Thanks For A great Meet
 

I would just like to thank Glynn Grant & Susan Sam & all the other people who put in so much work to make this a great meet. See you at the HUMM
Kev

Here here !!


I had an excellent time and made loads of great new friends and learnt so much.

Even the poor weather couldn't put a damper on a thoroughly well organised and prepared event.

I think what really made it was the people. Everyone was friendly, honest and willing to help out where they could.

The roadkill cookout was fantastic (many thanks to all there), especially as I got to skin and prepare a rabbit.

The fire kept us all nice and warm and the great singer/guitarist was enjoyed by all.

Thanks again

Ted

We had a brilliant time as well - just day trippers as we live only 30 miles away so popped in on friday night and most of the day saturday but had a great time and will attend all of it next year!

Thank you to everyone who i spoke to - you are all inspiring

Julie

Thank you
 

What a great weekend!

A big thank you to everyone who helped to make it an excellent few days, despite all the dampness.

Thank you to everyone who brought their bits and bobs to the Scratch Patch table (I never thought it would be so exciting to give things away!). It looked like there were some great goodies that went to new homes :clap:

(I wasn't mad about the sudden appearance of the 'these items are free, please make a donation to charity' sign & collection cup that appeared - not exactly in line with the intention of doing it, for once, without finding an opportunity to get cash out of people. :( ).

But, the response was really positive, nonetheless. Thanks everyone!

Sentiments seconded, even though I was gone by Friday lunchtime it was great to meet a few new people and hear some new stories and plans. Hope it didn't get too wet for ya! :)

Next year I may book into a B&B like a big girls blouse!

Matt :)

A fantastic weekend indeed
 

and... as a newbie to the Hubb and my first meeting, I thoroughly enjoyed it...it was nice to meet people on adventure bikes for a change...where I live they all...well most off them ride super bikes..."yawn yawn"
But yea the meeting was great and hats off to the kitchen and bar staff, they kept us all alive and well, oh and not forgetting the free meat at the fire.
I met some great people and will never forget them.
Thanks to one and all.

I would also like to add my thanks to all the contributors, organisers especially Glynn, Grant & Susan and Sam as well as all the volunteers plus the owners and staff of Lumb farm for a great weekend.

Although my first meeting it was great to unexpectedly meet up with old friends.

I can defiantly say I made some new friends, learnt a lot, am inspired to cure the itchy feet and get back out there and remembered how great a get together can be with like minded people. The rabbit with honey followed by squirrel was particularly noteworthy.

Hopefully we wont need life jacket's for the next one.

Once again thanks to all who attended for making a great weekend.

Cheers
 

Thanx to all that supported/organised the Meet... The War Office and I had a great time... :clap:

Sentiments to be repeated I guess, but learnt a lot, meet some great like minded people and as a bonus; also I got to consume a vast quantity of beer... (as well as received first class Brazilian First Aid treatment :innocent:)

Thanx :thumbup1:

I thought the scratch pad was also great . When i saw the donation cup (for riders for health i went & found somthing i didnt need (even if it was only a bag of apples & not really a travel item " but they went") if you have a problem with asking for donations may be you could write " if you want leave a donation". As no one was checking anyway this is what probably happend in reality.
Thanks again Kev

Great HU meet
 

As usual, another winner. We are really lucky to have this here in the UK - can you imagine if it was in Australia or somewhere and you couldnt get there?

Yes congrats to all involved, esp. Grant Susan and Glynn, and my admiration for the excellent speakers who were all so good.

The only worry is for the nation's economy as people were throwing sickies left right and centre! I was forced to throw a sickie for 2 days for the Thursday and Friday. Then I REALLY got sick with flu from the damp tent and I am now at work BUT REALLY ILL!

Instant karma?

Good roads! Great Meet!

I would like to add my thanks to the list... our first meeting and a chance to catch up with my fellow Motorcycle Outreach dudes and to finally put a face to the voice of Paul (Mr Carnet) Gowan - thank you Paul for your time going through our plans for next year and for putting up with my endless questions!

Three cheers for the staff of The Lumb who worked their socks off providing grub and drinks throughout the day and evenings.

Three cheers for the wonderful people we met and the great presentations.

Three HUGE cheers for the endlessly cheerful HU people and for putting on an amazing event...

roll on the next one!

Kate

My first (finally!) HU meeting...

and what a great event it turned out to be.

Thanks to all.

I was astounded at the number of earplugs you all bought from me! Thanks to all who did for your patience and understanding as things got more and more chaotic! I think you all went away happy though :thumbup1:

My 2p on the Scratch Table thing...

I sold a second hand set of waterproofs (the weather worked in my favour for this) which I wanted to donate to Riders. There was, at the time, no pot for the charity so I bought £20's worth of raffle tickets and tore them up. This contributed to the number of unclaimed winners being called. Had the pot been on the scratch table I could just have put the money in there (as I did when I sold some waterproof gloves later in the day).

