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Report on April 2007 activities
Wow what brilliant weather for the Belgium Treffen!
At 7 am with the streets shrouded in a cold mist Loopy and I set off toward the A50 where we had arranged to meet Pauline and Brian of Cheshire wings. The night before I had spent frantic hours adding a second switch to the top of the side pannier which would allow Loopy her own control of the various horns on the bike and now seemed a good chance to test it.
Loopy played with her switch and the horns duly scared the wildlife but when I pressed mine the bike went dead and we rolled to a silent stop. Muttering ensued as I found and changed the fuse just in time to see the Cheshire two fly by! After a bit of 'naughty speed' we caught them and together we headed to Dover to catch the ferry.
On arrival at the port we met Steve & Pam of 'Eurotrash' and together we crossed the channel and headed to Belgium meeting up with Kev & Steph on their new 1800 on the way.
On arrival at the site we subscribed, set up our tent, met more Eurotrash friends, and drank beer!
The whole time we were there the sun shone and everyone had a brilliant time enjoying the sights, food, and fantastic Belgian beers. The two highlights of the Treffen have to be the brilliant run out to Bruges ending with hundreds of bikes filling the streets, and the fantastic band that performed on the stage at the camp. The band played every sort of music and their singing and act were awesome!
Perhaps the British Treffen could take a note and book them as not a single person left the room for the whole performance and the cheering and clapping continued until well after they had left the stage. All in all it was a great holiday and although the ride home was again in sunshine and it was with sadness we waved goodbye to our fellow wingers and headed back to the grindstone.
On the 11th Ed & Q came to visit us and caught me doing a spot of gardening (bush murdering) and so over a beer and a Shlur (for Ed) we gave them a slide show of our Belgium trip. When they woke up they told us that 'Stockport Steve' had passed his CBT so hopefully a new winger will emerge. As usual Ed and I sneaked out to the garage to play bikes while the ladies talked about pressing flowers and knitting (Yeah..right!...Loopy).
On the 15th NWW's had a ride out to 'King Arthurs Labyrinth' where there was much merriment and donning of hard hats for the underground escapades as our top man Dave T led the gang for what we were told by Jo & Nigel was a very enjoyable day out.
Loopy and I could not make it as we had gone to a car boot sale that morning and being married to Loopy I should have known she would come away with a car 'boot' that had a Peugeot 406 attached to it!
We also picked up a light display for to be used on the Blackpool Light Parade later in the year. By the way, we were touched by the way the team wore 'Blue' hard hats that matched our bike as a sign they were thinking of us.
Once again the 'club learner bike' better known as Loopy's 125 hit the streets only this time it was 'Stockport Steve' steering the beast to get in some practice for his test although in true Randle tradition we had forgotten to put the tax disc on it and so I was 'forced' (lol) to ride to Legs' house to fit the disc, drink tea, and nick the kids ice pops.
On the 28th Loopy was taking the kids to the theatre where they were performing in a show so I took the opportunity to leap on my bike and ride into Wales. As I passed the 'Chase' my bike 'veered' into Nigel and Jo's driveway causing me to call and drink tea. As it happened Nigel was out buying fish and chip products so Jo called him to announce my arrival and to add to his order.
Poor Nigel was riding along pressing buttons in a vain attempt to answer his phone thinking his bike set up had failed but if he had looked closer at his phone he would have seen the 'pink' strap showing it was Jo's but of course Jo could not laugh for fear that Nigel would remind her (and everyone else) of her plumbing antics! Less said the better huh Jo!
After eating the nice couple out of house and home I headed into Rhyl to see a friend. After more tea etc, he told me about a new shop that was open that sold 'everything' so I called in and came away with two sets of lights for the bike and a ...um ...5' tall rose bush in full bloom! Ok so this is not the best thing to transport on a bike but somehow we both made it home alive.
During the week Ed mailed us to let us know he has finished the GTR and judging by the photos he has made a very good job of getting the old girl sorted and it will be nice to see her back on the road.
As I close I don't know if people are really shy or if this is just a quiet month but there is to my knowledge only one announcement and so in pole position and taking centre stage is our very own Dave Shirt who will be celebrating his Birthday on the 8th with 'Cheers', and sincere best wishes from wife Jan and all the NWW team.
As usual all events, information, and photos (can you spot your pic?) are there courtesy of Nigel for all to see at WWW.NorthWalesWings.org.uk .
Cheers! Mark.