I've just had an absolutely fantastic weekend, which was much appreciated after the trials and tribulations of the last few weeks. I went to a motorcycle rally about 100 miles away with some friends, including a couple who emigrated to New Zealand 2 years ago who are back for a visit. I was starting to get slightly concerned about the number of my friends who've emigrated in the last few years: I mean, it has to get personal once you're into double figures doesn't it?! Fortunately, they've pretty much all been back to visit since, so it can't have been me after all *grin*
Back to the motorcycle rally, and how to describe it? At its most basic level, it's a bunch of bikers getting together in a field and partying for the weekend, then riding home with a hangover. There is so much more to it than that though: the camaraderie, the hugs from folk you may not have seen since last year, the camping in glorious weather (thank you!), the bands, the dancing, the silly games, the silly costumes, the awards... And oh, what silly games! It has to be said that bikers as a whole have a strong streak of silliness running through them, which I for one enjoy immensely. Where else could you go and see everything from a group of hairy blokes dressed in hula skirts (not necessarily recommended, but very funny!) through to a girl dressed up as a fairy (complete with sparkly wings) to a guy in a chicken suit (being towed behind a bike on half a plastic bin in the sled racing)?
This year, synchronicity played a nice little part. Enjoying the sunny weather, I decided that it must be Pimm's o'clock: what better on a sunny afternoon? After a trip to the local supermarket, I returned armed with Pimm's, lemonade, cucumber and mint - after all, just because one is a biker, it doesn't mean that one can't be civilised. Off we all went to enjoy the silly games, and blow me down if they hadn't invented a new one for this year: punting! Now we're in a field where there's a slight lack of water, so the teams of three consisted of one punter with two helpers, with the punt rolling along on a set of wooden rollers. The punter punted along whilst the helpers grabbed the logs from the back and put them in front of the punt to keep things moving. Sounds easy, and it's not. I was chuffed to bits that my friends team won their first two heats, even whilst stopping to drink their Pimm's halfway down the field. Unfortunately, they were robbed of the final prize by the chicken team - I guess they were just that little bit stronger when it came to punting 3 people and a big wooden tray uphill.
Update: there are videos, albeit not great quality as shot by my little camera, here on YouTube - I'm getting into the multimedia age... And here's what they looked like after the final!
Another friend did win the prize for the best paint for her Fireblade, which she lovingly re-painted with Ronseal Paint and Grain a few years ago. The DVLA wouldn't let her re-register it as yellow and antique pine - no sense of humour those government types, so it had to go down as simply yellow. She renamed it Firewood. Luckily, the club hosting the rally did have a sense of humour, and she was over the moon to win. The couple from New Zealand didn't try to claim the awards for the longest distance travelled as it wasn't all by bike. One of the couple from Scotland did, which was a relief as we would never have heard the last of it if she hadn't. Some over-eager chappy from Croatia got the long distance male, which was fair enough!
All in all, a great time was had by all, and I'll definitely be going back there again next year. Not sure if the New Zealand branch will make it again for a while, but I expect to see the Scotland branch sooner: there's a rally up in the Shetland Isles some of us are thinking of going to next June - I wonder if I'll get long distance?
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