Platinum Pig
Guest
Having had my 2002 1150-GS Adventure for all of just 5 weeks now (this being my very first road bike ever; I rode motocross on a Rickman 125 as a teenager), and Dartmoor being my very first meet with my very first bike club, I was a bit apprehensive as to how it would all go.
Departed London Saturday morning, not wanting to do the miles to Dartmoor in the rain of Friday evening. So I didn't arrive on the moore until around 3 in the afternoon. I couldn't have been off my bike for 5 minutes at the UKGS campsite when I was accosted by a motley brigand of 5 or 6 surly attendees. The largest one of the lot kicked off the piss-take with a brazen, smug opening interrogative "Excuse me! ...How do you expect to get laid tonight in a tent that small?"
Instantly, I knew I was in the right company.
Numerous cheese plates, "mugs" of wine, "battle tactics," and daylight hours later, I'd more or less been introduced to the lot. Somehow, I guess I figured a bike meet such as this would be full of brooding suspicious ornery canine types, circling one another, sniffing tails to gauge the bollocks size. Having proven myself basically correct, I was thus free to enjoy an incredible outpouring of hospitality and friendliness --from just about everyone I met the entire weekend.
What a great bunch of people you GSers are! Every single person I met was amiable, helpful, and enthusiastic (the married ones were pretty much likewise). I can't remember when I've so quickly been made to feel part of a group, or when I've felt like a group was having such a collective good time together. Can't wait to meet up again with you all. And with any luck, this time I'll actually get there in time to do a ride-out or two.
Thanks to everyone (Chris, Paul, Lucy, Becky, Bakerman, Chuck, Dave, Val, Tiffany, Greg, Nick, Kylie, Bob, etc.) for making me feel comfortable and included in the club. If anyone was gonna pop my cherry (he said, mistily), I'm glad it was you.
See you all down the road, with any luck. Because my time remaining as a resident here in the UK is fairly short before I have to return to the States, I'll be hitting the road soon to tour Britain, Scotland, and Ireland (and then a big trip down the Atlantic coast of France, Spain, and Portugal, ultimately to Morocco --if I've got the balls. Look for my separate thread on this subject very soon). I'd love to drop in on any and all of you (who can tolerate a tall American visitor) and importune you for a ride-out to your favorite local run together, if you are into it. If so, please let me hear from you via e-mail at: frankgresham @ macunlimited.net.
Thanks again for a great time, and a great meet at Dartmoor. Cheers!
Frank Gresham
Departed London Saturday morning, not wanting to do the miles to Dartmoor in the rain of Friday evening. So I didn't arrive on the moore until around 3 in the afternoon. I couldn't have been off my bike for 5 minutes at the UKGS campsite when I was accosted by a motley brigand of 5 or 6 surly attendees. The largest one of the lot kicked off the piss-take with a brazen, smug opening interrogative "Excuse me! ...How do you expect to get laid tonight in a tent that small?"
Instantly, I knew I was in the right company.
Numerous cheese plates, "mugs" of wine, "battle tactics," and daylight hours later, I'd more or less been introduced to the lot. Somehow, I guess I figured a bike meet such as this would be full of brooding suspicious ornery canine types, circling one another, sniffing tails to gauge the bollocks size. Having proven myself basically correct, I was thus free to enjoy an incredible outpouring of hospitality and friendliness --from just about everyone I met the entire weekend.
What a great bunch of people you GSers are! Every single person I met was amiable, helpful, and enthusiastic (the married ones were pretty much likewise). I can't remember when I've so quickly been made to feel part of a group, or when I've felt like a group was having such a collective good time together. Can't wait to meet up again with you all. And with any luck, this time I'll actually get there in time to do a ride-out or two.
Thanks to everyone (Chris, Paul, Lucy, Becky, Bakerman, Chuck, Dave, Val, Tiffany, Greg, Nick, Kylie, Bob, etc.) for making me feel comfortable and included in the club. If anyone was gonna pop my cherry (he said, mistily), I'm glad it was you.
See you all down the road, with any luck. Because my time remaining as a resident here in the UK is fairly short before I have to return to the States, I'll be hitting the road soon to tour Britain, Scotland, and Ireland (and then a big trip down the Atlantic coast of France, Spain, and Portugal, ultimately to Morocco --if I've got the balls. Look for my separate thread on this subject very soon). I'd love to drop in on any and all of you (who can tolerate a tall American visitor) and importune you for a ride-out to your favorite local run together, if you are into it. If so, please let me hear from you via e-mail at: frankgresham @ macunlimited.net.
Thanks again for a great time, and a great meet at Dartmoor. Cheers!
Frank Gresham
- GSer family values!
's caught you right there where it feels good. Very accurate.... there is just so much cameraderie, quite surprising for such a large group ( and there are more of them) of people, totally ungoverned by a series of rules, not a club. Where the motto is possibly, "Take yourself very seriously about not being serious" 
