Spin to the Spinnaker

15th September 2019

Chapter 1 - ‘How to tuck-up a mate’, by Fred Woolcott

Soooo, way back in December 2018 we had the usual Road Captains meeting to dish out the dates for next year’s rides. At that meeting without hesitation I grabbed the July date for what would be my ride. Much merriment was had & we all headed home to put the dates in our diaries, whilst doing so at home, a little sweet voice from the corner of the room whispered, “FRED WE’RE AWAY THAT WEEKEND YOU TW*^$!!!” Oh... so on the phone I get to my best friend Steve Graham for a favour, who unfortunately over the years he has learnt to run when I mention the word ‘favour’. After much coxing & a promise of much ice cream on our trip to Portugal he relented & we swapped dates, so I now had September as my ride, great!

Or not!

Later in the year my nephew decided he was going to get married & thought it a good idea for some reason to leave it to the last minute to tell everyone! So who next for that favour? Well I think most of the Road Captain’s know about my favour asking so made themselves scarce, except, Ray Campbell... he was caught like a rabbit in my headlights & my cunning plan was hatched!

Chapter 2 - ‘Done like a kipper’, by Ray Campbell

So, lesson learned; if Fred approaches me again for a ‘favour’ in the future I’ll make a dash for the emergency exit. For those of us who are old enough to remember Dads Army, it was a textbook example of “Don’t tell ’em your name Pike” and before I knew it I was leading Fred’s ride down to Portsmouth! How did that happen?

As it turned out it was an absolute pleasure, Fred has planned a great route and the weather couldn’t have been better. Word must have got out as 55 C&F members signed in to hear the pre-ride brief from Fred’s shorter (but much better looking) twin brother, who made a brief appearance before heading back to Italy to join his lankier sibling.

Thumping v-twins fired up and we’re off, heading out of London on the A3 before stopping at the fabulous Angel Inn in Midhurst, where Simon and his team made us all very welcome with coffee and biscuits.

With a few machines refuelled (thank you to Road Captain Andy Eborn for escorting them to the petrol station) we hit the road again, our route taking in a number of quaint little villages, the star of which must be East Meon with its thatched cottages & pubs.

Finally, It was great to see so many new riders join us on the day for their first C&F ride, hopefully the first of many.

A few ‘thank you’s’ ; to Rob Warr for opening up clearly and providing breakfast, to Steve Graham as Last Man and to our Safety Officer Nick Deal, Road Captain’s Andy Eborn & Mick Newstead for going ahead to marking a number of tricky junctions; top job guys!

Next ride up is The Oktoberfest on 13th October, led by Safety Officer, Nick Deal. Hope to see you all there.

Ray Campbell & Fred Woolcott - C&F Road Captains