MARCH 2013 - FREE TO MEMBERS; £0.10 WHEN SOLD SEPARATELY

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DIRECTORS ANNUAL REPORT 2012

My second year as Director has gone by andwhat a busy year it was. The year started withour Egg Run, our tenth Circus Maximus wasa sell out and despite the weather well at-tended by other chapters. We had our bestyear for attendance at other rallies, Wake theLakes, Rainy Daze, SOFER and, Thunder inthe Glens. It has to be said that either therides to or from some of these were amongthe wettest conditions I have ever ridden in,but that none of this stopped us having agreat time and plans are well on the way fora return in 2013. Mark and the team of RoadCaptains, produced an excellent program ofride outs continuing to be well supported bymembers, and I am sure there will be somegreat rides planned for 2013. Once again, wehelped out at RTTW with the parking, and forthe second year in a row the weather wasbright and sunny. The early start did not putoff a good attendance, although ridingstraight into the sun or fog did make leadingthe ride down somewhat interesting. We willbe there again this year so come along andsupport a very worthy cause.Once again Windy organised a chapter tripover to the Loft in Belgium and again therewere good numbers for this trip with varia-tion’s on routes, some by tunnel, some on fer-ries but we all ended up at the Loft, drank,sang and generally had a great time. Therewere the usual mishaps, a small “off” on theway down, flat tyres, hang overs! Luc andBernie guided us round in their own, particu-larly Belgium way (whistles & lolly pops!never work in the UK) and those of us whocame back on the Zebrugge to Hull ferry hada lovely sunny ride home! The annual Xmas party had a theme this

year as it does every year and everyonemade an effort. Cowboys and Saloon girls,some may be made to much effort has any-one seen Andria Ball recently! Hats, guns,fish nets, Basque’s, shooting gallery, yeehah! In 2012 we once again were able to give agood donation to our nominated charities with£1,100 going to Claire House and £500 toSave the Family. There will be an opportunityto have a tour of Claire House during 2013,

MARCH 2013

Welcome to yet another issue of Despatches. The 1st one for2013. A thorpughly enjoyable 2012 has been succeeded bywhat will hopefully be an even better 2013.

2013 promises to be a busy year for all things Deva. Rallies,Meetings, Rides, Events and trips all follow each other in quicksuccession.

The club is, this year, supporting Nabbed in Chelford, Cheshire(May), Wake The Lakes (July), Rainy Daze (July) and Sofer(August). Of course we have our own rally Circus Maximuswhich is held from 7th - 9th of June. All bands and musoic havebeen booked, retailers are attending, Mark Wells is planning acracking ride. Due to various events in other parts of the coun-try as well as the European event in Rome, clashing with ourevent it is even more important this year that as many mem-bers as possible support the rally so please book your ticketsand take part in the fun.

Following Keith Woodwards decision to finish his role as web-master I have suggested to combine my role as magazine ed-itor with the role as webmaster. I have since the AGM replacedthe old website and although it is not finished yet it is at least‘live’. I hope you enjoy the webpage and look forward to yourongoing feedback. As a result of compiling both the magazineand the website the “Missive” has now become somewhar su-perfluous. I hope to keep the webpage more interactive andup-to-date and will use that format to keep people informed ofall matters day-to-day whilst the magazine will remain as it hasbeen for the last year. Please keep logging on to the websitefor the latest information.

A big thank you to all contributors to the magazine this month.Committee members for their reports, Geoff Hall for the greatarticle about his holiday to New Zealand and Chris Kirk for thejokes.

Finally I would like to thank Keith, Richard, Mike and Jackie forall the efforts over the years. Theyhave all decided not stand again intheir repsective roles. After years ofservice and hard work to make theclub more enjoyable for all they arenow taking a less visible and pro-ac-tive approach to the club’s activities.

ENJOY AND STAY SAFEVINCENT

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and for anyone who has not done this, if you can dealwith the emotions its well worthwhile as you will under-stand why we continue to support this local charity.

At the AGM we had a number of changes in officerswith two roles being taken by new members, Vincenttaking over the role of Editor and Diane taking the roleof Ladies of Harley with Jackie continuing to organiseour social events and Daphne taking on the merchan-dise. I would like to express my thanks to all the chap-

ter officers for their continued support and hard work.At this years AGM as at last year’s we are goingthrough a number of changes with a number of officersstanding down after a long length of service, hugethanks must go to Mike, Jackie and Richard. Mike hasbeen there since day one back in 2001 and played amajor part in ensuring the Chapter has gone fromstrength to strength and if anyone deserves a rest itsMike although he is now a Road Captain. Of courseJackie has always been there supporting Mike and

since 2004 As Ladies of Harley officer organ-ising our social activities and much more.Richard took over the Treasurers position in2006 and has done a sterling! Job in keepingour finances in order. It is only right that wemade a presentation to all three at the AGMto show the gratitude of the Chapter mem-bers for their long years of service. I hopethat Richards actual gift turns up for the nextmeeting as it was a little embarrassing tohave nothing to give him on the night, sorryRichard.So a new phase in the Chapter has startedwith Debbie Singleton taking on the role ofSecretary, Ian Miller taking on the role ofTreasurer and Andrew Ball the role of SafetyOfficer. Thanks to all of them for getting in-volved, it is always good to have fresh facesand ideas to help take us forward.2013 is going to be a good year for Deva wehave already lots of plans for Circus Max-imus with a new ride out, extra bands for Sat-urday afternoon as well as the headline acts,so get you tickets booked asap. The team ofRoad Captains have a packed ride out sea-son organised, three of them are going onthe HOG Road Captain’s course in May, sowe should see everything run like clockwork.We will be attending a number of other Chap-ters rallies this year, so see George for thelist and get your name down, and keep aneye out for a special weekend ride out/party!Let’s not forget we ride bikes to have fun, andthat’s it.

JON (TWIGGLET) TWIGG

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Hi to all you ladies of Harley riders and non riders. Iwould just like to thank all of you that turned up for our

afternoon tea at Inglewoodmanor last month, as youcan see from the photos wehad a fantastic time both thefood and the company wasexceptional.

It was a great chance to so-cialise and to brain storm forthe coming year, we havemany ideas now to put intofruition and with your helpand support we look forwardto a busy and eventful time.

I will be posting a list of datesand times for new events assoon as they are finalized.

You can contact me through the club or on myhome number 0151 339 8969 many thanks toyou all and I look forward to seeing lots of you atour planned events , after all it is your club and itonly works if we all play a part.

YOUR LADIES OF HARLEY OFFICERDIANE HALHEAD

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HEAD ROAD CAPTAINS REPORT 2012

Well 2012 was my second year as Head road captain and thanks to all the other road captains all went well really,although the weather at times tried to destroy our fun we held in there and had some fantastic rides, in fact wehad more dry rides than wet so we did well. We had 15 dry rides 1 dry’ish ride and 6 wet rides a total of 22 rides in all went ahead as planed, so out of 25 ridedates we had only 3 that didn’t go I think that’s pretty good.In 2012 we had 13 road captains including myself and for 2013 they have all stayed on for another year, we havealso gained another road captain in the form of our just retired secretary Mike Buchan, as we all know Mike is avery experienced Harley rider with a lot of miles under his belt so I am sure you will all benefit from his vast knowl-edge of the roads.It was nice to see Graham Bell win the 2012 Road captains award ‘very well deserved’ if it was up to me theywould all get a trophy as they all spend a lot of time and effort into planning their rides.The 2013 Road captains have a calendar of great rides planned for this season and this will be published soon.So that’s all from me hope to see you all out riding this yearRide Safe and have fun

MARK WELLSHEAD ROAD CAPTAIN

TREASURER’S REPORT YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2012

Overall we have an Operating Surplus for the year of £564.

Our income from Chapter Members Subscriptions was £3735.Additional income of £1442 came from the Burns Night Supper, Summer BBQ and a very successful Circus Max-imus X.

Chapter funds contributed to the Firework Display, Christmas Party, Chapter Raffle prizes and the buffet at monthlyChapter meetings.

With support from Chester Harley Davidson we have purchased new Hi-Vis Vests for each of our Road Captains.

We continued our Membership of NABD (National Association for Bikers with a Disability).

We have been able to retain our Rally Fund of £4000 which will be used to safeguard future rallies and to addsome additional activities at Circus Maximus XI in June 2013.

It has also been possible to maintain the range of Chapter merchandise, so there continues to be plenty of retailopportunities for everyone.

Finally, the Chapter Charity fund had a successful year raising £1742.

We donated £1100 to Claire House Hospice and £600 along with Easter Eggs and Christmas selection boxes toSave the Family at Plas Belyn.

This will be my last Treasurer’s Report as I have decided to step down. I have very much enjoyed looking afterthe Chapter’s finances and would like to thank everyone for their support over the past six years. I wish everysuccess to Windy as the Chapter’s new Treasurer.

RICHARD NOTT

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NEW MEMBERS:

A warm welcometo the following‘new’ member:

Rodney MelbourneStephen DakinKaren DakinAmanda HudsonMark SmallwoodStephen WalkerJulie WalkerDonald McKinsley

Sharon SteadmanFransesco D'AmelioNicola D'AmelioKevin DaviesNigel PurcellMatt Bradley

LILIAN DAY’S BIO

Name: Lilian Day (57 this year)

Married: George Day (36yrs this year)

Work: Special needs teacher

Club role: Historian and George's support

Love; Merc sports cars/colour blue/chocolate/mynieces and nephews and Harleys and reading andof course Georgie!

Hate; Meaness of spirit/racism/petty mindednessand people who try to stullify creativity in others.

Currently studying for my second Honours degreethrough the OU. Will graduate 2014 (I hope) with aB.Ed (Hons) Humanities with Classical Studies.I

have a passion for studying especially history andalways have my nose in a book about somethingand watch anything about history.

Music; I have a broad spectrum of taste rangingfrom Nat King Cole through to the Stones but myfavourite singers are Jose Carreras/MichaelBuble/Lyndsey Buckingham and Rod Stewart.

Films: I love films especially musicals and I lovethe Aliensv Predator films and Aliens 1+2.Mostfavourite movie isCasablanca

Favourite books:Pride and Preju-dice,Ovid's Meta-morphoses and theRendevous withRama trilogy.

RAFFLE;

As you know Jake stepped down from doing theraffle so I have taken over.

I hope to have lots of good prizes this year andwould like your help.If you have any unwantedgifts or Harley bits sitting at home and you wantto pass on to me that would be great.

I would like stuff for men and women so dig outand recycle by passing it on to me.

And don't forget to buy your tickets at each meeting!

Thanks a lotLILIAN

Mike went to the Doc-tors about his hearing.Hmmm, loud Harley exhaustpipes and wind can damageyour hearing said the Doctor.Can you describe the symp-toms. No problem said Mike,Homer is fat and yellow,Marge has tall blue hair

A Harley riderfriend of mine re-cently admitted tobeing addicted tobrake fluid. When Iquizzed him aboutthis addiction, hereckoned he couldstop at any time.

Vincent's daughter asked him fora pet spider for her birthday, so wentto his local pet shop and they wereasking £70 for them. Blow this hethought I can get one cheaper of theWEB

I was riding this morn-ing when I saw an R.A.Cvan parked up. The driverwas sobbing uncontrol-lably and looking very mis-erable I thought to myself"That guys heading for abreakdown"

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR’S REPORT2012

This year as Assistant Director I havebeen able to provide support and ad-vice to all the club officers as we con-tinue to ensure our club remainsrelevant to the riding experience andall things HARLEY.

I have continued to make my selfavailable at Chester Harley Davidsonmost Saturdays to provide a publicface for our Club, to all visitors, poten-tial members and current members.Keeping close ties with the shop andhelping to foster mutual support

Harley programmes in the UK, are notalways appropriate but I have endeav-oured to improve our access to theseif requested. The maintenance of ourown mileage award is a vehicle to cre-ate an interest in ‘getting out there’and this year I hope to persuade moremembers to sign up

The work instigated last year in cre-ating the ‘Deva Supported Rally Pro-

gramme’ has helped to bolstered our clubs attendance at a good number ofother Chapter Rally’s and 2012 proved to be a good year (despite the rubbishweather). This work will continue this year, so look out for this years pro-gramme of events. You can be sure that you will be welcome with other club members. In 2013 we have plans to providesome new events that will encourage us

to meet socially as a chapter.

The interface with our charities was improved in 2012 and these efforts willcontinue in 2013 with a programme of visits and presentations so that allmembers can see that money we provide is spent to good effect.

Thanks for your support in 2012 and Ilook forward to all the fun 2013 willbring.

Remember I am always available fora chat about the club and how it canbenefit you.

GEORGE DAY

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FORTHCOMING BIRTHDAYS& ANNIVERSARIES

APRIL

birthdaysMargaret JohnsJason RobertsJulie WalkerPat Tindle

Pauline SuchyRoger Plant

Mally

anniversariesNick and Lyn Weale

Ralph Edwards and Gilly Orme

MAY

birthdaysGiily Orme

Gary RobertsMave ThomasDan Simcoe

Lil Day

Graham Sutton -60thGaynor Wells

Jon TwiggGrahame Sutton

StanGeraldine Haven

anniversariesRoger and Jo Cox

JUNE

birthdaysCarol Mason

Harold BodanskiRicky Moulton-30th

Jay JohnsonKeith Woodward

Karen DakinRhiannon FoxleyStephen Dakin

anniversariesStephen and Julie Walker

Pat and Bernard TindleDave and Amanda Williams

I woke up last night tofind the ghost of GloriaGaynor standing at the footof my bed. At first I wasafraid, then I was petrified.

The wife hasbeen missing a weeknow. Police said toprepare for the worst.So I've been to thecharity shop to get allher clothes back.

SECRETARY’S AGM REPORT FEB 2012

Membership

Club membership this year reached 257 – 25 behind last year (our highest ever) Full and associate HOG membersreached 176 including 14 lapsed who have been chased up therefore we have a further 81 WAGS. This fallingmembership both of the club and HOG probably reflects the tough economic times we live in. Seventy four of our2011 members did not renew and we still retain 17 of our (fifty) Charter members, and an additional 8 of ourfounder year (2001) members. We recruited 41 new members in 2012

Meetings & Ride-outs

We had a meeting every month and numbers attend-ing ranged from a ‘low’ of 63 in July to a high of 93 inFebruary for the AGM, the average meeting atten-dance was 80

A total of 174 members attended at least one meetingaccompanied by 26 guests. This means 83 membersnever made it to any our monthly meetings (same aslast year).

Committed Members

Only four of our members made every meeting in 2012 – Mark Argent, Carl & Linda Cooper and George Day

Mark Argent has now attended 50 meetings in a row and again I have to report he has now had perfect attendancesince November 2008 – he must go out and get a life.

I must again report Jim Hackett‘s casual lack of interest this year attending only 9 meetings – his all-time recordis now well and truly blown and he lies in a poor third place. Jackie has now attended 132 of our 139 meetingswith Bob Hart only one behind at 131

And Finally

I have thoroughly enjoyed my 11-odd years as secretary (being only the second incumbent since the formationof the chapter - taking up the role in November 2001) helping to run the club, watching it grow, seeing many greatpeople come, go and stay. However I feel it is time to let “someone else have a go” but I will always be willing tohelp out.Over these years Jackie and I have forged many new friendships, attended lots of rallies and events, gone onsome great holidays with the Harley Davidson family and Deva Legion in particular. I personally have enjoyed agreat relationship with both our sponsoring dealers (originally Centurion and now Chester Harley Davidson) andwould thank them for the support to both me and especially the club, both up front and behind the scenes, overthese many years.Jackie and I fully intend remaining involved with the club – I’ll maybe join the crowd in the ‘bad-boys corner’ andtalk all through the meetings (only joking Jon)

Hail Deva!

MIKE BUCHANPAST SECRETARY 04 FEBRUARY 2013

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BLUE LAKES AND WHITE PEAKS

I had the good fortune to be able to visit my eldest daughter and family for a month in October 2012 at the Queens-bury Inn on the Luggate – Wanaka road, Cromwell, Otago, South Island, New Zealand. After reading the NewZealand article in the December issue I thought I would share with you my long weekend on a Heritage Softail.

We started outside the bike hire shop on the northern outskirtsof Queenstown very early Friday morning, with our kit on,ready to roll. Younger daughter, Amie, is not a bike fan but de-cided to come along.

We headed south to Invercargill in the Southlands District totrack down the “Fastest Indian” . If you have not seen the bi-ographical film starring Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, a NewZealand speed bike racer who took his highly modified IndianScout to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, it is worth watching.

My son in law had been involved in the making of the film in2005 and told me about the bike, now in E. Hayes and Sons Tool Shop Museum in Invercargill.

Highway 6 took us down the side of Lake Wakatipu, in the shadow of the Remarkables mountain range, throughvalleys, green pastures, lots of sheep (what else did you expect). It is much like Wales, a home from home really,except there are many more and much higher snow capped peaks, and the worst wind and sleet the foulestweather I have ever ridden in !!!

Fortunately, Hayes Tool Shop also sold thermal Possum inner gloves which were badly needed.

Once inside the museum, there in all its glory was Burt Munro’s Fastest Indian on which he broke several speedrecords. His 1967 speed of 187.5 mph still stands today as the world speed record for a motorbike under 1000ccwith steamliner. Check him out on Wikipedia and the E. Hayes website www.ehayes.co.nz/burt-munro for morefacts and pictures.

We wound our way to the “batch” (overnight cottage) we had booked at Colac Bay andhad a lovely meal overlooking the Tasman Sea to Stewart Island, virtually the southernmost landmass. ( Antarcticaover the horizon)

The following morning’s ride was slightly less windy on Highway 99 via Gemstone Bay, where semi-preciousstones get washed up with the tides. Some locals (wine-os!) who were generous enough to show us their collection

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and gave Amie three stones.

It was here we saw a holiday cottage like no other !!!

We started the ride back via Te Anau in Fiordland, a close comparison would bethe holiday resorts of the Lake District like Windemere, surrounded by ‘slightly’higher, white-topped mountain peaks.After a coffee and a loo stop we continued north via Mossburn and thenKingston, where we caught up with the vintage Kingston Flyer steam train, usedin the passed to haul supplies to the goldfields.Eventually we arrive back at the Queensbury Inn via the Kawarau Gorge to

Cromwell and passing Lake Dunstanand the many vineyards along this valley. They fly squadrons of helicopters up and down this valley to disturb theair if there is severe frost forecast. All the scenery is stunning. Slept like a log.

On Sunday morning I took Highway 6 solo out of Wanaka. A beautiful resort on the shore of Lake Wanaka, wherethe likes of Shania Twain have a range in the foothills of Mount Iron.With Mount Aspiring on my left, Lake Wanaka in the foreground and Lake Hawea to my right I motored on towardsthe Haast Pass, one of only three passes to the west coast. I stopped for fuel in Makaroa and a coffee in the cafésurrounded by hundreds of license plates from all over the world. Stunning riding with views of the Southern Alps all around.

On Monday morning I was on the Heritage up and over the Crown Range road from Wanaka to Arrowtown. It isthe highest main road in New Zealand at 1200 meters above sea level. In the winter it’s full of skiing types.

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I stopped by the historic Cardrona Hotel built in 1870, to take in the views.Then onward, zigzagging the many hairpin bends on the way down the Crown Terrace to Arrowtown, a town builtup around the goldfields in 1860. I happened upon a beard judging competition at one of the ale houses.

No time to stop - taking advantage ofmy last day with the Heritage - onwardthrough Queenstown and onto High-way 9, the road to Glenorchy, claimedto be the most scenic drive in NewZealand. Magnificent, high snow-capped mountains are the backdrop tomany advertisements filmed on thisside of Lake Wakatipu.The twisty 50km is the ultimate biker’sdream ride, even without the scenery. Check out some pictures yourself from the web,www.roamingdownunder.com/glenorchy-road.php, to get the real feel. !!!!

After another delicious butty and a coffee at the Glenorchy café, I must dwella little while on the café culture, as they were landmarks around the country.All the coffee I had was of a very high standard, my choice was a large flatwhite and nearly all the same price, no matter where I went. The butties Iate, the flavours that hit the palate, put British butties to shame. Start with aTurkish flatbread with a layer of tapenade, then salad but not too much, thenchicken not processed rubbish, topped off with cheese and garlic mayo, nowthat is a sandwich to die for. Every café had something equally delicious.

All good rides have to come to an end, so I headed back the twisty 50km to find the private residence in order todrop the bike off, as it was a bank holiday. As I chatted with the fully moustached biker guy, telling him where Ihad been, I found out he (Pete) is Burt Munro’s grandson, who runs Harley tours in NZ and also to America,www.jdsmotorsickletours.com , if you want to look him up. My leaving present from the weekend, apart from thefantastic rides, was a signed book called “WORK CAN WAIT” which is a set of humorous recollections of an18500km coast to coast American road trip he had done with his biker matesand their wives. It’s a great read for anyone who has ever wanted to ride theAMERICAN DREAM. As I left the house and waved goodbye to a great guy,the hailstones covered the road in seconds. Whew!! He got his bike back un-scathed.

Had to show you these last couple ofpictures.At the Warbirds museum at Wanaka air-port, which was put together as a tributeto the NZ WWll pilots, hidden amongstthe planes and American Packards which were im-maculate, was this 1947 Servi-car. What a gem!Wanted to take it home straight away. Then, roundthe corner, another beauty 1942 WLA 750cc. It

looks just like my Springer, well nearly.Lastly, I had to get the tea shirt from Dunedin HD, the most southern dealership in theworld - hey!!! Hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.

CHEERS, GEOFF HALL

(ALWAYS CHECK THE HOTLINE BEFORE THE RIDE TO ENSURE YOU ARE KEPT IN-FORMED OF CHANGES AND/OR CNACELATIONS: CHAPTER HOTLINE - 07855207067)

MARCH 2013SATURDAY 23/03: NEW RIDERS RIDESUNDAY 24/03: EGG RUN

APRIL 2013SUNDAY 07/04: BUTCHERS ARMS (MARK WELLS - 120 MILES)SUNDAY 14/04: RAF COSFORD (IAN MILLER - 150 MILES)SUNDAY 21/04: TBASUNDAY 28/04: DEVILS BRIDGE & KIRBY LONSDALE (LEWIS CARTER - 200 MILES)

MAY 2013SUNDAY 12/05: MERIONEDD (MIKE PARY - 160 MILES)SUNDAY 19/05: THE LONG MYNDD (KITT WALSH - 120 MILES)

JUNE 2013SATURDAY 01/06 AND SUNDAY 02/06: LLANGRANNOG (KEITH DAVIES - 200+ MILES)SUNDAY 02/06: MYSTERY RIDE (IAN MILLER - 150 MILES)SATURDAY 08/06: CIRCUS MAXIMUSSUNDAY 16/06: BLACK COUNTRY (BOB STOKES - 180 MILES)SUNDAY 23/06: LAKE VYRNWY (ANDREW BALL - 160 MILES)SUNDAY 29/06: ABERDOVEY (DAVE SWIFT - 180 MILES)

JULY 2013SUNDAY 07/07: “IT’S A SECRET” (DAVID WILLIAMS - 100 MILES)SATURDAY 13/07 AND SUNDAY 14/07: NEFYN MID-SEASON EVENT (GRAHAM BELL- 200 MILES)SUNDAY 14/07: TBASUNDAY 21/07: TBASUNDAY 28/07: TBA

AUGUST 2013SUNDAY 04/08: MYSTERY RIDE (MIKE BUCHAN - 180 MILES)SUNDAY 11/08: LAKE VYRNWY (KITT WALSH - 120 MILES)SUNDAY 18/08: BARMOUTH (MIKE PARRY - 180 MILES)

SEPTEMBER 2013SUNDAY 01/09: WALES AROUND (GRAHAM HEWITT - 180 MILES)SUNDAY 08/09: IRON BRIDGE GORGE (ANDREW BALL - 160 MILES)SUNDAY 15/09: PONDEROSA CHARITY RIDE (MARK WELLS - 50 MILES)SUNDAY 22/09: WOLVERHAMPTON HARLEY (SHERRY GREY - 200 MILES)SUNDAY 29/09: “THE CHEDLETON CHOO CHOO” (DAVID WILLIAMS - 150 MILES)