JUNE 2008

June’s weather was (as is the forecast for the months to follow) a little unpredictable, although we faired quite well on our events, I say “we” but as I spent the latter half of the month in brilliant Mediterranean type weather, where the sun shone all day and it only rained at night, while touring the wilds of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire I use the term loosely, but I did manage to get out on Matt’s Members Evening Run, and a pleasant run it was, in nice evening weather ending up at the Robin Hood where we sat outside and checked the quality of the local ale.  The other two events for June were the “Come on a Bike Night” and the “Mid Summer Run” which is normally Phil’s all day run but this year Alan took the helm and guided the chaps around a tour of the surrounding district for lunch at Halfway House, and in both cases the weather was kind to us, let’s hope this trend continues especially into the weekend for the Last of the Summer because I am just putting the final touches to a run over the Clee Hills which goes through places like Clee Marsh, Red Furlongs, The Devils Mouthpiece, and Haytons Bent. (yes I know, I just thought he was slightly “limp wristed” but it takes all sorts) but if the weather takes a nasty turn while you are up on the Clee’s then a lot of unmarked fords suddenly appear.

MAY 2008

May saw us in a “something every week” mode, we started with the Founders Day Rally Checkpoint at the Bradford Arms, Alan and Tracey did the work of setting up and did their best to avoid getting washed off the car park, but we were pleasantly surprised by the number and selection of bikes that passed through, despite the ever increasing rain storms.  A couple of flat tank Nortons accompanied by a delightful Excelsior, a couple of Triumph engines machines, one Tri/Greeves and a Tri/Norton, Pat Davy with Ann on the pillion of an MZ, to name just a few, but one thing they all had in common was some very wet rally stickers by the time they reached home.

Then we had Alan’s Evening run which thankfully was in much more pleasant atmospheric conditions and very well attended, we meandered along hitherto unexplored sections of the Shropshire / Staffs border (managing to lose a couple of riders on the way, or so we thought) to end up at ….  surprise surprise the Bradford Arms at Ivetsey Bank to find the two missing riders [who shall remain nameless, (next time you’re there first Phil, mine’s half a bitter) ] already with drinks in hand.  A really nice run on a pleasant evening, by the time I got home my trip showed 107 miles.

This was followed by the club night at which Mike did one of his “ask a silly question - get a silly answer type quizzes” ie:- “how many machine tools did BSA make in 1939”, whoever bought him that “30,000 facts that you would never want to know” book , has a lot to answer for, but it did provide a very good evenings entertainment, even if we did need some clues to some of the answers.


The braver members of the section (four in number) completed the event foursome by attending the very wet Whixall Wander which this year was organised by Phil, and he took them over to Llangollen where they lunched at the Ponderosa Café at the Horseshoe Pass. Nice to see the return of John Boggis to our area. Phil’s substitution was due to me getting a clash of dates, while they where getting very wet I was competing in a sponsored walk organised annually by the Light Infantry which fortunately started at 9am and after just under 1 ½ hrs hard walking I finished just before the rain started, I don’t think I have ever walked that fast since I was in my twenties managing to average 4.4mph on a route at Black Park which included a section known as the Seven Sisters which are seven consecutive hills, each one getting a little bigger and a bit steeper, but I now hold the trophy for second fastest walker, finishing only a couple of seconds behind one of the runners who started at the same time.

Don’t forget it’s “Come a Bike Night” at the June meeting. It would be nice to see a few trusty (or should that be “rusty”) steeds seeing the light of day.

APRIL 2008

April suddenly seemed a little quiet after the social whirl of February’s Skittles night and March’s Auction evening, but a good Noggin and Natter evening takes some beating, this one though was not followed by our usual Sunday run due to it coinciding with the Stafford Show. Still May with it’s four happenings should make up for the quiet April, so it’s out on the Founders Day Rally, then Alan’s Evening Run, Club Night and then The Whixall Wander, which by the way will be organised by Phil this year, still starting from Prees Heath.  This is due to a unexpected shift of dates for the Light Infantry Annual Charity Walk, leaving me with a “be in two places at once” dilemma.  It’s also getting near “The Last of the Summer Weekend” time, so if you have any suggestions or want to volunteer to help, ie - organise the Saturday run, man the breakdown trailer on either day, manage the site on Saturday or Sunday, organise the Saturday BBQ, etc  let me know, a little help would be much appreciated.

MARCH 2008

March saw the start of our Sunday run season as well as our annual Auction Night, both had near the same attendance with the auction numbers being down to ten, and the Mad March Hare run being up to seven but both where quite successful with the auction going at it’s usual pace and most folks being persuaded to buy something they really didn’t want, proof of this being in the pic’s, one showing Dave deciding what bike he was going to buy to match the helmet he had bought, and the other of Mike, trying to work out how he bought the large pack of plastic tape. But it was all in a good cause and raised £48:50p on the night and further sales the next day or two bringing the final total to £55:50p.  Well done everybody!

Alan’s Mad March Hare Run went extremely well, seven of us arriving at Long Lane Café in bright and dry but cold conditions, very near ideal biking weather. A nice run passing via Uppington, the Wrekin, the Gorge, out through Shifnal and round through Sheriffhales and Edgmond.  A lovely run and not a drop of the wet stuff except when we got back to the café when it was used to wash down the cake and bacon butties.  No prizes for spotting the two deliberate mistakes, one was an impromptu visit to a farm, the other a short detour by Bernie!  but it all adds to the fascination of biking.  There was a point when the run started to remind me of the mystery novel “Ten Little Nigger Boys” (not one you know? Well it’s worth digging it out of the “history” section of your local library for a good read) only this was a bit more “The Seven Greasy Bikers” as by the time we actually sat down for the end of run cuppa we were down to three of us left, and as I knew Alan I was starting to look at Bernie as the main suspect, but I think the four disappearances at various points around the run were probably down to the run falling on Easter Sunday with the associated “families come over for Sunday dinner” still very nice to see you all and your support was very much appreciated.  A grand run Alan.

FEBRUARY 2008

This month was a little livelier than last month, still with no runs yet but the Skittles Night at the White Horse certainly brightened up a dark winters evening, many thanks to Alan on organising both the venue and the food.  You might have noticed that we rounded the cost off to £5 instead of the usual £4.50 this thanks to Alan out-sourcing the food, (which was of excellent quantity and quality) coupled with the double raffle and the following club night raffle meant that this month we added over £100 to the section funds, covering the cheque we gave to the Sir John Bailey Club at the end of last year to cover the cost of our new, very comfortable venue.  The evening was a great success especially for the Withycombe family who not only managed to win the skittles prizes but then proceeded to win both the raffles.  I managed to get one or two good pics this year without getting clobbered by the odd skittle or ball (unlike last year) and distributed one or two contenders for the ugly mug completion in full colour A4 at the following club night, hope you enjoy them. Pictured is Mike in action. Check out more in the photo gallery.

The club night was also very well attended for a Noggin and Natter evening, it just has to be the venue that are attracting the additional numbers, let’s hope the trend continues, especially into March when we have the annual Auction Night when I try to persuade you tight fisted old gits into parting with your money, don’t forget, you bring it, I’ll sell it, in fact if you’re not careful about nodding, winking or looking in the wrong direction I could even sell it back to you!

This monthly section round-up is kindly provided by our Treasurer, John Phillips.

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