Morecambe 2007

Well here we are again at the start of another scooter rally season. It’s been a long wet winter and although we’ve been busy with club do’s and dances its nice to have the rallies around again. First up this year is Morecambe as the VFM’s pre-season opener. 2005’s pre-season trip to Whitby where me and Jeannie ended up following a snow plough should have reminded us well enough what a March rally can throw at you but I was pretty optimistic about the weather as it was freakishly hot enough to merit putting on the air-con on in the works van on just the Wednesday before…...fast forward 48 hours and all that changed big style!!

From the BBC at 0430am on Friday morning - “…the country will experience a cold snap coming in from the Arctic over this weekend. Winds will be increasing to Force Eight gusts and daytime temperatures will plummet to around 3-4 degrees although this will feel significantly cooler due to the wind-chill factor. Worst affected areas will be the South and West of Scotland and the North-West of England. Sunday will also bring hail and snow flurries creating blizzard-like conditions at times, …………”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! – You couldn’t make it up!

Anyway, we’re all old enough and stupid enough to carry on regardless so that’s just what we did. My barely set-up and needing run-in lammy was dug out the garage at 0600 and set-off down to get Mark right after. We then met Peter and Paul (nae sign of Jesus though!?!) at Hillend then Dave, Lynn, Dude and Jimbo on scoots and Cath n Carri (or Bawbag and Apprentice) in backup van at Abington for 0800. (Kenny and Anne were coming down later by scoots). This was Lynn and Dudes first rally by scoot (and Pauls first National) so well done to them. Seems also that even though it was still early there had already had some drama – Dude had come into a corner a wee bit too quick, dabbed the front brake and tucked the wheel underneath. He was ok though and the scoot only suffering a wee bit cosmetic so fair play to him for hopping straight back on. The rest of the journey was a real struggle against the wind, dropping the average speed to 45mph at times. (Although Kitch and Wyn, coming from the East Coast with a headwind across the Pennines were down to 30mph most of the way on their journeys by all accounts!) Back to our route and filling up near Kendal, some of the local neds were giving it the “how fast is that then mister” spiel when one of them pointed out to Pete – “hey mister, how come you’ve got a Ferrari badge on your yellow moped” hahahaha! Yeh, nice yellow MOPED Pete! Goes with your red face (wink).

After a numbing journey then, we rolled into Morecambe with most of the crowd straight off to Den and Kim’s wedding in Lancaster. Congratulations to the happy couple. They wedding party then came straight back to the Ranch and the rally started proper. As usual the haze comes down at this point but I can remember wee bits of detail like Cath telling the Irish bloke “Ah know where ye stay” in her best Name of The Father accent, and he asks back deadpan “No, ye don’t- do ye?” Quality. The mess carried on to either Maggies or the Carleton depending on choice with a good night had catching up with all the old faces and friends. Some people never learn though with Dude deciding to go wreckin with Annie and adding even more bruises to the ones still there from the earlier tarmac surfin!

Saturday started with a late brekkie then on to the parts fair for ma shopping list to get sorted. As usual could only get half the bits due to lack of stalls (although plenty of choice if I wanted sorted with anything shiny!) £4 well spent then! That done it was time to hit the Ranch again and didn’t the club do well. Apart from those mentioned arriving by scoot earlier the numbers were multiplied by those from the other Blues branches, friends and also the car arrivals from our own club (including Fiona and the rest who were in Marks car which broke down and was left at Abington on Friday) so we ended up taking up a fair bit of the pub up in our noisy wee corner! There ain’t no party like a Blues party after all! After many refreshments the party moved on to Maggies where again Tony gave us a smashing set on the decks and we danced and drank the night away in there. Thanks to the folks who picked up my camera and phone after they were found on the dancefloor! Shitty pockets ya see (oops). At about 4 in the morning I’d had enough and headed to Gizmo’s where Jeannie decided she was sleeping on the floor of the pizza shop and no-one would tell her otherwise! Loony.

Sunday began with the weather just as bad as forecast and those of us on scoots reluctantly got kitted up for the ride. After a delayed start with Jimbo’s gears packing in and a scoot swap with Dude we finally got going proper around 12. At about 5 past 12 the first snow started blowing in and set the scene for the rest of the trip! I could try and explain the conditions but it’s easier to look at the photos. Just think when was the last time you had a few guys on scoots who were stopped at a red light having a snowball fight with each other using the snow we scraped of the front of our jackets and scoots!?! You can imagine what it was like across the hills in the Lake District – awful. We needed wee windscreen wipers on the visors. Eventually, even with all the scoots running reasonably well, we neared home to defrost after a journey of around 8 hours. Congratulations to all involved - It was an epic. Oh, and note to Jeannie – David is a young lad who likes lad’s magazines, so when you ask if he wants something to read (at the petroleum station on way home in car) and he says “just get me Nuts”….. he didnae mean a bag of dry-roasted ya fanny!!! hahaha. All in all though I reckon it were an ace weekend and a right good start to the season. The club did really well with a good turnout on scoots despite the weather, and looks promising for the year ahead. Don’t relax though because Scarborough is only three weeks away….!

Dunf

Stats – Morecambe – 16-18 March 2007 - Qualifying Miles – 340

Club scooters attending:

Davie L Vespa PX210

Lynne L Gilera Runner 125

Dude Italjet Dragster 125

Kenny Gilera Runner 180

Anne Vespa Rally 200

Jimbo Vespa T5 Classic

Paul Vespa P166E

Pete Gilera Runner 180

Mark Vespa T5 Classic

Dunf Lambretta LiS 200

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email: squirevespa1000@yahoo.co.uk

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