I also put about £20 worth of earplugs on the table hoping this would help Riders for Health. It wasn't surplus kit I didn't need. It was all perfectly saleable stock. I'd like to think it didn't all just go into people's pockets or on eBay... not the spirit in which it was donated.

The idea that the charity pot was 'trying to get money out of people' doesn't really ring true for me.

I see the spirit of it as give and take. I was in a position to give, so I did.
Others may not have had items to donate but may have wanted to give back as well as take, and the charity pot seemed to me an ideal way to provide them with an opportunity to do so.

Nothing on that table ever had a price tag on it and there was no obligation to put money in.

Maybe next year some different wording could be used so people don't feel pressured but I think the idea was a great one and I hope to see it again next time.

bring and buy sale for riders for health next year
 

A great rally again, I had thought that working on reception would put the dampers on seeing presentations and enjoying myself but it was great to meet so many of the visitors that it more than made up for having to be on the front desk.

I would like to hear what people think about making the scratch patch a bring and buy sale for riders for health next year, visitors will be invited to bring motorcycle, camping or travel related items as before but a donation of some sort, the amount will be up to the "buyer" will be invited for riders for health.

It was my suggestion to put the donations tin on the table this year and the notice read "these items are free but a donation would be appreciated" not "these items are free, please make a donation to charity" as written elsewhere on this page. I am sorry if this upset some people but nobody benefitted from this except riders for heath, items could still be taken for nothing if people did not wish to donate or had already done so at some other time.
Mark

I want to say Thanks to ALL who had a part in this years event. It was my first and will not be my last. The wealth of information has helped me make many difficult choices much easier, I also think that it has significantly cut down the learning curve. Thank you so much for that! I felt very much at home this weekend it is truly a wonderful thing to be around like minded people and not to be asked "why" I do these things.. I was only sad to see it come to an end.
Thanks again Glynn Grant & Susan Sam & every one else. :funmeteryes:
Cheers
Xander

The idea of the donations jar was a good idea as far as I'm concerned. It made it seem easier to get something from the table ( I got 2 pairs of earplugs before leaving for home) It meant you could take something and bung a couple of quid in for it and not feel like you were shoplifting :)
The wording on the jar wasn't offensive nor pressurising at all.

Hu 2007 Uk
 

Just to say a huge thanks to anyone who was involved in making this event happen.It was without a doubt the best biking event i have been to,and i do loads.I found everybody i spoke to so helpful and friendly and feel i have made some new Friends.I left the event with all my questions answered and feeling truly inspired for the first time in years. I"L BE BACK.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

My thanks too, I really enjoyed it. Met lots of people, a lot of look and learn, a lot of bacon sandwiches, learned how to skin a rabbit and how to carry a dog on a tank.

Many Thanks............Honest!
 

Why "Down at mill Lad" it were great! So good to see so many familiar faces, and then some, a fantastic weekend one I hope to repeat, again!.
I learned many thing's, but then thats why we go!

Thanks to all the team involved.

As for the charity table, a cracking idea, can't see the problem. Who would miss a pint of beer..............or two?

"sickie for 2 days for the Thursday and Friday. Then I REALLY got sick with flu from the damp tent and I am now at work BUT REALLY ILL!

Instant karma?"


Hope the cough gets better po#*^ :censored: !
Now where is that WINE bottle :Beach:

Love and peace
 

Hallo all,:thumbup1:
I knew it·s still going strong!!!!:clap: I·m not an idiot on the hill after all!!!!
The HU meeting was, for me full of love and peace, and a lot of new great people - now great friends.:wave:
This is for sure as important as any grand travel.:thumbup1:
Luvly jubly. YEAH.:D
I repeat : love and peace.:icon16: :wub: :icon16:

Dan:tongue_smilie:

my favorite
 

P.S.
Lois was great!!!:wub:
Dan:blush: :tongue_smilie:

Wish I could have been there!
 

I had a really great time there last year and met loads of fantastic people, but this year I'm actually ON my big trip so many thanks to the HU team and all the attendees for being such a great inspiration.

(By the way, if you're ever in Leadville, Colorado, you HAVE to stay at Leadville Hostel - what a great place!)

Hi,

It was my son that bought the waterproofs off you, the following day he fell in a puddle on the green lane rideout and was perfectly dry, as I said to him at the time you were going to spend £20 on a waterproof jacket so why not get a waterproof whilst donating to a good cause, shame you did'nt tell us about the gloves we would have given another tenner for those. We had come from Royston, Herts so not far from you. Great event and will be back next year with waterproofs this time. The presentations we went too about 4 were all excellent.

