

Zero SR/S (2020) Review
Are motorcycles finally ready to embrace electric motors? 2020 will be remembered for a lot of (mostly terrible) things, but it also stands to become the turning point for electric car ownership in Western Europe. A number of regulatory and social factors...

Sand Dunes & Souks
Touring in Morocco on my FZ8 It goes without saying that 2020 has not exactly been the year for international travel, with or without a motorcycle. The world grinding to a halt has brought uncertainty and frustrations to many of us and as a keen motorcycle...

Why I Bought a KTM 790 Duke
I’d had my Suzuki SV650N for 8 years and it was time for a change. I now own a KTM Duke 790 which is fantastic - though not the usual choice for a step up from an SV. What led me to the KTM?I had been pondering a new bike for a while, as I had outgrown my...

National Road Rally 2020
NATIONAL ROAD RALLY 2020 On 12th September 2020, Stef Bellon, Hev & Barrie Smith (me 😊) took part in the National Road Rally (NRR). Stef and I have completed the rally on previous occasions, on our own and with other people, and we completed the 20hr...

Girl Torque
girltorque@tvam.groups.io The official TVAM discussion group for women members. In September we finally started to get some runs going that I had promised the group pre-Covid. After rides out to Aston Pottery and then down to Longstock on the first two...

Moto Guzzi V85TT Review
An absolute winner on paper; can the reality live up to my expectations? Now here is a bike I’ve been waiting a very long time to ride. I never found time last year, and with the pandemic shuttering the country for months on end it’s taking some time to...

Kawasaki Ninja Z1000SX Review
Can Kawasaki's updated Sports-Touring stalwart win over a V-Strom fanboy? Kawasaki’s Z1000SX has been a best-seller for the brand ever since it launched in 2011. It almost single-handedly breathed life into the dying sports-tourer genre of motorcycling,...

Why do people decide to do the IAM Roadsmart Advanced Rider Course?
I suspect the answer to that question is different for every new associate that signs up. Some need the qualification to ride blood bikes; others want the insurance discount; some want the accolade of an advanced riding certificate; some have been on BikeSafe courses;...

The Isle of Wight’s First TT
Wednesday 13th - Sunday 17th October 2021 The Diamond Races is an all-new motorcycle road racing festival, featuring some of the top names in the sport and expected to attract around 50,000 people, extending the island’s summer season.The Isle of Wight’s...

The Hidden Costs
How much does a modern motorcycle cost? As with perennial questions regarding the length of a piece of string, the answer is always “it depends”. But it’s easy to forget that the showroom price tag is just the tip of the iceberg. Every year you pay for...

An A-Z Guide to Motorcycling in France
ccidents – Those things that only happen to other people – hopefully. But if you do come across one be aware that there is a legal duty to “assist persons in danger” so theoretically you could be prosecuted if you don’t stop and help....

Does Suzuki Have a Future?
With the global economy about to swan-dive into depths not seen for more than a century and many European governments piling on the pressure to speed up the transition to zero-tailpipe-emissions motoring, many are arguing that motorcycling faces an...

Yamaha Tracer 900 GT Review
There are a lot of motorcycles that, on paper, look perfect. Ride enough bikes and apply a little critical thinking and you can start to spot the things you like and the things you don’t in each offering. Eventually, you build up a list of the best aspects...

Science of Being Seen – Part 6
Looked but FAILED TO SEE! Last time out I began explaining how in around one-third of all collisions, the bike was in a place the driver could have seen it but for some reason FAILED TO SEE the machine - a ‘detection error’ where the driver looked in the right place,...

Science of Being Seen – Part 5
Looked but FAILED TO SEE! The most common collision between a motorcycle and another vehicle happens at a junction, when the other vehicle (usually a car) turns across the motorcyclist’s path. It accounts for the majority of crashes in an urban area but is also a...

40,000 miles on a Triumph Street Triple R
Impractical, too small, no wind protection...a perfect all-round motorcycle? Has it really been six years? My RoadTrip report reckons so. It was the 5th of October 2013 when I signed the paperwork and rode away on my brand new Triumph Street Triple R....

Bullets, Camels, Elephants & Tigers (Part 2)
John and Patrick’s Indian adventure continues from our April issue: The next morning our departure was delayed due to lots of local families wanting to speak English and have their photos taken with us and the bikes. Eventually we left and rode on to...

