October 2021

A Week In The South West

Posted on October 18, 2021 | by Steve Dennis

… following our Editor

I had booked this cottage during lockdown, planning on joining a walking holiday around the North Devon coast, but once I got back on the bike, I forgot about walking and that was it. My imagination was re-fired and we were off on a girlie bike trip!

DAY ONE – FRIDAY

Friday ride down. Through Highclere, country roads, avoiding main arteries and traffic. Leisurely coffee at Honey Street Mill Cafe. My first time there and not my last. Lovely crafts, candles, scents, tie dyes….from which I had to be extracted.

We skipped Cheddar Gorge as time was going on and we wanted to avoid the Bank Holiday traffic, along the A39, through the Quantocks, onto the coast road, through Watchet, lovely Blue Anchor bay….miles of golden sandy beach, and quite deserted. Strange for a sunny August Bank Holiday in Devon. Perhaps they’ve all gone to Wales?

Then a little light entertainment approaching Porlock Hill. I am relieved Salli had not told me we were ascending this hill. I believe our friendship would have ended right there as I would have bolted in the other direction and probably gone to Wales.

I vaguely knew about Porlock Hill from friends in the club. Legendary, apparently, a rite of passage. Then I forgot about it. We were going to be tourists on this trip. Amiable amblings around Devon and Cornwall. A holiday after all. Ummm…..

south west trip ktm duke 790 triumph trident 660 — *Negotiated tarmac parking – phew!*

So I was on it before I knew it. ‘Gradient 1 in 4’ the signpost read, in red. ‘Caravans advised to use toll road’ it said. So, of course, we were going over it. Trustingly, I followed. Actually it was ok to start with, I just kept a steady low and even speed in 1st gear and didn’t stop. It reminded me of a steep minor road on my Irish trip in 2015 (reported on these very pages), once you are on it you are kind of committed.

I remember thinking, oooh wouldn’t want to do that in the rain and in traffic… and was feeling quite smug. But we weren’t done, it turned out. Another hill reared its ugly head and this had traffic so I had to stop. This was when I discovered I had wooden arms and my right hand was kind of locked on the front brake. As I slowly released it, the front wheel started to rise, as is normal. The only problem was that my wheel just kept rising….and rising…. almost perpendicular, it felt. So then I started praying or maybe swearing, I am not entirely sure. I tried the back brake but didn’t entirely trust it on such a steep gradient, I felt a tad unstable. So I just revved up, engaged and away! Hurray!

Numerous other Porlocks on minor roads after that, very hilly here – and gravel and potholes. Deserted, unnamed roads where only bikers and cars lost with satnavs go.

Final arrival at the cottage. Idyllic, though again tested by gravel. Fortunately we negotiated some tarmac parking for the week. Online grocery delivery. Bright idea that and a hot dinner. End of day one and collapse into bed.

DAY 2 – SATURDAY

Easy day. Swam in morning. Lovely pool at the cottage. Peaceful with wonderful country views out of every window.

We went into Ilfracombe to see Damien Hurst’s Verity. Tourist element. Box ticked. Not my thing really. It’s a seaside town and was hot, rammed with holidaymakers, potbellied semi-naked bodies and the usual seaside knick knacks. Glad to leave. So that is where everyone was spending the Bank Holiday! We returned to the calm and tranquillity of the cottage.

DAY 3 – SUNDAY

Eden Project 80 miles there and 80 miles back. We left early with a lovely ride down the Atlantic Highway coast road. Again the roads were clear. Lovely sweeping bends and good road surface. The day was sunny and hot. Once parked up we crammed our gear into the useful but undersized lockers for bikers and walked around the park in shorts and t-shirts.

Although the Eden Project doesn’t extend over a huge area, I still managed to walk 6 miles that day. Very well set out. Beautiful biomes – Mediterranean and tropical rainforest, then a walk around the outdoor gardens showing climatic plantings, with zip-wire dare-devils screaming as they passed over our heads. Highly amusing.

