May 27, 2007
Rain...we woke to rain.
We kitted up and left for the pub where the 'rally' was to start. It was organised by the Citroen Specials Club, and anyone on 3 wheels was welcome to join them....hence why we borrowed and 'outfit'.
The ride there was wet....big puddles! The Beauty had a special trick....water from the from wheel would be sprayed into the sidecar - nice!!
The pub carpark was littered with strange vehicles....all mainly based on 2CVs and most of them leaked fuel!!
We set off at 1131...in the rain. 12 answers were needed, then back to the pub for a quiz.
It rained. It rained some more. We got fuel...and it rained. We had a 70sec Rustler burger and it rained. We struggled up the steepest hill ever, in the rain. We misfired, coughed, ran out of fuel (still had reserve), and generally spent a lot of time discussing if the bike would make it home. The most common thing we said was - "Never again". "Never again will we borrow or ride a side car".
We made it back to the pub for 1518, did the 'quiz' (based around vintage motorbikes....i had no idea) and then set off home - of course, in the rain.
Topping up the oil turned into a mission....everything turned into a mission with this bike!! We had to borrow mole grips from the friendly AA man, just to get the oil fill cap off. By this, Adam summed it up with a picture:
The M42 was wet.....we 'cruised' along at 65mph (which feels like 100mph in the 'chair'). Then.....we start slowing....we head off the motorway and park up almost in the foyer of a service station out out the rain. We are losing power....no WD40, so we let the heat of the engine dry out the electrics. 10 minutes later, Beauty fires up again and we set off a little slower and avoiding the spray.
Off the M40....just 12 miles to go until we are home - where we can park Beauty and sit in the warm and dry of a house and just generally not be anywhere need her!!!
After making it up Edge Hill Adam lets out a 'whoop' and punches the air - nothing can stop us now....home is so close. 2 miles to go....coming to a junction we slow down...then this happens. We spend over 20 minutes swearing and laughing. She just wont start!! Finally, i end up pushing her down a hill and we have a one chance bump start....she goes and we are off!!
4 minutes later we are home....NEVER EVER AGAIN. If you ever hear of Adam or I talking about getting a side car, please remind us of this.
Over a beer and food, we decide NEVER to discuss this weekend again. Never again. Never ever.
- Posted by thestowe on 28/05/2007.
- thestowe's site
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