Science of Being Seen – Part 4
‘RIDE BRIGHT’ or ‘THINK BIKE’ success? I’ve made a start on what the Science Of Being Seen - both the research and the presentation - is all about, and I mentioned a bit about the background context and just why I felt it necessary to put this work together. The...

Bullets, Camels, Elephants & Tigers (Part 1)
Having spent a lazy summer swanning around the Cotswolds, John Stevenson was getting bored. Patrick White, who was recovering from a serious illness, was also bored, having not been on a bike for nine months. Both wanting to extend their biking horizons,...

Unusual & Infrequent Maintenance
How many of you have ever actually looked at the section of your bike’s owner’s manual titled “Service schedule”? At best, you’ve maybe glanced at the long list, noted the intervals, and made a note to drop your bike off with your dealer or independent...

Science of Being Seen – Part 3
SMIDSY - there’s more than one driver error Thanks to decades of ‘Think Bike’ style campaigns which in essence tell drivers to “look harder” or “look longer” for motorcycles it’s not surprising that most riders believe that the SMIDSY results from poor driving skills...

Science of Being Seen – Part 2
Looked but Could Not See In the moments leading up to a SMIDSY, we can usually see the car. We can often see the driver. Ergo, we assume the driver should be able to see us ‘if he looks properly’. It’s the obvious, common-sense, conclusion. It may be obvious....

Is Motorcycle Journalism Broken?
A family relative recently advised me that they would be cancelling their subscription to a mainstream motorcycle magazine, commenting that they found my own reviews more useful and interesting than those written by apparently more experienced and...

A Different Type of Riding (Part 5: Putting it to the test)
Turns out an oversized scooter makes an excellent two-up touring bike. While I ride some motorcycles purely out of a sense of curiosity, newcomers to this site may not realise that, in many cases, I’m simply documenting the process by which I search for my...

Science of Being Seen – Part 1
Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve probably heard of ‘Biker Down’. It’s an accident scene management and first aid course delivered to motorcyclists by many UK fire services. It’s been adopted by the military too. There’s also a third pro-active safety module on...

Ups and Downs in the Picos de Europa
On the recommendation of Neil Kerr and others, and with some trepidation, we entered our 1934 Lion 600 outfit for this year’s Colombres Rally in October. How would we manage those mountain roads in the company of much more current machinery?Early on the...

Triumph Factory Visitor Experience
Triumph has been around since 1902. In its heyday the company was one of the world’s most successful motorcycle brands, but following sustained periods of low of investment and the arrival of Japanese competition in the 70s, the business collapsed in 1983....

Five Go Mad in Spain
Aragon MotoGP 2019 Tour About a year ago a few biker friends and I were kicking around ideas for a European tour for 2019. My mates had done a few before, such as the MotoGPs at Assen, Catalunya and Misano. I started riding again in 2015 after a long break...

End of an Era
As we reach the end of the decade and another season packed with motorcycle shows has wrapped up it’s worth reflecting once more on where the last ten years have brought us, and where we might be going. The age of the superbike is over, and the age of the...

Girls On Top – Motorcycle Adventure
(Nobody said it would be a holiday!)by Dani Fiddaman and Steph Jeavons Hold My Beer! Two years ago, as Steph was getting close to the end of her journey around the world, she mentioned the idea of a new adventure. “Do you fancy riding to Everest Base...

Who wants to Wander the Wobbly Windies of Wild West Wales?
...and how about adding the wet! First Time Run Leader - Mark Melbourne The email arrived announcing the 39th 7Ws, and it was a welcome distraction. Now for the form. The usual stuff, but then questions about run leader and back marking. The simplest...

Picos de Europa (Gallery)
Many of us have spent time in the Picos Mountains in Northern Spain this summer - and you can see why! If you haven't, it may be time to consider them, 24hr ferry to Spain, stunning scenery and fantastic roads. Photos: Andy Sellers, Jane & Alan Bradford, Kathy...

One Bike to Rule Them All?
Motorcyclists, on average, own more than one motorcycle. Only truly hardcore automotive enthusiasts own more than one car, the financial and logistical constraints of the format conspiring to ensure that even most performance-oriented cars need to be able...

