Following months of planning and four
sighting trips by Dave Collings and his
merry band of helpers, the 27th of
June finally arrived – overcast and
slightly misty but dry, with forecasts
ranging from scorching summer
sunshine to thunderstorms and heavy
rain depending on which one you
looked at. This resulted in a
somewhat unusual situation for me –
deciding what to wear or take
with me. Stuff it, travel light(ish)
and hope for the best. I
compromised a bit by not
wearing (or taking) my t-bag
jacket and got a bit warm but I
would have stayed dry had it
rained, which it didn’t.
Some 40 bikes, plus 10 pillions,
duly checked in and assembled
at the Channel Tunnel terminal
at Cheriton shortly after 05:00
for a scheduled crossing at
06:20. Amongst our number
were two riders from Riders Digest,
David and Sarah; the October issue
(142) carried the story. Loading
started about 06:00 and the train
departed promptly on time for the 40-
minute crossing to Coquelle,
just west of Calais, where our
tour would really get off the
ground.
The first leg (about 77 miles)
saw us taking the A16
motorway for about half an hour
before diving off onto the minor
roads at Boulogne and heading
for Devres. Our first stop was
Abbeville for coffee and
croissants where we all duly
arrived and frightened the life
out of the local residents by
completely taking over the
town’s main square. One of our
number somehow managed to go
missing and get lost but was finally
tracked down and agreed to meet up
again in Dieppe. Quite how that
