The Lion Rally

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org 

The Lion Rally

 I had a couple of trips out this past week on the Kawasaki one in lovely sunshine through London along the Embankment and Friday in the rain that seemed only to fall on me to get a haircut. I like to get out at least once a week to wrestle with traffic to keep my filtering skills honed.  Another cat table built and more decorating, a barbie at home to get me in the mood for my visit to the Rally in the evening. I persuade Gita to come along with the carrot of live music. I put the saddlebags on the Buell so we don’t have to carry much around and head off late afternoon into the sun. I looked up the location just before leaving and know pretty much where to go. It is not far from the 4X4 place at Pingwood. Along the country lanes near the site I’m enjoying myself too much and miss the entrance to the Rally. I do a quick u turn in the next gateway and come back to pass through the farm yard to the entrance. At the gate someone recognises me and they let me in for a donation. I park up close to the security tent and stow what we can in the saddlebags and I go back to the security tent to leave more filers.

 Pete, from Reading MAG, asks me for some fliers for the Newbury show on the 7^th July.  Today I have none to give him but I promised her would have some for the show.  Looks like I’ll be heading out to the Butlers Arms before that. On around the trade stands to the bar and hand out fliers to those outside and more inside. I chance meet Geordie, who has a session on Biker FM the on-line biker’s station. I give him a flier and he hands me his card and promises to do a radio link up with the museum. I have to get a tenners worth of tickets that I can exchange for drinks. Two pounds of which is refundable when I return the plastic glasses on the Sunday. I’m only there for the evening, so a shame that I won’t get that refund. More fliers handed out and I run into the guy who had his first visit to Wycombe MAG for ages is there with his wife for the whole Rally. I saw him last Tuesday and we talked for a while before I move on to more punters handing out more fliers.

 Drinks in hand we go to the stage where the Jason Hendrix Experience in having their moment. I am deaf within minutes and should have put my earplugs in from the Helibike tent. Another donation had made my wallet even lighter, but we have a free pen as well. 

Entertaining as it was with the lead singer doing long forgotten antics we retreated to the Christian Bikers tent for a nice cup of tea. I leave my plastic glasses with them to get the refund as a donation.  It was getting really cold and we went back to the bike so Gita could put on her bike gear and get warm. I have the camera with me to record the event and I hand out more fliers as we go. We arrive back at the stage for the next band via the beer tent handing out more fliers to those I had missed earlier. The next band is so slick in comparison to the first and we recognise a few of the artists from the “Jam nights” at the Black Horse in Greenford.  That is the other end of Oldfield lane from the Museum. We are entertained by some good music and vocals from the Broken Wheel. During that time Anne, of Wycombe MAG, is handing out balloons all around the audience. They are the ones they make sausage dogs from but they are the adult ones.

 It is approaching 10:30 and we need to be heading home. The dark has come along as has the cold. Going home on the bike was the warmest I had been all evening. It did not take long. At home I had to take the saddlebags off to get the bike in the garage. Brandy tea finished off the evening. I had to be up early to be at the Museum in the morning. There would be a Motorcycle Art exhibition and a professional photographer present and the museum needed all the people available around for the extra visitors expected.