My first bike was an SR125. Strangely I learned to ride over a winter but these days I am very much a summer rider. Taking to the pillion in poor weather. On the wall in our hallway is an apt little sign.

I have owned various motorbikes, but the first BMW was a CS650, a great bike which got me into riding longer distances. It being a bigger single cylinder I did have to think carefully about being in the right gear at the right revs.

John encouraged me to look at a twin. An F700 seemed the better choice. Off we went to see our favourite salesman, Paul, at Alan Jeffries. What service, he took time to find me a low chassis bike with just a few miles on the clock. A quick test ride and there it was, another bike in the garage. Two years ago, I decided it was time to get something smaller and lighter so now have a 250 VStrom.

So, how did I get into biking? Well, apart from a few small forays in a sidecar with an aunt and uncle in the late 50’s and a boyfriend with a scooter in the late 60’s (in my days as a Mod!). Biking really started for me when I met John in 1994. He had just bought a new red Funduro. Bikes have always been a part of John’s life and soon also became part of mine and our collective family’s life. All our children have, at some point used a bike as their transport to work. Our son, the youngest, still used his bike as daily transport to work.

 

My first long distance trip was to the WW1 Battlefields on the pillion of a 900 Triumph Trophy when I was 6 months pregnant with said youngest son. We had booked the trip some months earlier! We have done many tours since, creating lots of good memories so it is difficult to pick a favourite out of them. More so as I enjoy all aspects of riding either solo, as a pillion, or in our sidecar.

Amongst my favourite roads to ride are those both close to home and further afield. One only just down the road from us goes from Menwith Hill to Greenhow with beautiful views of the Yorkshire Dales and very little traffic. Another is riding over Tomintoul and Glenshee in Scotland, it always seems so very peaceful.

I have been very lucky in my working life to do something that I loved and, according to my mum, had wanted to do as a very small child. I eased out of retirement as a Headteacher by taking on some consultancy work before finally giving up “paid” employment about 3 years ago. It did always create a bit of a “wow” factor with the children when I turned up at school on the bike. Even more so when, on occasional Fridays, John would arrive on the sidecar outfit so that we could get straight off to a weekend event.

So, what have I got out of being in the club? Lots of friendship, both in Yorkshire and across the country. Becoming Editor was a bit of a whirlwind which started whilst promoting the club at the NEC in November 2018. It has resulted in the great pleasure of having contact with so many members by email and phone, but even better when I meet people face to face. Putting the Journal together is such fun and keeps me learning.  I am very fortunate to work with a super team. There is no way I could do it alone.

It would be really good to be able to offer an effective digital Journal in the fairly near future. I appreciate the help and support I have been given by Steve, Carl and other members of the Oxford Section in researching ideas for this.

We had planned a trip to Italy this year but will be leaving that until next year now. As long as we can get to ride up in Scotland by the end of the year, we will be happy.