November 2023 - Club Night

The inclement weather reduced our Club Night attendance - but a good time was had by the with 21 Members and 3 guests who made it. Only Dale C was brave enough to arrive on 2 wheels!!

We have had an unusual request come in from Major Luis – C/O (Commanding Officer) of Colchester Salvation Army.

Major L would like us to help deliver over 400 presents to Paxman Academy School, Shrub End, Colchester using our motorbikes - weather permitting on Friday December 15^th, departing Colchester S/A at 10am. Major L is Portuguese and set up a similar mission in Portugal which has built up to 6000 deliveries annually!!!

If we use our bikes it will be just panniers, top boxes or back packs. If you are able to help please conatct Colin.

Parish Notices followed the usual format with the exception of one major announcement. Instead of the normal ‘2 minutes silence’ that follows the request for new leaders to take over from George and I. It was with great pleasure to announce that as from January 1^st 2024 Nick, Caroline and Kim have agreed to be our new leadership team. They are already doing sterling work behind the scenes including arrangements for our Annual Meal on January 3^rd 2024. Regarding Club affairs they will have a blank sheet of paper and will run the show as they think best. It will be up to us as Members to show support if we wish to carry on with good numbers etc. 

As stated many times before the strength of our group is down to the foundations put down by the late John Lay and carried on by Gordon, George and I.

PS Please remember if you have any ride out ideas please speak to Paul who is looking after this aide of things until Steve T takes over.

October 2023 Club Night

The October Club night was missing the usual ride out, but that's to be expected at this time of year when the light fades and the temperatures drop. But in this instance the temperature hadn't dropped and several turned up on bikes making those - including me - wondering why I came in the car. 

Another busy night with 25 Members and 2 guests enjoying another very nice Club event. Just the 1 apology of absence (G C) but good news that 2 of our regulars (BI and PW) returned after medical issues.

With Colin looking to step down in December and no one volunteering for the job. A collective of  Nick, Caroline and Kim will continue to beaver away keeping the Club on track, with Paul looking after the ‘ride outs’ until Steve T takes over sometime next year. 

The September evening ride out to Mersea Island was led by Paul and Kim where 8 members enjoyed a Fish and Chip meal together. The heavens decide to open up and there was a bit of a mechanical failure but all ended well.

Nick brought everyone up to date with the Coach outing to The Motor Cycle Museum in Solihull. An e-mail and whats-app message has been sent with parking and pick up details. Many thanks to to Kym Stroud who has mange to get permission for a central location for parking. The club is looking forward to the event as the NMM is an amazing place to visit. 

 

September 2023 Club Night

For what seems like a long time coming, the sun shone brightly as the pre-meeting ride out set off at our usual leisurely pace. 14 of us headed off on various machinery towards Bures, turning left near the Railway Station, which took us on a nice little back road through to Wakes Colne and a return journey to the Cricketers Pub. Amazing how the nights are drawing in and the Sun was down when we got back. Everyone seem to enjoy the ride and there were several comments on that it was probably the last pre-meeting ride out this year.

After everyone had got their refreshments and fodder, the meeting kick off with Colin calling out the statistics with 14 members attending the ride out, 24 members at the meeting and 1 guest. We also celebrated that we now have a new member, a Mr Kym Stroud who has signed up after a short period of attendance, which must say something good about the club members.

We thanked Shaun Parker for leading a Saturday ride out around Manningtree and Walton. He has also offered to lead a ride out once a year in memory of Gordon Levett who passed away earlier this year. The ride will be to one of Gordon’s favourite haunts, which will be a fitting tribute to his memory.

The current club leadership is looking to pass on the baton towards the end of this year. Colin after many years of dedicated service has advised that he will step down at the end of the year.  There are discussions occurring on how to run the club to ensure we maintain consistency but also to move the organisation forward. Other methods of club communication are now being used and we are seeing a good up-take on the mobile forums. We hope these new methods will provide members with more speedy information but more to come on this subject.

The Coach trip to National Motorcycle Museum is now fully planned and members are blowing out the moths from their wallets to pay for the trip. Caroline and Kim are doing a sterling job of extracting money from the members, although some are still to pay up.

Lastly, it was good to see quite a few members at the Copdock Show near Ipswich, these events are a good place to catch up and chat to people, purchase memorabilia or another Motorcycle if the Garage has space.  

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the October club meeting – and don’t forget your wallets.

August 2023 Club Meeting

The great British Summer weather struck again with a down pour of rain for most of the day, which caused the pre-meeting ride out to be cancelled. A couple of hardy people turn up on bikes but most thought of bringing canoes rather than bikes. Having said that we had a good turnout of 21 members and 3 guests. The meeting kicked off with Colin going through his meeting statistics, with a special mention of the Ride out, led by Julian, that took place on the Monday to a location called “5 Miles from Anywhere” in Upware. Several members attended and the feedback of the location was very good, the full English Breakfast seems to have been the favourite choice.

One of our members who was unable to attend the ride out was Vic Sayers (commonly known as Dr Vic) as he was in hospital after an accident involving a Tractor and trailer near Derby. Vic was out on a ride-out with some old friends in the Midlands when the accident happened. He spent some time in Stoke hospital before being transferred to Ipswich and he still miraculously managed to attend the Club meeting on Wednesday. He is a true trooper and a much love member of the club. I won’t go into his injuries but his positive attitude is an example to us all.

Discussions of a Ride out being planned for the 26^th Aug were voiced and Shawn has kindly offered to take us on a trip around Manningtree and Walton, again weather permitting.

The National Motorcycle Museum Coach trip has now been finalised. The trip will take place on the 28^th Oct, pick up location and return times will be sent out to club members. This is great opportunity to visit a remarkable place with more makes and models than most people realise.

Lastly, we have to mention that our Club main stay Colin, will be 85 on Sunday 6^th Aug, the whole club sends you best wishes and happy motorbiking and thank you for all you do to keep the club running.

 Happy Birthday Colin and Get well soon Vic