Cyclo Rally

Organised by Thames Valley MCC, Oxfordshire in the summer of 1974-5

I picked this rally out of the pages of the Motor Cycle Weekly. It was a one day event in some spot in Oxfordshire more like a village fete/show than a rally but it just happened to be on the way back home from another rally on the south coast, possibly the Solent or Portsmouth rally so it was worth a look see.

I arrived a little mystified as just what to expect and was directed to a car park where my entrance fee was taken. The weather was good and there was a nice feel or atmosphere there and I just followed the crowd into the next field.

It was like a local village fete; stalls selling local goods, raffles and arena events.

The one year I attended there was some local model aircraft club giving a display and it was a little windy. They were having a spot of bother controlling the models. A couple of broadcasts on the tannoys were asking for people to stop using their CB radios as it was causing trouble with the radio controls. Next thing you know one of the model aircraft came straight down like a Stuka dive bomber into the crowd and some poor unfortunate woman was taken to hospital with a deep gash to her head.

Through chatting to a police motorcycle patrolman, I found out how to remove a battery from a BMW without having to remove the air filter box.

A pleasant break on a Sunday afternoon.

- Les Hobbs