From Rookie to Advanced Rider
Until a few years ago, I had absolutely no interest in bikes. My only experience was riding my Dad’s old Puch Maxi 50cc moped just to get me to and from college for a year. Once I’d passed my driving test, I never gave bikes a second thought. I preferred...

Why do they do it?
Changing the framework of your mind! Elspeth Beard, you may have come to see her at the TVAM Seminar on 19th June - nearly 100 members did. Describing her as a remarkable lady is never going to do her justice! If you missed it, you missed a great...

How Slow Can You Go (2019)?
Sausage Fest & Slow Riding 2019A wet and windy morning at St. Crispin's fortunately gave way to a warm and sunny afternoon with many enjoying the slow riding, sausages and Kathy's ice creams. It was also time for members to bring their dogs out in force!First...

David Jacobi Müllenborn Trip 2019
So having dashed off a few lines about riding before, I wondered how hard it could be to write something to capture the happenings on the recent TVAM trip to Mullenborn - named after our past late Chairman David Jacobi who started it all back in 2009. The thing...

Saddlesore 1000
Chasing the Sun, G310 Charity Fun for Hampshire and IOW Air AmbulanceThe Saddlesore 1000 mile in 24 hour Challenge is described as an entry level event by the Iron Butt Association, so I thought to myself, “What better for an entry level event than an...

3Rs Returns to Ross-on-Wye
The weekend of the 9-11th August saw 30 riders and 1 pillion head to Ross-on-Wye for a superb weekend, staying at the Penyard House Hotel. The weekend promised good roads in good company with observed rides to those that wanted them. The weather, by...

We All Have A Story To Tell
We all have a motorbike story/journey to tell. Mine started in 1992 as an 11-year old going to secondary school for the first time and passing the motorbike shop with its mass of green Kawasakis outside. When I first saw a Ninja, I knew I would one day own one. Fast...

Garmin/BMW SatNav 6: Black Screen Disaster & Repair
A few weeks back, while planning my 7Ws routes and uploading to my SatNav 6, the screen went black and just wouldn’t switch on. Battery was good, external power good, it just wouldn’t turn on. Like laptops when they go wrong, you simply remove all power supplies and...

Cottage Industry Meets 21st Century Tech. Copy
Friday dawned warm and sunny on 28th June with a forecast high of 25C, so I was glad I had booked the day off work for a ride up to Castle Donington to visit the Norton factory. What a lovely set up and beautiful place to work. Our TVAM group of 23 in total, gathered...

Full English, -ish
A trip to the Norton factory meant arriving early at Beaconsfield Services for a full English - Norton’s surely nothing if not the full English? Park up, wander in, burgers, sushi and chicken galore; but egg, bacon, black pud and the rest, in grease with a crisp...

Europe for Beginners
Top Tips for First-Time Travellers Since returning from a European motorcycling adventure last year, I’ve been trying to figure out how to turn my experiences into an interesting article for the magazine. A straight-up ride report (“…and then we carved...

Hot Weather Riding Tips
Make sure all your helmet vents are open. The forehead is a major site of sweat glands (along with hands and feet). Take your lid and gloves off immediately when you stop.Airflow next to the skin is critical, so lots of vents and a loose fit works best....

Welsh Frolics
Well, despite the discouraging forecast, 8 hardy souls set out from the H Café in the drizzle to brave the Welsh hills. Upland roads were avoided as these would have taken us into the cloud, so we stuck to the valleys and enjoyed practising smooth riding...

Sammy Miller’s aka “Cake Heaven”
The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum is probably “one of the premier bike museums in the country in terms of the quality and provenance of the exhibits.” I wouldn’t know, I didn’t go in. I was very happy looking at the array of cute animals in the car park, and the...

Sunshine, Marshmallows & Chocolate*
It seemed like a good idea at the time, volunteering to help man the TVAM stand at the MCN Festival in Peterborough, with free camping thrown in. Kelly and I met up with Cheryl for the ride up to Peterborough, with Kelly agreeing to lead the way, as I can’t navigate...

3Rs go to the Yorkshire Dales (May 2019)
Say Cheese! Maybe a little bit of Wensleydale? Fantastic roads & scenery. Perfect amount of stops. The group I was allocated to was brilliant......lovely and thoughtful riders. Pleasure to be riding with them all. The best days riding I have had in a long...

Triumph Tiger 800 XRT
It’s safe to say that Triumph and I have had our differences over the years. My 2013 Street Triple R is the only motorcycle I’ve ever bought brand new, and the brand’s response to my textiles scuffing the paint on the tank within a few hundred miles was...

Triumph to BMW – What was I thinking?
I have been riding Triumph Tigers of various descriptions for 25 years. I have covered many thousands of miles on my various Tigers, and every time I have changed, I have used the opportunity to try other similar bikes and to be happy in my own mind that I was still...

A Different Type of Riding (Part 4: 2019 Yamaha T-Max)
It’s been a little while since I test-rode any new motorcycles as part of my search for a comfortable, relaxing, low-speed, two-up touring bike. I wanted something with a feet-forward riding position, that could carry two in relative comfort while being...

Dedicated Follower of Fashion?
BMW R1250GS Review Henry Ford is said to have opined that, should he have asked people what they wanted from a future transport solution they would have simply requested a faster horse. Apple famously made its fortune delivering products that nobody knew...

A Different Type of Riding (Part 3: 2018 Harley Davidson Sport Glide)
Those of you who have been following this mini-series will have discovered that while mid-capacity scooters tick a lot of practical boxes, they don’t provide a visceral low-speed experience to augment a sight-seeing tour through Scandinavia. Given that a...

Kiwi Caper
For years I’ve been hearing New Zealand’s a wonderful place to ride, I’ve got a standing invite from an old mate who lives on Waiheke Island and it’s summer there when it’s winter here. So it was always going to be a place I’d do a bike trip. Preparations...

A Different Type of Riding (Part 2: The Honda Forza 300)
Feet-forward riding position? Low-speed comfort, lockable luggage and epic fuel range? Surely there can be but one solution - a mid-capacity scooter! Scooters are much-maligned here in the UK, our past obsession with sports bikes often pointed to as the...

Yamaha Tracer 900GT
Do expectations always deliver? And just what is the true potential of the new Yamaha Tracer 900GT? Keith Yallop reports on his bike purchase of May 2018. After over 9,000 miles he asks, “Is this the ultimate jack-of-all-trades?” I have been biking for...

A Different Type of Riding (Part 1)
It may come as no surprise to many of you that not everyone wants to ride everywhere as fast as possible. It certainly puzzled me for quite some time.My entire riding career has been spent in the pursuit of optimising, improving and developing both my...

Through Northern Europe & The Balkans to Athens
The usual winter time discussion over a beer: where can we go this year that would be memorable and that we haven’t been before? How about Athens?International trips are easy to plan with Booking.com, magazine articles, Google maps distances, talking with...

Motorcycle Live 2018 Part 2
Continuing Nick Tasker’s review of the Motorcycle Live event held last November at the NEC... DucatiWe had all the big reveals last year so, for 2018, the Italian firm have tried to make as big a deal as possible about mid-cycle refreshes to their existing...

The Royal Enfield Himalayan
Remember when the Dacia Sandero launched in the UK? It made a big splash in the automotive press and even beyond; an actual, proper car for just £6,000. With the competition priced close to three times that amount it was no surprise that a lot of people...

Reading Toy Run 2019 (Gallery)
Christmas cheer for the kids of Barnardo's 1,528 motorcycles with 447 pillions attended the Reading Toy Run this year. The run which goes from The Amec Foster Wheeler building (now called Wood Group plc) to High Close School, the Barnardo’s school in Wokingham is in...

Winter Riding
This is one of a series of articles on advanced riding techniques that appears in the Club's monthly magazine, Slipstream. This month we look at winter riding and the conditions which dictate some different thinking when out on the road with regards to your riding,...

To the Land of Wallace & Gromit
One Year after joining TVAM, I find myself heading North with thirty-odd, like- minded souls for a 3Rs adventure in Yorkshire to put into practice everything I have learned over the past 12 months. The skies are blue and the roads are dry and as we meet up...

Riders Ride (November 2018)
Continuing our Rider’s Rides! Each month we feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Want to see your bike featured? Get in touch at pressofficer@slipstream.org...

