Oddballs M.C.C.

Ballsup Rally.

6th - 8th October. 2000

    Another Friday - another rally.  By late afternoon we were on the road to Wem, or at least on the road that leads towards Wem.  Finding the site proved to be no problem - Lower Lacon caravan park - certainly large enough, most definitely flat enough and just oozing the kind of mud that ralliest love.  Most sensible folks parked on the tarmac and carried their gear onto the field.  Us trike riders don't find mud to be that much of a problem - can't fall off - ( smug bastard mode ).

Having braved the mud, it didn't take long to set up camp, albeit a somewhat squelchy camp.  Seeing as I was still suffering the effects of the cold I caught last week, I decided that getting * too * pissed was not the order of the night, so I settled down and cooked dinner.  By early evening we were wandering around the various stalls that were on site.  Certainly spoiled for choice when it came to food, still, I tend to bring my own grub, having been
' caught out ' on rallies where you are either ripped off or there's been no food available.  The rest of the evening was spent in the bar, of course.  I could only listen to half the band, due to being deaf in the right ear, thanks to the cold I had.  Come to think of it, I only half listen to things anyway ;-)

    Saturday morning and the trike didn't want to start.  Strange, I thought, this thing's normally reliable - maybe the hole in the side of the ignition coil has got something to do with it ?  As you can imagine, I spent the rest of Saturday finding and fitting a new coil.
    I spent a few hours wandering around looking at the bikes and trikes on site.  There were all manner of weird and wonderful machines there, including, I'm sorry to say, a fair few cars.  Yep, I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again
" It's a motorcycle rally.  If you can't be bothered to turn up on a bike or trike, then why bother ?"  OK - some folks have genuine reasons why they can't ride a bike, but most of the car drivers on this rally were dressed as bikers and didn't seem to have any genuine reason why they couldn't have come by bike.  There, that's my rant over with.

Anyway - on with the plot - what little I've got left.

A rather tasty CX trike            Oh look.  It's had pups.       Even 'Wings braved the mud

    As per normal for the Moonshiners, Sunday morning saw us in the local cafe, feeding our collective faces before making the epic 50 mile journey home.
    The ' verdict ' on the rally ?

• For a large ( aprox. 450 turnout ) rally, it was well organised, decent food, very decent toilets and a good site.  Well done Oddballs.
• The mud made things * interesting * when we were trying to leave the site.  All good fun though.  Jet wash time on the way home I think.
• The number of cars on the field - { See, I'm not the only one who doesn't like to see cars at a bike rally. }
• All in all, a most enjoyable weekend.

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Cheers.

^..^

Lone Wolf.

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2000