BMW Club Oxford Section Report for December 2015

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As the dark of winter recedes and the days get longer there are still many fine, if a trifle chilly, days to get the old bike out to clear the cobwebs.

Winter is a time of reflection and this was part of the chairman’s report for the Section AGM that took place on the 8^th November. Our Chairman, Steve Moxey reminded the 50 or so attendees that the Section has enjoyed some excellent rides around the UK and Europe over the last year. The Section has supported a number of big bike meets and made lots of new members as visitors came along to our stand peopled by a friendly team. The regular ride outs have been very well supported and we have to thank all those who put in the work to discover some superb routes and interesting destinations. Apart from the excellent European tours there have also been some very good hotel weekends, and for the more hardy a camping weekend, in the UK and even ‘overseas’ on the Isle of Wight. One feature all through the year has been the good food, whether at the regular pub socials or at special places such as the Sudbury House Hotel, Faringdon Sunday Lunch. The Section food supply and cooking team of Rosemary and David Hicks had to be thanked, especially as they had just provided everyone with tasty bangers, bacon and baps before the AGM.

New in 2015 were the SNR (Short Notice Rides) using face book to inform others of the intention of a member to venture to an interesting location and to invite others to join in the fun.

The Committee welcomed Ian Hartley to the job of Section Secretary, taking over from Tim Read who stood down from this job after many years of excellent work with all our thanks. Tim is still on the committee and so we can continue to call on his expertise when we need to. We also welcome Martin Skennerton to help us as a new committee member. The rest of the committee “volunteered” to continue and all were voted in en-bloc.

Thanks to everyone offering to help, the section has put together a new calendar of activities for 2016 that should continue to offer members a wide range of things to do and places to go.

Talking of places to go there have been a couple more ‘SNR’ rides in the last month. One to Dunstable Downs on the 11^th November, led by David Shanks with 10 followers took in some interesting roads and some fine views from the visitor centre. A strange alien looking obelisk nearby turned out to be the cooling system for the visitor centre.

Another on the 4^th December led by John Ottaway was to ‘The Pudding Shop’ at Upton on Severn. Back on the food subject again, Steak and Ale or Steak & Kidney anyone. Bob Mack said “We had a really great day; weather was a mixture of most seasons but didn’t spoil it. Puds were good. Dave behaved even without Matron supervising him”; small in joke for those in the know. Steve added “The Pudding Shop serves sweet and savoury puddings and our lunch consisted of one of each; they were delicious and plenty of puddings were sold for later eating! Many thanks to Dom, Dorothy, Justine and Sue at the Pudding Shop for looking after us so well.”

With the festive season overtaking us the first of the Pub Social Christmas dinners took place at the Dashwood Arms, Piddington. Wayne, Tina and the team at the pub produced a fine selection of superbly cooked food and 17 Section members had an excellent evening.

Further Christmas dinners at the Waggon & Horses, Southmoor, The Fox & Hounds, Theale and The Sun Inn, Swindon could mean being on a diet until the big day if members try to attend them all.

A great ride on the 6^th December was the Reading Toy Run where bikers meet and ride to deliver toys to Barnados and other children’s charities.

One more event before Christmas will be the meeting at Uffington Village Hall on the 13^th December for seasonal food before settling down to hear tales of Trolls and Reindeer on the ride to the Nordkapp by Steve Moxey.

Many members of the section visited the Club stand at Motorcycle Live where an interesting map of the section boundaries was shown. It would seem that Oxford (shire) Section now includes Wiltshire, some of Buckinghamshire and part of Berkshire! As the locations of the Pub Socials cover most of these areas there has been somewhere for every member to meet. The only exception was to the north of the County of Oxfordshire but this has now been resolved as a new Pub Social location at the Red Lion, Evenley has been agreed. These will be on the fourth Thursday of each month with the first meeting planned for the 28^th January.

Don’t forget the New Year’s Day meeting at the Lock, Stock & Barrel at Newbury where the Section is taking over half the pub from 11.30 onwards.

The first indoor meeting at Uffington Village Hall is the 10^th January where you can exchange all that junk, sorry – valuable items, for someone else’s stuff or even real money.

As thoughts turn to the next season of riding and making sure the machine is prepared, a club service day has been arranged at Bahnstormer, Maidenhead on the 23^rd January that you might find interesting. Starting at 11.30, a free BBQ, workshop visit and being able to discuss maintenance issues with the technicians will be very informative.

Remember the BMW strap line, “Make Life a Ride” and try to go on as many of the planned events next year as you can.

John L Broad