Condom Rally

First rally on 15th May 1987 organised by Travellers MCC

The 'Travellers MCC' was not, in fact, an actual bike club, but instead it was an organisation brought together with the aim of generating money for local charities. Since it consisted entirely of bikers from various clubs, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Despite there having already been a few rallies on this site, this was my first visit to Mersea Island, in Essex. This is why I didn't know the water that covered the causeway to the island twice a day was, in fact, sea‑water and not part of the Thames, as I had supposed when confronted with it for the first time. Upon arrival, I mentioned driving through the water to the bookers‑in, whereupon several of them rushed outside to see if they could observe bits of my bike melting from the salt‑water. There was a bit of a gap before more people arrived, as most of the other rallyists knew about the sea‑water and waited for the tide to go out before negotiating the causeway. After the field filled up, the Friday night partying could begin in earnest.

On Saturday, I had a brief tour of both the island's villages, as well as checking out what the causeway looked like when it wasn't underwater. Back at the site, various larks were going on, both in the field and on the beach alongside, which was quite extensive when the sea was out. There was much evidence of the building's usual use as a youth camp, as there were quite a few permanent tents, which were out of bounds to us, ready set up for the scouts/guides summer visits. There was also a massive dining hall, with an extensive kitchen, where reasonably priced food was on sale.

There may have been games, but they seem to have escaped my camera. There was a WW2 gun emplacement, which provided an opportunity for riders to check their brakes worked at the top of the slope, or face a fair drop onto the floor below.

Later on, in the bar, quite a lot of beer flowed and quite a lot of music played and some young ladies took off quite a lot of their clothes. One was obviously trying to win as she was wearing suspenders under her jeans, (but not much else, eventually).

Various dancing and drinking took place thereafter and there was quite a large bonfire on the beach later, for those who wished to set fire to their boots.

Having checked the tide times, the trip home was nice and dry.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley