The National Association for Bikers with a Disability.
"You've been Nabbed - 17"
9th - 11th May. 2008.
Nabbed 17th eh ? Doesn't the time fly. I first did a NABD rally back in 2001, when they held their 10th national rally at Santa Pod drag strip. I then did the next two year's worth up at York drag way, and, to be honest I just didn't take to the site. For the last four years the rally has been held at Astle Park, up in Cheshire, a stone's throw from the Jodrell Bank radio telescope, so it's about time I did this rally again. For some obscure reason, the Moonshiners have never done this rally, it was one of those that I always did on my own, this year however, a grand total of 22 had booked. Now seeing as I had the week off work, and had just returned from down South on the Isle of Wight, I decided to head for the rally on Friday afternoon. With hindsight, this was a good move - the site was filling up at an alarming rate. I met up with Pete and Ollie for the sixty odd mile trip up the M6, which went with no hassle at all, and by one o'clock we were setting up.
A nice empty field - A few hours later.
Having set up - and fed - I took a walk around the site. It was good to meet up with folks that I had not seen for five years or so, since the last NABD rally I did. By now, the site was filling up at an alarming rate, luckily most of the Moonshiners were already here as I couldn't see us being able to keep a place for anyone. The one thing you are never short of at the NABD national rally is food or entertainment. With three marquees running a mixture of bands, comedy and general interesting stuff, a row of stalls that never seemed to close and a real ale festival too boot, what more could you ask for ? Thus ended Friday night. A group of well fed Moonshiners sitting about just talking bollocks - a bit like our normal club night really.
Saturday, and the weather was promising to be grand. Once again, I took a stroll around. The diversity of the bikes / trikes at this event is amazing. Just when you think you have seen something that can't be bettered . . . you find a better one hiding around the corner. Some things however, are a bit too big to hide. Very large trikes and radio telescopes spring to mind.
Jodrell Bank - Goliath
As nice as the weather was, I didn't fancy staying on site. My first stop was the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, and a most interesting device it is too. The next decision was whether to head for the coast or head for the Lake District. Today was, in my mind, a day for covering a few miles. In the end, the coast won and I pointed the trike in the direction of Anglesey. Much enjoyment was had touring along the coast of North Wales, although the temperature did drop to the point that I stopped and put my coat back on. By late afternoon I was heading back to the rally, and once more we took a walk around the site. We were told that a few tents had been robbed during the night. This ain't the sort of thing you associate with bike rallies, or at least it hadn't used to be. It was this sort of thing that stopped some of our members from attending the Isle of Wight for the last year or two. Let's just hope this is a one-off, the last thing you need to worry about at a bike rally is the safety of your property.
Here we have "Spartacus"
Followed by "Mrs Spartacus"
Ah - it's Archie, with his new shirt
Alan hasn't noticed that his double is hanging in the tree behind him
The guilty look of someone who's eaten the last cream cake
What better way to end a grand weekend than with a sunset ?
I ain't a fan of big rallies, but the NABD national is well worth doing. I did like the "run what you brung" part of the event when it was at Santa Pod, but it didn't seem the same when it was at York. Ok - so this site doesn't have a drag strip, but despite that I found it to be better - there again, I do tend to leave site and do my own thing during the day, something I didn't do at the other venues because the racing kept me entertained. From what folks have said, the club as a whole enjoyed the weekend, I have a feeling quite of few of us may be back for the next one. Thanks NABD - it was an excellent weekend.
^..^
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