Regards

Robin

I think somebody has a crush :devil2:

Big thanks to all the team that made a fantastic weekend my son and I
enjoyed the talks and demos we should now be able to skin a rabbit and change a tyre .
I came away with lots to think about we left loaded up with books and DVDs
all signed by the authors .
I hope to be back next year

Location, Location, Location
 

Many thanks to the organisers for an enjoyable weekend.

It was my first time and I dragged my brother along with an open mind. He very much enjoyed the Garmin session and I the Ted Simon presentation.

Lumb Farm is an excellent venue with friendly and very hardworking staff, chill out attitude and all set in the Derbyshire dales.

We had a ride out to Matlock on Saturday (the dry day) and it was fantastic. Cable cars in England whatever next?????? garlic bread???

Hope to see you all again next year.


Hope that Stupid bloody dog is not coming though ......it barked all morning on Saturday, had me reaching for my Black Widow.

Jane
CC

Speaker Reviews?
 

Anybody have time

To be honest - I was so busy I would have forgotten about the waterproofs had you not come in asking about them. If it's any consolation I suspect the gloves would have been a bit large for your lad and Les had them off me when I finally remembered them. :rolleyes:

I'm glad they kept him dry though - :yes: :balloon:

Gawd 'elp you, guv'nor!
 

Hi Scavenger

Cough improving day by day....

I was shocked to see your "buddy" drinking your wine when you were at a talk. Your gasp of disappointment when you found out was clear - you had been hurt by this.

But I was even more shocked and even disgusted when you put a torchbeam on your "mate" only to find him sucking on a little bottle of wine you had in reserve. He was like an ugly Bambi caught in a headlight beam. The look of guilt and fear on his face and the wine dribbling down his chin will haunt me for a long time. The thought of him drinking your wine in the darkness like a tramp or a fugitive is, frankly, very worrying. And you plan to do RTW together?!

You could wake up in Mongolia one morning to find everything gone, and all you have is a sleeping bag and a set of your own stained underwear. He will have drunk your wine and eaten your grub, and sold your bike to a passing herdsman. No wonder he calls himself "The Freeloader".

Buen viaje
D

Yes ! damn that daft dog - they should be banned...

Not all dogs are bad...
 

We took our dog in our 4x4 and he was great - however we also were discussing the importance of carrying poisoned sausages ... brought on by a particular barking, bike and people hating dog.

Enjoyed the meet even though we have had to stop biking due to injury and are now in a 4x4. Would have prefered not to have been thrown at the back of a carpark though.

See you next year

(P.S i still have BMW riders gear for sale- see for sale forum)

I concur with the above sentiment. If you have a dog that can't behave (particularly that nasty white mutt), please leave it at home. I don't think I was the only one who thought it might have ended on the road kill cookout.
cheers
Chris

Had a fantastic time, excellent meeting all you pleasant people, good puting faces to names!

Thanks Paul Gowen for clarifying the carnet once and for all.

Excellent seeing two of the presentations about small bikes doing what people think can only be done by big bikes ;)

Key Lessons learnt: If you haven't used it for 2 weeks then dump it.

Except your tools and spares.

I heard a funny story of a guy who took a large battery power drill with him... HAHAHAHA !

I would also like to express my thanks to all those that made the UK meeting such a success. It was my first meeting and I gleaned a great deal of useful information, was entertained by listening to people recounting their travels and met the man responsible for showing me in the 1970s that a motorcycle was capable of so much more than a means of getting to and from work, Ted Simon, for which I am forever in his debt.

It was also gratifying to hear Grant stating that HU was for any individual undertaking a motorcycle journey, not just those going around the world. I may never get the opportunity to venture too far afield being constrained, in the best possible way, by a wonderful nine year old daughter. Although I do not ride the de rigueur litre plus off road brutes from the Fatherland, I get a great deal of enjoyment from my motorcycling journeys.

Another great HU Meeting
 

Another great meeting, good to renew friendships from previous ones, and make some new friends.

One good thing about the car park though Becs, we didn't have to put up with yapping dogs, just the constant shuffling of cars. Your dog has perfect manners and was a delight to see. I suspect most of the others were too, shame one seems to have spoiled it for the rest.

