This section of our website features a recent ride report from our members, updated monthly. Links to older reports can be found at the bottom of the page.
The "Chain Reaction" Run, lead by Rob "Snafu2" Drake
Words by Dave "Xtriple" Towers, pictures by Dave "Xtriple Towers", Rob "Snafu2" Drake, and Gary "TJ" Bishop.
We met at Rob's gaff at 8:30 for 9:00 set-off. Lorn did the necessary and took home-made bread pudding, which I'm reliably informed was delicious. Rob managed to drag himself into the house to make coffee.....
Rich XR (Devon TRF member) turned up 'cos he was lost on his way to another ride out, but stopped to admire the motley collection of old shonkers...... Setting off out of Rob's gate, we rode lots of lanes, occasionally I had a vague clue where I was, lane numbers were a complete mystery but we were at one point 8 miles the other side of Exeter. I saw a sign to that effect anyway.
Back to Dawlish, we had to visit Gay's Creamery and all munched our way happily through pasties and coffee - I was banned from feeding the pigeons/ducks/swans etc. Bloody spoilsports. A quick fill-up at the fuel station as we had done about forty-five miles by 12:00 and Rob's bike only had two litres of fuel when we set out - frugal these old bikes you know - then back out towards the Rocombe lanes, when Rob disappeared up the big hill that starts at the barn and is a tad steep, I feared for us all. Lorn (Devon TRF member) shot off up it after Rob and Grouty, and sailed up there with barely a stutter - that's my girl - while I waited for Ming (Tail End Charlie) and TJ (Devon TRF members) who certainly weren't trying to keep up with the rest of us at that point - something you two want to tell us?
Anyhoo, they eventually turned up, and so I set off up the hill. About halfway up I had the need for a bit of a dab and the blody kickstart swung out and jabbed me in the leg, made a horrible noise, distracted me, and so I stalled it on the snottiest bit - just in time to completly mess up TJ's run up the hill! I got my bike restarted (no mean feat on a heavy old lump that just wants to slide back down the hill) and gave it a few revs to get up the big boulder in front of me. Whoops! Where the WR would have just spun its tyre and very slowly inched its way forward, the soddin' XT just found shedloads of traction and tried (very hard) to loop! Biggest wheeelie of my life with zero forward motion - TJ and Ming were very impressed - so much so that TJ tried to do the same.
Hitting the Newton Abbot area and feeling a bit parched, we headed off to Grouty's gaff for refreshments. Lorn cooed over Grouty's new arrival, while I repeatedly asked if Grouty knew who the father is - no way it's anything to do with him as the new youngster is a handsome little chap with a full head of hair. Then I troubled Ciera with my assesment that she was a little boy as well - my role in life is well defined - upset all you meet! Perhaps that's why we got coffee and no cakes, biscuits, nuffing! Anyway, Rob then decided to head off towards Totnes and some more technical lanes. We met a little mousey who was sitting mid-lane, stopped to take his piccy before shooing him off to safety as none of us could say quite whereabouts on the lanes we'd be at any given time - accuracy is not a strong point of old bikes, aim and hope is about the best you can do. On one lane, Rob's chain came off - no drama. On another lane, Lorns chain came off on a snotty climb, resulting in no forward motion, too steep to hold on the front brake only, and a none too graceful slide backwards into a wildlife moment. Then, at the end of another lane, TJ's bike was making a horrible noise, which turned out to be the chainguide rubbing on the chain. A quick fix with a tyre lever, but not before Lorn managed to park her bike on the wrong part of a slope and chucked the poor old Serow on its side again!
So with three chain related incidents completed, we could relax at last. I think it was all the rocks we did - hellfire, it was just loose rocks on every lane for the first half of the day, and the old XT500 hates them: bouncing from one to the next with sod all effect from the steering. On to Tally Ho (of course) which was cleaned by all, though Grouty had a huge sideways moment that had the effect of making me drop back from his rear wheel - a miracle I think you'll all agree:
We finally ended up at Brixham, and the Towers family cafe was in full force with our youngest Sammy as waitress, while Lorn served up pear flapjack tart and ice cream, coffee, and seconds for some - eh TJ? Bloody good day, though I was in agony by about 1:00 and should have quit and gone home, but I'm a big macho man so stayed, either that or I'm scared of riding alone, one or the other! Still in agony, but wifey is doing the massuse bit so I may be fit again by the weekend.
