did he go on top?), very basic rooms clean and tidy, good food, breakfast and evening meal for £79 for 3 nights.We hit traffic on M5 at 5 o'clock but some good white lining got us on site for 7pm let the party begin NEON FRIDAY.
D J ROB and DEVIOUS make it a great start to weekend as follows:-
SATURDAY - at breakfast we sat with 15 of our chapter members and decided to do our own ride out Cheddar, Wells, Glastonbury and back to Riders of Bridgewater for a coffee.
We all showered, got changed, had dinner and another two really great bands, BROTHERHOOD a 70s band, and SMOKIN MONKEYS staying up for the 3 O CLOCK photo.
SUNDAY - with a little sore head we decided to enjoy the sunshine, sat around talking to new and old friends ,then caught the rally bus into Weston Super mare sat on sea front with hair of the dog and fish and chips a must ,free bus back to site ,where chapter members had been on a long ride to HOVIS HILL very nice but very eventful for Pete and Jean Harris. so glad I decided to stay and top up tan and alcohol levels.
Cider Rally 2013 - Fay Dutton
Many people have been commen5ng on my recent weight loss and asking me to share the secret of how it’s done. Well it’s quite simple really – Kim’s focussed on some fund raising ac5vi5es again this year and as such is never around to keep me fed properly. I can’t even grab a snack from a cupboard as they’re bare because the on-‐line shopping orders aren't being placed on a regular basis any more either!
Last year Kim took a rest from Ironman challenges and started to get into her cycling, so much so she decided on the spur of the moment to cycle London to Paris, because “we’ve got nothing on that weekend.” She raised over £800 for Help For Heroes as a result.
The success of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Sir Chris Hoy in the Olympics later last year spurred Kim on to want to ride the Olympic cycle route as part of the 100 mile ‘Pruden5al London Surrey ride’ to help raise money for the work of Ac5on Heart at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley. She would welcome support from Birmingham
HOG Chapter members to support the fantas5c work this charity does to help rehabilitate over 700 cardiac pa5ents at a 5me. While Kim has supported this Charity since 1999 its work has become more poignant as she recently had a work colleague cruelly taken from the world in his early for5es as a result of a heart aIack, leaving behind a wife and two very young children.
For those interested in trying to shed a few pounds there are, unfortunately, no secret fixes. However Kim would be more than happy for you to send her as many of your sterling pounds as you can spare to support her in her challenge via her Just Giving web page at:www.justgiving.com/Kim-‐Babb (hIp://www.justgiving.com/Kim-‐Babb)
Thanking you in advance for your generosity.
Nigel Babb
Nigel’s Way to Wonder Weight Loss
To All Chapter MembersThis is an ar)cle to say a few words about the road captains and thank them all for doing such a great job a I believe they may have been ge<ng some unfair s)ck at the moment !!!
Being a road captain is no easy task – when they organise a ride out there is no
way that they just look at a map and say, “Right well take the A45 then go onto the B15 and then travel along the M4 and we will be there!” There is a lot more to it than that.
These dedicated people travel to the des)na)ons we are visi)ng in their own )me, talk to owners of restaurants, cafes and places of interest in order to check with them if it is OK if we all invade them and visit, and when they have done this they find the most enjoyable route for riding. And what do we do? We simply turn up on the day and enjoy ourselves and have a great )me.
Of course there are )mes when there are hiccups and small mistakes can be made but the road captains are normal too, and this is just a part of life. I would like to applaud them and thank them all for doing a sterling job and promise you that I for one will always be grateful and understanding for all the fun rides we are going to have in the near future. Our road captains are one in a million and I would like to dedicate the next poem to them.
Your loving editor Linda
It’s )me to plan another trip,
Where are we to go?
Have to get the Sat Nav out
And travel there tomorrow.
We have to find the best roads
Can’t go down the motorway
Need to make this trip enjoyable,
And decide where we aim to stay.
They decide on a trip to Barmouth.
A beau)ful spot in Wales,
When they planned the trip it rained all day
But on the day we went the rain fails.
We go on a trip to Stonehenge,
And this was a long way for us to ride
The journey was fab all the way there,
And even the showers didn’t spoil it as the guides,
Our super road captains as always were ace,
As they worked together to get us all there,
The des)na)on was beau)ful and a sight to see,
Food was great but no roasts Dave’s s belly was bare.
Recently we went on a trip to the arboretum,
Always an emo)onal place to see,
The ride was great and organised well,
Nowhere else on that day would I want to be!!”
I remember well our trip to the Marina,
That was another cracking )me,
The weather was great and we had a good )me,
And the scenery on the way was sublime.
The only thing that bloYed that day,
Was I had bought a large double cone,
It was lovely and aZer three licks
My ice cream hit the decks and my cone was alone.
Anyway enough of my rhymes
I just wanted to share my apprecia)on
For ALL our road captains out there,
Carry on as you do with your true dedica)on!
There are several ways to get to France but being old school I chose the Dover to Calais trip £63 return for bike and rider (cheaper than the tunnel) but has to be booked in advance. From Coventry to Dover its 183 miles easy route M1-‐M25-‐M20 and can be done easy in 3.5 hrs with a short coffee break, but my advice is to allow plenty of )me for the Dareord crossing as we got held up and missed our ferry )me , this was not a problem as we were on motorbikes so we caught the next ferry some 55 minutes later. We chose to take a long route down and visit friends in Dordogne and this is a beau)ful riding area in its own right. Although we used Sat nav this isn’t compulsory as the road network from large town to town is so easy in France with brilliant sign posts the old method of wri)ng your route on a piece of paper and s)cking it to the tank each day works fine.
