One week after doing the RTTW, the ‘Fab Five’ (Karen, Neil, Yvonne, Andy and myself) hit the road again, to attend the Hoggin the Bridge 9, a charity run over the Severn Bridge. We decided to make it a two day trip by staying in the Bridge View Travelodge. This was very convenient as it was where the ride was going to start from, before finishing in Chepstow.

Having stayed the night with Karen and Neil, we left late on Saturday morning for the run down south. We took the direct motorway route as we intended stopping at the newly opened Cheltenham H-D shop. We found the shop to be light and well stocked, with the staff friendly and helpful. I thought a long-sleeved t-shirt at £20 was good value for money, being even better when a 10% discount reduced the price to £18. The Travelodge is rather isolated so we booked a taxi to take us to the Plough inn for an evening meal. The food and beer were both excellent.

Sunday morning and we woke to the sound of the early arrivals. Breakfast at the Little Chef and we were ready. The parking area was full by the time we left, with estimates ranging from 1500 to 2000 bikes. The ride started when Leon Haslam, BSB and next year to be WSB star, arrived to take the lead. It was a pleasant ride and parking had been arranged in Chepstow. To take the best advantage of this you have to be at the front of the ride. We walked into town and collected our T-shirts and pins. We would have liked to stop, but it was very crowded, so we returned to the bikes and headed for Gloucester.

We travelled by A roads until we were north of Worcester and then joined the motorway to finish the return journey before it started to rain.

It was an enjoyable weekend with good countryside for riding a bike, especially as the weather stayed dry.

The Sherwood part of this event is the first that I have organised on behalf of the Chapter. I think it is only right that I summarize the beginning of this event and then talk about our participation.

In the National Memorial Arboretum, near Burton-on-Trent, there is an Armed Forces memorial, in the shape of a wall, dedicated to all forces personnel who have lost their lives since the end of World War Two. There are in excess of 16,000 names on the wall.

On the 11^th November 2007, a few Harley Davidson riders attended the first Remembrance service to be held at the National Memorial Arboretum. It was mentioned by the riders that something should be done to mark the event yearly, similar to the ‘Ride for the Wall’ (RFTW) that occurs in the USA, when hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists cross the continent to meet at the Vietnam wall in Arlington Cemetery, Washington DC. Last year, 350,000 motorcycles made the journey!

One of those riders, Martin Dickinson, Director of Nene Valley Chapter, proposed the idea at the next HOG UK Directors meeting in late 2007. There was an overwhelmingly positive response from the meeting and then plans have gone ahead, led by Nene Valley Chapter and keenly supported by the other UK Chapters. The event has become known as the ‘Ride to the Wall’ (RTTW). It was initially for Harley Davidson riders only, but it has now been opened to all motorcycle riders. Each person has paid £5 to register and will receive a RTTW pin and year bar. After expenses, all remaining money will go to help with the upkeep of the Armed Forces Memorial.

The ride will begin from the Moto Services area at Tamworth (M42/A5 junction) at 11am with Chapter flags at the front. The ride will take approximately 30 minutes, arriving at the National Memorial Arboretum at 11.30am. The bikes will park on either side of Millennium Avenue, with the ‘Parade of Flags’ forming a ‘Guard of Honour’. The ceremony will begin at 12.15pm on the steps of the Armed Forces Memorial and last about 15 minutes. It will begin with a Piper, followed by a short service, a minute’s silence, Last Post by a Bugler and then the laying of wreaths. Departures from the Arboretum will be from 1.30pm.

Karen and Neil stayed with us on Friday evening in order to make an early start on Saturday. The five of us (3 bikes) were all ready to leave at 8am, in order to be at the Friendly Farmer for an 8.30am departure. 9 bikes left for a straight forward ride to the services area at Castle Donington, the meeting point for most of the Sherwood members. When we left, it was strange to have 50 bikes following me (the most I’ve had, so far, as lead rider.) A quick run soon had us pulling into the services area at Tamworth, where Yvonne and I were directed to the area for the flag holders and everyone else went to another parking area. Whilst we were waiting, we fitted the flag to the pole and I went to collect our pins. There seemed to be Chapter patches from all over the country and the noise of the bikes entering the area was continuous. A piper playing the bagpipes added to the atmosphere.

11am and a whistle indicated it was time to leave. With police riders leading the way our ‘Parade of Flags’ were on their way. All entrances onto the island were blocked so that we had a clear way round and onto the A5. We travelled at a steady 50mph, hoping that the flag would not come off the pole and disappear down the road. It didn’t!! Crowds were on the bridges waving and clapping as we made our way to the A38 and headed for Burton. At the National Memorial Arboretum we lined up the bikes with the flags pointing to the road so that they could be seen by the riders as they came in. As there were far more riders than was originally planned for, it took over an hour for them all to get parked, delaying the service by 30 minutes.

