The motorbikes may have changed but the story stays the same
Sometimes life gets in the way of things.
Family commitments, work commitments, bad weather, good weather and even a global pandemic can change what we do and how we do it. Sometimes we just make plans and change them and sometimes we just change the things we want to do and how we want to do them. That pretty much is the backdrop to a ‘meet up’ at the weekend in Stratford upon Avon in the West Midlands.
It’s been a while
A group of us who have known each other for maybe around 20 years or so and who have biked together here in the UK and in many parts of Europe all got together again after a break of about six or seven years.
In the past we have motorcycled many miles – either together or in various combinations across England, Scotland and Wales.
European trips have included biking in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and maybe other places that slip my mind. Many of the trips will be referenced in the ‘Lockdown Lookback’ – which starts at this link. … along with some more youthful pictures of most of us.
We’ve kept in contact
In between times we have kept in contact, mainly via email and there have been other occasions where some of us have met up outside of ‘the group’.
There was no particular reason for this get together – just an email from Colin checking if anyone fancied meeting up for a catch up.
Despite the challenge that normally comes with getting any group of people to find a convenient time that suits everyone I think we went with the second date that Colin suggested and everyone was ‘up for it’.
Why meet in Stratford?
Well I can tell you it has absolutely nothing to do with it being the birthplace of probably the most famous writer in the English language, nor any real desire to visit Stratford. It was a simple question of geography and convenience. We’re not all located in the same part of the country.
I think geographically we are spread between: Kent, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Manchester, Preston and the Wirral and meeting up in Stratford is probably as convenient as anywhere.
It’s also a place we have used as a meet up point on a number of occasions in the past. Check out this link for pictures from the 2014 meet up!
Meeting Point
We had decided to meet up at one of the central car parks alongside the river in central Stratford and then head over to Wellesbourne Airfield and The Touchdown Cafe about five miles or so away.
The meeting place in Stratford looked dramatically different than when we were last there.
The car park had been expanded and was much bigger than when we were last there. Alongside the river there was another addition, a huge Ferris wheel – The Stratford Big Wheel.
But the meeting up plan didn’t quite work as two of our group had headed directly to the cafe rather than the place we had arranged to meet (claiming the email instructions said something different …)
In any case it was hardly an issue and the other four of us (who had managed to follow the basic email instructions) headed off to Wellesbourne Airfield.
It was great to meet up again and we probably spent half an hour or so chatting and catching up – before agreeing there was next to no chance of getting something to eat and drink at The Touchdown Cafe as it was absolutely rammed.
Clearly the place has become a really popular venue for bikers in a way that it just hadn’t been when we had last met up there.
Picture set 1 – it’s been a while
There are three sets of pictures in this blog post – the first couple of pictures in Set 1 were taken at the central meeting point in Stratford with the rest being take in the car park at Wellesbourne Airfield.
Clicking any image will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through.
Picture set 2 – all shapes and sizes
Pictures in this second set are just a selection of bikes at The Touchdown Cafe – it’s probably the yellow Honda 400 Four that would get my nod from the old bikes – although the black Kawsaki Z1000 SX looked nice (I used to have a Z1000 like that and sold it back in 2017).
Clicking any image will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through.
Off to the Garden Shed
A quick search on google brought up a cafe called The Garden Shed – the description and reviews looked good so we made the short journey of about two miles from the airfield to the cafe.
The cafe turned out to be really good and so was the service. The food and coffee was excellent and all in all it turned out to be a really decent place to meet up.
Thankfully the weather was reasonable and we were able to sit outside and make the most of the location and of course to all have a really decent chat and catch up with how life had been treating us.
In life and in general I don’t think people really change very much and in its own way there’s something reassuring about that – and with our small group it felt more or less the same as the last time we had met – so I’ll pretty much finish where I started – the motorcycles may have changed but the story stays the same.
Picture set 3 – it’s not actually a garden shed
Pictures in this third and final set are from our visit to The Garden Shed – if you’re ever down that way I’d definitely recommend it as a fine place to stop for a drink and a bite to eat.
What next
Well who knows what next but we did leave with the possiblility of considering a road trip next year … that doesn;t mean it will happen, but it doesnt mean it wont either.
All in all it was great to meet up – my journey was just shy of 300 miles and for the most part it was a pretty good – not a bad way to spend a Sunday really.
Lovely to catch up with friends.