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 After many miles of building up trust in my A65 Lightning, my first trip abroad was to the 42nd BSA International Rally in Denmark. I rode with Ronnie, Tony & Jo to Harwich, some 75 miles in dry conditions and luckily, everything went smoothly with the bike. We boarded the Dana Sirena and departed on time at 6:00pm and settled down for the 18 hour trip to Esbjerg. The crossing was quite rough and I didn’t get much sleep, but the ferry eventually docked at 11:00am Danish time.  We then rode 108 miles in somewhat windy weather to arrive at the campsite on the island of Mors   After the first cool night the weather became better and warmer and for the rest of the week the area boasted a heat wave, -what luck.! 

Denmark has some beautiful scenery.  On one of the many runs out we had, we went to Hantsholm where there is a bunker museum which housed a German long range gun from WW2.  On the way there, we made a diversion through a school yard so that all the children could see the bikes.  After visiting the bunker museum we rode back to site down the Danish coast stopping at various places of interest.

 On Tuesday all the BSAs lined up at the harbour in the city of Nykobing.  On a very hot day it was a beautiful site to see.  In the evening a band played in the club house and the best bit was when they brought an A10 in for the introduction to the ultimate biker’s song 'Born to Be Wild."   Thursday was time to stock up on spares at an autojumble, but trying to buy some spark plugs from a trader who couldn’t speak English was another thing, and after a lot of hand waving and miming I eventually came away with what I wanted.    Friday was time for a trip to 'Hjerl Hede" a Danish village which had been kept working as it was 100 or more years ago. I encountered my first accident and smacked my head on a low beam. People must have been a lot shorter in those days.

 Saturday came and it was time to pack up the gear and say good bye to all our friends. The weather was again hot and sunny and we had a good run to the ferry, on the way stopping at Skjern for lunch. To us it seamed strange that on a Saturday afternoon in a town centre, there was hardly anyone about.  We arrived safely at Esbjerg to board the ferry which departed 45mis late.   This time we all had a better crossing and a good night’s sleep.  Back in England the weather was cold and damp; and 75 miles later arrived home in time for lunch and to warm up.

 It was a great holiday and I enjoyed meeting other people with BSAs, swapping stories about bikes, and getting ideas from looking at modified models.  I would also like to thank Ronnie, Tony and Jo for letting me travel with them.

 Robert Smithdale

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