Skip to main content

50th Sinterklaastreffen - 2019


Still plenty of time before I become Billy No-Mates again for other riders to stand up and join me on the run across to Ostend.  

Of course, we may have Brexited on October 31st and the EU might have erected a sea-wall between us and the mainland of Europe..... Or then again, everyone might see sense and carry on as normal and allow tourism to take place. Might.

It won't be too bad. I will meet up up with long term biker buddy Tony Young and family on his trike.  When we went for the first time in 1985, Tony and Heather were there I think on his Aspencade or maybe a BMW RT. 

My memory has faded.

My partner at the time, Audrey, was on the pillion of my almost new MZ 250ETZ. Two up with luggage was a struggle.

Back then we used to stay the weekend from Friday to Sunday at the Hotel Polaris.  It became "our" hotel and over the years we stayed there as a Suzuki Owners Club group we tended to meet the same  group German riders year in year out.

Tony will be doing that again this year but not at the Polaris that closed many years ago. 

Like most of the last fifteen years or so, I will be going for the day only on the Saturday. In the early days Claire used to come with me on the trip and she remembers the "uniqueness" of the Polaris! 

The rally is a week earlier than the traditional St Nick's day, which is December 6th.  I guess this so that it can actually go ahead.

Over the years to rally has become more difficult to stage due to changes in regulations about camping at the Velodrome and other environmental concerns. Such a shame as a charity event it raised money and collected toys for children.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Battery?

The weekend showed how weak the battery has become.  Having had to use the dbPower unit on four separate occasions during the day in Belgium was the giveaway. We are in the second winter of this problem where the battery isn't strong enough to start the bike. In the summer it charges and holds that charge and although I keep the dbPower unit to hand I rarely have to use it.  But in winter it barely has the power to turn the engine over. It's simply "clunk". The lights come on though and that probably doesn't help. So what to do? Being a fair weather biker nowadays I won't be using the bike that often until the new year. Do I get a new battery sooner rather than later? It might end up freezing away in the garage. I have a garage in a block away from the house with no power, so a trickle charger is no use either. I have been looking at a replacement though.  A  Motobatt  with a high cranking power should be around £75. So unlikel...
2 comments
Read more

Czech Invader Rally 2022?

Looking to next year for what maybe a jolly-boys trip to the Czech Invader Rally or what might end up a Billy No-Mates trip. I have been to five previous Czech Invaders but only once when I rode there completely alone. I did that in 1992 on my DR800SL. It's not something I would do again. Not in one hit. When I arrived I could hardly get off the bike I was so stiff for sitting in one place for hour upon hour. Those were all held at the same "rally-inn" in  Chudčice  near Brno. The last one I did was way back in 2004 with Claire as pillion. The BMW GS wasn't well received - not being a Suzuki! BMW at Rally. There is no way I'll be on the Kettle. At 37mpg it will cost a kidney to ride the 1700 mile round trip. So Pepé will need to be the bike of choice. If only I had cruise control as well to help with the saving of fuel. If I am to go over as a solo traveller I will stay in Youth Hostels. After all I will be an old age pensioner by then. We did that way back in 199...
Post a Comment
Read more