BMW Club Oxford Section Report for May 2015
By the time you read this the politics will be in full swing as those who went to the AGM will now be aware of the way the Club will be operating for the coming year. Oh, and you will of course have voted for a UK government as well. Our own John Wheeler has taken on the job of the Vintage Register as of the AGM; let us make sure we give him as much support as possible.
As to getting out on the bikes, the run in April to Mudeford, Dorset was led by Terry Barrett and for his first run was a great success. With 30 riders at the start and a couple of others joining en-route plus some who met them at Mudeford, this must be one of the most popular runs the Section has ever had. Geoff Clough did the honours as tail ender and the drop off system worked very well. Terry said “We had a midway stop for 15 minutes just to stretch our legs at the Army Air Museum at Middle Wallop. Several of us had lunch at the Noisey Lobster one end of the Mudeford beach; the others went to the Haven café at the other end. We all parked on the quayside for free adjacent to the Christchurch estuary which was quite nice. The traffic was kind to us with the exception of the middle of Salisbury and nobody got lost, all in all I believe a good day was had by all”. A good day being an understatement as all those I have spoken to really enjoyed the well led ride, the route and the final destination. Even the weather nearly behaved with glorious sunshine but a very gusty wind. Well done Terry, we look forward to your next run.
John Ottoway has arranged some great spontaneous rides in the past, being joined by various members who could get the time off work or are retired. Using the facebook pages to advertise his intentions a few days before setting off has worked very well. His trip to Wales from the 14th to 17th May with 10 bikes and 13 people signed up should be fun. More in next months report.
The next planned ride to Weston-Super-Mare on the 10th needed a replacement leader as Phil Carter was indisposed. We all hope Phil will be better soon and back on his bike to enjoy the summer. Geoff Clough stepped in to lead with Dave Shanks as tail end sweeper. Weston is the place where the tide goes out for miles leaving lots of beach for the team to build sand-castles!
The end of the month was the camping weekend at Lechlade organised by Dave Hawkins with a ride out on the Saturday; a full report next month.
The June ride will be to Portsmouth proving perhaps that Oxford is almost equidistant from the coast in most directions. Those intending to go should remember that this ride will be on the first Sunday the 7th June and not our normal 2nd Sunday. Ian Dobie has worked out an excellent route starting from the Newbury Wharf (RG14 5AS) at 09:00 with lots to see.
Ian said “Portsmouth Harbour has many attractions – the Mary Rose, HMS Victory (Nelson’s Flagship), HMS Warrior (first British iron clad warship), HMS Alliance, National Royal Navy Museum, Explosives Museum, Royal Marines Museum and Action Stations. I estimate that visiting just 2 of the top 3 will take around 4hrs minimum depending on your interest”. Hopefully, those intending to go will have read the facebook page describing the deals on entry prices. Unusually for us bikers it may prove more practical for us to use the park & ride bus service.
Many members will make the trip to Germany and partake of the guided tour of the Berlin factory in mid June and we all look forward to hearing how our bikes are manufactured.
The end of June is the huge evening event at Cassington for their bike night and the club and North Oxford Garage will have stands set up near the village green. The payment for the club stand is for you all to volunteer to help during the evening with marshalling, especially near the green in identifying vintage and classic bikes to display on the green itself; names to me please as soon as possible.
Another large event where the section members can help is the manning of the nearest checkpoint to Oxford at Carterton for the ACU Rally between 10am on Saturday 4th July through to 8am on Sunday the 5th. This is not onerous as you will be checking in riders from all over the country through the control point, meeting interesting riders and seeing some interesting bikes. It will be a great help if you can volunteer for an hour or so; names to Andy Lawson (01993 212561) please.
Lots of great riding with interesting places to visit as the summer gets fully underway. Watch out for the dealer / club 50/50 events as they become finalised.
After a comment regarding our name for the regular meetings at various locations which we call “natter nights”, there may be a change to some other title. What do you think about the name? Answers to me please.
Doesn’t the year rattle past, before we know it, it will be midsummer; get out there and enjoy it but make sure you ride safely out there.
John L Broad
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