Photographs of bikes, ride-outs, shows and other activities
Our last ride of the year was on a cold Sunday morning between Christmas and New Year. Only four hardy Branch members set off for a ride to Bucklebury Farm Cafe. After a cold ride on damp roads, they then got to sit in the cafe in the warm and enjoy a breakfast together. Here are a couple of photos. Well done guys!!
It was a bit chilly and breezy, but don’t let it be said that would put the us off going out on a Sunday ride ending with a coffee and bacon roll at Popham Airfield Cafe.
The last club night of the year had a Christmas theme, with a festive buffet, Christmas music and a raffle. Over 60 members and partners took part. It was a fun evening and great way to end the year. Here are some photos of the event.
The weather forecast was for dry and mild weather so we met up on Sunday morning and went for a ride to the H Cafe in Berinsfield. This is a popular meeting place for bikers and has an Infinity motorcycle clothing and accessories shop next door. When we got there the cafe was full, so we sat at the picnic tables outside which are popular in the summer. But the weather was not too bad and in a bike riding gear we weren’t cold. We then browsed around the shop next door and then split in various directions to go home.
Looking back at 2024 we’ve seen lots of new faces at both our ride-outs and club nights. Its been a busy year for the Branch. We’ve met every Thursday with turnouts of 20 plus in the winter months, and 40 or more on dry summer nights. During the winter months we had presentations on touring in India and record breaking at Bonneville salt flats, a quiz night and bring and buy sale. We also adopted a new badge for the Branch and produced a new line of clothing and regalia with it on. We’ve had more 40 than rides organised this year and gone on visits to Cassington Bike Night, Triumph Day at the Ace Cafe, Triumph Day at Sammy Miller’s Museum and to the National Motorcycle Museum. We’ve also gone on the Easter Egg Run and Christmas Toy Run.
The highlight of the year was attending the TOMCC 75th Anniversary weekend at Shelsley Walsh. Another great weekend was spent with our Branch stand at the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton. At our home base at the BCSA we have hosted two lunchtime bike meets, our Old Motorcycle Gathering and a barbecue evening. We’ve also taken our Branch stand to several other shows including MAG’s Easter Show, Dr B’s, Popham Megameet and the Swallowfield Show.
We had more than 60 people at our Christmas buffet on our last Club Night of the year.
See the video below to look back photos of the rides we have gone on this year.
This year’s toy run was another great success with over 1300 bikes and a huge number of toys donated to Dr Barnado’s for onward distribution to children. This is not organised by us, but as usual, we participated along with many others clubs and bikers in the area by: acting as marshalls, transporting toys in a van, riding as part of the run and donating toys.
Here are some pictures of the run.
At our September Lunchtime Bike Meet we decided to take a picture celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the TOMCC. We moved 8 bikes into position and then got an aerial view by hoisting a remotely operated camera to the top of the flag pole. We submitted it to Nacelle as a possible front cover, but it wasn’t chosen by the editor. It did get printed on the last inside page of the December edition though. Thanks to Steve Yarwood who had the idea and directed operations on the day and Collin Fox who took the picture.
See here for more pictures of the bike meet where this photo was taken
We went on a recent Sunday ride to the Rowdey Cow Farm Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour. A popular destination in the summer with its outside picnic tables and locally made ice cream, the colder weather meant we were hoping for hot food and inside seating. Unfortunately when we got there, all the inside table were reserved for people having Sunday lunch. So we sat outside with coffee and cake. We still had a good time and a pleasant ride there and back. Here are are a couple of photographs.
We had our annual quiz night in November and once again, Bob Cromwell set a mix of motorcycle related and general knowledge questions. Prizes were awarded to the top three teams. There was a tie for third place, so Bob asked a further three questions in an exciting tie break round. There were some great prizes awarded to the three winning teams. See below for some photos of the event, including the three winning teams collecting their prizes.
See below for video summary of our quiz night.
About a dozen of us rode a scenic route to Thruxton circuit and visited the Jackeroo Cafe there. Thruxton has a special place in motorcycling history and today hosts one of the British Superbikes rounds which we attended early in the year. One of the bikes on the run was a Triumph Thruxton and we had a picture taken at the entrance a couple of years ago, so we gathered at the entrance for a few iconic photos. See below for some pictures.
