Newsletter
March 2007
Newsletter
March 2007
Thistle Rally
Yes that
time of the year again, the Thistle Rally organised as ever by the Forth Valley
MCC ( www.forthvalleymcc.com
) at a site in Symington just inside Border country. Camping is in the grounds
of what can be best described as a dog eared former Hotel of some note. I took
the Commando as the weather was warm enough to dispense with the heated jacket
(still not been brave enough to test it on Mr Lucas prince of darkness charging
system) It was overcast but to start with there were dry ish
roads. I had a dice with a guy on a new CBR 600 who had the audacity to pass
me, actually caught him in a series of bends but then realised I should behave
myself both in terms of longevity of myself and my commando motor. In through Biggar there were signs that the Rally was nearby with
various leather clad folk sampling the local hostelries & milling about in
the main street obviously putting off the arrival time of that inevitable first
drink.
Arrived at
the Rally and got the gear off the bike, Bob, Kate, Ian & Alison were
already there and were engaged in tent putting up activity, this was new for
Bob as the previous Rally he had opted for the Hotel option! As we put the tent
up the traditional games were going on, hordes of overweight motorcyclists
stretching a rope in a vain attempt to prove who is the most manly, I wonder
just how many of these people turned up at work on Monday and couldn’t
understand why their back / arms / legs were so sore.
During the
signing in ritual the usual free nip was on offer, as usual people don’t seem
to like whisky as much as I do so I ended up with at least five to finish (just
being charitable). Then, into the bar, the first person I met was Ashley
Sinclair from
The evening
passed in the usual fashion, Bob, Ian and myself were
accosted throughout the evening by some ladies from a nearby table who
obviously had heard of our dancing prowess! It was hard trying to hide so I
decided I would do my drunk man impersonation and lose the power of
coordination to my legs, It worked so well I even fooled myself and wobbled
back to the tent before last orders. Luckily Kate brought back the jersey’s we
had carelessly abandoned in the dance hall otherwise it would have been a very
cold run back the following day.
Sunday morning arrived and I was taken aback to see that as
I peered out of the tent that most of my fellow campers had either departed or
were well on the way to breaking camp, even too late for my free tea & roll
from the control. We stopped at the café in Dolphinton
on the way back up the A702 for a lifesaving pail of tea and sausage roll to
make up for our earlier omission. It rained on the way home but it was a good
run, glad to be out on the Commando again!
Scottish Motorcycle Show.
This years show seemed smaller to me than previous years and I’m
sure the crowd were smaller. Honda were one main manufacturer missing, this I
feel is the thin edge of the wedge, perhaps a downturn in the show’s
importance. Best thing (only thing ) in my mind worth
looking at was the Ducati 1000 sport classic. I did
have a seat on it and it felt just like my John Player. A good toy to have
tucked away for a short blast but I suspect a bit painful on longer journeys.
Highlight of the show for me was meeting Austin Vince, one of the stars of Mondo Enduro & Terra Circa
his two round the world adventures captured on DVD and now Mondo
Enduro is in book form. I’ve just started reading it
and for those of you with an interest in adventure and motorcycling it is
seriously recommended.
It’s
available at http://www.rippingyarns.com/products/Mondo_Enduro.htm
for a measly £14.95. The description is as follows
Mondo Enduro
Round the world by 350cc motorbike, through
Mondo Enduro
”This is the expedition that has inspired hundreds of others. Ewan McGregor certainly learnt from watching the Mondo Enduro DVD. He avoided the Zilov Gap - the 392 mile section of Siberian tundra and
swamp where Mondo Enduro
ended up man-hauling their bikes...
The classic Discovery Television series Mondo Enduro is at last published as a paperback. Here you can
experience first hand the joys and the agonies of riding the longest land route
round the world, 44000 miles, in the shortest possible time. Completely unsponsored and without backup, Mondo
Enduro learnt their mistakes the hard way, because
they had no idea what they were doing.
Any of the three parts of Mondo Enduro
would make an exciting book in its own right, but here they are published
together for the first time.
1.
2.
3.
Sleeping in mud huts or under the stars; avoiding bandits from the Caucasus to
Central America, this is adventure motorcycling as it's meant to be - raw,
super low budget and above all fun.
The Mondo Enduro diaries
were written on the road by:
Austin Vince, Louis Bloom, Mark Friend, Clive Greenhough,
Bill Penty, Charles Penty,
Nicholas Stubley, and Gerald Vince.
The final book was edited by Austin Vince.
The most exciting motorcycle adventure ever, if you were on it.”
He is a genuinely interesting and funny guy, I unfortunately missed meeting his wife Lois who has
just returned from
A low note was that on the way out the police were
seen to be checking tyres on both bikes and cars in the car park then radioing
ahead to stop people as they left. Sneaky bastards, on one hand with bikesafe they had a stall trying to promote sensible riding
and a safer partnership, outside they were doing what the do best, raising
taxes for Gordon Brown and making peoples life a misery.
Ride Safe!
The Small Print
The views and opinions contained within this
publication are not necessarily those of the NOC or of the branch but are
probably mine as I wrote it.
No one accepts any responsibility for
anything, if you have a good time don't say I didn't warn you.
Gino Rondelli