1976 Aegir Rally
This year's Aegir Rally was held at Keadly, near Scunthorpe. Only three of our club members attended. They were Dave Cockerton, Terry Reynolds and myself.
The Rally was held on the weekend of July 31st and August 1st and 2nd. We set off on Friday night at about 8 o'clock, arriving, thoroughly drenched at 10.30pm. The site, a football pitch, was not very well signposted in the dark and we spent half an hour looking for it. We paid our £1 each, collected our badges and went to get up our "marquee". Well, as Dave now has his outfit on the road, we decided to use it and took a four berth frame tent!
Dave had been having trouble with the sidecar front lights. On taking the tent out we found out why. The sidecar was about 2 inches full of water thrown in by the wheel. One wet tent and sleeping bags for Dave and Terry. My sleeping bag was in my panniers and quite dry! After setting up the tent it was too late to go into the pub so we had some hot dogs and soup and went to bed.
We slept through until 8.30 because no-one started bikes or singing at 7.00 as is usual. It was the same on Sunday morning, I don't know why. Scunthorpe was the venue for breakfast in a great bikers' cafe with pinball machines and a rock'n'roll juke box.
Back at the site we met a couple with a 650 Bonny who had set up next to us. Dougal and Margot from the Birmingham branch of the Triumph Owners MCC. It is interesting to note that Margot introduced Dougal to biking and associated pleasures by persuading him to buy a CZ175 to tour Scotland on!! He was bitten by the bug and Bonneville 650 followed CZ. Margot is an RAC/ACU graduate and owns a BSA Bantam which her father is at present rebuilding for her.
Whilst in Scunthorpe on Saturday morning Dave wanted to buy some jeans and we went to Wakefields where a flirty sales lady of about 40 (years) tried to sell him some underpants with pretty ladies on them. He didn't buy any though.
The sun finally broke through the clouds by lunchtime and after dinner at about 1 pm we went to the pub and knocked back a few pints of Sam Smiths bitter. We left the pub at about 3.00 in the afternoon and the rest of the day, until opening time, was spent cleaning the outfit to go to the pub!!
Dougal was actively discussing forms of karate with Dave and in doing so smashed at a pint glass with his fist, which promptly started to leak red, but not too seriously. The pub was left about 11.00 o'clock for yet another quiet night, apart from Dave's snoring which kept Terry awake (since buying his 850 Commando Terry isn't used to vibration, however caused.
We set off home about 11.30 getting back about 2 o'clock. Nothing much happened. It was a quiet rally but enjoyable all the same. With different licensing hours up there most of the time was spent pubricating our vocal chords whilst trying to dry them up again nattering about bikes.
Steve White