Sunday ride to Old Buckenham Aerodrome

Our next Sunday ride once again has an aviation theme, with Paul Norman & Keith Tremeer taking participants to The Liberator Café situated in Old Buckenham Aerodrome. Opened during WWII the aerodrome was home to the USAAF 453rd Bombardment Group. Jimmy Stewart flew the B24 Liberator on numerous missions over Germany from this base

B24 Liberator in flight (public domain image)

Paul writes: We start from Sainsburys in Haverhill (which has petrol for those needing to top up). Following the customary briefing we’ll set off at 9:30am on quite a challenging route following country roads north of Haverhill, passing through small villages before heading east of Bury St Edmunds and past Thetford for breakfast at the Liberator Café located on Old Buckenham Aerodrome (just south of Attleborough) – menu here
The return route is a straightforward run across to Watton and on down past RAF Lakenheath, with the ride finishing at Walkers Snacks – making for a total journey of 90 miles 

Briefing  9:20am                    Ride departs  9:30am       
Total distance  90 miles       Participants   12 max

Members Evening – with a presentation by Examiner Martin Munday

Over Community Centre   |  Thurs 17th October  7:30 – 9:30pm
Click here to request a place

We are delighted to welcome IAM Examiner Martin Munday, to our Members Evening next Thursday 17 at Over Community Centre. Following a short presentation unveiling our new Members Map, Martin will be offering a Q&A session where Associates can find out how the Advanced Rider test is conducted and what the Examiner is looking for during it. Members Evening is also an opportunity to celebrate successes in the Advanced Rider test with presentations to our newest full Members

Martin Munday was an officer in the Metropolitan Police for 31 years. He served in Traffic Division for 10 years, attaining Advanced Class 1 classification on both cars & motorcycles. He spent 15 years in the Special Escort Group, providing high-profile escorts for the royal family, government officials and visiting heads of state. The Special Escort Group also delivers armed car escorts for high value materials and high-risk prisoners

Martin has been a member of the IAM since 1997. He became a National Observer for both cars and motorcycles in 2017, has been an Advanced Car Examiner since 2020 and an Advanced Motorcycle Examiner since 2021

While the Q&A session is primarily aimed at Associates, this event is open to all and Martin suggests that any Observers present may well pick up useful insights which they can incorporate into their training programs. Full Members are of course welcome, especially those who have recently passed the Advanced Rider test and may be able to share their experience

Join Keith Curtis & Nick Harwood heading west

Fellow Committee Members Keith Curtis & Nick Harwood join forces on October 6th to respectively lead & tail our next Group-organised Sunday ride. They’ll be heading west into Northamptonshire – Rose of the Shires – for breakfast at the Aspen Café on the outskirts of Burton Latimer. Keith outlines the ride…

Starting from Cambridge Services we make our way through Huntingdon and on to Northamptonshire – the Rose of the Shires – using minor roads running north of and parallel to the A14. Continuing west and southwest, we cross the A14 three times as we make our way to Bosworth’s Garden Centre where we will stop for breakfast at the Aspen Café.
On the return journey we stay to the north of the A14 following minor roads through some lovely villages on the way to Oundle before crossing the A605 at Barnwell. Pushing homewards we pass through Thurning, Winwick & Hamerton before passing through Huntingdon once more to end the ride back at
Cambridge Services

As the café has requested pre-orders, so please indicate your choice from the breakfast menu when requesting your place using the link below 

Summer Flowers, Henri Fantin-Latour 1880 | Public Domain

Start & end         Cambridge Services, CB23 4WU    what3words
Breakfast            Aspen Café, NN15 5QA    what3words

Ride limited to 16 riders   |  Request a place here

Night Ride, October 3rd

Photo by Waldemar on Unsplash

Full Members can now request a place on October 3rd’s Night Ride led by Shaun Digby, who looks to have consulted astronomical tables during his planning: with civil twilight ending at 7:04pm that day, night officially begins precisely 4 minutes into the ride!

Our starting point Cambridge Services encompasses an extensive site, so to ensure a punctual 6:45pm briefing and prompt 7:00pm departure we’ll meet up in the dedicated parking area near the main entrance. Once rolling we’ll ride continuously for some 43 miles and can expect to be in the saddle for around 1¼ hours. The route uses very mixed roads as it heads first towards Papworth, then down to St Neots and back through Potton & Gamlingay, with the final section passing through the Gransdens before the ride comes to its conclusion at Caxton Services

This ride is open to full Members only, and is limited to 12 riders
Departs Cambridge Services, 7pm
Ends Caxton Services ~8:15pm

Charity Bike Night

Members & Associates will by now have received Chairman Ian Dunckley’s message relaying news from the AGM & drawing attention to an upcoming local event: a Charity Bike Night to promote suicide prevention & awareness. This takes place from 6pm on Thursday 26th September at M&M Motorcycles