The Saunders have got a hit TV show on their hands from what I saw, the video will enthral the general public. Spin off for us will be that the over emphasised difficulties (necessary for the tv audience I know) will make all of us shine a bit brighter. Getting the bikes across a rail bridge with the train coming on relentlessly was a bit scary though.:scared: A show not to be missed when it hits the screens this Autumn, unless you are out actually doing it for real of course. :clap:

Lois made up for the lack of photos with an amusing and colourful description of her journey across Africa, an irrepressible young woman, full of fun, and a sell out presentation with standing room only.:funmeteryes: (good job we all brought the earplugs though:wink3:

The presentation from our German colleages on their trip to NZ was full of beautiful pictures on the other hand, (gives my own trip through NZ added impetuous) but was a little dry for me. This is probably due to cultural differences in humour etc. and, as I have observed in other German presentations, a leaning towards facts and figures rather than spontanious emotional input. Nevertheless a well crafted travelog.:thumbup1:

I sat in Colin and Dee's presentation by mistake, got the wrong room -duh brain:huh: , but was glad I did. I wonder if Colin is a teacher, because the structure and content was spot on. Like most HU members they had no problem saying 'we got this bit wrong - don't you do the same!!' Invaluable for when you to meet the same situation, or perhaps I should say, invaluable so you don't meet the same situation. Needed more time though, I bet there was at least another 15mins worth of questions left in the audience when we had to leave. Thanks Colin and Dee.:D

I missed most of the others because I was too busy talking.

And now with only 10 days to the off, I gotta whole house with 40 years of accumulated junk to get rid of, I think it's gonna end up with just me and a skip if I'm not careful.

I'm thinking of changing my motto to...Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home

Thanks again Susan, Grant and everyone else who made this happen.:thumbup1:

See you out there.......maybe Nelson or Creel if I can time it right.

thanks Jane!

Dogs are BANNED completely for next year - advance warning to all! And an apology to those whose dogs were not a problem - sorry - I know the "good" dogs were in the majority but don't know what else to do - other than talk to the roadkill chef...!:)

And thanks to all for the wonderful comments, your feedback is much appreciated! Putting on the meet is hard work, but more than made up for by the fun everyone has and all the great feedback we get!

thanks again, and see you next year!

Grant, Susan, Glynn, and all the volunteers who made it such a success with their hard work - and our personal special thanks to all of them, they were awesome!

It's your meeting and therefore your decision, but I wouldn't ban ALL dogs. I think you simply need to ban the owner of the dog which barked all morning. They didn't seem to care what noise it made. I doubt the dog is to blame. I don't bring a dog but I noticed that most dogs were not causing any problem. Maybe some people can't come without their dog, it would be a shame if they were unable to attend as a result of other peoples mistakes.
OK banning the person might be a bit strong, but maybe a word in their ear as it were? :)
Anyway back on topic. It was a great meeting and I can't wait for next year, so I'll just have to get down to Portugal in August. It must SURELY be dry ;)

Im no dog owner nor do I know much about them.

I didnt have a problem with any dogs there but then again I was at the top of the field.

Do muzzels stop dogs from barking ?? Are they cruel ?? I dont know !

I can see sense in banning dogs though as some kids are scared of them, they like to poop and pee on tents and bikes and of course they bark.

Still, im too laid back to mind really :mchappy:

Banning dogs - no way!
 

Grant you don't need to ban all dogs surely. Our dog was well behaved as were Glynns, Sams etc.

Unfortunately we would be unable to attend the next meeting if the dogs are banned as we'll be living in our 4x4 roof tent ready to leave next summer. We really would hate to miss next years meeting (especially as we have been for the last 4 years).

I hope I never catch up with the unruley dog owner who ruined so many peoples weekend (and pehaps next meet too).

Its a big shame as there was 6 dogs there and 1 caused a problem.

Becky

Thanks
 

I would just like to add my thanks to all the team for all their hard work this was my first meeting and it won’t be the last :mchappy:

Tim’s talk on Morocco had an effect on me as I have just booked my ferry and a flight for my wife so its Morocco here we come (God Willing) :eek3:

The high point for me was Ted’s talk and as the man said lets all be nice to each other



See you all next year :scooter:

P.S.
Don’t ban dogs just the ones that are a pain
If one of the Germans had played up you wouldn’t ban them all would you

That dog
 

Stick the dogs head under water for 5 mins -that'll help. Ban 'em all. And why are you moaning about Germans? I find that really outdated and rude.

The thing is, it's nigh on impossible to police at the event and asking someone to leave because of a noisy dog is equally only going to generate more ill-feeling.

At the end of the day though it's Grant's toy box and what he says goes. It is much easier to have a single, agreed rule publicised well in advance. And yup, I'm a dog-owner but he wouldn't be coming on any tour - bike or 4wd - so wouldn't be interested in the talks.

<Mr Grumpy>
Now if you want to eject people, how about those late-night revellers who chose to return from the fire-pit continuing their conversations at the top of their voices?
</Mr Grumpy>


First HU. Loved the format. Loved the speakers. Loved Austin's idea of a 'group photo'. Got many of my bookcase favorites autographed. Have been switched on to Morocco as a destination. However I seem to be alone in thinking that whilst the Lumb Farm hosts's hearts were very definitely in the right place and they tried really hard, the meeting - at it's current size or better - has possibly outgrown the venue and its facilities.

Thanks.
 