Note: Devon has lots of hills and bends, with steeper gradients than Wales, or parts of Scotland I have ridden (if those appeal ask Salli for her routes).

DAY 4 – MONDAY – EXMOOR

Bank holiday Monday. The plan was to go to Tarr Steps with the clapper bridge, 3,000 years old…. anyway we couldn’t find it so there went the history slot. Over the week, we kept coming across signposts to Tarr Steps but it was always 5 miles away…. Exmoor was dark and foreboding. Riding up and down hills with multiple cattle grids, the overcast cloud adding to the mystique of the forest roads and the moorland… roads carved through ancient forests….like Snowdonia or Game of Thrones country.

DAY 5 – TUESDAY – DARTMOOR

Princetown gaol dark and striking. Bovey Tracey. Connector roads. Hilly holes. Steep. Twisty. Spoilt in Wales. Hard to see here, vegetation obscuring vision. Getting better at uphill starts on sharp bends. Yippee!

A lot of cafes were closed, including the one at Widecombe in the Moor, where Salli had planned lunch, so we found a community kiosk with enormous pasties which defeated my tour leader.

DAY 6 – WEDNESDAY – COASTAL CRUISING

Appledore… as lovely as it sounds.. coffee and crafts… on down the Atlantic Highway… Torridge. Then onto Boscastle where we lingered a while. Reminiscent of tv serials and a youth-hostelling trip in the early 90s. Still lovely. Then onto Tintagel, full of commercialised myth and legend… we did not stop. Bodmin and Jamaica Inn were too far today so we returned to the cottage. Lovely to have a single base rather than a different one every night, it makes a difference.

Our trip was a thoroughly good mix of fun, adventure, gravel, nadgery green roads, hilly, tight turns, golden sands, and gravel, gravel and more gravel…. we are spoilt in Wales! But we were lucky with the roads too – a useful passing place would always present itself in sight of an oncoming tractor. Thank you Salli for these marvellous routes, just wonderful – 1,200 miles across Devon and Cornwall, pasties, clotted cream teas, ice cream… bliss! When are we going back?

Catherine Russell

on a KTM Duke 790, following Editor/Tour leader Salli G on her Triumph Trident 660

First published in Slipstream October 2021

7Ws #40 – We Finally Made It! (Gallery)

Posted on October 18, 2021 | by Salli Griffith

…and what a weekend it was.

Starburst Ride Saturday

Associates – Brian Walmsley & Pierre Louw

Observers – Chris Brownlee & Si Rawlins

Distance – A shade under 200 miles

Time – 9.10 am – 5.30pm

The run was initially planned with Chris as the solo Observer, but we had the bonus of an extra Observer, the one and only Si Rawlins, so the Associate at the back of the trio (who usually gets a bit of a break from being observed) was still observed during the day… eeek… no pressure!

We headed east away from Llandrindod Wells in the direction of Llanfihangel-nant-Melan, then south towards Llanelwedd and on to Bronllys, through the town of Brecon (no Beacons, unfortunately), we then headed north through Llandefaelog Fach, Capel Dyffryn Honddu to a view-point over the valley. The view would have been lovely, but we were pretty high up and partly in the clouds. We then had a little coffee stop in Llanwrtyd Wells and a chat about the positioning and Safety, Stability & View. Back on the bikes and headed south west towards Llanwrda, north west towards Cwmann and then north east via Llanddewi-Brefi (made famous in Little Britain as it was the home of Daffyd Thomas – the only gay in the village), through Pontrhydfendigaid towards Devils Bridge, followed by a lunch stop at The Red Kite Cafe. After lunch, we headed back along the A44 through Eisteddfa Gurig, Tyn-y-cwm and picked up the A470 in Llangurig and headed north towards the Clywedog Reservoir and beyond along the B4518 with a couple of really steep hills to a viewpoint looking at Snowdonia (a bit cloudy in the distance, but still breathtaking). A coffee shop stop in Llanidloes for a bit of a rest before heading back to the hotel.

