So, what have I been doing with my Street Cup over the last week or so? Getting it ready for the 2025 DGR, this year I'll be doing the Chester Ride. Those of you who read my post on page 1013 of "What have you been doing with your triumph today?" will recall I found a tiny nail in the middle of my fairly new Avon Road Rider 2 rear tyre after a charity ride, which was the cause of a slow puncture. I have to intersperse two wheeled tasks with a busy work life. First was to clean the bike last week (boring) and then remove the wheel and take it to F and B Motorcycle Tyres in Wheelock to repair the puncture (about a 45 minute drive away which turned into 1hr because of road closures). Steve is an absolute gent, the nail see below was an absolute pain to get out. Only 2mm wide, it had gone in at an angle just deep enough to create a small leak, but not deep enough to come through the carcass. He couldn't push it in because of the angle and so had to grind just enough of the inside of the carcass away to get the tips of his pliers on the nail and push it back just enough to tug the nail out the way it went in. ~30 mins start to finish. "How do you want paying?", "cash please." "How much?" "Ten pounds please." "You're joking?!" "No. You brought me just the wheel, that saved me a load of work." I'd already decided that he'd do all my tyre work after he sourced my Avons at a very reasonable price, this just confirmed it. Anyway had to wait a day or so to refit the wheel and clean and readjust the chain. What an infuriating faf! Street Cups can't take a centre stand, the mounting holes are there but the silencers are too wide. But I have a Triumph T100/120 one that I fit for this task. Then crawling my decrepit ancient body around the floor, getting greasy scraped knuckles, to get the chain clean tensioned correctly and the wheel aligned. Several hours later (my laser monkey alignment tool batteries died) and I had to go and buy more. Job done. Now the bike is ready for the DGR. Given all that hard dirty work, I'm going to blatantly plug my DGR giving page and hope that some of you wonderful souls will find it in your hearts to sponsor me. I know from experience how vital the charities DGR supports are. Here's the link:- https://gfolk.me/PaulWithington440108 Enjoy the ride . (I will) PS if anyone else is doing the DGR we could use this page to show photos and share experiences.
Won't be doing the ride, working in fact, but at least now my conscience is clear. Have a great day mate
Heading to Portland, OR for my first DGR. Weather is going to be a challenge as I ride from Bend to Portland. Planning to head over the Cascade Range on Saturday in almost certain rain and possible snow on in the mountain passes with almost any of the routes I choose. "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!". https://gfolk.me/MarkSpencer625825
Just finished cleaning etc for the DGR at Poole to Bournemouth. 1000 bikes on again this year so could be a bite slow at times but its well organised so hope the weather is good.
Have a good one, take care over the mountains. You have a fine looking steed for the event but are you going to keep your finery fine enroute?
I am loading up tonight. Thinking at least 4 layers to get over Hood or Santiam. I will check the routes tomorrow morning and pick the route least likely for snow. Sunday tweeds in a dry bag. Spring in the Cascades!!! Sounds like a damn fine adventure for a good cause.
Just saw this post, @RevPaul! Can I still donate through your page?? What a major drag with that tire and wheel business. Glad you got it sorted out before the ride, though.
How did your ride go, @TelemarkTumalo? Hope you had smooth sailing and no snow. Any photos of you and your bike with your Sunday tweeds?
Thanks Sandi T. I totally enjoyed the DGR Portland. What a great bunch of people! Thoroughly fun and a great event that I will continue to support. Spring weather in the PNW is.... shall we say iffy for warm weather endeavors. Bend to Portland means up and over mountain passes no matter how I go. I left Bend in sunny weather but soon encountered rain and quickly added rain gear. Just a bit of snow over Mt. Hood. 35°F and 35 mph max had me shivering but hell yes! Our DGR ride at Triumph Columbia River was wonderful. About 350 of us and the event could not have been better supported. These are my peeps for sure! The people of Portland were so damn supportive. We roared through our 45 mile route and I never saw more than smiles and a thumbs up. Count me in for next year! ATTGATT!
@TelemarkTumalo, sounds like fantastic event and a grand adventure! Thanks for the photos. What a great turnout. Good for you for braving some rather "chilly" temperatures to get there!
Hi @Sandi T, that's really kind. The sponsor/donate links stay open for a few weeks after the event, so you can still donate/sponsor. But can I point you towards @TelemarkTumalo? He's put his link on his reply to my original post. I was going to sponsor him to honour the potential ride through snowy mountain passes but when I called up his link here in blighty, the website said it would charge me in $, but nowhere did it explain what the exchange rate would be and whether there would be a currency exchange charge, so I didn't sponsor him. If I've got my geography right you are at least in the same country and so can pay in $. It all goes to the same equivalent charities in each country so so long as we men are looked after I don't mind where the money goes.
So the day started cool but sunny and dry and the forecast was for another perfect riding day which is what it turned out to be: Weather just right for a ride; sunny with a little cloud and Goldilocks temperature for both riding and standing around chatting about the assembled bikes. I over estimated how long it would take to get from the Northwich area to Chester, so I arrived at the Sealand Road trading estate half an hour before we were asked to arrive; perfect for a cheeky Costa (other coffee outlets are available) Coconut Flat White and a comfort break; my enlarged Prostate (not cancer) makes this infuriatingly more frequent now that I'm a gentleman of a certain age and that helps me understand why the charities that the DGR supports are so important (I've also benefitted from mental health counselling). I was glad I got into Chester early because the DGR coincided with the Chester half-marathon. I arrived at the BMW dealership on time without hold-up, but those who left it later really struggled to get there on time and we ended up leaving about 30 minutes late. The Chester half-marathon also meant that we couldn't round ride around the streets of Chester, so the ride went out of Chester instead, to the Old Stores Biker café in Ponblyddyn. Not a particularly long ride, it took only 50 minutes for me roughly in the middle of the pack of 88 riders, so for me that was little disappointing. But the weather was perfect, I met some really interesting characters, with some amazing riding history, bike building skills and personal stories. We all looked dapper and I hit my personal target of over £300 raised. Photo's below (none of me but some nice bikes).
Thanks RevPaul. It was indeed a great time. I did have a few shivers when the speeds got up and some clouds, but overall, the weather was a great riding day. Triumph Columbia River is an awesome dealership and were great local sponsors and organizers. I think that 400 riders had signed up and I'm guessing close to that number made the ride. The folks of Portland could not have been nicer and patiently waited while we paraded through. The wet, cold weather to and fro over the passes just made it a memorable adventure. And, will get me busy getting the heated grips installed.
Will do, @RevPaul. I didn't think about the exchange rate. And I agree about men everywhere being looked after.
Much thanks @Sandi T for the donation to the DGR. Very kind of you, and of course, a great cause. I have to say, that this ride really brings out the best in all of us. Another bike that I fell in lust with.... a Thruxton FE. What a beauty!
