This is an account of the author and his four friends' journey following the route taken by the British Expeditionary Force, nearly 80 years previously, on its retreat from the German offensive at Mons. The ride took them from the Belgian border, over the battlefields of the World War I, across the plains and rivers of Northern France, to the banks of the Marne where, in September 1914, the BEF played its part in General Joffre's counter-attack against von Moltke's army. This is a blend of contemporary testimony with an analysis of the 1914 military campaign.