Trip to the Champagne Region, northern France

What better way to spend three gloriously sunny days than to jump on your motorbikes, take the Channel Tunnel train to France, ride to the Champagne region and drink fantastic bubbly with some friends?

That is precisely what seven of us did last weekend.

05:30 and the alarm shook to life, but as before many long riding trips, I was already awake.  30 minutes later I was loading my new custom bike, Amelia and trying very hard to ride it down my street as quietly as possible, in order not to wake the neighbours.  I probably failed. 

It was chilly as I rode the almost 100 miles to the train terminal and I was glad to get there and warm up while waiting for the train.  Nick (HD Street Glide) and his wife Jane (HD Sportster 883 Superlow) were already there.  Sumit and Raj (HD Sportster) and Keith and Sue (HD Road King) all arrived soon and we were soon speeding through the tunnel on the train to France. After arriving at Calais, we then rode about 200 miles to get to our base, in Reims.

This is Sumit and Raj on some picturesque French country roads....

We spent Saturday riding around looking at the region, the centre of Champagne production.  Only wine produced in the region can be called Champagne, which has been produced here since 1531.  From everywhere else, it is called sparkling wine.  It was pointed out to me that each field is marked with stones, showing who the grapes belong to....

At one point, we saw a huge sign showing the maker of one of the most well known Champagne producers and of course, had to park the bikes right under it....

With the exception of a few crops, almost nothing else is grown or farmed here but grapes.  There are certainly a lot of grapes.....

Overlooking the fields is a strange sight.  At about 150 miles from the sea, stands a 200 foot tall lighthouse, built to celebrate and promote the champagne region.  We climbed its narrow steps and looked over the straight lines of grape vines....

We went to see the Abbey of Saint Hilaire, where Benedictine Monks made the first champagne.  Dom Perignon stayed at the Abbey and gave advice to the monks to improve the quality of the wine.  This is Nick and I, leaning against the wall of the Abbey....

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, we went to see the Cathedral in the centre of Reims.  Rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original building in AD 1211, the ‘new’ Cathedral is a marvel of design and construction....

At 455 ft long, 98 feet wide and about 125 feet high, the interior of the main Nave is huge.  Dark stained glass windows do not let in much light and so the Cathedral is dark and somewhat gloomy, but the side aisles are much brighter....

It was all too much for a couple of elderly oriental gentlemen, who made the most of the quiet and grabbed a quick nap....

Trams run on rails through large parts of the city.  Not good on a motorcycle on a wet day, as the rails become very slippery.  Thankfully it was a screaming hot day when we were there....

This is Nick, the guy who organised our short trip.  Here he is considering the purchase of a new bike....

A graffiti art competition was taking place in the centre of Reims....

We had great food....

.... and even better company....  Sumit, Sue, Raj, Keith, Nick, Jane and yours truly.....

Sunday saw us riding back through France on mainly quiet country roads, arriving back at the tunnel just in time to get the train back under the sea. 

A great trip all round.

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Charlie riding back from Portugal

Earlier this year, I rode to Portugal with Ian Solley and my son Charlie.  We went to the HOG Euro Festival and each of us was on a custom motorcycle.  Bearing in mind Charlie had only passed his motorcycle test two months earlier, he did brilliantly well!

Each of us had an incident on the way down, with mechanical problems and one of our group dropped his bike on a very slippery roundabout.  Unperturbed by this, all three of us entered our motorcycles in the custom bike competition and each of us won our class.  From trouble to success in one step!

This is the HOG video about the custom bike show.  Charlie is at 1:15 and I am at 3:29......



Ian sadly had to leave before the prize giving, but you can see his bike at 0:36  Charlie went up to collect Ian's prize.

It was certainly a trip to remember and on the way back, I made a short video of my son Charlie on his 22 year old Sportster....



We are now looking forward to our next road trip!

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London 2012 Olympic Games

I have been ridiculously busy recently and have not posted anything here on my blog for weeks.  I can see light at the end of the tunnel and so will try to catch up with some posts and what I have been doing.

The first of these is the London 2012 Olympic Games.  We were very lucky and managed to get some tickets which were much in demand.

Here is Jackie, with a few soldiers.  She can make friends with most people....

Entering the London Olympic Park....

The Olympic Stadium, just ahead of the Opening Ceremony....

A few pictures from the Opening Ceremony.  This was an amazing show about Great Britain’s past and looking ahead to what would follow in the next two weeks....

With my sons Jeremy, Charles and Richard, on our way to the men’s Basketball.  We watched France beat Argentina and the USA beat Tunisia....

The Olympic Stadium, from within the Park....

Inside the stadium, for an incredible night of Athletics.....

My cousins partner, Helen, enjoying the spirit of National pride....

Bottom right is my cousin Dean.  He doesn’t normally look that unhappy!....

Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA, who won the women’s 400metres....

Christine Ohuruogu, who was second in the women’s 400m....

Then we saw the main event, the Men’s 100m Final.  The excitement level was astounding as Usain Bolt retained his 100m Olympic title.  He is an amazing guy and most of the world wanted him to win again....

Overall, the London 2012 Olympic Games has been amazing.  I am looking forward to what remains this week.

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Cool Picture from St Tropez

I was looking on the Harley-Davidson HOG website and found a cool picture of yours truly riding my Amelia bike in St Tropez.....

Also, in an e-mail HOG sent out to it's members, there is a video form the recent rally in St Tropez and somewhere near the beginning, is Amelia parked up in the marina....

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Introducing Amelia, my new Harley-Davidson chopper

Many of you know a new custom bike has been built for me recently. I have posted a few pictures of the progress of the bike as it developed and of some of the details of the bike, but it is now time to reveal the completed motorcycle.

Called Amelia, the bike is based upon what old school choppers used to look like, with long forks and high bars. The bike looks amazing with its stunning engraving and paintwork. Here is the bike as it was rolled for the first time, ready for its first ride....

I didn’t post any pictures at the time as I didn’t want to give away the overall shape, but here is the bike a few weeks ago in its full mock-up form. Pictured by the bike is Charlie Stockwell, of Warrs Harley-Davidson, who built the bike. He did an amazing job and full marks must go to him for creating a wonderful motorcycle.  Some of the parts were made by Charlie....

Due to its unusual form, Charlie and I wanted to ride the bike as a mock up before it was painted in order to check out the handling. We needn’t have worried as Dave Batchelar of P&D Custom Bikes did a terrific job of modifying the frame. The bike rode like a dream and took the bends with ease. Yes, I know the bike looks odd and yes, that is tape holding on the temporary instrument panel, as yes, the seat isn’t covered yet....

Here is the bike being assembled after painting and engraving. The engine had stage 4 modifications to give it much more power....

The engraving and paint is simply incredible. Here are a few of the details of the front end....

A view looking up at the front brake pedal, reservoir and engine....

The paint was done by Keith of Classic Cycle Works and I have to say he did a fantastic job. The paint scheme just leaps out at you, with big metal flake, pinstriping and glorious colours....

The engraving just makes the whole bike gleam in a riot of chiselled metal. It is difficult to remember that this engraving was all cut by hand with a hammer and chisel. Remarkable!....

Here are a few shots from last weeks custom bike show at the HOG Rally in Grimaud in the south of France. Amelia was awarded second place in the Custom Bike category....

A few more shots from last weekend in St Tropez....

Wherever I parked the bike in St Tropez, it seemed to get quite a lot of people looking at it....

Finally, a couple of pictures of the guy that owns the bike. Most of the time, he has a big grin on his face....

Along with a few friends, Ian, Paul, Preben and Andy, I went riding to Cannes and then back to St Tropez. From the back of a bike, Ian used his phone to capture a short video of me riding Amelia.... its not a great quality video, but you will get the idea.... oh, and the sound of the bike is wonderful......




It is fair to say, I am deligyhted and very happy with the new bike. In just a few weeks time, I am going to ride it to Portugal on a 2,000 mile round trip. I can’t wait!

Thanks to everyone that helped to create such a fantastic motorcycle!

Expect more pictures soon......

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