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ToY 2019 – A Taste of Yorkshire? Ee Bah Gum 'Twere Brilliant it Were
As summer slowly begins blending into Autumn you begin to think that your opportunities to get some good motorcycling in are going to become increasingly limited. The perfect antidote would be a weekend with a bunch of likeminded souls. Handily then it was time for the annual gathering of trusty Thundercat crew in the wilds of Lincolnshire, where the skies are big and the ditches bigger!
However sadly for me my own Thundercat was to remain under its cover tucked up in the garage for the weekend….a combination of my dodgy neck and Mandy's back meant we were car bound as we were for Weemac….grrrr. However when we rolled into the car park of our base for the weekend, the rather lovely Finch Hatton Arms I was please to not I was not the only one in a tin box. Nick and Ellie had had arrived in their old Stuttgart mini cab, as the aches and pains had got to them too…who needs Dad's Army? We are falling bits perfectly well on our own
The majority of the crew had already arrived, thankfully on two wheels and the banter, beer (and gin!) soon began to flow freely once we hit the bar. It was good to see some new faces too like Joe, one of Steve's 'Manchester Massive' (is he more Shaun Ryder or Liam Gallagher??) even if he was riding a Honka! Mind you in a bid to wrestle the title of 'My bike needs Constant On Route Maintenance' from Rosco, the baffle of his rather fruity exhaust decided to exit stage left on the way down. This it itself is quite funny, when Steve relayed the fact that he then tried to retrieve the red hot baffle with his bare hands….Can you get Honda branded oven gloves!?
The Lincolnshire lads were here already, Nigel, Chris and Mechy…and in a shock move Chris DIDN'T cover his beloved Ducati overnight…he is definitely getting a new bike soon is the only conclusion I can draw from this. While Mechy was on his rather tidy FZ6. Nigel was on his mighty Honda Crosstourer (God forgive me, but a mate labelled these a 'Crossdresser' when he saw one and I can't get that out of my mind now!). The Scottish contingent started to roll in later Ian and Gill both showing off their fantastic new bikes, a KTM and a Triumph. Forum Stalwart Steve was there on his hard working MT09, that now has 65K on the clock! Weasly was on his KTM, but on the wind you could still hear the faint cry of 'Daddy' from his deserted Thundercat….eighteen years loyal service cast to the wind once a KTM flashed her eyelashes at him…
The beer flowed and the old friendships were renewed once more, then mobile phones started to bleep as the updates on the progress of DDB and Rosco started to come in….Rosco despite leaving the 'Banana Bike' at home and pick his 'posh' new Thundercat for the weekend he was requiring his traditional on route adventures….this time it was something to do with gearshift pinch bolts and at one point was even attempting to change gear by hand! It's not an old Norton you know Rosco! DBD provided an excellent shepherding service on his Multistrada. However we did at least one Thundercat on the run…the tradition is kept alive…just!
And then there was one…The next morning it was with a heavy heart I watched the bike sweep out of the car park in an impressive line. I was amused when Mechy went a little wide on the way out an gave Nick a little 'start'. A few seconds later the last bike disappeared from view and the noise of the exhausts drifted away on the breeze and they were gone. This a bit of low point for me as I would have loved to have joined them on what was in fact a gloriously sunny day. Life can be a bitch on occasion, but there are much worse things in life to worry about.
I do have a have my spies however and I can relay a few snippets from the ride out. First of all what's all this about a taste of Lincolnshire? Chris headed for Yorkshire as soon as he left the car park, like a cruise missile pointed at an Iraqi bunker….over the Humber bridge and boom straight into Yorkshire. I noticed when I joined in 2017! I swear I am buying him braces and a flat cap to wear on the ride out next year! I think we ought to consider renaming the ride ToY rather than ToL!
Back on the ride out Nigel on his Crossdresser peeled off at the lunch as had stuff to do elsewhere with his lovely wife Gill, but they rocked back up for the social on the evening which showed a great commitment to the cause. Fuel stops on our rides are always a source of great fun, chaos on the pumps, the Ducati's arriving on fumes, but this time it was Mechy having 'fun'. Chris had done a metal tally after lunch of who was riding what and likely fuel needs and decided to miss out the mentioned fuel stop immediately after lunch. Big mistake. He had neglected to notice that Mechy had not filled up at Market Rasen like everyone else. He was low on fuel when they left and was on fumes when they got just over the M180 at Belton. Some gesticulating at DirtBikeDave and he flagged Chris down to stop for fuel. Mechy was a tad upset at this point and gave poor old Chris the silent treatment. It's not a ride out without a least one hissy fit from somebody
There are certain other ride out traditions an these were being honoured by, of course Rosco. Despite bring his posh Thundercat still needed running maintenance involving unbolting bits of his bike and tie wraps. I am sure he has shares in whoever makes zip ties! Davey found that Ross' difficulties in changing gear was down to a missing bolt from the foot peg bracket, and as Ian attempted to identify a suitable bolt to rob, some wag observed it might be better to set fire to it! Followed immediately by someone else (unidentified) muttering 'shit don't burn'. Well it added a little excitement to the afternoon stop!
Some things never changeCake and desserts always figure strongly on our little outings and the cafe had an interesting choice . Paul (Ermintrude) and Mechy made the wise choice of Eton Mess Cheesecake. Chris unfortunately took on the Lemon Ball; a distinctive mixture of lemon, green tea, nuts and chaff he tells me. It was very quickly shared with all so they could share in the tasty treat….
As for the riding itself, well I counted them all out and I counted them all back in again…so that's a success in itself. News filtered to new of some 'ambitious' (or 'Oh f@ck I have overdone this time!') overtakes by one or two folks. But overall judging by the banter and smiles in the bar afterwards everybody had a grand day old, especially Joe on his first big ride out who put up a commendable showing on his 750 Honda which gave away a load of power to everything else on the ride out.
While you lot were out enjoying the delights of Yorkshire Nick and Ellie whisked Mandy and I about in their AMG Merc, with Ellie at the wheel doing a passable impression of Sabine Schmidt, the notorious Nurburgring expert! That AMG can shift and sounds like an approaching thunderstorm too. They thoughtfully laid on a tour of the aviation history of Lincolnshire, it's a lovely county Chris, you should try it! Not to bore you all too much, but it included Lancaster Bombers, Lighting fighters, bouncing bombs, Guy Gibson's wartime digs, cake, bubble cars, a diner with a Mustang for a doorman, a pickup truck for a bar, a Mini for seats and a table. This was all rounded off nicely in a local pub! Not bad! Thanks to them both for laying on a superb afternoon!
Sabine mobile, and some old plane or another…Once everyone was back at base another evening of conviviality following, everybody gathered for an excellent meal, a slightly less than excellent speech by yours truly, strictly speaking a BC tradition, but hey ho! Then somebody made me drink whiskey again and thinks start to get a little hazy. I am not sure if was Nick or Daveys fault, but it wasn't mine…obviously! The beer and banter flowed into the wee small hours, a common denominator for all our gatherings.
Hang on a minute…
That's ian hiding behind the beer bottle…A good nights kip at our comfortable, friendly venue for the weekend helped clear my head and the morning saw us gather for another hearty breakfast, the group shots and the farewells.
Thanks to Chris and mechy for organising, thanks to the Finch Hatton for putting up with us with such good grace, thanks to all the group members who travel from far and wide to make these events so special, and finally thanks to Nick and Ellie for the whistle stop tour of Lincolnshire. You should try it Chris it is a lovely place!
https://www.thefinchhattonarms.co.uk/
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