NLHOC DAY TRIP TO FRANCE 28TH JUNE

Ok right, so, this time I did the WHOLE thing - so any complaints from the participants got put right in the bin.

I had the route planned so that we’d have a different non-coastal ride down to the lunch stop in Le Touquet and then another cross country ride to Arras then back through the country or race up the motorway if timing got skewed (as if….)

The start-off was OK - Steve and I met up with Barry on time (all of us) at the A406 junction Waterworks corner and shot off on the M11 to the M25 for the Brentwood RVP.

What was nice was that the weather forecast 10 days before was for very mixed weather with rain dominating in both France and the South East - but on the three days before departure it improved significantly.

Suffice to say the start was lovely we had a bit of thick mist or fog on the M20 and the rest of the day was warm and sunny – I’d even go so far as to say hot…

Anyhow - there were expected to be about 16-17 bikes at the start, and when I arrived at the Brentwood Services ready for the appointed start time we noticed that Graham (who wasn’t joining us this time) had arrived to see us off, and Steve K. and Mike O’S who were meant to be coming with us, hadn’t arrived!

Being the sort of group that we are we decided to go without them but just as we were getting into formation to hit the road the two guys turned up. Graham wanted to take a photo of the whole group and ended up with five and a half shots of the left side of his helmet (!) and that was it – I waited no longer and was off followed, or so I thought, by everyone else…

The intention was to top-up with go-juice at the new services near the channel tunnel and then arrive in Frogland with full tanks and not let the blighters have our petrol money. It was then that we noticed Steve K wasn’t with us. Where could he have got to - him and his Blackbird? Normally he’d be racing past everyone else and waiting for us patiently with a big grin on his face.

All was revealed at the tunnel when we were grabbing a coffee. Seems that so confident of overtaking us, Steve decided to have a long chat with Graham at the start, knowing he’d catch us all up en-route. I understand the topic of conversation was along the lines of “going so fast around a roundabout “you actually appear to be going backwards!” What he hadn’t allowed for though were “unforeseen events”.

The early riders had come across the tale end of an incident where a car had spun around the empty motorway and attracted the attention of the Highways Agency who, after we had gone past it, decided to close the road to clear up the very small mess left behind. Steve was held up at the front of the queue waiting to get past and join the rest of us.

When the barrier was raised for him to set off, he didn’t realise he had some bloke in a bright yellow fluorescent jacket on a white Pan wearing a white helmet pretty much like his own only it had black and white chequered tape around it - right behind him. Suffice to say Steve had a bit of explaining to do to this gentlemen about speed limits and matters of urgency and how he really could’ve lost him if he’d wanted… and in the end a bit of negotiating was required to make sure one of the two didn’t end up in a worse position than they actually did. Anyhow Steve was able to catch us up and join us the train ride to Calais.

Once we arrived at the other side a misreading of the Satnav
(A-G-A-I-N- ? - Ed.) saw us going for a little tour to the euro tunnel shopping centre and then onto some nice back roads until we got back on track via Ardres.

The pace was good and most of us were together – oh – except for those that wanted to do their own tobacco run up to the Belgian border which I’d decided against as most of the riders were non-smokers. Also the weather made the ride a pleasure.

We arrived at the restaurant in the nick of time, not that we’d have lost the table but they’d put us under a bit of pressure to take an earlier booking (by 1 hour) so our journey down there was at a fairly progressive pace. No matter lunch went well and a good time was had by all.

After we left the restaurant – things did go to pieces. Our intention was to head off to Arras for tea and then take a pleasant route back up the lanes to Calais rather than race up the motorway in a hurry. But this was fated not to be…

We were to all meet by the casino at 2.45 but someone went missing then someone went after them whereupon the first missing person found us then the one who went to look for the missing one – became the missing one….. ad nauseum. By this time we were getting on for half an hour later than I wanted and we decided to split. Needing to adjust my apparel I pulled in to the garage on the outskirts of town and when I was ready saw a crowd of bikes in the distance – they saw us and decided it was a petrol stop (completely stupid as we all had plenty in our tanks) I tried to rally the troops but to no avail so we at the front set off and hoped the others would keep up! Everyone had the same map and written directions – but hey – these guys know what they’re doing – don’t they?

By this time it was getting very warm and after about an hour – almost upon Arras, a group of about 8 or 9 of us decided to pull in for a little rest and stop. Just in time too as one of the pillions was decidedly the worse for wear in the heat and to be honest I was in need of a rest myself. All was well after a half hour cool-down and then we continued on to Arras.

To cut a long story short it seemed that most of us had managed to get there alright and in one piece so we had a drink in the main square (la grand place”) and we decided collectively that we’d have to race up the motorway to catch the train home rather than go across country on a more scenic route,

This resulted in a few “separations” but everyone made it safely and the rest of the journey passed without incident.

The weather held up, no losses, good food, no breakdowns. Pretty much another great day out – just about 400 miles door to door for me – no complaints.

Tips for next time: definitely have at least one group running proper drop-off system and others can be more independent that way we can string the line of riders out better. Make sure that our return journey is a bit later to ensure no racing up the motorways.

If you didn’t come along this time – maybe you will join us in 2010?

John