Donna came into my life when my Son, now 29, was young through my good friend Sue Gwinnell. Donna and I supported & cried with each other through the blackest times of our lives and laughed our way through the rest of it. I have so many fond memories of her which just seem a blur at the moment, the day before her Funeral, but I know, with time, they’ll come to the forefront when you remember only the good times. I spent Saturday of the AGC with her and plans were made, not now to be fully implemented. However, I know she would want us to carry on her good work. If we don't next time we meet her, we’ll get a right telling off. As an Activist I put Donna and Simon Milward, who we sadly lost to Biking just over a year ago, in the same league. As a friend she was a one-off and I know my life is now the poorer for the loss BUT so much richer for having had the privilege of us being friends. Ride Free, Donna, till we ride together again. Aine
For the Troll, who only knew Donna for a few years, it has come as a great loss, and will see an unfillable space at the events held in and around Weston, and, of course, the Region. Donna was a good friend and motivator, her loss will be keenly felt. The Troll
The Easter weekend saw the final Duk Dik taking place in Etloe, Forest of Dean. The turn out was very good - I gather around 370 came though the gate. The weather was brilliant...I really can’t remember the last time it was as good. Maybe it snowed/rained/ hailed while I slept?
We had some youngsters playing on Friday - lots of belting metal covers which seemed to go down well.
There was a rideout to The Boat Inn, thence to Redbrook and on to Abergavenny during Saturday afternoon.
The evening saw ‘Fat Cat’ playing their brand of rock to an appreciative audience. The onion and fruit cocktail eating competition was clearly not as hard as usual as one contestant came back for more.....nutter.
The drinking and partying continued into the early hours. I know a number of us would like to thank Bowser for entertaining us with his ‘guy rope’ trick (casualty is this way). There was a great little music session round the brazier, again a bit of a tradition.
The whole weekend felt like an old Duk Dik......sadly most of us were thinking of only one thing. I would like to think that we did her proud. I will personally miss this event but in a way it makes all the previous ones more special.
The stories that came out over the weekend made me feel very old...some of them are the stuff of legends.
The Duk Dik was Donna’s.....it is right and fitting that it ends here, but I’m buggered if I know what to do with my Easter now.
A big thank you to everyone who came. Thank you Donna for giving us many great Easters.
PS. Sorry about the shirt.....and hat (ask someone who was there). Eddie
Bristol MAG is holding a MAG awareness day down at Fowlers in Bristol on May 6th. So if you are passing by, pop in and give a hand.
Weston MAG had a bit of bad news when it was discovered that some how we failed to confirm our booking of Court Farm for the GWR 2006. However we are busily looking for a suitable site and the event will go ahead on the 15 - 17th September. We are looking into going onto a green field site and running the whole thing ourselves, with, hopefully the help of the other groups? The Troll
A Glos MAG couple are to open a Bike shop and are thinking of having a MAG museum, so if you have any old memorabilia you are willing to lend them let the Troll know.
It would appear that the DVLA are experiencing problems with their computers crashing, so don’t leave it to late to MoT your vehicles as sum post office’s are not accepting the temporary test certificates issued by test centres when their computers crashed.
It means that test centres are unable to issue certificates when entering test results and could lead to motorists being fined for failing to tax!
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In memory of Donna, an inspiration to so many of us