The Events Page
The 59 Club Goes to Peterborough
The BMF Rally 2003
If I ever find the guy who was shaking the 'Rain Stick' last weekend,
I am going to string him up by his own superstition!
Yes, it was a Wet and Windy BMF this year.
The 59 Club had a marquee in a rather nice spot this year. We were well placed to greet most visitors to the site
and with the Club flags fluttering invitingly in the breeze, we provided a great focal point for everyone.
Some of the Club Leaders made the journey to Peterborough on Friday evening to get everything set up,
while the rest of us went up on Saturday or Sunday to help in manning the stand.
(Although to be honest, perhaps that should be 'Woman-ing' the stand as the girls did most of the work!)
Gary had hired a van to take up the heavier and more bulky items such as the cooking and tea
and coffee-making equipment as well as the Club photograph display panels and the like.
Yet again Sandra did a terrific job with the catering. Not only did she manage to make an absolute mountain
of sandwiches, she had also conjured up several large trays of first-class traditional bread pudding.
I lost count of the amount I ate but it was Mmmm-mmmm. Delicious! And what was even more
welcome were her super bacon butties first thing in the morning!
Due to the rain we had a rather novel and unexpected extra feature inside the marquee this year.
A small lake! I am not altogether sure if I believe the tales that crocodiles and piranha were spotted but
I am certain that I saw a long-necked creature with a hump on its back, wearing a sporran and speaking
in a Scottish accent. (Loch Ness, eat your heart out!)
The weekend itself went very well. Unfortunately, the weather was variable with the sun splitting the stones
one moment and the next we were engulfed in a monsoon-like downpour. But the rain seemed
to come and go in only moments and the sun soon dried out everything (and everyone).
I don't know if the official attendance figures were up or down on last year but from where I was
standing, it looked a pretty impressive crowd. And a happy one at that!
In between the showers the organisers had put on many displays and I watched in awe as a stunt
aircraft performed its routine. Must try one of those outside-loop, barrel-rolls on my XJR1300 sometime!
Most of the trade stand staff reported good business and there was a lot of activity on all the
club stands as far as I could tell. Certainly we had a lot of very welcome visitors and were able to
spread news of the Club to an even wider circle of folk. Most rewarding.
Our own stand attracted a large number of visitors on Saturday and Sunday and we
gave away a lot of leaflets and Membership Application Forms. Hopefully we will soon be
welcoming even more people into the Club.
There was, as usual, a lot of interest in the Club and its history and activities.
We have a large number of photographs of the Club since its early days and we showed a lot of
these on our display boards. It was amazing to watch people looking at the boards and suddenly
realising it was themselves in the picture.
Outside the tent a few of the members displayed their bikes and I have to say, pride of place went to
Richard's latest creation, a VERY special CBR1100XX Blackbird low-rider sidecar outfit.
This has an extremely clever front fork arrangement that Richard designed and built himself.
All-in-all, everyone had a thoroughly good weekend and we are all looking forward to the next
Club outing to the Hop Farm in Kent on the 14th and 15th of June. Check out the details and
join us there for another very enjoyable weekend.