Motorbike trip to UK and Europe July/August 2018

Kms today 171 Kms to date 10470 Last race day on the Island and we rode round to Ballaugh Bridge to see the bikes jump.  It was a sunny day, the best so far, but a big cloud over Snaefell delayed racing for an hour.  The first race was the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight so we knew what to expect.  The 2 strokes sounded crisp and purposeful.  The Senior MGP was the last race on the program.  It had a mixture of 600 Fours and we could hear them coming up at max revs before jumping the famous bridge.  There were a lot of different jumps with front wheel landings, rear wheel landings and belly pan crushing landings.  A few riders nearly went over the bars, but everyone kept rubber side down.  I got lots of good photos.  James Chawke was fastest again and his leap was one of the longest.  James Chawke, winner if Manx Senior chases a slower rider. Danie Ingham got it completely wrong and nearly went over the bars After the race I s...

Kms today 112 Kms to date 10,299 We started the day at the Ramsey Sprint an 1/8 mile track along the seafront.  The bikes were amazing from a 50cc step thru to a turbocharged nitro breathing Hyabusa.  The most impressive bike was a record breaking BSA Bantam with a big bore and reed valve conversion.  It went like a rocket! A very special BSA Bantam launched off the line at the Ramsey Sprint Then we had lunch at the Ginger Hall Hotel and carried on to the ARE Motorcycle museum in Kirkmichael.  This was in a private house and the VMCC were there too on a run, so the car park was full of interesting bikes too.  The collection was all British, lots of Greeves and included a Hesketh, the ill-fated 1000cc V twin produced by Lord Hesketh and a couple of DMW's.  A DMW Cortina - Betty might have built the wheels on this one We then went on to Murray's Motorcycle Museum near the airport south of Douglas.  This had a much wider variety of bi...

Kms today 38 Kms to date 10,187 Betty prepared Manx Kippers for breakfast and then proceeded to complain about the smell in her kitchen!  We rode to Ramsey and then up onto the mountain. The weather was grey and races had been delayed.   There were big signs warning us that traffic was 2-way on the mountain because apparently its 1-way during the TT.  The roads were unrestricted once we got out of Ramsey so I gave the V-Strom the berries up through the hairpin, the Gooseneck, the Waterworks, Guthrie Memorial, Mountain Mile, and the Veranda - all famous names to the Bungalow, where we were going to stay for the days racing.  The V-Strom is a bike that doesn't like being revved hard and so it was not as much fun as I hoped. We had a magnificent view down the valley to Laxey and Snaefell was up behind us.  The Trolley tram was operating from Laxey, but not going across the track and up Snaefell.  There was a café closed because of asbest...

Kms today 74 Kms to date 10,149 There were extra races today because of delays. We decided to watch just before Kirkmichael at Douglas Rd Corner.  Then we could get away quickly to ride to Peel to see the House of Mananin;  recommended by Betty.  We got a good position and could see the bikes coming down from Barregarrow, site of Guy Martins fiery crash in 2010,  and swooping into the village of Kirkmichael, which they passed through at high speed before heading off to Ballaugh. The Manx GP is for riders who are new to the Isle of Man and have not won a major race.  The bikes are pretty pedestrian with Kawasaki  ER5 Twins and Suzuki SV650 V twins the hot ticket, plus a few Yamaha R6's - not very inspiring.  There were a sprinkling of Honda VFR400's and two strokes to keep the pack interesting.  The classes were complicated by newcomers races as well as Junior and Senior races, Lightweight and Ultra Lightweight classes.  In...

Kms today 48 Kms to date 10,075 We are still the only guests in Betty's house though she has room for more.  She was recovering from cancer so may be taking it easy.  She used to have a full house every TT and Manx including such luminaries as Bill Smith, who raced works Hondas in the 1970's. We had an early breakfast and headed off to Braddon Bridge.  It cost 8 Pounds to park in the church yard and we were early enough for a prime seat right at the front wall.  The church also provided refreshments in the church hall behind us and we enjoyed soup, pasta and cakes through out the day.  I fell into conversation with Donna the woman beside me and we chatted during the long periods waiting for racing to begin due to the weather  A very dapper German gentleman was sitting behind us and he had a Phil Read replica helmet branded Premier; which was the brand Phil Read used to import back in the 1970's. The racing was supposed to start at 10:15 but...

Kms today 86 Kms to date 10,027 Rain was predicted for today and that's what happened.  It was not a race day and the only event was the Jurby Festival held on an airfield the other side of Ramsey.  The festival was built around special race bikes that do laps around a simple circuit.  Neither Alan or I relished the thought of getting a soaking so we stayed at home and caught up with the blog.  Betty had her helper, Derek, light a fire in the lounge room for us as it was bloody cold. However the weather brightened in the afternoon so after lunch I set off to see what was going on a Jurby.  Things were winding down when  I got there, but there were still a number of bikes circulating and quite a few in the pits.  One bike I noticed was the same 750 Suzuki single in a special frame that we saw at the Faugheen 50 in Ireland.  Rob North Racing Triumph triple with the home built Suzuki 70 single behind at Jurby I got to sit on a beautiful 4 ...

Kms today 38 Kms to date 9941 Betty produced another of her monster breakfasts although it wasn't as big as yesterdays. She showed us the best way to get to Hillberry to our grandstand and we got there early.  We had a great view up the road to Brandish corner and could see the bikes coming down the hill flat out until they snicked down a gear to take Hillberry very fast and off under the trees to Signpost Corner.  Although we had prime position and a seat, the ordinary punters could view the racing over a wall just beside us. They like to get close to the action on the Isle of Man There was a mixed practice session before the Classic Senior race started.  The main interest was if McGuiness could still be competitive given his leg injury.  We needn't have worried because he stretched the field and won by over a minute taking Hillberry flat out on the quick Paton.  John McGuiness took out the Senior Classic TT on a Paton Maria Costello on a simil...

Kms today 0 Kms to date 9,902 We rocked up at Betty's place at about 7 am after getting off the boat.  She had a big breakfast ready for us, but I was still feeling decidedly queasy after the hammering we took on the crossing and could not do it justice, but Alan had a good feed.  We both had a sleep before Alan went down to Ramsey and got some day passes for the electric railway to Douglas.  The line passed right by our digs.  Ballasholague Farm: our home on The Isle of Man We walked up to Paddock from the terminus in Douglas and found a cornucopia of bikes, and the workshop of the Winfield Team where John McGuiness and Mike Rutter had their bikes including a Paton for McPint. Replica MV 3, which never appeared on track   He was recovering from a very nasty broken leg and wasn't going to be performing any heroics as the last thing he needed was another crash. He had to grow back his leg bone by using a special gel and having...

Kms today = 397 Kms To date = 9,902 We only needed to leave Twyford at 2:00pm to get to Liverpool by 6pm for our 7.15pm ferry to the Isle of Man. I had called Jonsy yesterday and arranged to have lunch at his place in Oxfordshire. We had to leave his place by 2.30pm to make the ferry We headed up the M40 towards Birmingham and turned off near Oxford to get to Jonsy's place which is quite near Blenheim Palace. We arrived on time at 11am. Lucy wasn't there as she was working as a counsellor for a local NGO. We had coffee and went for a walk down to the river and then back to his allotment to dig up some potatoes for lunch. Jonsy has to take it easy on his walks as he can run out of breath. The weather was fine and mild and we took it easy so he finished the walk OK. I asked him to give me a brief update on his life since I met him in our flat in Bryanston Street, Marble Arch in 1964. Three marriages later we were up to date. His health is not brilliant but he manages to get al...

Kms today = 0 Kms to date = 9,505 Colin and I decided to attack Sheila's back garden with our newly purchased extended snippers. I took the saw to the apple tree and Colin attacked the weeds in the "pools". Pruning Sheila's apple tree. I was stopped by Sheila before I had finished as she was worried there would be no apple tree left. We cut the loppings into manageable sizes and stacked some by the garage in the front garden and the rest we stacked at the back of the back garden. In the evening we booked a table at the Horse & Groom, an old haunt of Mum's where she and Sheila used to take the boys for a treat. I ordered a cab using an on-line taxi service, fifteen pounds return which I though was pretty good. The cab to pick us up was late and I thought he wasn't coming but eventually he arrived and we got to the restaurant at 7pm. We had a very nice meal with cocktails and wine. It has certainly gone a bit up market since I was there last with She...

