Silver Lining Rally

4th February 1983 by Sidcup Wings MCC

So, off we went to sunny Sidcup. It made a nice change to be part of an active club again. All but a couple of the Diehards had more-or-less given up rallies, leaving me flying solo for four months, and I had now joined Telstar BC from Guildford. Having said that, due to different work requirements, we were rarely able to ride down to a rally en masse, but at least we were mostly there at some point and occasionally went home in convoy.

The weather wasn't nearly as cold as last year, so most of us stayed in the marquee for Friday night, instead of huddling around fireplaces in local pubs.

It was a bit of a surprise early on Saturday, when pretty much all of us were fast a'kip in our tents, I was awoken by a loud crashing noise. I crept out of my tent to find one end of the marquee had collapsed! Having made sure that the organisers were aware of the situation, (always a helpful fellow), I went back to my tent and back to sleep until it was light.

The organisers were trying to get the marquee hire people to get things sorted, but there was nothing to do at the site for a while, so it was only then we walked down into town and made use of the pubs, while things got resolved. After a while, a message was send to the pub that the games were on, so we trudged back to the site.

They had the usual throwing and pulling contests and, as last time, the human pyramid building with the unfathomable scoring system. Once they were over we assembled in the rebuilt marquee and enjoyed the music and beer that made up the rest of the rally.

Afterwards, before crashing, some of us were standing around the bonfire, when somebody chucked a camping gas canister on the fire, complaining that it wasn't working. Shortly thereafter there was a big bang, and a red-hot can with flame out the bottom went flying through the air, and chased the erstwhile owner across the field.

Luckily, the freezing temperatures that made it unpleasant the last time I was there were not in evidence and the night's sleep and trip home were completed without difficulty.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley