RUN to REIMS, June 22nd to 25th 2007

Nine riders [Jacko, Bill, Chrissie, Steve, Kathryn, Steve, Bev, Andy, Kathryn] departed from Destination Triumph on a damp Friday morning, the weather prospects didn't look good. We arrived at the Tunnel free of the wet stuff and met up with two more riders [Kenny & Brian] making seven bikes in all for the raid on Reims.
The forecast for France was storms, we could see one on the horizon, dark and menacing, was it coming our way? You bet! But with the utmost of cunning we kept the beast at bay and reduced it to a mere torrent while we looked for the shelter of a petrol stop. 'Onwards' cried Bill, 'Lets beat the bugger' so we gritted our teeth and out-ran it as it peered down at us angrily. We stopped near St Quentin for a well earned late lunch and with only fifty miles to go we arrived at our hotel-de-plastique just after five in a reasonably damp state.

Cosy but adequate.

We were greeted by our friends, The 'Riders from the Black Forest', no, not ghosts or ghouls but Frank, Peter, Roland, Cornell & Thomas, mind you, Thomas can look a bit ghoulish [a thousand pardons Thomas, may your Tiger growl for ten thousand miles and not bite you!];


















The first order of the evening [after the compulsory three S's - s..t, shower and shave] was to get some 'tucker' so over to the restaurant. What? No room at the inn? "We av le party of peeps, numerous pardons" said le maitre d'. "But we have come from old Anglais und Deutschland on da motorad" we explained, using our secret weapon interpreter - Kathryn. Well, he looked kindly on us two-wheeled mad people and let us in. After much revelry and rattling of knives and forks we ate and drank to refuel ourselves for the battle ahead; bowling of the pins ten.


















The skills of tenpin bowling ensued, England v. Germany.















Bill Chrissie Andy KathrynBrian
Kathryn Steve B Steve WBev
Cornell Frank
ThomasRoland PeterKenny
Jacko

After a very competitive game which only involved the referee once or twice [he could not make the third booking due to need of medicinal assistance at the bar] the scores were as follows;
153 Chrissy, 148 Steve W, 134 Billy, 122 Steve B, 116 Jacko, 114 Peter, 113 Thomas, 108 Bev, 108 Andy, 107 Roland, 94 Kath, 89 Kat, 82 Kenny, 80 Frank, 78 Brian, 69 Connel.

With much swelling of the fingers we eventually retired to our beds for the much needed kip d'zzzz.

SATURDAY, June 24th; and so to Reims.
Mufty day today, no uniforms, so we cabbed it to the city for the Joan of Ark Festivities - oh dear its raining!

We had a look at the cathedral and made our way to the cafe quarter to gather our thoughts and make a plan of action.






Respite from the rain and a pause {,} for thought. >>>>>>>>>>>

I think Thomas was missing his Tiger >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On with the costumes and dancing

Steve took this one, as if we hadn't seen enough water!! >>>>


Now for a bit of Kulture.................

Magnificent Art Deco ceiling at the Garnegie library


>>>> & the tiled Foyer >>>>>>>>

At the Cathedral............


Let there be light........

...........and there was Purple Haze man!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Huge pulpit>>>

Hugh Jorgan

Evening Run - June 11

A run out in fine weather [hoorah] via Amberly, Bury Hill [makes a change to go down it], Burton Ponds, fortunately there were no ducks around so we didnt end up in it, then Petworth and the 272 [nice new surface] to Wisborough Green, around the corner to Newpound and the Bat & Ball.

Good food, good company, good beer [not me ozzifer] and good music ~ what more could you want ~ no you cant have a fiver out the till!

Maybe I'll remember to take the camera next time.

Ace cafe & more - June 10

An ace day at the Ace.
First priority was breakfast, as yo can see, good tucker!
It was Triumph Day, more trumps than you could shake a stick at! A big range, from old to new, from standard models to cafe race Tritons and Tribsa's ~ a good hour or so was spent oggling the hardware.
It wasn't raining, for a change. In fact it was swelteringly hot on the
North Circular so off to the next venue at Greenford;















The British Motorcycle Museum. This family run hideaway is a little treasure with all sorts of makes and some one-off specials and all credit to them and their volunteers. The main make is Triumph [soon to be given their own display building when funds allow] but other well known makes are present; from a little 'Fanny' Barnet to a big Coventry Eagle vee-twin with a few BSA's and Rudges to name but a few.

And so the day was nearly done, but not without calling in at Box Hill on the way home, I think we just about avoided motorcycle overload!

Run to the BBQ - May 27

Well, guess what - it rained again! But a few questionable soles [thats .... soles] took to the bikes and went for a wet run the long way round from the shop at Washington to Worthing for Trident Willy's bbq. Which was much appreciated, so was the marquee that sheltered us. It was a great shame about the weather especially after all the effort that Willy and his gang put into it. Many thanks!

Factory visit No.1 - May 9 2007

Thirteen bikes [unlucky for Jim - but he's alright now and most importantly his bike is mended] made the run up to Hinkley, the first visit for the new Destination Triumph R.A.T. pack.
It rained at first but only up to Leatherhead where it dried out and were joined by dear old Brian who was waiting patiently. "Rain, what rain" he said.
It was a good run up the M25 [if there is such a thing] and the M40. The A423 and Fosse Way proved far more enjoyable, this gave us all a good appetite for grub at the Lime Kiln on the A5.
Five minutes after throwing our legs over we were at the Factory. Peter gave us a good chat about the company setup before we donned the magical headsets for factory itself. The consensus was; very impressive, apart from the rain which started about halfway through the tour - bugger!
The ride back was interesting never the less ~ not for the faint hearted is Fosse in the rain. But we were all up for it.
Jim had a spot of bother and an argument with the tarmac so he had a dry and warm ride home. We then pressed on in two groups; one took the M40 and the remainder of us stalwarts [idiots] continued the long route down the Fosse Way stopping at Burford to empty our pockets of rain, not cash, and took on some hot coffee.
The A40 wasnt so bad but the A34 Newbury bypass was bloody windy with sideways wet stuff ~ ah the joys of biking! We all got home safe..... Eventually.
Mant thanks to all.
p.s. we are now known as the Drowned RAT's