Rallies

The Val d'Isère echoed to the sound of thousands of motorcycles in 1971 with the arrival of the seventh Chamois Rally. Jean-Francois brought it all back to life and memory with photos from Gilles Gaudechoux.

It is unbelievable that those events are now receding history. Each year there are less rallyists able to bear witness to these heroic events. The lasting impression on participants is gradually evaporating with the passing of time. It becomes ever more urgent to record these legendary motorcycle gathering.

We continue to put rally badges onto our pages, because they are often the only evidence that remains of past glories. We recently added thirteen D Rally Badges, one Y Rally Badge and three Z Rally Badges. Those three pages contain 735 of the 13½ thousand badges for rallies across the alphabetic pages.

There will be about a hundred rallies held across Europe over the next couple of weeks according to Hans Veenendaal's Rally Listing. Not all will provide a memorable badge to mark their passage, some will provide a patch. It remains to be seen how many of those events will be recalled in one, ten and fifty years time. How long will those glorious photos remain on social media? Live for the moment, neither regretting the past nor fearful of the future. Many of the stories on our pages were written by friends who are no longer with us. Photos show faces of ghosts and the people we used to be. Our website is as good a place as any for you to write your own epitaph, rather than have a stranger recite the places you were born, worked and ended. Shout out to friends and the future while you still have breath!

Speed 9

The final chapter of the search for Speed brought John Ellis's odyssey home to harbour. The nine chapters record a time long ago in places that still exist, but in a different age.

John's story, like all on LPMCC.net, is there for you to enjoy, draw parallels, and hopefully inspire you to share your own remarkable exploits.

Cloth Badges

Cloth Badges are the bane of my life, with a backlog that we will be working to clear for many years at our present rate. Fifty-two were added the other week and we will do another fifty every month.

We will soon have 2½ thousand in our pages. If Francois wasn't sending them in faster than we are posting them online, we would clear the backlog some time about 2032. Who says I'm not an optimist?

Real Club Night

You can catch up with the nomadic Leicester Phoenix MCC on Tuesday, 28 July at the Red Lion. Here are four good reasons that you may want to do that.

1. It was the club HQ for many years in the last century.
2. It is a favourite water-hole for Embers on their thirsty rides.
3. It is where you will catch up with the livin' LPMCC members.
4. It could be your last chance to get a ticket for next month's Big End Rally!

Virtual Club Night

Next Virtual Club Night is on Wednesday, 29 July. We might find out if aeroplanes have internet connection, because Dave and Sue are returning from China on that day. We know that our Canadian participant, Alan, can make a connection without calculating the time difference — he's in Blighty at the moment. Where will you call in from at 8pm British Swelter Time?

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Embers

We are thin on the ground through July due to many regulars swanning off on holiday. Never-the-less, between us we have covered over a thousand miles so far, and we have a bonus fifth Thursday this month.

Our final July ride is on Thursday, 30 July starting from Rugby Cock Robin Wood at 10am. We are becoming too old, hot and tired to do anything but let our bikes lead us on well-worn tracks to a reliable pub. It's just less effort.

If the prospect of less effort appeals to you, join us for a day in the fresh air, with good company and a pub lunch to keep us going.

There is a preview of our August rides online. They begin on Thursday, 6 August at Holme Pierrepont. If we keep to our usual river-side side route along the Trent, it will be mercifully free of hills, and we know all the pubs from pints of bitter experience.

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Foz Spot