Apart from a short ride last weekend, this was our first ride since January – a quick blast down to the Westernmost point of France, the Pointe de Coursen, where the Atlantic meets the Channel. We crossed to France late on Friday evening and stayed in Calais for the night, leaving early the following morning. Despite the weather, which was still cold for the time of year and rather wet, we enjoyed the ride and had a couple of relaxed stops on the way.
W
e were there to participate in an IBA Germany Ride To Eat and there was a good turn out of around 30 people who braved the blustery conditions. It made a change for us to be the people with the shortest journey.
As usual, a passing tourist was press-ganged into taking the obligatory group photo. I often wonder what these ‘volunteers’ think when they are accosted by a bunch of bikers who then bombard them with numerous cameras to take the same picture.
It was somewhat windy!
While we were there, Doris and Werner Schiemann were presented with the trophy for Germany’s Toughest Rider of 2012. Between April 2010 and December 2012 they completed 24 IBA rides totalling 58,053 certified kilometres of which 25,125 km were in 2012 alone! That’s an impressive record by any measure.
Afterwards we all met up at the Best Western ‘Europe’ hotel in Brest where we were treated to one of the best meals we’ve ever had in France; the company was good too.
Sunday morning dawned, still windy but no rain, and we had a busy ride home through the French holiday traffic.