Yep. a BIG thank you to all involved.
Very much enjoyed!

I found a pair of goggles on my way out so if anyone knows who they belong to tell them to contact me and I'll gladly post em on.
They are jolly nice, just like Biggles used to wear!
I think they belong to a fellow who was on a triumph as they were down by where his tent was!
djorob@aol.com

Thanks all!
David.

All we ever hear nowdays is 'Ban this ban that' I am not a great dog lover but is banning really the answer? Perhaps if anyone has an unruly dog, child any anything else thats being 'a pain' give them 1 warning and then ask them to leave...........not a 'blanket' ban. I am still trying to prepare myself for the forthcoming Smoking ban!

Muchas Graicas, Companeros y Companeras
 

Great weekend - nice, nice, nice. Big 'thank yous' to all involved, especially Glyn, Grant, Susan and the other volunteers and guest speakers. Three days of adventure bikes and beery yarns made the barking rain and the damp tent irrelevant.

All good. And especially nice to see more real travellers than posing wanna-bes, more mile-stained R80s than polished 1200GSAs, more faded tattoos than Touratech catalogues. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And sharing their experiences for free.

The highlight? Gotta be Ted - on great form and full of chuckles with his perfect presentation. I still can't get that groovy jazz soundtrack out of my head.

Gracias y suerte,

Dan Walsh

I didn't see much in the way of polished 1200GSAs, but we were admiring some beautifully immaculate R80s, a couple of which looked as if they had been trailered to the camp field (or carefully cleaned after arrival).

I made one big mistake, and that was pitching the tent near the campfire. Even with earplugs we were woken at various times until 3am.

Unfortunately I missed Ted Simon's session at 10pm as I was giving a talk on Garmin GPS at the same time. I thought I had enough material for 45 minutes but there was so much interaction with the audience that it went on for 2 hours until we were ejected from the room at midnight!

Lumb Farm handled the numbers better than on my previous visit (2005) but I wish they would open the showers earlier than 0830.

Overall, a great event, even with the rain. Many thanks to Glynn, Grant and team, plus a big thank you to Nick Watson and Clare who looked after us on the trail rideout.

Tim

My only complaint was a some slightly brainless positioning of bikes and tents.

I couldnt get out of the field for 2 days, missed rideouts and couldnt go to the shops. I thought it was common to sense to leave a channel for bikes to get in and out :confused1:

Does anyone know how many people actually showed up ?? It couldnt of been 500. I guess a lot of people didnt show due to the weather. :stormy:

Yes, the range of bikes on show was diverse - second only to Dan Walsh's range of jackets!

I confess I was one of those by the campfire squeezing a full 24 hours out of a day's distance run, in the knowledge that to most of the people I saw the "sleep when I'm dead" philosophy doesn't involve too long a wait!

While Ted was always going to be the star of the show (and rightly so), an honourable second has to go to Jeremy Bullard's charismatic performance, full of self-deprecating humour, and fascinating fact. First on stage and brought the house down, what more can you say!

To paraphrase Ted:

" My trip was not a round the world trip, mine involved much more than that. The round-the-world trip has become a cliche - the RTW. Mine was just a long trip that I wanted to end where I started"

They say the sign of true genius is simplicity. I say good on yer Ted, and Jeremy too.

Ban the hell out of them!
 

Some of us dont want to ban loud dogs but to drown them, so that doesn't count. Crying children should be banned. The smoking ban is wonderful.

However I too would like to ban most bans I dont agree with.

D. Bannerman.

Yes Ted, it was bikers who positioned the tents and bikes. And there WAS a route through them but it got muddy. You could always volunteer to oversee the parking and tent positions next time, though. That would be a positive step.

I mean a route up to the top of the field. I think most people who parked near the top were stuck there all weekend, unable to get their bikes out.

God, i hate moaning.. it wasnt really a big deal

Next year I would happily lend a hand with trying to organise sensible positioning if it was required.

As I said. Has the event outgrown the venue? There were many ID cards left at the registration desk from people who either did not attend or didn't bother going to collect them, so I don't know if it even reached the 500 attendees mark.

Camping quagmire
 

Ted,
Here I was thinking that you were just being lazy on the weekend :)

The field was certainly tricky to navigate. The ol' evil eye disuaded some particularly enthusiastic campers from pitching right in front of my tent's entrance, which would have forced a mud and gravity defying dive-roll to get in :cool4:

Getting the bike out was another story.

I'm not sure if organised camping and parking will be as much fun though. A large amount of entertainment was provided by just watching some of the poor buggers trying to get out of the field on their bikes (funny until it was my turn) :laugh:

Ted, I was right at the very top... (With some other XRV.ORG guys.. :thumbup1: )

Wasn't really a big issue at all... Honest... :cool4:

Ted, consider yourself recruited for the volunteers team - parking department! ;)

We will need more volunteers next year to give a hand with various jobs, and I will create a sign-up for that purpose along with next years reg page to come soon.

