Peak Riders News Letter - July 2012

Event Report
®
Circus Maximums X
8th — 10th June 2012
WET WET WET……”can it
get any wetter?” That was
the thought that was
whizzing around my head.
I’d been checking the
weather info all the week
before the Rally, and it
wasn’t looking good in the
West—especially in the
North Wales area. On the
Thursday, the day before
the Rally, gale force winds
and a months worth of rain
had devastated the area, with campsites flooded out
and tents blown away. The forecast for the rally
weekend looked bleak…….I rang around everybody
and made plans to abort the visit, which would have
been a first. But Joth was adamant that he was still
going. “Good luck old
chap…..” I thought and
decided to call it off. Joe
and Russ were also
reluctant to cancel but
agreed that it would be
foolhardy to risk it. I kept on
checking the hour by hour
forecast via the ‘tintaweb’
and there seemed to be a
window of drier weather
which was due to arrive in
the Chester area by the
Saturday afternoon. So I was back on the phone and
hatched a plan to meet on Saturday.
Saturday 10:00 am at Maccy D’s Tankersley. Joe,
Russ, Max, Sandra and little me all met up in dull but
dry weather and set off heading for the Rally. We got
to the roundabout at The
Flouch and it starts to rain,
then as we climb the
Woodhead the fog closes
in and the rain becomes
torrential. These were
horrendous conditions but
we press on through
Mottram and onto the
motorway heading for
Chester. The rain was still
bouncing down until we
reach the outskirts an hour
and a half later. When we
reach the rally site the rain
stops and the Rally Ride Out
appears at the same time with
Joth, Beth, Adam and Louise
in tow. Sandra decides that we
are staying and proceeds to
put the tent up. Joe, Russ and
Max decide to pick up their
rally packs and return home!
However, we all make a visit
to the Chester Harley
Dealership, say our farewells
before Sandra and I return to the rally site. The
atmosphere seems a bit subdued but they had taken a
bit of a battering on the Friday.
We share a few beers sat around the tents with Joth
and Beth and the others, then
we make our way to the club
house for the nights
entertainment. The usual rock
band turning out the usual
rock covers with gusto, a bit
of entertainment by John
Twigg Director of Deva
Legion and a boogie to the
disco with all our Harley
Chums who we have met
over the years of rallying. It’s
funny how even the worst
weather never seems to dampen the enthusiasm of
the Harley fraternity……… back to the tent but the
storm that was threatening never really
materialised…….
Sunday morning dawned. What’s that in the sky? Its
yellow and round and
throwing some heat out….the
Sun. We packed up in the
sunshine said our farewells
and headed home in the dry.
It was well worth the effort in
the end and I’m glad we
made it…
Live to Ride…. Ride int’
Rain……
Andy
www.peakriders.org
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