So what did I get from this ride?

Invaluable feedback from Chris & Si throughout the day. Thank you guys, it really was a fantastic day
The Welsh roads were glorious, smooth and had very little traffic
Wales uses far too many consonants and too few vowels (great for Scrabble)
I’m glad we didn’t go to Anglesey as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch would be a sod to put in the sat nav

If you see the next 7Ws trip advertised…

GET YOUR NAME ON THE LIST. You will NOT regret it.

Brian Walmsley

“My cornering has improved. Met some lovely new people, and managed to find enough fuel to get home.”

Steve Gilmour

“I wanted to start by thanking everyone who was involved in the planning and execution of the 7Ws for making it such a success. I had a great time, learned a lot, and judging by the number of smiles on display, so did everyone else. I didn’t get a chance to thank Sean for his excellent talk on safety and gear usage on Friday, but it left me with a Welsh baritone inner monologue for the rest of the weekend which I’m convinced made me a smoother rider!”

Tom Peck

“Big thanks to everybody for a magical weekend.”

Graham Boret

“HUGE thanks to Ness, Andy and the team for organising another fantastic 7Ws. We are so grateful for all the long hours that you put into making the weekend go so smoothly. Also thanks to the Observers, TObs, Run Leaders and Back Markers who gave their time to make it even more enjoyable. Can’t wait for the next one!”

Rhona & Danny Ferry

“The 7Ws was enjoyable in so many ways, but made all the more special by sharing a Starburst with Ilhan Oner (Associate) & Dave Parsons (Observer). We had a fantastic ride and seeing Ilhan improve and gain confidence as the day progressed was so satisfying for all of us. He then went on to win the wooden spoon for the most improved rider!”

Jeremy Davies (TOb)

Thanks to all the photographers who sent in pics. We would need a few issues to show them all but I have tried to include at least one or two from each of them. Thank you especially to Tom Peck, appointed official 7Ws photographer for capturing so much over the weekend.

Robin Crane, Dave Parsons, Graham Boret, Tom Peck, Kathy Wright, Jo Gunton, Gaz, Andy Smith, Carl Flint, Simon Mack, Louise Dickinson

Moto Junkies

Posted on October 18, 2021 | by Salli Griffith

This was the first of two TVAM exclusive trail riding weekends in mid-Wales with Steph Jeavon’s off-road school “Moto Junkies” and organised by Phil Donovan. When I saw this event on Groups.io all the places were already taken – disappointing as I was keen to try out Moto Junkies new Honda CRF300L bikes; Dave Thorpe of Dave Thorpe Honda had recommended the bike as capable of dealing with most trails along the tarmac ride to the trail head. A call to Phil put me on the reserve list and happily for me, a place came available.

The selected starting point was only a few miles from the Welsh border. Five of us set off from Moto Severn Services near the M48 bridge at 9am Friday for a full day’s ride with Phil leading and selecting the best roads from memory, with a bit of help from an actual paper map. Eventually, after a good day’s riding exploring some great Welsh roads, we found a line of parked bikes outside the hotel near Welshpool and joined the other five TVAM’ers in our group who were already drinking beer in the evening sun.

After a lovely meal and good evening, Steph and her team joined us for a drink and briefing! By 10am Saturday morning we were all splendidly kitted out in new full body armour and dirt bike clothing and were introduced to the bikes: Honda CFR300Ls and Royal Enfield Himalayans. So we set off for a morning in the training field. Our tutor explained the necessary principles and techniques of loose-surface riding which naturally we quickly mastered and were soon sure-footedly speeding around the wet grass in the hilly field. Following an early lunch we confidently headed out to conquer the trails.

Our confidence grew as we flew along in advanced style – but then the road width dwindled to a track and the tarmac turned to wet mud, progress slackened to walking pace and then to no pace at all. The cause of the stoppage was a slight left-hand bend with a muddy puddle on the exit; we had slipped up (and over) at the first turn.