As Ian notes, while CAM has no official role at this event the Committee encourages you to consider attending. Having trained as a Mental Health First Aider for Mental Health Motorbike, Ian invites any CAM Member or Associate who would like to do so to discuss this or related issues with him (see his email for contact details)

Charity Bike Night will be held at M&M Motorcycles on the Thursday 26th September, and is led by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. Full details of the evening can be found in the flyer – click here or on the image above to download

Our final BikerDown course this year

Last call for places on a Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue BikerDown course this year! This informative & potentially life-saving course, delivered by volunteer fire officers in a CAM-exclusive session, covers 1. Initial Scene Management
2. First-Aid for Motorcyclists3. The Science of Being Seen

All our Members & Associates are welcome on this FREE course, including those who have attended previously and wish to brush up their skills. Members of our Observer Team – as well as all Ride Leaders & Tail Enders are encouraged to attend in order to keep their first-aid skills up-to-date. Click here to request a place

St Ives Fire Station, Ramsey Road, St Ives, PE27 5RA   what3words
Monday 23rd September, 6pm–9pm   |  Click here to request a place

Sunday ride to Chatteris (September 15th)

Many thanks to ride leader Mark Fox for providing the following description of next Sunday’s Group-organised ride to Chatteris, which has Keith Tremeer on tail-ender duty

Starting from the car park at Tesco Milton, we will head north and into the Fens, passing through via Cottenham, Haddenham, Somersham & Chatteris, where we’ll stop for breakfast at the Seasons Garden Centre {view the  menu here}
After breakfast, we’ll head across to Ramsey and then pick up the B660 for the run to Kimbolton. Heading into the countryside south of Kimbolton, we’ll eventually loop around Bedford Aerodrome and then wiggle our way back to Eaton Socon. From there it is a quick run along the A428 to Caxton Gibbet, where we’ll end the ride after 89 miles in total

Start                Tesco Milton, CB24 6AY
End                  Caxton Gibbet, CB23 3PD
Breakfast       Seasons Garden Centre, NN15 5LZ

** Ride limited to 16 participants **         Click here to request a place

September 18th – a tour of Hideout Leather!

Founded in 1987, Hideout Leather is a truly British manufacturer who offer the best quality off-the-peg garments from a range of manufacturers, but specialize in made-to-measure leather outfits. In 2014 Hideout designed & created Rebecca Ferguson’s race suit for

But it’s not all Hollywood; Hideout have supplied 50+ police, fire & ambulance services with clothing for over 30 years. And now director Kate Jennings is inviting CAM Members & Associates to the Ashdon premises on Wednesday 18th September from 6:30pm. Don’t forget your credit cards: as well as a tour of the workshop tour & a complete walkthrough on how a custom motorcycle suit is made, we’ll also have plenty of time to browse the showroom!

Maximum 30 attendees   ::   what3words location 
Click here to reserve your place

Hungry Stag rideout, Sunday 1st September

Leader/tailer team Roger Taylor & Peter Grant head east into Suffolk for breakfast at that modern classic – The Hungry Stag Café near Stowmarket

>From BP Cambridge, our route uses mostly B-roads to take us south of Newmarket & Bury St Edmunds to The Hungry Stag Café, located a short distance from Stowmarket just off the A14. A favourite with bikers, car enthusiasts, truckers & locals alike – check the menu here

<After breakfast we head north and west to the ride’s end at another trucker haunt – Walkers Snacks Café near Mildenhall. The rideout covers 72 miles, but please note the distance between the start & end points! 

Starts  BP Cambridge (Newmarket Road)
Ends  Walkers Snacks near Mildenhall

Briefing  9:20am                  Ride departs  9:30am
Total distance  72 miles     Maximum number of riders  14

Use this link to request a place

Group-Ride training – Saturday 7th September

Everyone on a group ride benefits from understanding the lead & tail roles and the guidelines which ensure outings are both safe & enjoyable. With that in mind, all Members & Associates are invited to the final Ride Leader & Tail-Ender training session of the year, which Barry Dickinson leads on September 7th. No experience of group-riding is required, and you don’t have to be interested in leading/rides to attend. You can even join us just for the afternoon’s on-road outing – if you haven’t yet been on one of our rideouts this will make a great introduction!

Saturday 7th September  ::  Over Community Centre  ::  RL&TE training

Who can attend?
All Members & Associates are welcome *
   * Associates require Observer confirmation that their riding is at a suitable standard

Does this commit me to joining RL&TE team?
No – you can come along just for the fun and to improve your group riding!

Can I turn up just for the Group ride at the end of the training session?
Yes – we encourage both Associates & Members to join us for the practical ride-out session from 3 to 4pm. Please indicate when you request your place if you only wish to join the rideout part of the training Read more