The service was held half way up the steps to the Armed Forces Memorial (Wall). At the beginning two pipers played the bagpipes, followed by a short sermon and a bugler playing ‘The Last Post’. Afterwards, there was a wreath laying ceremony, conducted by a member from each Chapter.

After the ceremony I had arranged for a meal at the John Thompson Inn at Ingleby. So at the arranged 1.30pm, I lead the ride away from the Arboretum and headed to the inn for a carvery lunch. 50 people made the journey, which was a very pleasing number. I hope everyone enjoyed the food and company. I did!!

It was a memorable day and meant a lot of different things to a lot of people. It showed the general public that bikers care and are prepared to put in the time and effort to respect our Armed Forces who, in turn, have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Plans are already under way for next year – RTTW 2 will be on the 10^th October.

MAKE A NOTE AND BE THERE!!

Karen and Neil again stopped the night in order that we could make another early start for the ride to Minehead, Somerset to attend the 105th anniversary of Harley Davidson and the 25th anniversary of HOG (Harley Owners Group).  First stop was the Friendly Farmer to meet up with Twigg, Adam and Kev.  It was then on to the services area at Castle Donington to join the main group heading south under the leadership of Pete (W).  On the way we called in at the Bristol H-D shop, which had arranged a BBQ; which was well appreciated.  Not long after we had arrived and a similarly sized group of Aire Valley riders joined the happy gathering.  Eventually, 25 tired riders arrived at Butlins, Minehead, where we booked in and soon settled into our apartments.  The evening was spent having a look around the Skyline Pavilion and checking out one or two of the entertainments on offer.  The tribute to Billy Connolly might have looked like him but his act was pathetic, with most people walking out within the first ten minutes.

Saturday was rather wet so we stayed in the Butlins area, starting off at the trade area where it was soon noticeable that nearly all the traders were from Germany.  The OCC stand had three choppers present, the ‘Jets’ bike being the most well known.  At last I found some Conchos, which I had not been able to find for ages, so now I could repair my Chapter waistcoat.  Since we had not been given an event programme, we did not know you had to pre-book for the ride-out in the afternoon, so we missed it!  There was more entertainment in the evening; the Shovelheads and the Affray being the best that we saw.

On Sunday I had to return to the trading area to get the only patch recording the 105th Anniversary and stating it was in Somerset.  This is not an official patch but I have a similar one from the Harley Hamburg Hafen Days weekend, (thank goodness for the European traders!  But what happened to the Brits?)  Afterwards I walked to the sea front and waited for the parade to come past.  Well done to all that participated because, as usual, it was raining quite heavily.  A little later, we made our way to the outdoor experience area hoping to see a little action, but there was not much going on, Craig Jones having had an accident the day before.  At 1300 hrs we watched the Wall of Death; one guy was going round on an old Indian machine, sitting backwards and waving his arms and legs in the air – brilliant!  Later, we walked into Minehead and I had a look at what steam engines were in the station area.

On return, we chilled out in the pavilion, watching, amongst other things, display areas being dismantled.  And there I was thinking the rally didn’t finish until the Monday!!

It was dry as we loaded the bikes for the run home.  The four of us (two bikes) were travelling back on our own as the main group were leaving a little later, and also calling in at the Bridgewater H-D shop.  All was well until we were just short of our stop at the Strensham Services on the M5, when the rain hit hard!  We dived under a bridge and put the top waterproofs on, before continuing to the services area.  The rest of the journey was in heavy rain or spray until we got to Castle Donington Services.  Here we said goodbye to Karen and Neil, and arrived home in time for tea!

As for the long weekend, it was good to be away, meeting old friends, and making many new ones.  I do, however, have to question the overall organisation by HOG UK.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, I have spoken to were disappointed that the event had not risen to their expectations.  There are several simple things that I could think of which would have made life easier for everybody, so why couldn’t HOG think of them?  Why wasn’t there a short official opening on the Centre Stage by one of the ‘higher officers’ of HOG?  Why wasn’t the events programme brochure in the goodie bag collected when you booked in?  Much of it seemed to have been left to Butlins (why), who promptly ripped us of with raised prices for the weekend – take note HOG!!  We are YOUR members and you should be looking after our interests.  As proof, here is an example: a pint of Tetleys on Thursday was £2, but £2.75 over the weekend.  I will not comment too much on the entertainment.  It is enough to say that they were all ‘tributes’ and not one original band, even though a well known mega band was playing just down the road in Bath on the Saturday night.  The quality was mixed, with too many being poor or downright rubbish.  It was obvious that whoever booked them had no idea what they were like.  Left to someone else again?  Enough to say it was not good enough for representatives of H-D (HOG)!  I was at the REAL THING for the 100th / 20th anniversaries and the difference was far, far too wide!!!!

Extra:  As five of the main group joined the M42 from the M5 they were confronted with a ‘flying’ upside down 4×4 crashing across all lanes of the motorway.  Thank goodness nobody was hit!