Well, it all started on Thursday evening. As I've mentioned before, we try to get to the Weston Bike Nights in the summer. So we started our biking weekend with a trip there. Mark from work joined us on his new Triumph Street Triple. We met at Burrington Coombe, a deep wooded valley, where the hymn "Rock of Ages" was inspired many years ago.
We rode over the Mendips, down Cheddar Gorge, and on to Weston sea front. We met other biking friends there, including Fiona on her new 1100 Monster, Carl and Jan on their Harley, and Lou on her CBR.
It was a really nice evening, and we all enjoyed watching the comings and goings, and the amazing variety of machinery there.
Friday morning, and it was up to Bristol, where Fowlers had kindly organised a test on their Honda Fury demo bike. I am not really used to riding cruisers, so I was curious to see how I got on with one.
I was well impressed, I must say. The forward foot controls were quite different from anything I've encountered on my recent (more sporting) bikes, but after just a few minutes I was used to them, and other than that it took remarkably little time to get used to it.
The 1300cc V-twin engine felt nice and torquey, but civilised, and the handling reassuring. I wasn't pushing too hard, as it was someone else's bike, but I didn't run out of ground clearance in the hour and a half, and 60-odd miles, that I enjoyed on it. The weekend's main event beckoned, so I got the Fury back to Fowlers by late morning, and we headed home to finish packing.
The CBF1000 Forum held its annual weekender near Llandovery in mid-Wales this weekend, and we went along, to join in the fun. We had a good ride there, which took about 3 hours including breaks, through the scenic Brecon Beacons. We weren't the first to arrive, and by dinner time the front patio was full of bikers enjoying the view, over a drink or two.
On Saturday we all travelled in convoy up to Aberystwyth, on a 130 mile round trip through beautiful scenery, on quiet, fast roads, in sunny conditions. People rode in groups according to their preferred speeds, and it was well organised. We really enjoyed ourselves, and Janet kept her 600cc Hornet right up there with all the 1000s too! The day was a great success, and was rounded off with a barbecue back at the hotel, that continued well into the night.
Most of us were a little slow starting on Sunday, which again dawned warm and dry. Janet and I didn't join the Sunday rideout. We'd had a great time on Saturday, but the prospect of a few rounds of clay pigeon shooting appealed, so we decided to do that instead, and take it easy in the sunshine too, meeting up with the rideout at lunchtime in the nearby West End Cafe, a well known biker haunt.
The clay pigeon shooting was a lot of fun, in a lovely wooded valley, though plenty of the pigeons lived to fight another day! Then we hopped on the bikes, and headed to the cafe for a coffee and a chat.
Back at the hotel, we spent the afternoon getting sunburned, and chatting to friends, until another, final, dinner beckoned.
After breakfast and farewells this morning, we hit the road at 9am, again in perfect riding conditions. After a good ride we were home by just after 11am. Watching the forum, it was good to see everybody else, with some much longer rides, logging on to announce their arrival home.
All in all, the weekend was a great success. It was a great choice of venue, well organised, and we met a lot of friends who we look forward to seeing again soon.