All Bikers Great and Small
TVAM 3Rs – Up North Edition, October 2018 As summer began to fade into memory and autumn took hold, 30 hardy TVAMers gathered in Oxford for a 3-day trip to the Yorkshire Dales. Smaller in scale than 7Ws, but no less ambitious for fun, 3Rs is TVAM’s...

The 7Ws Smile Says it All! (Gallery)
A short time ago, my husband returned from his first training trip to Wales. He raved about it so much, saying it was a great confidence-booster weekend, exactly what I needed to build up my own confidence and suggesting that I go on the next trip. “Good for him,” I...

Intermot 2018
Intermot, the Cologne International Motorcycle Show, has one key difference when compared to the other European bike shows - it only runs every other year. For one reason or another I’ve kept missing my window of opportunity, but this time I was finally...

3Rs Yorkshire Weekend
The second trip for the 3Rs team took a group of 30 TVAM members to the Yorkshire Dales over the weekend of 19-21st October. Smaller in scale than 7W's but no less ambitious for fun, 3Rs is TVAM's bi-annual trip taking Associates Full Members, Trainee Observers and...

Yamaha Niken Review
The New Evolution Three wheels has always been an acquired taste, but I have never come across such a biased audience as when I said I had ridden the new Yamaha Niken, pronounced Nike-N. ‘What a load of rubbish’ – ‘who wants a trike’ – ‘it’s just like that...

Rider’s Rides (October 2018)
Continuing our Rider’s Rides! Each month we feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Want to see your bike featured? Get in touch at pressofficer@slipstream.org...

The TVAM Challenge 2018
The theme this year was "A Time to Remember", in honour of those who lost their lives in the Great War of 1914-1918.

How to Survive your First Trackday
During the very first NEC motorcycle show I attended after bringing home my shiny new Triumph Street Triple R, my brother and I bought our very first sets of leathers. That may seem bizarre to those of you for whom that has always been your standard biking...

Café Review: Annie’s at Canal Yard (Oct17)
We have had no coffee and food stops for a while - so must be time to consult TVAM’s coffee stop list. I have 4 tearoom recommendations that I hope you will enjoy for their location, quality of food and biker friendly welcome. The first is Annie’s at Canal...

Ride of my Life!
My dear wife Helen won a raffle prize at a fundraising dinner early this year - a pillion lap with the Be Wiser Ducati racing team! Naturally enough, she thought of me. I didn’t try too hard to persuade her that she, rather than I, should take a ride with...

7Ws #37 in Wales
It really was a glorious 7Ws #37 over the weekend 28th - 30th September in sunny Wales. Much was learnt and digested by the 60+ riders who attended. We had the pleasure of the company of Sean Westlake, an ex police motorcyclist who has supported our Observers at their...

Their Welsh Weekend – Another Kind of Lesson
Most of us love a bit of Facebook scrolling and Brian is no exception so, when he said he’d found an ex-copper on there who was offering advanced riding courses in Wales, we both thought we’d investigate further. Advanced riding in Wales - a no-brainer...

My Welsh Weekend – Lessons to be Learnt
I’d been looking forward to my Welsh trip (led by Dave Parsons) since I’d booked it and, as with most bike tours and trips, we were counting down the days to the event. There were 16 names down but a few were making their own way up, so 12 of us met at McDonalds...

How Slow Can You Go (2018)?
Sausage Fest & Slow Riding 2018And what an enjoyable afternoon - great food and many excellent examples of controlled slow riding by some of our members - others need a bit more practice!First published in Slipstream September 2018

A Grand Day Out
You don’t see many wheelchairs at TVAM. “Thank goodness,” I hear you say. However, there was a very visible one at the August TVAM meeting, and I was sitting in it. So how had this sad state of affairs come about? The August meeting was my last as leader of the Meet...

Are You Fit to Ride?
When do motorcycle riders have to take an MOT? Well, never. Unless you reach a certain age or have a declared medical condition you probably have never had someone check out your suitability to go riding. Providing your license permits it you can merrily throw a leg...

David Jacobi Müllenborn Trip 2018
For those who ventured forth it was a superb few days of fun, good company, perfect hosting by Landhaus Müllenborn, wonderful roads, top catering, cakes, ice cream and a lot of laughter!Many thanks to Guy Lipscomb for all his organisation.

