Road Bike Page

MANX FOR THE MEMORIES!

Several of our Club members took a little trip to the Isle of Man for a weekend of riding pleasure.

 

Most of them set off from the Telford on Friday 24th March 06 in typical British weather – RAIN!.  I say most of them, as I was joining them on the Saturday via EuroManx airline due to work commitments.

 From what I hear they had an enjoyable journey on the Super Sea Cat from Liverpool and arrived to yet more rain, and so did what any self respecting biker would do faced with the same situation.  GO TO THE PUB.  Or in this case, the off license and then back to the lounge of the digs where we were staying for the weekend.

 The next day (Saturday), I was chauffeured to John Lennon Airport in brilliant sunshine and the flight across to the Island was great, though the inflight service was non existent (I do enjoy a Gin & Tonic when I’m travelling).

 I was EVENTUALLY met the other side (cos Brad got lost.  The same Brad who had been going to IOM since he was in nappies), by a large contingent of LL&DMCC members much to the amazement of the Manx Airport Police.  Realizing the importance of my arrival on the Island the Policeman did finally SALUTE and the welcome committee were allowed to continue the convoy onwards!!!!!.

 The next couple of hours were very pleasurable, visiting places I had heard so much about but had never seen before as this was my first visit to the Isle of Man; i.e. Castletown, Calf of Man, (a very nice café here, where the coffee and scones were great and we could watch the seals, and Peel (where John Heyward NEEDED a bad crap (Sorry that should be CRAB BAP, that’s CRAB BAP!!! I do apologies John!), and the choice of food here posed a problem for Kev Newport as he is currently enrolled with Slimming World.  He had already used up his SINS/POINTS/GREEN –RED DAY thingies (whatever!!!) with his Full English Breakfast at the digs AND a jammy scone at Calf Cafe and so went for the supposedly low fat option of hot Manx kippers; (between you and me Kev, the half pound of melted butter on the top of them wasn’t exactly LOW FAT!! – just thought I would mention it!).  By the time we had got to the Laxey Wheel it was P**sing down and time to call it a day and head back to the digs.

                                                          

 After a lot more drink and a nice meal out (another dilema for Kev – backtracking now, remembering the Full English AND the Jammy Scone AND the half a pound of butter on his kippers!!!- finally settling for a RICH MEATY SAUCY ITALIAN PASTA DISH – low in fat – I DON’T think so!.  They must love you at Slimming World Kev!) and yet more drink, time was finally called around 3.a.m.

 Sunday started very grey but did not stop us having another ride out.  This time off to a place called Jurby Junk.  TAT CITY to be more accurate, but the lads spent a pleasant half hour shopping for those last minute Mothers Day presents and holiday gifts!!!!!, YOU LUCKY PEOPLE!, then off to see Joey’s Memorial on the Mountain. Much homage was paid and photos taken.  No time to spare it was back to the Laxey Wheel as the weather was soooo bad on Saturday nobody got to see it.  The Laxey Wheel is a Big Red Wheel and is a “feat of Victorian Engineering” (Fraser Horspool 25th March 06).  So it was back to Douglas via Onchan (Steve Colley lives here but we didn’t get to go to his house, I expect he was out playing on his bike anyway!), and pack to go home.

                                       

It was quite a rough start to the journey home on the boat, the sea was a bit CHOPPY and a lot of people feeling ill, but it soon settled down and so did we.  Lots of tired boys and girls dreaming about the fab time they had just had on the Isle of Man.

                                                    

Thank you, Jeannie, for organising the trip.  I for one, had a great time!.

 P.S. Some suggestions for diets for Kev Newport:  There’s the Seefood Diet – See food ya eat it!.  Also the ST diet – Start Tomorrow!.  Lets not forget the SOM diet – Start on Monday!

 Liz Jones

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These pictures were taken by Mark Smith at the beginning of the 2004 season (maybe around March 2004) on a normal club night

     

Thanks to Mark Smith for Contributing the following to the Website :-

11/4/05 Hello, seeing as nobody else appears to be helping, i thought i'd take along my camera for tonights roadrun.
 
As you can see there was a good show. The weather was not bad at all, but very windy which two-up was hard work. Then as the sun died the chill came back in the air, never-the-less was a nice run out.
The route we took was from the Telford Inn through Llangollen, up the Horseshoe-Pass, through the Nant-y-Garth pass to Ruthin, then over the tops through Clawdd Newydd and down into Cerrig-y-drudion. From there we crossed the A5 onwards to Bala, here we stopped for a tray of chips and a coffee (and for those that do... a smoke). Then back to Llangollen and on to the Telford Inn. Total mileage covered was approximately 80 miles.
Not a bad start to the season.      

And this little Note from Jeannie who got a numb Bum on the same eve'nin :-

Ten eager riders braved the weather on the first club road run of the year on April 4th.  Mike and co went off first to 'give it some'.  The rest of us followed at a more sedate pace (to begin with!).  It was C-O-L-D up the Horseshoe Pass and even    C-O-L-D-E-R at Bala and when we got back to the Telford just before eight o'clock we were REALLY COLD.  But everyone agreed it was good to get back on the bikes again.
 

Weekend Roadrun

There are preliminary plans for a weekend roadrun on the weekend of 28th May 2005
Many routes are being considered, however this first run is a test to see what interest there is.
the plan is:
leave the Telford Inn at around 11:00am on the Saturday morning
travel down the welsh border until just north of Cardiff
cut across north of Cardiff to Camarthen
Overnight in a 'cheap' b&b
Next day, join the welsh coast
follow the welsh coast north to Bangor
A5 to return to the Telford Inn at around 5:00pm
 
The pace will be medium/steady and you will be expected to cover your own costs.
Anyone interested please contact Mark Smith (contact details on the notice board) further details will be placed on the notice board as they become available.
 
Cheers
Mark Smith

 

HOLIDAY 2002

A Few of our road Bike Members have enjoyed a European adventure vacation over the last few years click HERE for the story.

HOLIDAY 2003

Check out the details HERE