After quite an extended delay and lots of help from our training team to keep the sliding bikes upright, we reached the end of the rather short off-road section. Our group expressed concern that we seemed to have been dropped in at the deep end!

Tony our instructor looked slightly perplexed; not so – this was the easiest track in the area! We agreed to head for less-challenging routes and the day unfolded into an excellent ride, partly on narrow tarmac lanes and partly on loose surfaces.

With the sun shining and now welcoming the novel challenges, this became a fresh adventure and a new skill set, from which we could all benefit and to some degree integrate into our road riding. Sunday saw our confidence and competence grow with all manner of off-camber, steep and loose surfaces conquered.

As with all TVAM trips, a good part of the fun was created by the group, meeting new faces and turning old acquaintances into friendships. Steph and the Moto Junkies team made the experience great fun, provided a good structured learning environment and tailored the weekend to suit our talents. All of us agreed we had a great time and would be back again next year for round two!

Paul Taylor

First published in Slipstream October 2021

Some Testimonials from the recent ABC Course

Posted on October 18, 2021 | by Steve Dennis

I joined TVAM as an Associate just before the first Covid lockdown kicked in. Having been riding for more than 13 years, I had only recently realised what ‘proper’ riding really was. Last year I reconnected with some old biker friends who were already part of the IAM. Listening to their stories and having observed their, what was now a much-changed and developed riding style, I decided to look into where I could also progress my own skills. This for me was a huge wake-up call, I decided to explore the avenue into the journey of becoming a better and safer road rider.

I woke up nice and early one Sunday morning and headed to my first St. Crispin’s meet. Here I came across a huge number of friendly and like-minded people, everyone I spoke to was absolutely on the same level and I made a lot of new friends. Soon after I went for a thoroughly enjoyable observed ride by a lovely chap who goes by the name of Keith Miller. Keith provided me with invaluable feedback and tips, so needless to say, I was drawn into it all even more. A few days afterwards I noticed that there was an Advanced Bike Control course taking place, so without any hesitation, I quickly enrolled. The idea of learning new skills on an open runway in a controlled environment was just too good to dismiss and boy was I right!

I arrived promptly at 8.15am at RAF Odiham to be greeted by the TVAM ABC team who went through the format of the day as well as scrutineering all of our bikes ensuring that brakes, chains and tyres were acceptable. We rode into the airbase in a pack formation, very well organised with lead and tail end vehicles. Following introductions and our first briefing, we set out to the runway to get the day going. I will not go through all of the exercises here, however, I will say that everything was perfectly planned and the content was absolutely spot on. The way that it was all delivered including the physics explaining the why and how were explained made it so easy to digest and understand. Then some of the Observers would demonstrate each exercise prior to everyone doing the same.

If I had to pick, I would say that I really enjoyed and benefitted the most from the slow riding bike control and high-speed braking sessions. To put things in perspective, “How often do we practice things such as emergency stops?” These types of exercises could save our lives one day. Furthermore, not knowing the correct technique to carry out these manoeuvres could easily result in getting yourself in an even worse state than you are already in. Having the ability to carry everything out with expert direction in an off-road controlled environment was priceless. I for one went home with a huge grin on my face and found the day to be an excellent use of time. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the course to anyone.

Lastly, I’d personally like to thank the following people from the ABC who delivered the course on the day :
Chris Caswell – who did a splendid job of carrying out all the briefings and directed the majority of the exercises.
Graham Jones – did an excellent job organising the day in advance, including some last-minute Covid curveballs, which were dealt with very promptly and professionally.
Ian Bessant, Alan Thomas, Bimal Maharjan, Bob Doe, Malcolm Smith, Peter Browne, Robin Crane and Steve Mason.