Riders Ride (September 2018)
Each month we’re going to feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Get in touch at pressofficer@slipstream.org This month we have Cliff Lester and his box-fresh...

The Bike Experience
I visited The Bike Experience yesterday. They’re a charity that helps to get disabled riders back on a bike again. The event was held at Silverstone and is one of several they hold each year. By using adapted bikes, and a lot of volunteers, The Bike...

Sausage Fest & Slow Riding
TVAM held their Sizzling Sausage Slow Riding Social afternoon on August 19th in blazing sunshine after the regular St Crispin's monthly meeting. Over 100 members enjoyed the wide range of sausages on offer from the charcoal BBQ including South African Boerewors,...

Rider’s Ride (August 2018)
Continuing with our Rider’s Rides feature after a break. Here we feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Want to see your bike featured? Get in touch at...

20 Things You Should Know about Riding in Canada
I think many of us have pushed beyond our borders to explore Europe. Out there await wide, open stretches of dusty French countryside, verdant green German forests and snowy alpine mountain hairpins. But how many of us have pushed further than that,...

3Rs Goes to Ross-On-Wye
So what is this new event all about? As we told you in the article in the January edition of Slipstream, the over-subscription of 7Ws has lent itself to an offshoot which we tried and tested last year in two locations. The main purpose (other than fun) for the weekend...

TVAM Thruxton Skills Day 2018
What is a Skills Day? Most courses the TVAM runs are fairly clearly labelled. Look, Lean, Roll - that’ll be cornering then. Advanced Braking Course - reckon we can figure that one out. Slow Riding - not rocket science. But Skills Day? What skills are we...

Breakdown Insurance – Are You Covered?
Many of us have breakdown cover to deal with those situations when things don’t go quite as planned. Most of us who ride bikes also know it’s important to ensure your cover includes recovery in case of an accident as, let’s face it, bikes tend to ‘fall over’ more...

Lois Pryce and her Revolutionary Ride
Lois came to speak to TVAM on Wednesday 12th April in her usual ebullient manner and gave us a very entertaining and informative evening about her time in Iran, with the overriding emphasis on the wonderful hospitality of its people. A good turnout from the club, with...

Riders Ride (April 17)
This month we have Oliver King, one of our RideUp candidates, and his shiny red Yamaha. So Oliver, what make and model of bike are we looking at here? A Yamaha MT07. And how long have you had this bike? Since September 2016, so about 5000 miles. Was this...
IN PURSUIT OF FUN – ANDALUSIAN STYLE (April 17)
January can be bleak in England, so in pursuit of fun and sun I flew to southern Spain. I have often wondered what trail biking is like – it looks so different to road riding. The bikes are different, and so is the kit. The places are very different and...
THE LONDON MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM (March 17)
It’s a Sunday morning in early November when everything’s suddenly tinged sharp white and it’s official - summer’s gone. The Ducati rattles as I watch her clocks reflecting engine and grips warming. It was my sixtieth a couple of weeks ago and Associate...

Riders Ride (March 2017)
Welcome to Rider’s Rides! Each month we’ll feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Want to see your bike featured? Get in touch at pressofficer@slipstream.org...

London Motorcycle Show (March 17)
The London Motorcycle Show is the one I almost never think I’ll attend. Coming just a couple of short months after the trinity of Intermot, EICMA and Motorcycle Live, it’s always going to suffer a little bit from show-fatigue. Whereas the big...

Is this Spring?
The sun was (nearly) shining on Sunday for the February St. Crispin’s meeting but the warmer weather brought members out, with 240 bikes in the car park and 8 first timers welcomed by the Meet & Greet team. Spring could be a few weeks off yet but the popular Green...

Riders Ride (February 2017)
Introducing a new feature here in Slipstream: Rider’s Rides! Each month we’re going to feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it. Want to see your bike...
DIY Heated Jacket
A few years ago I found myself commuting about an hour each way through the winter and, as the weather got colder, I started to think about electric-heated jackets. Something all heated jackets seem to have in common is that they’re quite expensive, and I’m a...

MY NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH THE BOYS IN BLUE
Last November I sat down with my Associate for a run debrief over a cup of tea in the Fox and Hounds. We got talking about his day/night job as a Police Sergeant stationed at Bracknell. I mentioned to him that one of my ambitions in life was to ride in a...