Rallies

Gilles Gaudechoux provided photos for the two reports that covered the last Chamois Rally in 1972. Gilles added his own account that explains his view of the demise of this legendary event. Its history is now recorded for posterity.

We added more badges from Jean-Francois Helias, including 14 G Rally Badges, 10 L Rally Badges, and 13 more for rallies beginning with M.

While Hans Veenendaal was away on his travels we removed all the August events from his Rally Listing. With the rump of the summer events removed, Hans' list is substantially lighter. About half the remaining rallies are in the next couple of weeks.

Hans is now home and back at the grindstone, so numbers will begin to recover slightly. You can begin dusting out your winter riding and camping kit, ready for rallies such as the Small End Weekender in November.

Wheel Dealers

Leicester Phoenix members supported the lavish lifestyles of many local bike dealers, coming to know them well as we parted with hard-earned money in exchange for another cranky machine. Our Wheel Dealers page pays tribute rather than easy HP terms to these premises.

Some of the shops took advantage of the arrival of Japanese motorcycles and the boom years of the 1970s. Others were well established long before then. None more so than Petty's. To prove it, Dave Smith discovered his grandfather's invoice for his Zenith motorcycle with sidecar, dated 1926. There are interesting details on this document, including Petty's address in Halford Street. However, it does not include the registration number of the motorcycle, only its frame and engine numbers.

The bike went for preservation in the 1950s and Dave is left wondering if this venerable motorcycle has survived.

Club Badges

Another 75 Club Badges from Francois woke up to find themselves displayed on our pages.

There must be a lot of ghosts that are pleased to see the badges that they once wore proudly to show their loyalty to club and fellow members. We can almost hear the banter and exaggerated stories as we look through the page. Add your club tales to these pages to keep them alive. Clubs are where the motorcycle lifestyle is played out most strongly, with weekend rides and rallies organised over refreshments.

Statistics

August brought a big drop in the number of visitors and pages viewed on our website. It is most likely because overseas visitors have completed their English homework and begun their summer recess.

We are not too worried about the drop in our Statistics, because it is relative to an unrealistic peak over the previous few months, and numbers are still high compared to the last year's baseline.

In other word, we remain grateful that you, our regular and dependable supporters, remain loyal and return regularly for the unique content that we provide.

Virtual Club Night

Next Virtual Club Night is on Wednesday, 9 September. It remains to be seen (and heard) if two participants will be on-line this week. We are both off on holiday, so our connection will depend if local Wi-Fi supports connection through a mobile phone or tablet.

It also depends on us remembering to connect at 8pm after the exhaustion of another exciting day. Reminders have been set.

Embers

We have completed the more distant starts of our Thursday cycle rides, and are now drawing in with the evenings as autumn arrives. In August, 15 Embers dodged heat and thunderstorms to cycle over 1000 miles.

With the main holiday season behind us, more settled weather and closer starts, we hope to have more Embers supporting our scheduled rides. We began September well, with twelve eager Embers off east from Kibworth.

Our next ride is on Thursday, 10 September starting from Huncote Red Lion, a favourite lunch venue as well as convenient start and end location.

On Thursday, 17 September we will stretch the definition of local when we meet at Manton. Two popular routes from there are to circumnavigate Rutland Water, or head to Stamford. There are alternatives that also bring us to highly regarded lunchtime refreshments. It's a lottery that we all win.

Me, Pete and Richard stopped at a grimy café.

The waitress came over, and she didn't look too great herself. Pete and Richard ordered hamburgers and I asked for a hot dog.

The waitress came over a few minutes later with the hamburgers under her arms.

Pete asked, "Why are the hamburgers under your arms?"

The waitress replied, "I'm keeping them warm."

I said, "Cancel my hot dog."