A motorcycling focused weekly blog: Prescott Bike Festival, ABR Festival, some new gloves for riding, and a Cool Cover.
It’s been a very motorcycling kind of week, thanks to two festivals and some bike-related purchases. I guess that means this weekly blog episode will be very motorcycling heavy, and so those of you who are only here for the hiking content may wish to only skim read this one.
And as I don’t think I’ve got anything else interesting to say, not even about the weather, or the food I’ve served up on the dinner table, I’ll get straight to it.
Prescott Bike Festival
Given that my husband is part of the local Blood Bikes group – Severn Freewheelers – which runs Prescott Bike Festival as its main fundraising event of the year, attending this one-day event at Prescott Speed Hill Climb has become something of an annual tradition. Held last Sunday (23 June), there were bike displays, market stalls, a stunt show, you know, the usual small bike show kind of stuff. But unlike other bike shows, the highlight of this event is watching people take on the hill climb.
This famous track is described as “1,127-yards long rising over 200-feet on a technically challenging course incorporating short straights, fast and slow corners and a breath-taking hairpin”. Apparently, modern racing cars in the hands of a competent driver can complete the course in under 36 seconds, which is impressive. There wasn’t anything at that speed last Sunday. I mean, this is a pay and play event to raise money for charity, designed for members of the public to ride whatever bike they own up the course – and that in itself makes it a lot of fun to watch.
It was well worth a couple of hours of my Sunday afternoon. As it’s a charity event, the £20 ticket fee is very reasonable (riding the hill climb is extra), and I didn’t even mind paying a few quid for ice cream given it was such a hot day.
Severn Freewheelers Blood Bikes cover Hereford and Worcester, Gloucestershire, and North Wiltshire – if you want to support them you can do so via their website (and make sure you attend Prescott Bike Festival next year – it’ll be on 22 June 2025!).
ABR Festival
After a year off last year as we had other things that weekend which clashed, we returned to Adventure Bike Rider (ABR) Festival this weekend to immerse ourselves in all things adventure motorcycling. The last time I went I was kindly hosted by the team at ABR Magazine, but this time my husband and I bought tickets to attend.
ABR is a festival dedicated to the things you can do and the places you can go on adventure bikes. Whether you ride a small CC bike on dirt trails, or a large touring adventure bike around the world, or, indeed, any combination of bike to activity, the festival is designed to provide heaps of adventure and touring inspiration, and to give people opportunity to spend time with likeminded riders.
It was somewhat-chaotic getting into the festival at the same time as thousands of other bikers at 9am on Friday morning (we didn’t pay for the Thursday VIP tickets). It was slow going, and a little intimidating being in such a big crowd of bikes, but once we were in, things were very well organised. Actually, looking at the reports, it seems we just about missed the worst of the arrival issues, as we were through to the registration area before the organisers had to start using holding pens to control the flow of traffic on the roads. Phew!
Inspiring Talks and How-To Presentations
The main pull for us, the reason we booked tickets, was the schedule of talks and presentations from those who have been-and-done-it on adventure motorbikes. I thoroughly enjoy listening to other people tell their adventure stories, and that’s what we spent most of the weekend doing.
There were a lot of people to hear from – before we arrived, we’d highlighted our must-sees, and even then, we had to choose as there were so many to go to. Many of the names on the lineup were those we’ve heard before, such as Elspeth Beard, Ted Simon, Vanessa Ruck, Billy Ward, and the like. So, we prioritised those we’ve not heard speak before.
We heard Aussie adventure stories from Dave Darcy, editor of MAD TV, heard stories of extreme rallies from Chris Birch (what a lovely bloke – and what incredible wheelies!), and learnt riding techniques from Llewellyn Pavey. I also enjoyed Tamsin Jones’ interview on Saturday afternoon, when she talked about completing the Dakar. These riders can do all the things on all the bikes, and while I’m not about to enter Red Bull Romaniacs or the Dakar (!), it’s always interesting to hear from people who are that good at what they do.
How Hard Can it Be?
I particularly enjoyed Runa Grydeland’s presentation on getting into adventure motorcycling and motorcycle vlogging (she is Off She Goes on YouTube). There are a handful of female adventure motorcycle YouTubers now, but there is something about Runa I find very unassuming and likeable. Her relaxed ‘how hard can it be’ attitude to motorcycling (and life) is one I admire, especially as it seems to come without arrogance. She’s not afraid to at least give things a try, and I enjoy watching her adventures.
The lineup in the new ‘Traveller’s Tales’ tent – which was set up like a Bedouin tent with carpet and low benches/cushions to sit on – was good. The talks were interview style conversations with people providing advice and guidance on different kinds of trips, including the Alps (I made lots of notes for our summer road trip), Canada, Southern Africa, and even round the world expeditions. It’s a shame the tent was so small as it was hard to get a comfortable spot inside to enjoy the talks in the best way. Hopefully the organisers will have noted how popular it was and will at least double the size of it next year. And maybe add some fans… it was hot!
A Lid Service
One of the unexpected very useful highlights of the weekend was that the team from Arai were at the festival offering free helmet servicing. I spotted it on their instagram feed, and so on Saturday morning, visited the gents in the Arai tent to get my Tour X4 looked at. They took the whole thing apart, gave it a thorough clean, tighten, lube, and whatever else is involved in servicing a motorcycle helmet. They even moved my intercom speakers for me to a better position. All for nothing. Thanks Arai – my lid is looking very snazzy again!
