There were two possible rallies this weekend. The first was the Scottish Roadrunners 11th Stuffed and Plucked Rally and the second was the Tyne Phoenix MCC's revival of the Sandancer. The Roadrunners was merely 10 miles from home and the Sandancer was 150 odd miles away at South Shields. Not being folk who believe in an easy life Carol picked the Sandancer and sent away for the tickets. As it turned out it was easier for me as I was working in London and happened to have the bike with me. Closer to get to the Sandancer then.
Should have been easy but the RF's engine expired at Toddington services on the M1 and I had a two hour wait for the breakdown man to arrive. (no fault of his , or Carol Nash who provided the cover with my insurance policy).The M1 at that time on a Friday afternoon is always a carpark which moves ever so slightly if you stare at it long enough. When the breakdown man arrived he made his mind up in about ten minutes that this would be a recovery. He was prepared to take me and the bike to Scotland then drive back to London. "No way says I, "give me your toolkit and I'll remove the tank and plastics and you can find the electrical fault" "Theres a rally up North that I will be at". After an hours fiddling around we had the bike running and staying running enough for me to set of on the journey North.
My origional plan was to ride home and pick up Carol, meet up with Mark, Katrina and Chris and then go down to the rally but the delay meant plan B was looming. Carol took the car and drove down with the others on their bikes and I rode straight to the rally. As it turned out I arrived at 11:30 (pm) and was only 15 minutes later than the rest. A briliant result as Carol had pitched the tent and had the camp beds blown up for my arrival. Time for a beer.
We made the marquee just in time for the bar closing and purchased copious amounts of beer. Well, at least enough to last until 6 o'clock in the morning. I dont know what the folks in the surrounding tents thought of us as they tried to sleep and we partied the whole night in front of our tent. (Sorry folks)
When we woke on Saturday the sun was shining bright. Carol and me were up before the rest. An all time first. The weather was too good to waste so we just lazed around outside the tent taking in the atmosphere and catching the rays. We had planned to go out for lunch to some pub Mark knew close by but we again resorted to plan B. Go to the local supermarket and buy quick food and cheap wine then return to the campsite to soak up the sun. Around 8 o'clock in the evening we were all pissed as farts and decided it was time to venture around the awsome rally site, stoping off to say hello to whoever we knew and anyone else who would listen. We managed to take in the first band on Saturday night who were an excellent Zeppelin covers band. (I'm sure somebody told me their name but I was to pissed to listen, bother or remember but they were shit hot. After the usual hour or so larking around in the marqee (climbing the tent pole, getting stuck in a rubbish bin, and general tom foolery) the second band, Witchcraft came on. I think by then we were too drunk to listen and we all retired to bed.
We'd like to thank the Tyne Phoenix for staging a brilliant rally. Safe to say we're looking forward to next year.