Skip to main content

Vimy 2017

Planning has begun on the first run of the year. This trip will be to Vimy in Northern France. 

This year is the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Arras, and in particular the Canadian assault on the enemy held ridge at Vimy to the north-west of the city.

I have been several times before, lastly in 2014 and in 2015 I had a heart operation just days before it took place! I was unable to go last year even though it was a Saturday.



This will be a Johnny No-Mates trip as we had originally planned to have it as a Meldrews event but when we found that Eurotunnel had no day tickets to sell as it is the week before Easter, we dropped it.

The date is as always April 9th and this year it is a Sunday.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/first-world-war/vimy-ridge/100-anniversary

Report later.



UPDATE 3rd April 2017:

I saw on Facebook that one of the bike groups I joined a while back are having a day trip to France on the 9th to have a hoon around and lunch. So I got on the Eurotunnel site and saw that day trips arr now available. So I booked myself on the 0850 returning at 2020. This should give me time to get here in good time and then get away again after the shuttle buses take us back to the parking and then the 80 miles ride back to the port.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bikers Loft 3

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...

Ring of Red 2017

Hopefully by November 12th the common  fainting (vasovagel syncope) problem will have receded and I will be fit enough to get out on this run. So far I have been every year since it started. I sometimes think that I should support the RBLR run to Newhaven Fort but that is a very early start. RoR starts well after local cenotaph events are over and well after the televised Act of Remembrance in Whitehall is over. Plenty of time to get togged up and out. I ordered a couple of wristbands. Last year I had two. One went on Pepé's speedo surround and the other disappeared. The 2015 band is on the rev counter. 2016 pinged off somehow so I asked the organisers if they had any spare.  For a donation I ordered another one.  Then this morning I opened a drawer and there was the "missing" one from last year. Now I have 2 for 2016. One spare! ! One will go on the bike with 2017. Ring of Red .