All the Farkles
There were also plenty of shopping opportunities – clothing, accessories, adventure trips, and bikes. You can book test rides (if you are quick in the morning), but we weren’t bothered about that this time. We did plenty of mooching around the various stands, sat on all the bikes, and spent an incredible amount of money in our heads.
My husband tried out one of the Helite Turtle 2 Air Vests. These pieces of protective gear seem to be getting more popular, and the team were at ABR (along with a couple of their competitors) to showcase what their vests can do in a crash. The Helite rep pulled the cord to inflate the vest, which really did go with a bang and in an instant, and then smacked him on the back with a baseball bat (yes, really). Apparently, the latter was to prove that the vest works in an impact. I imagine this technology will slowly infiltrate into more everyday riding gear, and I can see why – but for now it’s £600 or more for a vest that adds weight and bulk to what is already very protective gear. Something to watch.
The festival is four days, but with Thursday being an extra charge, and Sunday having no talks or presentations scheduled, we just went for the Friday and Saturday. We had a really good time, thoroughly enjoying the talks, mooching around the stands, and soaking up the atmosphere that comes with being around so many people living an adventurous lifestyle. We will absolutely go again – but I think we’ve decided this is a once-every-two-years kind of event for us.
Doubling Up on Gloves
Back in summer 2021 I bought a pair of Oxford Brisbane Air textile motorcycle gloves thinking they would be good for my trip to Iceland. I wanted something lightweight and flexible for the offroad riding elements of the trip. Given they were cheap and cheerful in many ways, I figured I would use them in Iceland, then replace them with something better. As it turns out, they lasted much longer than anticipated – Iceland, Portugal, Morocco, and a bunch of other trips in between.
But these basic gloves have done their time, so I took a trip down to Sports Bike Shop in Bristol to replace them. After trying on a huge number of gloves from various brands and at various price points, I came home with two pairs. Intentionally, that is.
The lightweight summer gloves I chose are the Rev-it Access ladies textile gloves. There’s not a lot to these, as you might expect, but they fit well and seem good quality. They’re made of microfibre, they have decent knuckle armour, the fingers are touchscreen compatible, the grip is great, and they are incredibly breathable.
Something Waterproof
For the other pair I wanted something lightweight and short, but that were also waterproof. My winter gloves are great, but they are so bulky and warm, and I have limited dexterity when wearing them. I felt something thin and flexible with added waterproofing would be a very useful addition to my kit.
I chose Rev’it again – this time the Mosca 2 H20 ladies gloves. They have a leather palm, waterproof membrane, knuckle protection, are very flexible, and seem very breathable. It was between these and the Furygan Jet All Season D30 ladies gloves, which were also very nice but seemed a bit thicker – Rev’it won because I felt they would be slightly cooler in hot weather.
I spent something like £90 on both pairs and am pretty happy with that. The lightweight ones, which were the direct replacement for the Oxfords, were around £30. The waterproof ones, which are lined so they are a bit warmer too, were around the £60 mark (I’ve just seen they are now on sale… typical).
The only disappointment is, as always with ladies gear, is the only colour choice for any of the gloves I tried on was plain black, black with a bit of white, or black with a bit of pink. Gah! I’d definitely have bought something more interesting if that option had been available. Oh well.
Cool Cover
The final piece in my F750GS set-up puzzle (I think, anyway), is the Cool Cover I had fitted recently. I rode over to see John and Deb in Ledbury to get a seat cover custom made. I had one on my F650GS (also a custom made one), and knew I wanted one on my new bike before I started doing big tours on it.
Cool Covers are designed to allow air to flow between you and your seat, to keep you cool when riding. Air conditioning for your butt, if you like. They also don’t soak up the heat when the bike is parked up (even though they’re black), so you never have to sit on a boiling hot seat.
It works an absolute treat, genuinely making a difference. My ride home from Ledbury was significantly more comfortable than on the way there – and I reckon it finishes off the look of my adventure bike pretty nicely, too.
Apart from cooling in hot weather, I also find it helps to expel water when it rains, meaning water takes a lot longer to soak into my trousers. And because the material can’t be fully compressed, it’s also a nice cover to have on for big mile days.
I actually know the owner; John was on our trip to Iceland, he’s a lovely guy and is really passionate about making excellent quality seat covers. I had the cover for my F750GS low seat made while I sipped tea and chatted motorcycling.
If you’re a motorcyclist, especially if you like to ride in warm weather, I highly recommend Cool Covers, well worth it. Tell John I sent you!
See You Next Time…
I think that will do for me rambling on about motorcycling for one weekly blog episode, so I’ll stop there for today. I definitely want to put together some kind of ‘how I’ve set up my F750GS’ post sometime, but I’ll get some more miles on it first. In my next episode, I think I will concentrate on some of the audiobook and other things that have been entertaining me recently.
In the meantime, I’d really love it if you would have a read of two recent hiking articles I wrote. They both feature beautiful hikes I did back in May in the Lake District National Park, both of them worth adding to your to-hike list – A Coledale Round and Ashness Bridge and Walla Crag. And if you’ve already read those but love a bit of Cumbria talk, then you could do worse than read my Cumbria Way adventure journal series. Start here for part one.
See you next time.
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