Colombres Rally

We cracked along in the low 70s, not bad for a 1957 machine loaded with two people

- Mick and Helen Ayriss

The last important journey was on Tuesday and by 8.30 am we had joined the motorway to Bilbao and, I have to say, I rather enjoyed riding without a bend or hairpin in sight after six days of bend swinging. The morning was still very young with mist laying across our route for several miles keeping us quite cool, so when we arrived on the outskirts of Bilbao we stopped for a jump up and down and the fuel fill up of the cheaper Spanish petrol before heading to Santurtzi, carefully following the signs to the port.

The dockside was full with all the familiar faces we had been seeing throughout the rally and with whom we had started out some eight days before, all pleased having made it back to the boat on time. Brian and Fred on their BMW R50s had, like us, travelled up this morning whilst some of the others had chosen to come a day early and stopped just a few miles down the coast to ensure they arrived on time.

The ship was just like the outward journey but with only one night at sea, docking in Portsmouth at around 5pm so a long lie in was order of the day for us.

The 165 miles back to Leicester allowed me to explore a bit more of the Velos performance than I had used all holiday as the night was getting colder, just as you would expect in the middle of October. We cracked along in the low 70s, not bad for a 1957 machine loaded with two people, Craven Dolomite panniers and a 48 litre Kappa top box which looked a little like a flying saucer following us, but it was ideal to keep both our full face helmets in whenever we stopped.

Reflecting on the Rally, we would not have missed it as it had a little of everything and we look forward to going again perhaps in 2009.

So we say once again well done Moto Piston and thank you.

- Mick Ayriss

 

Open quote Don't just want to add it to this page but the whole report of this rally. Well bloody done, damn good report on a week long rally, well written and plenty of pics. Close quote