Glenavy on Tour

A group of riders, all with links to the same County Antrim village, credit the H.O.G.^® chapter system with giving them the inspiration and confidence to take on an ambitious tour of France and Spain

Words by Jeremy Pick

Steve Brankin and his wife Patricia, their friend Paddy Heatley and his wife Angela, and Karl Middleton and wife Mary Henderson undertook a two-week trip taking in Angers, Limoges, Lourdes, Pamplona and Potes, with their connection to the small village of Glenavy in Northern Ireland being the thread that connects them together.

“All three of the bikes on the trip were carrying at least one person from our home village,” says Steve, a retired IT manager and member of Belfast H.O.G.^® Chapter. “My wife Patricia and I grew up and still live near Glenavy, a village less than 20 miles from Belfast, while Paddy used to live in Glenavy before moving to Birkenhead,  Merseyside, and Mary – who now lives with Karl in County Cork – is Patricia’s sister and also grew up in Glenavy.”

Paddy and Angela took the Holyhead-Dublin ferry with their Street Glide^® and met with Steve and Patricia who had travelled south from County Antrim to meet up before progressing to Rosslare Harbour in Ireland’s south-east, where they all connected with Karl and Mary on their Ultra. Then followed the 17-hour ferry trip to Cherbourg. Once in France, their route passed through Angers, Limoges and Lourdes, taking in the Loire Valley, then crossing the Pyrenees via the town of Jaca. The friends stopped in Pamplona, the Spanish city famous for its bullfighting, before travelling on to Potes in the Picos de Europa mountains and then back to Ireland via the 30-hour ferry from Bilbao to Rosslare.

“A big part of taking this trip, and of choosing to ride Harley^® motorcycles in the first place, comes from the social scene and the camaraderie we’ve found in the Harley Owners Group^®,” explains Steve. “I’m in the Belfast Chapter and Paddy is in Deva Legion Chapter and we both really enjoy the organised ride-outs, social events and, of course, the rallies organised by both chapters. We’ve both been on several European trips with our wives, ranging from those with large groups of riders, such as attending the 2018 European H.O.G. Rally in Prague with Belfast Chapter, through to groups of eight or 10 folks on self-planned trips through Germany’s Black Forest and into the Alps, to trips just with four of us on two bikes. It was through going along on the chapter trips that we gained the confidence to plan and carry out our own trips, culminating in this one.”

As it was Karl and Mary’s first European biking venture, Steve and Paddy did most of the planning, starting with booking the ferries and then setting out a riding plan of the route through France, across the Pyrenees and into the Picos in northern Spain. The pair gathered information from online forums to fine-tune routes and locations and identify places to stay.

“Riding through the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees were undoubtedly the highlights,” says Steve. “We also really, really liked Potes in the Picos mountains – the scenery, accommodation and restaurants were all superb and the people of Potes made us feel so welcome that we plan to go back this year, in 2025, when we will include northern Portugal as well. Another highlight was the run from Potes to see the famous deer statue at Mirador Del Corzo in the Picos mountains, which was another great day of motorcycling and sightseeing.

“Motorcycling gives us all a break from the daily routine. You always see something new when out on a motorcycle and it’s a wonderful way to make new friends, many with the same outlook on life as yourself. In short, motorcycling – particularly on a Harley-Davidson^® – brings a sense of freedom, strong camaraderie and new friendships. We cannot give enough credit to the H.O.G. chapters we belong to for giving us the experience and confidence to plan our own trips like this!”

Steve’s YouTube record of the trip can be found here.

Tips from the tourers
The Glenavy group was made up of more mature riders and pillions, so the trip was designed to take that into consideration. Steve gives his tips on planning such a tour:

• We limit our daily rides to 250 miles, and this works well for us; we can typically be at our next night stop not long after lunchtime, giving time to check out the area and avoiding the stress of turning up at nightfall.

• As far as possible we avoid motorways and stick to national roads, meaning we get to see much more of the countryside. Of course, this means that the pace is slower and so the distances travelled are less, but it definitely works for us!

• Online forums and review sites such as Tripadvisor are valuable for route planning and choosing accommodation. We tend to book ahead on a ‘no deposit’ basis (via booking.com or similar) and then we can make changes while on the trip if we want to vary from the plan.

• We are not keen on too many one-night stops – we like at least two nights at most of our stops, as this gives us all time to look around and enjoy all the locations we visit – including their wine and beer!

• Travelling by road through France presents opportunity for sombre reflection surrounding First and Second World War sites.

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