MOONSHINERS M.C.C.

"UNPLUGGED"

a chuffin' good rally

12th - 14th March.  2004.

    Here we are again - time once again for our "Unplugged" rally.  In true Moonshiner's fashion, it decided to snow on Thursday night.
"Never mind" I thought "It will be gone by tomorrow morning"
Wrong !  It was still happily snowing at ten o'clock when Pete and Dave turned up to grab the necessary bits and bobs that you need when running a rally.  I promptly did the cowardly bit and left it until dinnertime before setting off - at least the snow had stopped by then.
    This was to be my new trike's first run towing the "dog kennel" - 2 litre Ford automatic, so the engine should have more than enough power, but will the rest of the trike's running gear be up to the job ?

    The sight that greeted me when I did arrive was, to put it bluntly, a bloody disgrace.  I can only apologize for what passed as a "rally site".

Is it a rally site - or a building site?

The entire road around the field  had been churned up by various construction machines.  The slope onto the field was covered in mud, and had a couple of very nasty dips in the middle of it.

Archie very nearly cops it in the mud.

One of our members, "Archie" came very close to dropping his bike.  Luckily ( and I don't know how ) everyone managed to keep upright.
    Now when we arranged the booking of the field earlier in the year we were told nothing about the construction work that was due to take place - I have a feeling that if we had been told, then the rally would have been either cancelled or moved to later in the year.  Still - we had no choice other than to make the best of a bad job - and many thanks to the folks who turned up and didn't bend our ears over the state of the site.
    Friday night went as all good Friday night's should; beer, banter and generally chilling out  until the wee small hours.

    Saturday and the weather was a good ten degrees warmer - even the sun decided to shine on us.

The view from the other side of the river

I took a trip to the local cafe for breakfast, then carried on to the other side of the river.  The site looked almost pleasant from 200 yards away.

Who won what - or something like that.

Best bike award.

Best trike award

Rat bike award.

    The rest of Saturday dissolved into Sunday, with some folks not getting back to their tents until daylight - I have a feeling the Hangover Fairy may be visiting some people.
    So that's another rally over.  The site could have been better, and the weather could have been kinder, but on the whole, I think most people enjoyed it.  If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to try the new trike out, which I must say did cope with towing rather well.  I had to lower the tow ball by a couple of inches when I got back, but that's the purpose of a "test run" - find out all the little niggles and get 'em sorted.

    To all the folks that came to our rally, may I say thanks, and once again I apologize for the condition of the field.

Cheers.

^..^

BACK TO

2004