MANY thanks to all the great volunteers we had this year - they did an amazing job.

Final numbers still to be determined, but yes, the rain kept a number away. But a fair number just showed up too, so around 440 or so is my best guess at this time.

Any other comments on capacity with that in mind? I rather thought it worked better than last year with more people - the meals were much quicker - except for Thursday night and that was a surprise to all - we had 180 people register Thursday! Last year it was more like 80! Next year Angela will be prepared for that.

So far we're planning on limiting it to 500 again.

We are also considering another meeting in the autumn, perhaps north - or south!? Locations anyone?

Hi Grant

A couple of years ago this subject came up and I looked for something in the south of England (excluding Kent because of security concerns you raised). However, I was not successful especially given your terrific arrangement with Lumb Farm.

I thought of south because of the proximity to the Continent for our friends over there.

Two a year might solve overcrowding though..and allow growth too.

I agree with Grant on the 500 limit. Small enough to be intimate and large enough that you never quite get to see and do everything you wanted to, which is a great reason to come again next time.

I also think an Autumn meet would be great. I'm happy to scout out some venues in the Cambs area if people want to come round here. I could probably organise a group punting session if it's not too late in the autumn. I know it's not biking, but it is good fun!

NORTH NORTH NORTH! :)

No. I'm not just lazy ;) we have some GREAT roads up here, much freer of traffic, and we are meant to be motorcycle TRAVELLERS after all! OK so some might find it a longer ride to get to but you could have it somewhere where the location itself was a draw. Lumb Farm is OK but it's just in the middle of commuterville really. Up North you could have it in Glencoe (perhaps the Red Squirrel Campsite?), or perhaps even on Skye (Sligachan Campsite after the midges have left!). Arran is another option. Or you could have it out East, say in the Cairngorms. People could then either take the fast road (the A9) or any number of other routes to get there.
Off-roading is limited up here but we could have ride outs to nice cafes or pubs instead. ;)

Anyway, that's my vote. I can look into locations, campsites with pubs etc. if you like, any excuse to get out on the bike this summer!

Matt :)

Sorry for changing subject. Feel free to move/delete.

If you are doing the north/south thing then I would definitely recommend Wyke Down near Andover. It's a farm with a large restuarant, large camping ground and massive field AND golf driving range. Venues for presentations/talks might be an issue but sure some plans can be made. Maybe use the farms two barns. Also 15 minutes from Salisbury plains :)

Wyke Down Country Pub and Restaurant - Camping and Caravan Park - Andover, Hampshire, UK.

I would be very happy to help out next year, seriously. :)


The live music was great. Maybe a blue grass band next time round too huh ??

The roadkill cook out was very good, maybe a BBQ with traditional foods for the less adventurous would take the strain off the kitchen too.

Golf range ?? Is that for all the 1200GS riding accountants ;)

Camping alone is not the issue. It has to be at a location with food & hygene facilities and the ability to host seminars and lectures with AV support (and preferably out of any inclement weather). A stock hotel or travel lodge might be up to the seminar rooms but isn't going to be too happy about hunnerds of hairy bikers camping in the grounds.

Hi Matt

Is Sol still running the Squirrel campsite?

I think there would be a problem with lecture rooms there at the farmhouse. There's the barn and nothing else.

I used to roll up to the Coe on my old BSA and park it in the barn in winter. Then down to the Clachaig for a rotten mince pie.

Good to see more women there this year - they have been very underrepresented before, in an activity which is too male dominated through lack of interest by women.(I guess).

It's becoming better balanced now.

Can anyone say what goes on at the women only meeting? Its all very mysterious and a little bit impolite.

Didn't intend to be impolite. We talked about chadors, mooncups, shewees and fear.

Don't know as I'm not a woman, but I guess a lot of the less confident women meet some of the more confident women and realise that they are more than capable of providing an interesting and informative contribution to Travellers Meetings... :rolleyes:

Is this good for women? Is this good for motorcycling as a whole?

I'd say :yes:

:D :yes: :D :yes: :D

not at all 'impolite' IMHO

Hi,

Not sure who's running it. To be honest I haven't stayed there in years. Last time I stayed in the coe I slept in the...er...Clachaig car-park! (I did have a bivi-bag though which is probably cheating by Creag Dhu standards!)

Sligachan might be a good place though. Would have to do some research to see if they could lay on room for talks etc.

Matt :)

DOGS;- shoot the (noisey) buggers....... I have two (quite) one's ...mostly!:taz:

WOMEN ONLY! ;- IS THAT SEXIST. It's a meeting of Biker's.......aint it?

But the balance was improved as metioned and rightly so, thats a good thing, (I think?). Shows a healthy respect thing.:welcome:

Move the site ;- why, its meant for traveling folk, so let them travel. All to often we in the North / East / West have to travel South surly central is just right. Any way do we not have a meet in France or Belgium?:euro:

Noisey drunks;- SHOOT THE BUGGERS!:nono:

GERMAN's ;- :sleep1: Give it a rest, life is for living, non of us can choose our place of birth, sex or colour of skin the rest we can change, so do it!

Back to my jar of Nivea my skins getting to thick, who's zoomin who?

Wine anyone ? :wheelchair: Spelling is $**t4

cheers for those they were a great help i fell in a few puddles and i was bone dry all day
had a great time and will definitely be coming next year just need to find some extra padding for my seat its a bit hard:biggrin3:

I'm with you Matt. :) Scotland has some great places to spend a weekend. As to a site for it i.e campsite/hotel debate there are a few hotels which allow bike rallies in their grounds. My own club, FVMCC, holds 2 rallies each year at different hotels which have people camping in tents in the grounds.
However, I don't care where it is. If the meet is on and I'm off work I'll be there. :) Of course I'll still be going to the Lumb farm meet in July next year as well. My bet is it won't be raining next year. ;)

:confused1: Why nobody post some pictures here for the unfortunates than can’t went there???
:D
Saludos…

Heres the few pictures I took.

Ted Magnum - HUUK 2007

Thanks for the pics Ted. Btw, those MM's look great but they are WAY too clean.

Ted..enough pics of your bike...yawn ;) ; but we did both see the aliens arriving!

Some of our pics:
Photo Sharing by MyPhotoAlbum.com :: Buya Ikhaya :: Horizons Unlimited Meet 2007

Glad you dont wear those appalling chadors Clare.

And closed social groups often use special "in" language. It's intended to exclude others, and acts to form "special" groups. It's this apartness that I find puzzling in our biking community,which is why I asked about your meetings. It's all a bit Masonic, isn't it? What do you think?


Good roads even then!

But we are not hairy bikers! We are polite, interesting and very beautiful people. Anyone would welcome us! This is an English prejudice about bikers which you wont find in the rest of the UK or on the continent.

Youre right about the need for facilities.

Are the Creag Dhu still around? there was a good howff under the road just down from McInness's cottage. It was used by the "Bendy Boys" so called because the roof was only 4 ft high.

The run up from Glasgow on the bike was stunning - I have great memories of that, coming up from Loch Tulla, and blasting across Rannoch moor, with the red deer stags running over the peat hags and burns as you whizz down the bends inside Glencoe itself. Is that piper still there at the falls? The Glen Etive road past the Buchaille Etive Mhor is also fantastic.

I don't think so. Male/Female, Mars/Venus time. There'll never be complete unity.

Could you happily stand and hold a conversation regarding femenine hygene products in a group of mixed-sex strangers? I'm not sure most women would. It's probably about as personal as standing at the bar and annoucing to your mate at the top of your voice that you're taking treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Andy. Male. Married to a mooncup user.

Agree with you there Sagarmatha1000.

Also, it would be good for us blokes to get a high level breifing paper on the outcomes of the meetings as they will help is to be more supportive/patient/tolerant/sympathetic/envious of the issues ladies have in this lifestyle of ours.

"Did you know that border control in Iran (?) is quicker for woman that men because the male officials just want to get the woman through asap to avoid any contact with them."...or something like that.

Oh yes and sorry to hear about your ED. Have you tried Ethiopian Longhorn cow dung.

Charlie. Male. Married to a Shewee user

How do you know theyre talking about fem. hyg?

I didnt mention unity! Youve missed the point somewhat.............
Have you done that by the way? - told your mate about your erectile dysfunction?

Well! I dont think women will appreciate you being "tolerant/patient " etc with them. IMO its a little old fashioned. Maybe this is why they have private meetings. Who knows?

Good roads best wishes

Because Clare told you so, amongst other things. At the time my wife & I thought it was going to be a little more about self-defense.

And I'm supposed to react to that?

We, including me, are digressing. Start a new thread on this issue if you want.

It's clear that the HU Meeting was a well balanced affair that catered for all attendees with individual as well as general interest.

I've taken the liberty: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...896#post141208

I'm sorry Sag - I didnt know this particular codeword for fem. hyg. I still dont know actually! Nor do I really want to know. On a point of accuracy, it was you who first mentioned dysfunction, not me! I'm afraid I dont know how you "react" to your own words, so forgive me for that please.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the weekend and didnt get too wet. Were you stuck in the mud as others were?

Sagarmatha -it's pretty world beating as a National Park isnt it?

PS I liked your TDM and its particularly nice exhaust sound.
All the best!

It is a pretty bike though :)

Did you get home ok ? Shells tells me that your engine siezed on the way home :(

That it is! ;)

Wykes Down camp site nr, Andover
 

Looks like a good place for an AUTUMN venue.

Tell us why it's a good place?

Andover is easy to get to for everyone in southern UK.
The venue has a fully functioning restuarant kitchen
The venue has a fully stocked bar
The retuarant has two sepearte areas with seperate doors that can be used as presentation rooms
There is a pool room with 4 pool tables that can also act as a presentation room. All these are largers than those at Lumbs.
The camping ground has plenty of standpipes.
The camp ground had proper traffic circulation routes
The camp ground has a gentle slope so no skidding around trying to ride up a grassy slope which gave a number of people problems at Lumbs and sufficient slope for drainage.
The camp ground has ablution facilites in the middle of the tent area
There is a massive spill-over field
They host a number of motor fairs every year and host the weekly car boot sale
I have no clue what Audio visual facilities they have but if they don't have digital projectors then it's not difficult to hirte some in very cheaply for the weekend. The AV as Lumbs was giving troubles at the start of almost every presentation.
For an event of this size I am sure that the owner would be happy to arrange extra chairs, AV etc etc

It's 1hr out of London. Take a spin down there on a Saturday or on a day off and see what you think.

Southern venue
 

Sounds like a great place to spend a weekend - is someone going to try and arrange this?

It would be nice to have a meeting down in the southern part of the country

Hi, skipping back a page or two, I just want to add my thanks to Grant, Susan, Glynn and all who worked so hard to make it a great meeting.

We had a fantastic time, the perfect way to start a weeks holiday.
My girlfriend, who was nervous about going, is now converted! (What have I done)...!

As for many, Ted Simon was the highlight for me. I'm now re-reading my shiny new, signed copy of the book that started me on this biking malarkey.

I also enjoyed Colin and Dee's presentation on Sunday, interesting and informative, as was chatting to Colin afterwards. If you read this Colin, look us up when you get to Edinburgh!

It was good catching up with Dan W too, been a long time since India Dan.
Thanks for the news, even if it was sad, see you in Latin America 2009?

Thanks again to you all, can't wait for the next one.


P.S I'm for a Northern autumn meeting!

Thanks for a great weekend the chilled atmosphear, presentations and banter has done me the power of good. i'll vote for more of the same, Scotland sounds good.

First time for me, great meeting, great presentations and ace to meet some of my hero's - pity I did not realize Dan Walsh was indeed the Dan - doh! Venue was good too - with the exception of the f'ing weather - maybe the HU UK meeting should be held in Southern Europe next time ;-)

I was personally in awe at the German couple's presentation it must have taken weeks to put together was fantastic and had some amazing photography.

Jacqui Furneux's 'plan, no plan' was really, really inspriring and something I've love to repeat.

The 'Just go' couple was very useful in explaining what they'd learnt from having to use a car initially

The talk on the taxman was useful too

And it was great to meet Mr. Carnet de Passage himself

Grant's photo tip talk was good - I managed to get some great pictures of tents, bikes and rain after that!

Ted's and Lois's presentation where obivously much fun. And I really agreed with Ted the population growth is out of control also interesting Ted saying he was not sure RTWs where still sensible - I took this as a reference to the resources consumed.

Finally it was a great to have the various suppliers at the venue to meet and talk to them.

So 10 out of 10 from me (ok it would have been 11 out of 10 - but that would have meant BBQ'ing the barking mutt on Saturday night)

I've only just returned from the meeting (my navigation isn't that bad, I was visiting friends!) but just wanted to add my thanks and praise for a great meeting. I can't believe how amazingly friendly everyone was, how much was going on and what a brilliant time I had. Can't wait to get along to the next one!:thumbup:

The "next" one for Brits is in Portugal! :) And of course there's always the HUMM if you want a great riding fix!

hope to see you there!

And thanks for all the great comments, it's much appreciated by all the hard workers that made it such a great event.

HU meeting
 

Great weekend - hopefully back next year (if I'm not on the road). Shame about the :stormy:

Al

better parking
 

As you say "What's the fuss". I was one of the first up there next to the AfricaTwins. I unloaded my kit then moved my bike to the car park. At the end of the weekend I took my bike up and loaded up. Planning is great as an afterthought but to do it all the time takes thoughtfulness.
Why blame others for the same thoughtless act you consider ok in yourself.

Anyway I would like to add my thanks to all who made my weekend great. The stories of trips done, and yet to come, from everyone, was such a great experience for me. And to meet one of my personal heros Ted.
I don't think I'll swap my Wee for an XRV but I'll hold that though till after my next trip (South america). After I finish Scotland.
And why throw a sickie? I resigned to get there. LOL

I'd like to be there but I'm off to
Wilderness and Bushcraft Skills Gathering
i hope to meet a few of you there