Imagine
that... leaving to go on a rally in brilliant sunshine !
This
was the first time that the Mrs (Ali) had ever been able to
come on a full weekend rally, seeing as Gary & Tracey had
offered to watch our 6 year old lass , Annie for the whole weekend...
we took advantage , and Ali got Gary's bed in our pre-booked
twin room on the Kingsway.
We
set off about 2pm after dragging ourselves away from our wee
one, and off down the A1, deciding to do the trip with as little
stops as possible, all the way down the A(M)1 , M62 then M180.
Twice
we got to services after driving with the fuel light on for
about 10 miles...
maybe I should have planned more stops... crusing at about 60
on our PX210 (genuine 60 mind , none of your PX speedo inaccuracies
here) all the way down in the roasting hot temperatures.
We didn't see a single other scoot until about Scunthorpe when
we passed a couple of small bunches. Still , a trouble free
journey down.
Got into town around 7:30pm ish , and past Bootleggers on way
through... it was packed outside already, our digs on the Kingsway
were the other side of the peir so we just hopped along straight
there, our gaff is a pub/hotel one of the last before going
along to the main do at the Winter Gardens so there were plenty
of scooter folk filling up on bevvy there already.
Quick
pint of Scrumpy Jack, dumped bags in room and back outside where
we met up with Wee Bob , Malice and co...
The
main do started filling up on the Friday at about 10:30, as
Dave the Mod from Scooterist Internet Radio played a great selection
of tunes all night... well I'm assuming all night , as seeing
as me 'n Ali hadn't had owt to eat, we bailed about 11:30 to
find a chippie.
Now , I 'd had a few pints , but I'm sure I heard Dave say something
about the Specials getting back together ???
Some more of that here... http://www.drownedinsound.com/content/view/881837
Friday
night over.
Saturday morning and I drag Ali down for breakfast at 9am to
get a start to the day... along to the parts fair and custom
show which got busy with peeps & scoots about 12pm, Nik
from ScooterboyWorld.Com playing a fine selection of tunes in
the Peir Bar, although just as we were about to get into sesh
mode... the one working til packed in leaving a big thirsty
crowd waiting on bevvy , and being as impatient as me meant
bailing out to find another pub... so we went along to Bootleggers
to watch "Badness" perform.... stood at bar for 10
minutes, still behind about another 20 guys as the incredibly
slow bar staff chatted their way through serving folk... bugger
this... off again... so we had a pint in O'Neils then went off
for lunch.
It
started to rain a tad for about an hour, but nothing too heavy,
and after another hour milling about the custom show and all
that... we chilled until about 5pm when it was time to set up
base camp in a boozer somewhere.
I was keen to catch "All Mod Cons" at the Bootleggers
, but no way I was going to put up with that bar service, so
the initial plan was to get tanked up, buy a few bottles somewhere
and check the band out... but then I noticed a wee tidy bottle
bar , outside Bootleggers with no queue !!! Perfect.
That's where we noticed Bert & Gallus parked up as well
so we joined them in some merriment.
Gallus had bought himself a toy catapult, and looked very much
the Oor Wullie... while Bert's "Willy Specs" and genuine
Rat Poison were entertaining too :)
As
the rat poison began getting spilt everywhere, Gallus played
safe and took it to the bog to dispose off... shame as we'd
planned on using that at the do instead of talc , to aid our
dance efforts. Also had I known the bastards behind the bar
were going to refuse our Scottish bank notes , I may have found
another use for it :)
"All
Mod Cons" were very good , some (or all, not sure) of the
guys play in "Influential Factor" who we seen at Brid
last year. Shame they don't play with Ricky's , but then again
, it's kinda refreshing to see a Jam tribute band just play
the songs and not try to copy the gear set up as well.
The bass player using his fingers to play instead of a pick
also was a novelty in a Jam Tribute... any way - well played
lads.
Along
to the main do shortly after and it was mobbed fairly early
on, and with no air conditioning, it was swealtering ... I mean
REALLY swealtering... still a good night and again , I was chuffed
with the music selection in the main room, a great mix. I was
even up 'dancing' in my own dodgey way for a good bit... until
I couldn't move for the weight of sweat in my pants !
Lights came on at the back of 2am, and folk started to drift
away... back to the digs for us and a nice cool shower before
kip... early start the morra, wanna get home before tea time!
Trip
up was easy enough, again crusing at 60 , passed Wee Bob who
had seized up at Scotch Corner , but after checking he'd been
able to get in touch with recovery , we blasted on, strangely
enough , again , not passing another scoot all the way home.
Mind you, you know it's bad when after stopping for half an
hour for a Burger King at Newcastle, and you site on your scoot
again and your arse is sore straight away... you know the next
60 miles is going to be tough :)
Cleethorpes is probably as far as I'd go on a single trip these
days, my 40 year old arse was asking serious questions from
me... 2 up for 5 1/2 hours with few stops in between... ouch.
But all-in-all , an enjoyable weekend, don't know if I'll do
this one next year... for the distance covered and the hassle
of the Scottish notes etc , there may well be a closer July
jaunt for me (us), but still - a good weekend and plenty laughs.
