Bikers on the Road

IN ENGLISH London to Merthyr Tydfil, Wales: 179 miles each way - 23 - 26 August 2013 Three days off over the August Bank Holiday weekend, we arranged to go to the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales famous for its country side roads, valleys and walking treks. We left London after work on Friday at about 5pm and stopped over en route in Chipping Sodbury (close to Bristol) where we arrived at 8pm. John had booked a night at the Cross Hands. The story goes that in the 70s Her Majesty the Queen took refuge here from a bad snowstorm. Saturday we left mid morning and arrived at Merthyr Tydfil early afternoon. Our r... read more

IN ENGLISH Peckham, south east London to North Circular Road Stonebridge, north west London - 2 June 2013 We heard of a meeting at the famous Ace Cafe in support of SERV. The Cafe is well known to bikers and regularly organises events, meetings and gigs thoughout the year. SERV - aka Blood Runners - is the charity that John is a member of. Its purpose is to transport blood samples between hospitals at night and weekends in South London and Sussex. Thanks to the volunteering work of the SERV riders, the NHS saves lots of money in delivering urgent blood products. We had brunch at the Ace Cafe, looked out the other bikes - some vintage and collectors -, chatted to the SERV members and chilled out in the sunshine. A lovely spent Sunday morning ... read more

IN ENGLISH London to Inverness, UK: 1277.4 miles round trip 26 May - 3 June 2012 Day 1: Saturday 26 May We left home at 06:30am heading to North London and picked up the M1 and M6. We saw lots of bikers on the motorway having realised afterwards that the TT race on the Isle of Man was on and therefore many bikers were travelling north to the island. We met and chatted to French bikers from Lyon and Chambery (it's a small world), and were stranded on the M6 for 45 minutes due to an accident behind a group of Hell's Angels. Riding in hot weather was hard and motorway conditions a bit boring. After crossing the Border, we stopped for the day in Gretna, first town in Scotland. We arrived at 4pm and stayed ... read more

IN ENGLISH London to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK: 108.1 miles one way 9-10 July 2011 We had booked John's aerobatic flight Red Letter Day experience for that weekend (Christmas present from Nelly). The flight was on Sunday morning. We left home Saturday morning heading to North London and Oxford and the A40 to Cheltenham. Lunch was spent on the motorway. The weather was very variable with heavy showers, overcast skies and sunny outbreaks. We started thinking that the flight experience might be cancelled due to too much wind and clounds. In Cheltenham, we stayed at the White Lodge b&b not far from the air field. We rested in the bedroom for the rest of the afternoon, and for dinner walked to the town center for a Thai meal. Sunday morning after breakfast, we checked out and rode ... read more

IN ENGLISHLondon, UK: from purchase to taking new Suzie homeSadly early this year, we had a minor road accident while out on a Sunday afternoon to Richemond Park. While stationary at a traffic light behind a queue of cars, a woman car driver behind did not stop in time and slammed into the back of the Suzuki V-Strom. John was on his own at the time; I was riding my Yamaha and was waiting next to him. John and the Suzuki fell on the side. Luckily no major physical injuries, and the bike though quite damaged, did start again and John rode it back home. But this is how far as it went. After investigation from the insurance company, our original Suzie was written off. R.I.P girl. Immediately after the accident we were given a complimentary ... read more