The Old Timers Meet - Den Haag 2003

From Steve Slocombe

This was the 25th meet, so the UK contingent went along in support of the Dutch club quarter century and the Harley-Davidson one hundredth anniversary. It was the same crew as last year, with me on my 1930 VL, Peter Reeves on the original paint 1936 knucklehead, Geoff Skilton on his 1934 VLD and Peter’s brother Barry on his civilianised 1942 WLA. We crossed from Dover to Calais on Friday 8 August with the bikes in two vans - to save on fares - then parked in Belgium and unloaded the bikes. The weather was dry with temperatures continuing at the 25-30 degrees Celsius we had enjoyed for a good while. This time we did not need to queue for an hour at the Breskens ferry, but went through the new Westerschelde toll tunnel from Terneuzen which had been built in the previous year. After a spooky ride through the 4 km long tunnel, we found our way along the dyke roads at the western edge of Holland, past Zierikzee and Brielle to the Maasluis ferry to the west of Rotterdam. After a few minutes on the ferry we again found the cobbled road by the canal and windmill, and completed our journey to the Don Bosco clubhouse in Rijswijk.

 

A view from the windmill shows the variety        Angela Schilling deservedly took the long
of pre-1966 American bikes in attendance).         distance award with 870km on this Servicar

We paid our entrance fees, pitched our tents under the trees, and went to meet old and new friends and inspect the many bikes arriving. The Old Timers Club seemed to have a record turnout that weekend, and the organisation was again excellent. Breakfast is provided, and restaurants are within walking distance if you do not want to join the evening barbecue. The two Friday night bands were zydeco followed by 1980s electric rock, with associated beer drinking and conversation. On Saturday morning we assembled 200 strong for the ride out to a historic windmill in Den Haag, with the circuitous route apparently chosen by the Dutch spare part dealers to cross every cobbled or brick road, and every canal and tram line in the district. Several of those newfangled overhead valve bikes oiled up rear spark plugs, but we all made it to the windmill for lunch. After a pleasant visit it was back to Don Bosco for the ‘silly games’. My foot slipped off my suicide foot clutch in the slow race, thus giving Peter Reeves an easy win and the spectators the sight of me fishtailing down the course. In the parts bin relay race, I successfully found the 1200 cc parts when the rules were to find those for the 750 cc Harleys - oh well. That evening we enjoyed two more bands, this time playing Rolling Stones early hits and 1970s electric rock. Again much beer was consumed in friendly surroundings.

Next morning it was breakfast, strike the tents, and retrace our steps to the UK after another excellent weekend. This meet captures the spirit of old time motorcycle meets and is thoroughly recommended.