Aston Potteries

14th July 2019

Up early to see a heavy sky and the rain falling, not only was the weather against us but there was the British Grand Prix, Wimbledon Mens Tennis Finals and England in the Cricket World Cup Final all live on the TV. Would anybody show up for today’s ride?

I prepped the bike and set off down the A40 towards 611KR the road had dried out and it hadn’t rained within the last 30 minutes. I arrived at the Kings Road petrol station for the pre-ride fill up and I wasn’t the only Harley there, I needn’t have worried about the Chelsea and Fulham chapter members not showing up for a Sunday ride-out. I manned the swipe in system and was pleased to welcome 48 members onto the ride including some new faces, so a very warm welcome to you, I hope you enjoyed the day and will join us again soon.

After the briefing we got ready and headed out of London Via the A4 and the M4 to junction 7. The ride kept together well and we were soon heading out of Marlow on the B482 towards Stokenchurch. Joining the A40 we headed towards the coffee and fuel stop, once we had navigated Aston Hill with its enticing downhill straights before hitting the brakes for the 90 degree left and right hand bends we arrived at Postcombe.

Having a 40 minute break to enjoy the tea, coffee, cake and biscuits at The England’s Rose public house, once a mecca for bikers in the Chiltern’s area. We all relaxed and enjoyed the social side of riding these machines and being a member of the best H.O.G. chapter bar none. It was soon time to take the obligatory group photo and head back out onto the road and our final destination.

As promised during the ride brief the second part of the ride was far more interesting. We took the B4012 to Thame and then towards Islip on the B4027 with a couple of non-classified roads thrown in for good measure. Skirting around the top of Oxford we made our way to Witney on the A4095 and then the final few miles on the B449 before arriving at Aston Potteries. We had made it, the whole 85 miles without a single drop of rain, what a result. A good number of the group decided to have lunch at in the Aston Potteries café where the prices rival ‘The Rose’ in Fulham but you really can’t eat a huge slice of their homemade classic quiche and a sausage roll although some people did just that, their bikes struggled to reach the speed limit with all the extra weight on the return to London.

My thanks to the Road Captains Rob Warr and Fred (I’ll do anything for a free slice of Quiche) Woolcott, for their company on the recce ride and to Nick Deal, Mick Newstead, Andy Eborn and Last Man Rob Warr for all their help in making the day run smoothly and finally a huge thank you to everyone for turning up on what looked like a miserable day but turned out to be a cracking day out.

Steve Graham - C&F Secretary, Road Captain & Photographer