Matt, Paula and Justin ventured off to the South of England Rally at Bisley in the UK for the 6th, 7th and 8th of August 2004.
After having problems with the ferry being delayed for Weymouth we ended up on a ferry to Poole which meant an extra ride to Weymouth at midnight. Matt however had a GPS on his bike so we thought this would make it much easier. Unfortunately for us you also need eyesight and at that time of night Matt decided to ignore the sign saying "Weymouth" and follow his instinct and go straight instead. Within five minutes we were riding through lanes at 40 mph and it was looking like home in the country ! *grins* A few quick turns and weehey we were back on track.
Arriving at 2 am at the Travel Lodge on noisy Harley's went down extremely well so we parked up, checked in and hit the sack for four hours or so sleep.
Morning came we packed up the bikes and headed off and ended up on the M3 to the Rally. At 85 mph there was a great sound from my Sportster as I had to pull over to the side of the road, my bike would go no further.
Matt and Paula carried on to get the tent set up and I got my bike off the motorway and waited hoping the cavalry would come...... And they did in a big blue van he drove up and shouted obscenities at me but gave me a big smile too uttering things like "piece of junk" and "stupid Guernsey man". Captain Nij to the rescue ! We loaded up the bike in the van and ventured off to the Rally where my bike stayed in the dry of his van all weekend.
Arriving at the Rally the tent was up, so I offloaded all my gear and headed straight for the pub for pint number one ! This continued on a rinse and repeat formula until I hit number twelve and then thought it would be a great idea to start playing the computer games, shooting ones at that. I was amazed that after twelve pints I could get 100% accuracy on Silent Scope a sniper game whilst drinking and smoking and using one arm to play.
A fairly early night we turned in at about 1 am to get some rest.
Mick joined us in the tent having only brought a sleeping bag with him and his car (packs much lighter than I do !) and a few scraps of clothing for the weekend. The snoring contest began and it was Matt in first place closely followed by Paula and in the rear was Mick bless him with a less than Harley snore but they all managed to keep me awake all weekend !
There were stands at the show selling everything from Harley Accessories to Jewelry and even Fantasy Swords the likes of which you would find in Lord of the Rings and King Arthur.
The Saturday was a fun packed day with three separate rideouts to go on, however Tenacious J was unable to attend any as his Sportster was still in the back of Nij's van and was extremely sick. Matt & Paula went on the rideout whilst TJ stayed on site and helped out at the registration tent and also helped Caroline (Blonde) collect raffle prizes from all of the tradesmen.
On the Saturday afternoon there was the bike competition and the turn out was incredible with some of the coolest Harley's I have seen. Once I receive some pictures I will post some here with the story.
There were live bands playing during the evening on the Saturday night which was followed by a raffle. The atmosphere was electric the whole weekend and the people even better.
Matt and Paula, Hank and I couldn't believe how many people came up to us and said "Hi we are coming to your Rally in August!" and we made many friends that weekend. You know who you are !
Sunday morning saw everyone packing up and TJ had to get down to Poole with no bike ! Blonde and Scouse offered to take me in their GMC Van and drove me and all of my gear down to Poole where I treated them to lunch. After lunch we bumped into Matt, Paula & Hank at the seafront and then I bid Blonde and Scouse a fond farewell and went to check in.
Tenacious J just wants to say a huge Thank you to Nij for being a life saver and coming out and picking me up from just off the M3 in his van and for the support after the breakdown ! To Blonde and Scouse you guys rock thank you so much for the lift back. To all of the Thames Valley chapter for being so friendly and helpful and to all the organizing chapters of the Rally who put in so much hard work to make Bisley the cracking event it was !
Next year ? Absolutely and hopefully more of the chapter can make it to what can only be described as a fantastic Rally !
P.P.S. Thanks Trish for being such a star !
Tenacious J