Our first stop was in Rouen, the place Joan of arc was burnt at the stake 336 miles from Coventry and my advice here is if you haven’t pre -‐booked your hotel is to arrive at a decent )me at you r s top po in t and find the informa)on bureau they all speak good ‘anglais’ and you just have to tell them your budget , tell them you are on expensive motorbikes and require secure parking and they will find the hotel at your budget for you, we had secure parking all the way down and back!!!!!
The second day we rode 405 miles to Dordogne but in beau)ful sun shine and fantas)c scenery this was so easy to do as this really is a lovely part of France to ride in. We leZ Dordogne the next morning heading south through Bergerac and it started to spit with rain and before we had )me to pull over and put wet weather gear on it was raining cats and dogs, the only difference with French rain apart from being on the other side of the road is that it was warm!!!!!
There are plenty of petrol sta)ons and places to get a coffee and I prac)ced my school boy French Ii did always get what I ordered but also got a laugh from the waitress (never did like Mr Munro the French teacher). Now anyone who is worried about riding abroad don't the roads are so easy, pot hole free and the French people just ‘brill’, so friendly. We stopped twice at the side of the road to set Sat Nav and both )mes fellow bikers stopped to see if we were Ok!The rain con)nued and we made progress slow as we were on A roads and twisters so we gave up in a town called Rodez, some 205 very wet miles and found a great hotel with covered parking.
A good )p when you do stop for coffee use the hand dryers in the toilets to dry gloves and Necker’s .We woke the next morning thinking it s)ll couldn't be raining and it wasn't but by the )me we paid the bill loaded the bikes it was and as heavy as the day before!!!This was a great shame as one of the high lights on this route was to cross the tallest suspension bridge in Europe, the Millau Viaduct, a truly beau)ful bridge but when we crossed it was 65 mph winds , torren)al rain and heavy cloud not much fun so high up on a fatboy with solid wheels and 65 mph cross winds , hence we didn't stop to take pictures at this point.
We set of and made our way south s)ll not mee)ng many bikers at one point I thought we might have the wrong weekend it was so quiet , that is one great thing riding in France the car traffic is so light and the roads so clear. The sun came out just outside Montpellier so we pulled into a service sta)on to remove our wet weather gear, greeted by about 50 other Harleys from various countries the first )me we actually saw Harleys travelling south.The sun remained for the next three days yep it was official I was on my holidays, Dordogne to Rodez was about
205 very wet miles and then Rodez to the rally site in Grimaud 198 sunny miles .
During the ride down whilst it was raining I went to wipe my visor and on removing my leZ hand from handle bars the bike violently shook side to side on further trial and error I found this only happened between 15-‐55 mph , at first I thought it a balance weight come of so I checked wheel bearing play and everything in between but couldn't find fault. We arrived at the rally site in Grimaud early Wednesday aZernoon some 1266 miles since leaving Coventry.
Ii contacted Hog breakdown which were fantas)c and they sent a tow truck for the Thursday morning at 0900 am, this was brilliant un)l they told me my bike would be returned on the Monday morning gone for the whole rally period , I thought I had ridden all the way like it so i would ride all the way back so I sent the tow truck away, my only complaint at a rally of this size and being the 30th anniversary rally was there wasn't any technical staff on site or any support; I knew of two other bikes needing urgent help, Hog European recovery was so easy to deal with and actually called you back when promised. I was well impressed with them.
Thursday the Rally opened, registra)on was easy and only took minutes and we were in but bike security was none existent and only people received arm bands a few people were moaning that bikes didn't have bands as well. The site was well set out plenty of trade stands set within a wooded area selling good quality items, Rally packs were easy to pick up just showing rip of part of )cket, plenty of places to eat and more importantly get a beer at a decent price .behind !!!
Jon Lintot - A European Adventure
Friday was spent wondering the rally site and a ride up the road about 6 miles to St Tropez here beer prices were very stupid 7 Euros for half a lager , the highlight would be Friday night as Suzi Quatro was playing main stage on the beach and yes lads she s)ll wears the leather trousers and before you ask she has s)ll got it from behind !!!
Saturday was the highlight for me as there was the mass parade of Harley bikes. We started lining up at 1400 for a ride of at 1600 I believe there was nearly 3000 bikes on the ride out which went via St Tropez and all the towns in the area people were four abreast lining the streets as we rode through a truly unforgeYable experience, Saturday night was rounded off by Status Quo playing, who as usual put on a terrific gig.
Sunday was pack the bike )me and yep as we rode up the road it started to rain ge<ng heavier the more north we travelled and we were flanked by many Harleys heading home most of the way to our stop in Dijon.
The next morning we set of in the rain and decided to keep riding un)l we
reached Calais 367 miles, 1hr 30 minutes on ferry and 183 miles and home, the Dareord tunnel was a nightmare but it was bank holiday weekend end! In all it was a most enjoyable trip total of 2845 miles and 150 Euros on toll’s so my advice, if riding solo, is to carry a small purse or money bag full of change, easy to get at with wet gloves on as car drivers get a liYle restless if you take too long , don't do what one guy did pay by a 50 euro note and get it all back in change was funny seeing him stuffing it into his pockets though, as for the wobbly steering it turned out to be a a loose steering head bearing sorted by Harley dealer in UK, apparently a common fault on Harley fatboys.
So to sum it all up would I do it again well probably I would, plan your journey take your liYle bag of Euros and go enjoy the great French roads which are pot hole free, riding out there is so easy and the French really are so friendly. It was worth the long ride down and the trip up the coast road to Monaco was really fun so I hope that this gives you a taste of a European rally.
Saturday was the highlight for me as there was the mass parade of Harley bikes
PICCIES
CanCervive - Sat 27th April
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