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Jess' Account of his 2023 Varadero Meeting.
I have owned three Varaderos
since my first was purchased in 1998. My current
Varadero was bought new in August 2012, last of the
model XL1000VA, shasta white model with ABS, centre
stand, heated grips, paniers and top box. To that I
added a 12 volt charging socket, a Palmer Products
screen, a set of crash bars, and a Garmin Zumo GPS
system. I used to ride with Theresa, my
wife, however, a few years ago, she decided that
biking was no longer for her, but is happy to let me
play. We retired from work, sold our house and
emigrated from the UK to Occitanie in France in
February 2017. This is us at VIM 7 in Poland in 2005,
the year we took our sons Lewis and Harry with us,
Theresa riding her Virago 535. The last VIM that I attended was
to neighbouring Andorra for VIM 20, in 2018.
Covid interrupted later VIMs,
with VIM 21 held in Denmark in 2019, and VIM 22
eventually held in Poland in 2022.
090523 Tuesday - Another test ride
to check chain and to fill up with fuel. Packing my kit
for the trip. Got all my things packed on the bike,
paniers, warm clothing, maps, GPS, etc. Not particularly
looking forward to tomorrow as the weather looks bad.
First leg is to a hotel in St Omar. 100523 Wednesday - Up and away at
8.22pm, all loaded up, extra wet suit over my bike
clothing and into the unknown. Headed for Toulouse, then
Bordeaux, then Nantes, Rennes and finally, St Malo to
find my hotel. A long slog with a little rain, but not
too bad. 570 miles done, 11 hours riding, including a few
stops for rest and refuelling. 110523 Thursday - I have no Plan B.
It either all works to Plan A or I have a problem.
Checked out of Hotel Eden, where the patron had allowed
me to garage the bike. A short ride to the ferry dock and
had to wait with others to board. It was a calm sea all
the way and it was a bit boring with the 8 hour crossing
with Brittany Ferries. Arrived on time, 18.20 hrs.
Disembarked and then headed north, Portsmouth,
Winchester, Oxford, Birmingham, M6 Toll and on to find
the Holiday Inn at Stoke on Trent where I was hoping my
son Lewis was, ahead of me. He had ridden from Dedham on
his KTM bike. He soon found me as I checked-in, and went
to find some parking. We had a beer together and then it
was time to get some rest. It had been a little wet on
the way, but I had missed the worst of it. Lewis had to
ride through the heavy rain on his way there.
080523 Monday - Set about
checking my itinerary and sorting out what I need for my
trip. Took the Varadero for a short ride to see that all
was OK. Chain a little over tight so slackened that off a
tad.
Jess and Lewis in Liverpool,
waiting to board the ferry. Picture by Spence. Jack Sawadee from Israel, whose
journey story is always fascinating. To get from Israel to VIM without
being killed by his neighbours, is a matter of good
planning. Here he is on the ferry from
Liverpool to the Isle of Man. Bernard Stikfort, founder of VIM, on
the left with 'Big Dave' Harris, organiser (with wifey), of
VIM 23.
120523 Friday - We had a good
breakfast and then headed on our way to Liverpool to find
the ferry port. The Eurovision Song Contest was going on,
so there was a lot of activity around the area. Found
where we needed to be and then had to wait with the
others. Saw Spence and Shelley in the queue so caught up
with their news. We were on the way to VIM23. After
boarding, we met other VIM friends, Josep from Spain,
Sebastien and Alexandre from France, John from
Switzerland, Jack from Israel, and may others. It was a
FastCat, so the journey was fast and smooth. When we
arrived in Douglas, we were soon disembarked and on our
short trip to the Palace Hotel on the seafront. It was
the usual thing for VIM, a big welcome from 'Big Dave'
Harris, the organiser, and others. Found our rooms and
then it was dinner at 7pm. Bernard Stikfort, founder of
VIM, sat with us. We organised that we would ride
together tomorrow with Rainer (aka meine dicker), four of
us.
A stop at the Victory inn, where the
famous Joey Dunlop statue is located. With Rainer, Lewis and
Bernard.
130523 Saturday - A good
English breakfast from an excellent buffet and enjoyed by
all of us. We have a separate room to the side of the
restaurant with four round tables, each seating around 10
people. We then set off as a group of four to explore the
island. We discovered some of the TT circuit and saw some
of the crash barriers that were erected for the
forthcoming race season. It's a beautiful island, with
lots of individual cottages with white painted frontages.
The wild bluebells were looking splendid along the
roadsides. A nice sunny day and not many cars to hold us
up. In the evening we went to dinner and had a splendid
single course meal, no frills. As is tradition, the Poles
brought vodka, the Norwegians brought some rocket fuel
and Sebastien brought his family made 60% calvados. I
sampled a couple of shots, but spirits don't suit me. It
was a splendid evening, Lewis and I split up at the
dinner table, as did everybody else, to avoid mates
sitting with mates every time. A nice touch I thought.
Lewis was clearly very comfortable with talking to
people. He certainly didn't need me watching over him. He
was a geek in paradise, talking to other geeks. He had
come to a previous VIM with me, his mum and little
brother, when we all went to VIM 7, in 2005, in Poland.
He vowed that, given the opportunity, he would do VIM
again, on his own bike. This was a dream fulfilled for
him.
Douglas sea front with a different
sort of horse power.
Getting together for the evening
meal. Saturday Evening.
Gilles in France was unable to attend,
after he was injured in a skiing accident. Jess, Sebastien
and Big Dave. Also Paulo, who had to remain at home
due to a family matter.
140523 Sunday J - Having made
no plans with anybody, after another superb breakfast,
Lewis and I set off to find the big wheel that we had
seen pictures of in tourist brochures. I had no idea that
this was a piece of industrial heritage. What an amazing
structure it was. We explored the monument to try to
understand how it worked, what its function was and to
see what purpose it had in the mining process that it
once served. It had been extensively restored in 2022, so
we were seeing the result. We climbed to the top and then
did the winding house walk further up the valley. Another
genius designed piece of our industrial heritage. As we
came out we spied Rainer, so we teamed up with him for a
ride to the south of the island. When we stopped for
coffee at Castletown, Bernard happened by, so he joined
us. We were four again. We tried to hug the coast for
some riding, going down to the Calf of Man. My back was
hurting with the bumpy road. I had been shifting stones
before I came away and I was feeling the after shock. As
we had a photo-shoot appointment we then headed for
Creg-Ny-Baa, as it started to rain a little, a restaurant
perfectly situated on a long bend of the TT circuit from
where they must have spectacular viewing of the riders as
they come down the hill. A knickerbocker glory for me and
a group photograph for those that were there, and then we
headed back to our hotel. At dinner, we had the usual
prize raffle chat and gift offerings. Reiner had cleverly
kept the secret from us that he was hosting next year's
VIM in Germany. Norway would host in 2025. Would I be
going? There lies the question. 1047km to proposed site
in Germany, from where I live in France!
s.jpg)
Raffle Prizes Rainer presents his plans for next
year's VIM in Germany. Dinner Linda, 'wifey', 'Mrs Big Dave',
organiser. Presentations - Linda, Big Dave and
Jack from Israel.
Vive la France ! Last of the summer
wine!
160523 Tuesday - Up and to
breakfast on board ship. Smooth crossing and on time.
Disembarked at 8.20am and soon on the road, headed for
Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, home. 11 hours later,
I arrived at our gates, tired but safe. I had had good
weather all the way, if rather windy. T said that it had
been wet, wet, wet, for days. Daisy (our mutt) was
pleased to see me, as was my lady. Pirate (our other
mutt) was as confused as ever, aged 16 and totally blind.
Not an enjoyable day (riding long distances alone), but
it had to be done. The ABS light was flashing all day,
but the bike ran well. The rear brake is clearly not
happy and I would need to strip it out at some point.
Back to normal life. 170523 Wednesday - A good night's
sleep. Spent all day tidying away my things and getting
on with paperwork, a letter to the hotel about its noisy
fan (an annoyance to some of the guests at VIM, something
that is easily cured and is my profession) , the diary,
sorting photographs, working out mileages and fuel
consumptions, etc. T and I went to Mirepoix in the
afternoon for some shopping. Back to normal life. 1821
miles covered in total - 2900km approx. Between 11.04 and
12.40 miles to the litre of fuel.
150523 Monday - An early
breakfast and start, to the ferry by 6am, for the two of
us, and various others. Time to go home after an
excellent VIM 23. I was so happy for Mr and Mrs Big Dave,
who had played a blinder with it all. A quick crossing on
the FastCat and then on the road from Liverpool. Weather
good. I left Lewis to go on his way, as I headed off on
the M42 and he on the M6 towards his home near
Colchester. He had to go to work; I had to go home. M40,
A34, to Winchester where I stopped to have a look at the
cathedral, as I had time to kill. Then on the road again
to the M27. I inadvertently/accidentally picked up a
piece of textile (rode over it innocently) on the
motorway near Portsmouth, and it wrapped itself up in my
back wheel brake system, almost locking the wheel and
making the ABS light flash. When I could, I stopped to
have a look at what might be wrong and discovered the
cause of the problem. Then I went to buy a knife to cut
the material away as much as I could. It's not easy
buying a knife in the UK! Then, when I got to the ferry
port, a couple of biker lads lent me a pair of pliers and
I was able to remove most of the rest of it. However,
there was clearly a problem with the
plastic/nylon/whatever having melted and contaminated the
brake pads and caliper and the ABS ring. The material had
a zip and seems to have been clothing or a cover for
something. I would need to strip it all down to see what
I need to do with it, when I got home. Boarded the ship
and got settled in to my cabin. Had a meal and then to
bed, tired.
To contact me please email to sdapeze@aol.com
Jess Jephcott, 11240 Hounoux, near Carcassonne, France
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