The Club's fifth trip abroad (outside the UK) started on Saturday 2nd September 2006 at 05.45 when we met at Sprucefield.

Our first surprise was that it wasn't raining although the roads were wet; the second was that Bobby (always first on the scene for a trip) had still not arrived by 06.00. After trying in vain to contact him by mobile the decision was made that, as he was probably on route, the five of us should head onto Dublin keeping the speeds legal to allow Bobby to catch up. Helen, who had came to see us off (or maybe to see Ivan off? - never mind), kindly offered to wait at the roadside for Bobby and let him know the time of our departure. Therefore at 06.05 we headed off in the dark and rain (yes the rain had started while we were waiting) towards our first destination of Dublin Port and the 07.30 recommended latest check-in time for the Holyhead Ferry.

Our journey was tentative initially because of the weather and the absence of Bobby but not far over the border we were all relieved to see the big Yam joining us (ballistic speeds by the big Yam - never), prayers had been answered our group was complete - now the trip could really begin. We arrived, harbour side, just before the 07.30 target time and were immediately ushered on board, bikes were strapped down, wet gear removed and soft seats sought. The ferry was well crowded with lots of the best seats already occupied but we found a couple of cushioned seats complete with tables and settled down. As luck would have it we had seats beside a couple (BMW riders) whom we had met in July on this ferry. They told us this trip they were travelling by car because they were going to collect a boat they had purchased. As bikers do they kindly offered to look after our belongings while we went and obtained full Irish breakfasts. The crossing was calm, the time passing quickly due to the good craic and banter (Bobby had set his alarm one hour later than that required, only realising his mistake while in the shower, and had a real panic getting ready plus a hairy journey catching up with us).

After a bit of a queue we disembarked into a wet and miserable Wales where we started our 200+- mile journey to Hull in the knowledge that conditions were not expected to improve, they in fact they got worse. The journey from west to east was to say the least, dreadful, but however we all made it safely to Kingston-upon-Hull, and before the 17.30 recommended latest check-in time for the P&O Ferry to Zeebrugge. We had a bit of a wait between check-in and boarding but thankfully by now the rain had ceased.

Bike parking on this ferry was on an upper level mezzanine floor just wide enough to walk between two bikes parked side by side. The bikes were secured DIY by two ropes (not as good a system as on the previous ferry; so would recommend in future to bring own ratchet tie down). The evening spent on the ferry was wicked with an excellent buffet, live music from a not so wicked group and good company. Today we had ridden through Northern Ireland / Southern Ireland / sailed crossed the Irish Sea / ridden across Wales and England and covered approximately 320 miles of roads mostly in adverse conditions - what a first day!

Disembarking in Zeebrugge, after a fairly rough crossing, to a cloudy and unsettled looking morning brought the eyebrows down - surely this can't be a 'Scotland Experience' we're on the continent for goodness sake! With thoughts of 'I'll never organise another trip if we get more soakings' niggling one's mind we set off to ride through Belgium into France and then head south, to dare we say it 'good weather'.

All thoughts of bad weather dissipated very soon as with each mile completed the sky became bluer. The objective for this our second day was to ride the 355 miles to our hotel on the south side of Dijon. The day was glorious, the riding mainly on motorways easy, and the journey straightforward with the scenery improving with each southward mile completed. After a final Toll Booth we decided to have a short break in the parking area and soak up the sunshine.

It was upon restarting from this break that we had a small hiccup - the Triumph wouldn't start, it just kept us all entertained with its loud alarm sound. After many attempts to bring the bike to life it was decided to contact the AA European Breakdown Service who had promised great things when the policy was purchased, only to discover they could not help as it was deemed that we were still on a motorway. Over to the French Police who couldn't speak a word of English (or even speak bike); after a wait a young French Police women arrived on the scene - guess what, she couldn't speak English either. While trying to demonstrate our problem, the Triumph barked into life - lots of laughs all round! A few 'mercies' and 'au revoirs' later and we were on our way to the hotel Formule1.

The Hotel was found quite easily and we took to our rooms only to find the two triple rooms (booked in advance over the web) each had double beds - friendly group we are but not that friendly - down to reception where Richard overcame the language barrier to get us a third room - no problems only solutions! Although the team had been forewarned about the very economical Formule1 rooms, clean, spacious but void of en-suite facilities, reality only set in when toilet facilities were required during the night. It was agreed the next morning that only hotels whose rooms had en suite facilities would be booked for the remainder of the trip.

But I am getting ahead of myself, after great and welcome showers we headed out to find somewhere to dine and not far away just over a 'take your life in hands' road crossing we found an excellent restaurant called Hippopotamus. We had a great meal in good surroundings, with good biking talk about the journey thus far. A brisk walk after the meal and then it was time to settle down for our second night's sleep of trip Euro '06. Today we had travelled through Belgium crossed the border into France and ridden through the 'Le Nord & Picardy', the Champagne, the Burgundy & Franche-Comte, regions of France. We had covered approximately 355 miles mainly in a sun seeking south direction and no aches and pains at the end of it all.

Breakfast the next morning was a self-service, basic (but extremely reasonable at under 4 euro) meal that we enjoyed at one of the open-air tables - the weather again was great and everything seamed at peace in the world. The target destination for our third day was a town in the French Alps called Gap approximately 235 miles away from our Formule1 Hotel. We left around 09.00 in sunshine and happy in the knowledge that toll roads were not on today's schedule. (At our planning meeting, held in Trinity sometime before the trip start date, we had decided once past Dijon, to avoid where possible all toll and major roads). We enjoyed good biking roads and interesting scenery (i.e. passing alongside many different vineyards, over beautiful rivers and along fields full of sunflowers) from Dijon down to suburbs of Grenoble.

Little aside! - Not many miles from Dijon, Richard had a close encounter of the 'stingy' kind, let me explain - with the great weather we were riding along with a jackets zips open. An insect or two, of species unknown, made there way down inside Richard's shirt and made a unique pattern of red stings just above his tummy button. Bikes were abruptly brought to a standstill and a sort of one man dance, with five puzzled onlookers, ensued to get rid of the creepy crawlies - ouch pain for the rest of the day for Richard, (and the little culprits were never found, so couldn't be squashed nor identified)!

Approaching Grenoble we witnessed the beauty of God's handiwork that is the French Alps - a truly breathtaking sight! After a slight detour within the town centre and with the help of some joyful and vocal local youths in their car we managed to escape the town centre and get onto the start of one of the trip's highlights which we were so looking forward to - that was the 'Route Napoleon'. This road, which was built by Napoleon's Army, stretches from the Alps (Grenoble) down to Cannes on the Mediterranean Sea. Napoleon and / or his civil engineers must have been bikers at heart to build such an amazing biking road - from Trinity Motorcycle Club we wish to say "THANK YOU" Mr Napoleon!

The scenery through the mountains, alongside mountain lakes, the terrific bends (hairpins), the road surface, the glorious sunshine all made this journey to Gap absolutely brilliant (my words fail to adequately describe this experience) - the Route Napoleon exceeded all expectations. When you are having so much fun you don't notice time or distance passing and so it was on this occasion because all too soon we had arrived - all wide-eyed and with manic grins on our faces - at Gap town centre! It was the evening rush hour and we had to stop to ask a few locals to point us (again no English spoken) in the direction of our town centre hotel. We got rooms at the Ibis hotel (en suite facilities of course) without any problem and content in the knowledge that there was still more of the Route Napoleon to experience the following day. Cold showers were once again welcome after a hot day's riding and then it was time to explore the town of Gap and seek out a restaurant. We decided to dine in a café with outside tables in the local square thus enabling us to sample, not only the local cuisine but also the local atmosphere and watch the world go bye 'Gap Style'.

Today we had travelled approximately 235 miles in France moving from the Burgundy & Franche-Comte region into the Rhone Valley & French Alps region enjoying every moment.

The fourth day's target was to complete the Route N down into Cannes, cross over the border into Monaco, experience the atmosphere at Monte Carlo and finally ride to and stay overnight in Italy. At the planning stage this was the day where there was some slight doubt as to whether it would be possible to cover the 250 odd miles. The concern was not the mileage on its own but combined with twisty mountains roads it might just be a destination too far; however we had decided we would give it a go.

Leaving Gap and travelling to Cannes on the Route N gave us more spectacular scenery, blinding roads and great weather - bliss! As we arrived into the suburbs of Cannes we decided, to ensure time was available in Monte Carlo, that we would by pass the Cannes town centre. Heading into Cannes was a heavy traffic affair with both signposts and petrol stations being conspicuous by their absence. Time to seek local help; this arrived in the form of a lady scooter rider who had just pulled up beside us while we sat in traffic. As luck would have it she spoke English (a result!) and after explaining that she was hoping soon to migrate from a scooter to a motorcycle she directed us back the way we had just came to a petrol station. With full tanks we soon picked up the motorway that would take us on the scenic route to Monaco and Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo was brimming to its capacity with tourists, the atmosphere electric and after a bit of tight navigation we were lucky to find a space into which we could just squeeze and park six bikes. After a walk along the side of the 'swimming pool' (of F1 fame), a few photo opportunities and setting foot on the track where 'Schumi' had raced his Ferrari, it was time to ride on into Italy. On our way out of Monte Carlo (traffic was unbelievably heavy) we rode through the F1 tunnel where Ady surprised the standing tourists with a blip of the Suzuki's throttle, the exhaust note in the tunnel was music to our ears (can't comment on the tourists ears).

The road up to Cuneo in Italy was again brilliant (there's no end to these good biking roads - heavenly!). The road, which took us up into the Italian Alps, was full of scenery, hairpins and mountain passes. On one such a pass i.e. the 'Mountain Pass of Tende' we rode through a tunnel approximately 4km long. The tunnel was quite old and fairly narrow, some of the team enjoyed this, as it was quite an experience although not recommended for the claustrophobic. Later that evening our resident fire chief explained the reasons (tunnel too narrow, no escape route, no access for rescue, no lay-bys etc) why he hadn't enjoyed the tunnel experience.

We arrived at Cuneo around 7:00 pm and stopped to ask local help in finding a hotel for the night. No English speaking locals were found but after a few attempts (the first attempt saw us following directions that brought us to a hotel that was closed down) and Richard's great negotiating skills we got rooms in a four star hotel in the town centre at half price! What a day - what a result, from one-star (first hotel) to four-star accommodation - things kept getting better! After parking the bikes in the hotel's private underground car park (electronically operated gate no less) and taking our private lift to reception, rooms were allocated and although it seemed a shame to spoil the room's appearance we soon had the hot riding gear discarded (I mean hung up) showers enjoyed and were settling down to a welcome meal in the Hotel restaurant. After the fine meal a walk in the town centre proved to be an eye-opener, this Cuneo (just picked at random from the map by Colin and Ivan at our planning meeting) had not only a good atmosphere and interesting features but also great shops with reasonably priced quality items (glad the wives aren't with us - no I mean we were really missing our wives). What a day, what roads, what scenery what a place Cuneo proved to be. This day we had achieved our target of riding through the French region of Provence & Cote D'Azur into Monaco back into France and arriving safely at a four star hotel in Italy covering the 250+ miles - no problem.

Our fifth day started with a walk around Cuneo - the weather still great - then it was time to settle our account with the hotel and move off from Italy and head back into France. The route today would take us though the Italian & French Alps, circumnavigate Gap and head south avoiding motorways towards the French town of Nimes. Once again riding through the Alps proved invigorating and photo stops could have been made around each and every bend to try and capture the beauty of the landscapes but discipline was exercised so we rode on.

After Gap we passed alongside lots of vineyards, orchards and sunflower fields - beauty in a different form from the Alps. Arriving at Nimes in evening rush hour and not knowing the exact whereabouts of our target hotel proved a challenge (this time no chance to stop and ask local advice as we were by now on major roads with major traffic). We finally spotted our hotel's roof and sign to our left, just a stone's throw away, but unfortunately we had exited a roundabout and were sitting on the approach to a Peage that would lead us in the wrong direction - oops! We hadn't stopped for more than a minute when a flustered looking Policeman on a BMW appeared as if by magic and told/indicated to us that we must go through the Peage - absolutely no turning back. We had no option but to obey, so after travelling in the wrong direction for a few kilometres we came off the motorway at the first exit and re-joined it but this time heading in the right direction. We finally got to the hotel, obtained rooms and had a laugh about our Peage experience with the 'magical' policeman. Another great day completed in which we had enjoyed more great roads and scenery. We had covered the 230+ miles and were staying over in the town of Nimes in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. We had also seen the last of the Alps (this trip anyway) as from now on we would be working our way back north to the ferry at Zeebrugge.

On our sixth day we again chose good biking roads as we headed north towards the day's destination of Moulins in the French Massif Central region. Another little aside - In some of the French regions that we had ridden through, signs had been erected at various locations along the roadside. These signs were in the form of a life-size cutout of a man, painted black, with a road, in the shape of an arrow, piercing him. These were to indicate the locations where people had died due to road accidents - it was eerie at times riding past these, especially after just rounding a bend to be confronted with a black man staring at you from the hedge. But leaving Ales at the start of a recommended good biking road this was particularly poignant because there was a sign stating the number of bikers killed along this route - the black cutouts on this road represented bikers! This brought home the frailty of human life and the feeling of sadness wondering how many of these bikers had suddenly left this world without accepting Christ as their saviour and with no further chance to do so. As our Club Badge depicts there is only one way to eternal life - it is free, it is for everyone, so friends don't hesitate - accept the way now. --- Aside over -- let us continue.

Another day with sun, great roads and scenery saw us 280 miles later checking in to our Ibis Hotel on the outskirts of Moulins. That evening we found an American Style restaurant for a meal - some of the team are convinced that the French can't cook steak as no matter how often 'well done' was requested it always arrived with at least a pink middle or with blood appearing when knife met steak - hence the choice of this particular restaurant. Proper burgers and chips (not French fries you know) were enjoyed along with lots of discussion on the correct way to cook steak.

The seventh day of the trip took us north in great sunshine to the Magny Cours Race Track. We arrived to find one of the entrance gates open, went in (well it would have been rude not to) parked the bikes and to our delight were able to watch from a grandstand some Ferraris and Porches being put through their paces. This was another highlight of the trip as although we had seen the track on TV it was unbelievable to experience it first hand. After leaving the 'Circuit Nevers Magny - Cours', to give it's full title, we decided to deviate from our initial plan and attempt to ride further today thus reducing the next day's journey. On our route north from Nevers, between Auxerre and Chatilon sur Seine, we were obliged to take a few detours because of road closures. On these detours we were treated to small traffic- free minor roads, which lead us through splendid vineyards. It came to light that the grapes from these vineyards produce the 'Chablis' white wine. In fact we stopped for an open-air lunch in the village of Chablis (no wine consumed, I promise!) - even the detours worked in our favour!

The decision to ride further than planned proved to be beneficial on two accounts; the first was that we had our overnight stay in a brilliant hotel (4 star at least) right in the centre of Chalons-en Champagne, a scenic town with bourgeois charm (to quote the travel guide). Colin and Richard negotiated a reduced rate for this splendid hotel, and we were shown to fantastic rooms overlooking the town centre (the bikes had already been parked in the hotel's private and secure car park). The second benefit was that we had reduced the following day's journey by almost 100 miles. After freshening up, the town centre was explored on foot and a super meal enjoyed at one of the many restaurants. Steak was avoided but one of the team braved 'les escargots' for starters. This evening meal was enjoyed and was to be our last main meal in France of Euro '06 trip.

The eighth day's objective was to arrive at the ferry port of Zeebrugge by 17:30 latest - to assist us meet this objective, toll roads were taken. Well almost - passing Lille on the toll road no signs for Zeebrugge were witnessed resulting in all six bikes heading for Brussels (too far east -- we needed to be heading north). Pulling off the toll road and after a team discussion it was decided to use the sun as a compass and head along minor roads in a northerly direction; the assumption being that sooner or later we would come across a sign for Zeebrugge. A pleasant ride through villages of Belgium then ensued. At one such village we stopped kerb-side and asked the local man cleaning his car in his driveway for directions. The man could not speak English and none of the team could speak, or even make an attempt at Flemish; so needless to say the directions obtained were a little hazy. The man's wife had appeared while the directions were being given and when we were just about to head off she spoke to her husband who immediately indicated to us to follow him (I think she had realised that we hadn't grasped the 'Flemish' directions). The Belgium couple led us in their car along a few miles until we came to 'our' junction and cheerily waved us on our way -- what a helpful, friendly and decent thing for strangers to do!

Zeebrugge Port was reached with ease and in good time i.e. arriving at 14:00. The trip was all but over, feelings of both sadness and joy were experienced - sadness that our Euro adventure was over - joy through the memories that we could take from this trip and joy that we would soon see our loved ones.

The North Sea crossing was much more calm on the return journey, meals (evening and breakfast) were enjoyed in the on-board restaurant and in what appeared no time at all we were suited-up and ready for disembarkation. While waiting beside our bikes for the signal to disembark, Richard accidentally dropped one of his moulded ear plugs (at £60 a pair, this would be an expensive loss). The plug dropped approximately 20 feet from the mezzanine floor to the car deck below and bounced beautifully below a car and caravan. Fortunately Adrian has seen the plug perform its acrobatics and knew the approximate location of its resting place. Repeated calls down to the occupants of the car finally got the mature couple's attention. Puzzled they vacated the car and after a bit of explaining we finally got across what we wished retrieved from beneath their car. Although the man was reluctant to 'get down and dirty' his wife had no such inhibitions. She got down on her knees on the car deck, retrieved the plug, which was soon thrown up into Richard's hands. Here was another act of kindness shown to us; we said our thank-you to this Christian couple (how did we know they were Christians?) and concentrated on disembarkation, avoiding the 'Guzzi' that had stalled half way down the ramp.

We left the ferry ready for our journey east to west through England and into Wales only to be brought abruptly back to earth with dense fog - no more hot sunny days? It took seventy miles of careful riding to clear the fog and only then did it finally give way to cool sunshine. As the target time to reach Holyhead was 12:45 it had been decided, over breakfast, to make the journey with only petrol stops - no time for sightseeing. We arrived in Holyhead at 12:00 and had time to enjoy a sandwich and juice at the local Tesco garage. Once on board the Holyhead - Dublin ferry we settled down for cappuccinos and some craic. This Irish Sea crossing was made over smooth seas with clear skies and soon the final leg of our Euro '06 trip commenced. The run up from Dublin was excellent with dry roads and reasonable traffic allowing a home time of 19:30.

On Sunday 10th September at 19:30, nine days after starting the trip, we were home, we had ridden over 2,500 miles, had a total spend of around £750, had immeasurable enjoyment, ridden terrific roads, met friendly people, achieved all the trip objectives but now it was all over --- we had ridden through Ireland / Wales / England / Belgium / seven regions of France / Monaco and Italy what a trip!

Give Thanks

• Thanks to each of the Club Members who took part in the Euro 06 Trip. Each one contributed to the success of the trip.
• Thanks to all the wives for their much appreciated support.
• Thanks to all the kind, helpful and friendly people we encountered on the trip.
• Thanks to all who prayed for a safe and enjoyable trip - prayers were certainly answered.
• Thanks to our God for giving us this trip and blessing each one of us.

Euro '06 Team Members and their bikes