Kms today = 0 Kms to date = 9,505 We got up around 8am and I called Penny & Hugh Baylis to see if they would be at home today. Hugh said that Penny was playing scrabble at the "Club" and would be back by midday so I should come then. Colin and I did some washing as we were down to the last pair of undies. It was a nice sunny day so should dry quickly. At 11.30am I headed to Penny and Hugh's place in Henley on the motorbike. They are tucked away in Wharf Lane near the river. They have sold the Old Mill in Bray and bought a house in New Street, Henley just round the corner from where they are now. The house in New Street wasn't big enough for all of Penny's junk so they are renting this house in Wharf Lane. It is a single level house but has lots of rooms. I reckon it had the same floor area as the Old Mill. When I arrived Hugh was on his own so we had a good chat before Penny arrived from scrabble. They belong to this "Posh" club next door. Unfort...

Kms today = 557 Kms to date = 9,505 Eva prepared a great breakfast for us and Pierre reckoned we shouldn't leave for Dunkirk until after 9am. He was going to show us a good way out of Liege so after breakfast we loaded up the bikes and followed Pierre until we got to the N90 where he flagged us on. Pierre and Eva were absolutely charming hosts as nothing was too much trouble. We followed the N90 towards Namur. Unfortunately we must have taken a wrong turn as we lost the N90 and found ourselves on the wrong road. Luckily Mabel came to the rescue and got us back on track even though it wasn't on the exact route we had planned. We arrived in Dunkirk about 1.30pm and decided to go to the 1940 Dunkirk Evacuation museum. Outside the 1940 Evacuation museum. What we didn't realise was that it was 18kms from the ferry terminal. We had a hasty look at the museum which was very interesting before we had to jump on the bikes and head for the ferry. This time Mabel really got he...

Kms today = 715 Kms to date = 8,949 We were up and on the road by 7.30am. Sunday morning so not much traffic and we got out of Berlin pretty quickly and settled down for a fang down the Autobahn. We basically only stopped for fuel and food on the way until we got to the Belgium border. The quality of the roads in Belgium wasn't as good as in Germany. There were a number of roadworks which slowed us up slightly. We arrived at Esther's parents place at 4.30pm after 716 kms. Pierre and Eva were very welcoming and had cleared their garage so we could park our bikes in it. We were staying at their place rather than Esther's. Esther is expecting a baby at the end of January, her first. Nicholas (her husband) was at the house and speaks as good english as Esther. Pierre, Esther's father speaks pretty good english too. He has retired from a career in medicine treating drug addicts. After some refreshments Esther and Nicholas took us to see their house in the centre of Liege....

Kms today = 0 Kms to date = 8,234 After breakfast we headed for the Charlottenburg Palace and did a tour of the "new wing". The palace used to be called the Lietzenburg Palace after the local village. It was commissioned by Sophie Charlotte wife of Fredrick 1, Elector of Brandenburg. Charlottenburg Palace The name was changed to Charlottenburg by Fredrick after his wife died. The palace was severely damaged in WW2 but has been restored to its former glory. Charlotte had a huge collection of procelain most of which was destroyed and/or looted in WW2. It was kept in the "Porcelain Room" which has been restored with replacement porcelain. The Porcelain Room. After the tour we caught the bus outside the palace and headed for the Art Gallery precinct near the Tiergarten, Berlin's biggest park. We had lunch with the local wasps and then visited the Gemaldegalerie which had a large collection of renaissance paintings from Dutch and Italian masters. One ...

Kms today = 0 Kms to date = 8,234 Had breakfast at the hotel (included in the tariff) and headed to Charlottenburg palace to pick up the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus. There was some confusion as to where it would stop as they are not allowed to put up their own bus stop signs in Berlin. We managed to make contact OK and were on our way for a days sightseeing. The temperature was forecast to get to 31C today!!. Our first stop was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church. It was bombed in 1943 and after the war it was decided not to restore it but make it safe and  a memorial to the futility of war. They have built another modern tower and a concert hall beside the church. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. There is a cross made of nails from Coventry Cathedral which was destroyed in WW2 and various other exhibits from cities bombed during the war, all part of a reconciliation process. We hopped on the bus to the next stop which was Potsdamer Platz. This is the main area where traffic between e...