I certainly learnt a lot, now it’s the time for me to practice what I picked up and apply it to my road riding, hopefully resulting in a greater margin of safety going forward.
Thank you so much to all the ABC team, this course is priceless. My advice would be to get yourself booked on the next one as soon as it’s offered.
Best wishes

Sunny KhalsaA very grateful and contented Associate!
October 2021

ELEMENTS OF THE COURSE

The venue was RAF Odiham and the occasion was one of four each year when the OMCC, Odiham Motorcycle Club, have access to one of the runways. Seems like there were two, this was a bonus, we were on Runway North – East and on runway West – East were OMCC. OMCC were literally tearing up their appointed runway at incredible speeds. We we also going to be red lining it down the tarmac!

Anyway these were the elements of the course on tarmac in the morning:
            •           Slow speed bike control – bringing the bike to a stop from low speed & riding off
            •           Slow riding – where to look on left and right turns including clutch and throttle control
            •           Cone slalom
            •           Cone slalom with more input from the rider required
            •           Object avoidance – higher level of rider input in making decisions

Comments: The use of both feet as first contact with the road on stopping and turning circles with eyes set on intended direction, as the bike will follow. Cone slalom needed concentration on right amount of throttle with no clutch “feathering”.

Object avoidance was our chance to put into play our ability to make a split second decision to turn right or left and was tremendous fun (very brave Observers putting themselves on the line).

Elements of the course in the afternoon:
            •           Rear brake application
            •           Front brake application – the purpose of both is to show what happens when you grab the brake in an emergency situation
            •           Dissipating energy from higher speed using the progressive application of the front brake only

Comments: The interplay between on board ABS and simulating its effects, of rapid pulsing of the rear brake, to avoid locking up, lots of rear clattering!

Front brake heavy use, (as little practiced in road conditions) was a real eye-opener to the power of the front discs to bring the machine to a stop in as short a distance as possible, hairy but personally speaking very eye-opening. The brake pads will need a check now!

Jon HandleyOctober 2021

From The Saddle (October 2021)

Posted on October 18, 2021 | by Chris Brownlee

Many of you will know Rapid Training as a provider of advanced motorcycle riding and that we have had a close relationship with them for many years, not least because we use Rapid to develop our Observers’ riding skills.

Rapid Training is undergoing a transformation in the training that they offer and the coaching skills that go with this. They are getting a much wider range of riding experiences for their coaches and they are even sponsoring a BSB team to learn from their track riding skills.

We have been working with Rapid Training to develop our Observer riding skills package, and Rapid Training has also developed some track skills sessions – one of which, on 13th October, they offered to TVAM members at a discounted rate. We are continuing to develop these riding skills packages with them, and hope to be able to offer more dedicated sessions for TVAM members later this year.

Continuing the focus on training, many of you have asked about our cornering skills course, Look, Lean, Roll (LLR). Pressure on bike testing meant that the DVSA withdrew our access to the motorcycle manoeuvring areas, where we ran the course, meaning that we had no venue. We have been working to secure another venue and, whilst we’re not quite there yet, we are well advanced with a potentially great venue, and we hope to have this in place for our LLR courses next year.

We’re also about to announce the first step in the revision of our Associate Training Programme. This first step will equip all Associates with a record card that will provide them, and Observers, with a concise record of their training and development plans. Once we have this in place, we hope to enhance the programme further with better tracking and learning.

The weather is obviously on the change and the evenings are drawing in earlier, meaning that the potential for evening social runs is much reduced. There is lots going on, though, and we’re booking plenty of cross checks, advanced tests, advanced plus rides and there are many social rides still being organised through local teams, so please take advantage of the opportunities for riding and further development. Some of the initial exuberance that we saw with the return to riding is being tempered and riding standards are being maintained – please keep this up, especially as the weather deteriorates and skills become more important.

We are now back at St. Crispin’s for our regular monthly meeting. It’s great to see everyone there and we will continue to make adjustments as required to keep people safe. If you’re able, please
come along for an observed ride or a social ride and celebrate what a great club we are.

Hope to see you on ride out sometime soon.

Best wishes

Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer