InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

I can't say that I have ever stayed in biker specific accommodation before.  That's not to say I don't like the idea, it's just that anywhere I have been across Europe for the better part of 40 years, I have only ever been turned away from one place, and that was a restaurant in St Tropez! Generally, Europe is far more biker-friendly that the UK. That said, the Loft is a good idea for a social event like we had over the weekend.  The place was full with different biker groups staying there.  As a former woollen factory it is on the edge of the village. From the loading doors on the front of the building that now act as windows to the bar area to the parking in the warehouse section, and the rooms on two sides on two floors. Bikers Loft In the centre, there is a strange looking adobe building that houses the showers, male and female. It all works though.

The last day. After leading yesterday's run to Ypres, I decided to take a back seat, or a different place in the line of 8 bikes. And so after a repeat of the previous day's self cook breakfast we packed the bikes and headed off. Aiming for Nieuwpoort aan Zee as the first stop. The plan to follow a canal all the way there to where it meets the sea at a huge marina. I was bringing up the rear of the column and saw a sign like this one. "No Motor vehicles" After only one short section of the towpath/road. We tried to alert those ahead but Cal and I were the only two not heading past this sign. We chose to turn left across a lift bridge onto the other bank, where Nieuwpoort was signposted 15kms away. As we headed along we sounded our horns and waved at the "first wave" to no avail. Some miles further on their side came to an end. By then we were way ahead despite dropping the speed to 40. We carried onto t...

We were up reasonably after a latish night and the self cook dinner! Breakfast is included in the room rate and is also self service as well as self cook. I'm not used to eating breakfast and so opted for the continental style rather than the bacon and eggs style!  The rooms are pretty basic. I shared with Trevor and we had two single beds. A little re-jigging of the room ensured that there was a man-gap between the beds! Early suggestions for the Saturday ride out had been to the Wire of Death. An electric fence that was built by the German occupation army in 1915 from the coast at Knokke to the German border, and just inside the Belgian frontier. It was to stop Belgians escaping into neutral Netherlands.  Over the course of the war it claimed over a 1000 lives. Read more.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_of_Death I can't tell you any more as we didn't go!! In the end we decided on Ypres, only  30 miles aw...

Packing Pepe (or Red Pepe to use his full name)  doesn't take too long. The panniers aren't that big. Enough for the weekend for one person. I might have to invest in a sissy bar pack in future! The plan was to meet Trevor from the Meldrews at 3pm at th fuel station in Dover. I was a little late as the traffic was horrendous and Pepe is a little too wide to squeeze through.  After a malfunction on the Sprint owned by Graham, another Meldrew, we were checked in and waiting to board the ferry at 3.30! A little early. The crossing was smooth and once across in France I led the way with TomTom's assistance to the Loft. Parked up in the Loft More about the loft later. We met up with the other Meldrews, eight in total for dinner and a few beers. Day 1 ended with us already into Day 2 and bed.