Well done to the organisers, speakers and volunteers. Everything was of so much a higher standard than I imagined, toilets, showers, bar etc. Sure they got the pricing on the grub a little on the strong side (£7.50 for a breakfast plus another quid for a a cup of tea to go with it) but hey, it tasted really good and was served punctually and with a smile. You gotta cut these guys a bit of slack, it must be a steep old learning curve your first time out. I thought the venue was great although I did wonder that given the farms eco credentials should I feel a little guilty with my 30 year selfish obsession with burning as much fossil fuel as possible in the petrol tanks of my motorcycles. Nah!
I didn't attend any of the talks on the Saturday daytime as the opportunity to explore the north Devon coast was too much to resist so my Bro and I knocked out a cheeky 200 miler; however those that I did go to in the evenings were first class. Particularly Matthew's '7 day adventures'. (In the shearing shed, Priceless!). Apricot jam/yoghurt guy which was it?, your presentation was great too. Not many there but I think you were up against motorcycle travel royalty in the other presentation room. Never mind, I laughed like a drain, glad I was there.
I loved getting to talk to so many of you ( Altberg Hogg guy, Harley riders, and dude with the spooky R80/XT lovechild bike who knows the Picos like the back of his hand, to name but a few. I loved seeing the variety of bikes you all go adventuring on; you may have seen me on my XT with the white long range tank. It's nothing to shout about as it is getting on a bit now and bares the scars of quite a number of 'offs', my body has a few scars to match. It is a real handful off-road when loaded with camping gear so I am in absolute awe of you GS riders who ride those enormous bikes off-road. You are motorcycling gods as far as I am concerned.
Surely given the geographical location of this venue, by that I mean its accessability to such a large number of the UK motorcycle adventuring population (South West, Wales, London, Midlands) and the excellent organisation by Charlotte and Gabe, this event is bound to grow in the coming years to rival Ripley. What do you think ?

No thank you

All the best meetings ive been to are the smaller ones (Spain, Belgium and now Bristol). imho the size was about right, maybe 50 more but not much more than that.

Steve

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"this event is bound to grow in the coming years to rival Ripley. What do you think ?"

It probably will but I hope it doesn't. If I knew for sure this would be on next year I would give Ripley a miss. Ripley is fantastic but too big to give everything attention.


A better idea IMHO would be to have a spring meet on the same scale as this one, a lot further up north?

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A consideration if this event got much bigger would have to be the catering, either have volunteers working over a longer spread of time to provide food for all, or bring in some additional catering. The Ripley kitchen is larger and has pro staff to cope with the larger numbers.

I liked the size and the venue and catering was acceptable considering it was volunteers, although personally if they could let me know what the menu is next time, sausage on Sat morning, sausages on Sat evening and sausages on Sunday morning, then I get home and guess what? Sausages are the only things thawed in my fridge and before you say takeaway, this is Upper Cwmtwrch.

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That's a good idea...

Having three spread North, middle and South actually makes very good sense.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Aye but to quote Ted "it always rains in Scotland" ......

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Anything in the Northumberland area as a possible, some very interesting riding there?

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Well if anyone else in the North/North West wants to set up a meeting and knows locations, I'll be willing to help out...

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Oi, A lot of us live further north! :-) Ripley is more central and accessible by more of the country. Brizzle is either a boring 2.5-3 hrs on the motorway or 5.5 via the borders. (From Liverpool/Manc), but a far better ride :-)

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