ALBANY VINTAGE & CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE CLUB

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October 2014 Club News

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The Netherlands, UK & Wales

By Antoinet

Another (small) trip overseas. I wanted to celebrate my birthday back in Holland so in May we took off to Amsterdam. We had a couple of lovely days with our families in Friesland (in the north of Holland) and had so much fun riding old Solex motorbikes. We had hired them for a couple of hours one Saturday afternoon and had an absolute ball.

Antoinet and Ronnie looking like dags with Solex
          motorbikes.
If you're ever in the Netherlands go and try to hire some and go for a fun day out. The cost per person for about 3 hours was approximately € 27.50 (http://www.solexverhuurakersloot.nl/)

The intercontinental Suzuki GSXF 1100.
The next day we were off to the UK and Wales. Ronnie's cousin was very nice to us and lent us his Suzuki GSXF 1100. No panniers, so whatever we could fit in the tank bag and a small backpack came along. We left Ronnie's parents place at 7.45 am on Sunday morning and arrived in Calais, France at 2 pm. We had ridden through The Netherlands and through the north of Belgium and now we were waiting for the ferry to Dover. The ferry takes about an hour and a half to cross over to Dover. So at about 5 pm we were in the UK. Travelled through 4 countries in 9 hours! We rode along the lovely windy roads and booked a room in Hastings in a B&B.

Some lovely bikes on display.
The following day we left early after some breakfast and headed west. We gave the Sammy Millers museum a visit which was great, beautifully restored bikes on display. We then headed for Wales where we wanted to visit Ralph & Mo (friends of Bob & Chris). As soon as we rode into Wales it bucketed down with rain. We expected Ralph to meet us in the car, he doesn't like riding in the rain. I was actually quite excited about that and thought I could hop in the car with him. We were very surprised and proud of him when he rocked up on the motorbike though, absolutely saturated. After a quick chat we followed Ralph to their place in Cardiff and caught up with Mo, there were lots of stories to tell about travels and life.

We stayed for a couple of days and went sightseeing to the Brecon Beacons and took lovely windy roads back to Cardiff, we went for a visit to St Fagans castle and the museum of Welsh life. We went to Castle Coch and Cardiff castle, all beautiful and Ralph took us to Ogmore by sea on a rainy day. The coast is very rough and on a stormy and rainy day it looked even more dramatic.

After saying goodbye to Mo, Ralph took us along beautiful windy country roads back into England were we had a cuppa before Ralph went back home and we headed back towards Dover. One more night in a B&B and the next day back to France.

We finished that day in Belgium at "Groenedijk Motorcycle Loft Hotel" Only motorcyclists allowed here. A bar and interactive kitchen to help yourself, a great place to stay.

Friesland Biker Clubhouse.
When we were back in Friesland Ronnie went on a Poker Run, it took all day and they had to travel to different motorcycle clubhouses. The money raised that day went to KiKa, an organisation to help children with cancer. It was a great day with a lot of interesting bikes, nice weather and a great route.
The rest of our holiday was enjoyed by spending time with family and friends.

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