Wednesday 9th February – The Bell Pub, Stowe on the Wold
It all started well, the day was glorious sunshine, I travelled on familiar country roads neatly avoiding the Oxford traffic…
We were meeting at the McDonalds at Botley. I arrived quite early after a lovely ride from home near Thame, through Long Crendon and along the B4011, a very popular biking road. However the county council had decided to dig up the road leading to the meeting place…
This was a popular meet with over 10 people enjoying the spring like weather and of course, the excellent company…
A great route ensued; my thanks to James for leading so well and of course designing the route… Our first stop, via another of James’ favourites, a ford, well it was a broken water main that had supposedly closed the road (oooops) to an amazing coffee shop. The pictures really don’t do the “Classic Motor Hub” in Bibury justice – what an amazing place. A walk around the sheds uncovered my favourite, an AC Cobra, a snip at a mere £525,000 – let me know if you need an introduction.
Wisely, we decided not to use the “ford” route, an alternative road being used instead and proving very enjoyable. Unfortunately, the weather had now changed, and the drizzle began, but that didn’t dampen our spirits….
We all too quickly arrived in Stowe on the Wold, without losing too many people… The staff at the pub made us very welcome and the food and the company was excellent as always. An excellent mornings riding, well done chaps..
Wednesday 24th February – Thame to the Super Sausage Cafe
I opened the curtains at 7am to be met by a biblical scene of heavy rain where I live near Thame. I left it for 45 minutes but there was no let up and so made the decision to move the start time, as the weather was forecast to cheer up as the day progressed – an excellent call I thought.
Frantic texts, meet up messages etc and roughly half the group got the message, the other half not, you could tell by the glint in their eyes and dripping bike gear – Oh dear.
Suitably refreshed by coffee and tales of bravery through the storm, we exited the Costa in Thame to be met with blue skies. The glint in their eyes got worse as I explained what a lovely day it was going to be…
After a mile we hit our first obstacle in Long Crendon with 3 way traffic lights. However as we arrived they changed to green, an excellent omen for the day ahead..
We traversed Bicester, Aynho, Farthinghoe, Middleton Cheney, but, hang on a minute, there was now no one behind me. After a quick U turn we found the last man looking bewildered, no one there, and eventually after about 5 miles we found the rest of the team as tail end charlie had gone missing in action.
We retraced our route back to Steve Moxey who had by that time made contact and the rest of the team duly arrived.
After a further 40 minutes of bend swinging on traffic free, beautifully surfaced roads we arrived at the super sausage café where our normal friendly banter was out in force.
From the café we all made our way home, but, unfortunately for me, the sunshine gradually disappeared to be replaced by a large hailstorm. Hey ho, it had been an excellent day with excellent company as always… My thanks to Carl for his excellent tail end Charlie skills..
By the way, if anyone wants any of the routes featured, just drop me a line dave.tomlinson@bmwoxford.com and I would be happy to share or even welcome you on the next ride out..
February 13th Uffington – Winter Speaker Andy Ford Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue
Andy has been in the service for over 30 years and leads the road safety team, as well as fitting in his full-time job as station and major incidents commander. A keen motorcyclist, he brought his own brand of humour and advice to what can be a dry but interesting subject, the banter keeping everyone interested and asking questions.
A very interesting and informative presentation, from which I’m sure everyone took away some thoughts on how to improve their own performance when riding or driving.
February 20th Sunday Lunch Hongxin Chinese
Members always enjoy this annual Sunday lunch organised by Martin Skennerton
February 27th Hollywood Bowl Oxford vs Southern Section
Our annual traditional bowling match had been 2 years in the making as some pesky pandemic got in the way last year…
The day was a beautiful spring like day with lots of sunshine, but still a bit chilly. In line with my own intensive training for the event, I had replaced Hilda’s (a 23-year-old R850R, my winter steed) headlight glass, as it had come off worse after a “Meetup” ride earlier in the month… Duly prepared for the epic trip, we undertook the 15 minute trip with gusto…
Then I heard that the southern folks had travelled from Alton, Southampton – best keep my nearby location secret…
Everyone met in the bar area and almost instantaneously we were drinking coffee and chatting like it was only yesterday in Alton when we last met… A very relaxed crowd then moved towards the “competition area”.
Then the fun started, some of our members had obviously been practising in the intervening period and their scores were steadily mounting into the 100+ mark, hugely impressive, the strikes bringing forth especially loud clapping and cheers of encouragement.
In between, old friendships and new were in full flow and I have to say, it was an absolutely brilliant event. Perfectly organised by Bob Mack to whom we are very grateful for his time and experience.
All too soon the games were over and after much calculation and scratching heads, the Southern section emerged the winners of the trophy, highest and lowest scorer, but it was the banter, support and encouragement that remains the firmest memory. Here’s to next year…
My thanks to Bob and Ann Mack for all their help and assistance in putting this together and also to Erica Body, Southern Sections Social Sec, who, as always, was immensely helpful and enthusiastic in putting this together. Finally, my thanks to the members who made the time and effort to come along and support these events, in some cases involving significant time and juggling family commitments to attend.
Resignation
It is with deep regret, that due to increasing business demands; I have stepped down from any further committee meetings, social media, etc. and will be leaving fully at the next AGM. In the interim, I will be ensuring the smooth running of the 2022 calendar.
Safe riding
Dave Tomlinson
Originally posted 2022-03-31 20:00:15.
