"Baby Dragon"
UK Drifter Owners Group
21st - 23rd April. 2007
Like so many good ideas, my plan for setting off on Friday night came to naught. Never mind, it gave me plenty of time to pack things ready for an early start on Saturday morning - and would you believe it, I actually managed to hit the road around nine o' clock. For me, that is an early start. The B.R.U.B. behaved just like it always does - and just like I've been saying ever since I bought the thing - "Those footboards will have to go and a set of foot rests made, a good twelve inches further back" and "This bike is far too uncomfortable to ride unless I have camping gear to lean back against." Despite my general moaning about it, the Drifter still lives in the garage, and still gets used, though not as much as it could be. Come to think of it, I only seem to do any distance when attending these UK-DOG weekends. Today's little journey was all of 110 miles or so - and as per normal, I managed to arrive about ten minuets after everyone else had gone on a scenic tour of Wales. Ah well, I might as well put up the tent and make a cuppa.
Having fed and watered, I then took a stroll down to the Swallow Falls Hotel and booked my camping pitch. Some kind of pneumatic drill would have been useful for getting the pegs in the ground. Not much danger of my side stand sinking on this campsite. Now seeing as all the others would not be back on site for a good few hours, I spent some time touring the coastline, ending up at the summit of the Great Orme, where I did what all rufty tufty bikers do, and had an ice cream. By late afternoon I was back at site and had just finished cooking my tea when the missing "UK DOGGIES" turned up. As is normal for this kind of event, we all stood around pointing and laughing at various Drifters - or something like that.
Afternoon wandered into late afternoon, which in turn wandered into early evening - and early evening means time to head for the pub, or in this case, the hotel. We spent another few hours pointing and laughing, this time at the riders, rather than the bikes. Next important item was food, and this place seemed to do a varied menu. I pointed out how unfair it was that the children's menu contained fish fingers, where as the adult menu didn't. The hotel staff said that an adult version could be prepared without any problem - so that was me well fed and happy. Just out of politeness, I helped a few other folks finish off their food too - I'm just too kind sometimes ( no wonder I'm a fat bastard ). For some strange reason, I seemed to have a Ukulele about my person, so without further ado, I whipped it out and gave it a good thrashing. One of the other "Doggies", a chap named Roy, seemed to know the words to a fair few songs, and was all up for singing 'em. Between us, we managed to create acoustic havoc until the hotel closed. Even the other customers in the place were joining in before the end of the evening. I must admit, as far as I was concerned, it was a damn good night. Decent beer, good food and excellent company - what more could you ask for ? I spent half an hour or so 'putting the world to rights' before heading for bed.
So ended the "Baby Dragon" - a most excellent weekend .
Glorious weather ( ok, so it was a tad dull on the way home ) -
A cracking venue, in a most beautiful part of the country.
Many thanks to the people that put the time and effort into organising the weekend, it was well appreciated by all who attended.
All being well - I shall be venturing down to Suffolk for the next Drifter gathering.
Cheers.
^..^
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