The First Time on a Bike. How about 304 Miles?

I think 304 miles is not too bad for an eleven year old, on the back of a bike for the first time. Here is the story of how that happened.

Last week, I was in the Seattle area to collect my step-grandson, Talon, and bring him back to the UK to spend a few weeks with Jackie and I. He has been to London a few times before to see us with his parents, but at eleven years old, to do it on your own must be more fun because he didn’t mind leaving them at home at all.

The only direct flight between London-Seattle-London is British Airways and something rare happened. I got upgraded on the flight out from economy to premium economy and the two of us were upgraded to business class on the flight to London. So an eleven year old boy, gets to sleep in an airplane bed on the way to London for a few weeks. Not a bad start, I would say!

So Talon is here in London and we have been going out to see places just about every day.

A few days ago I met up with friend Ian Solley and he asked if I wanted to join him on the HOG Meridian Chapter ride called HogsLegs, in France and Belgium. I said yes and asked Talon if he wanted to come along as well. It was only going to be a single days ride, so not a problem for a young man that hadn’t been on a motorbike before. We rode down to near Ian’s house the evening before so we could be within striking distance of the Channel Tunnel as we had to get the bike and ourselves on the train very early the next morning.

We woke early at 5am and met Ian and two of his friends Paul and Simon and the five of us blasted down to Folkestone on four Harley’s where we boarded the train to Calais in France....

You stay with your bike (or car) as the train goes through the tunnel....

The train takes just 35 minutes to travel under the sea and we arrived in France to a glorious sunny day, making our way to a local petrol station where the riders of 50-ish bikes met and received the usual safety briefing before setting off....

Warrs Harley-Davidson have two dealerships. One is in Chelsea in London where I bought my Road King and they have another in Mottingham in South London. The Meridian Chapter is based out of the Mottingham dealership.

The ride through France and Belgium is a gentle one, and perfect for just riding and admiring the view, with a few friends. We did about 130 miles in the two countries, stopping for morning coffee in Beruges where Ian set off on a conquest to buy cheese and wine.

We arrived in the town of Veurne in Belgium where we stopped for lunch in the town square, a picturesque quiet place, where the people of the historic town were enjoying a peaceful leisurely lunch....

That was of course, until 50 Harley-Davidsons turned up and part-filled the town square with gleaming bikes....

After lunch we wandered around the town, trying to find an elusive bottle of excellent wine. We found a good-looking wine shop, that was sadly closed, but I liked the scooter sitting outside....

At the appointed hour, the riders began to re-assemble in the square, ready to resume our ride in Belgium....

Talon next to the Leading ladies....

The ride culminated at a place called the Bikers Loft, a bar, hotel, museum and gathering place for motorcyclists. Some of our group were going to stay the night in the sparse surroundings of the hotel, but our smaller group left early, hoping to catch a train back under the sea at a reasonable hour. We rode alongside Belgium canals, which were straight but contained few cars. Reaching the French border, we resorted to using the motorway, for a blast back to Calais and the tunnel.

On getting back to the UK, Talon and I had further to go than the others and pretty soon, they would have been home, while we carried on a long loop around London on the M25, the last hour of which was in the rain.

We arrived home late-ish, having done 304 miles in one day. Tired. Wet. Cold. But, with big smiles on our faces. Especially Talon.