Paignton Bike Nite 26th July

I might be up for that Jay, getting there about the same time. I'll need to double check with my social secretary first.

 

I'm aiming for about the same time, so at least we should be parked pretty close to each other.

 

I saw Jay's bike. I saw Jay leave, but I didn't get to grab him for a chat. I knew I should have worn a pink carnation.

 

That's exactly the look I had when I saw him ride by. I'd actually been stopped by an old couple and the lady, very sweetly, asked me, if I didn't mind, how much the blade was to insure. I asked her husband if he had a bike licence. He didn't. I explained if he wanted to get into bikes then something smaller, cheaper but overall easy to cock your leg over would be necessary to start with.

It then turned out he was the same age as me. WTF! That was the point that Jay's HRC rumbled past me.

The old girl. Old?, what am I saying, then said she'd quite like a trike as they could take their Bassett hound with them. She was made up when I said he could drive that on his car licence.

That was the point when I decided it was time to see how many insects I could kill on the Haldon escarpment.

 

I was about 20 bikes down from you on the opposite side. Never mind. At least we know we're not figments of each others imagination.

I've not seen anywhere near so many bikes there before, plus all the grockles enjoying the show. I was speaking to the guy with one leg guiding bikes in at the pier and even he was surprised at the turnout.

A mate of mine picks up his first proper bike next week so I'll probably be down again in the next month or so. Once he gets over the shock of moving from a 125 step through to a 600. I don't like going too frequently as, spectacular as it is, and for a great cause, it does get a bit samey.

I bet you had a great ride back, it was a terrific night to ride in the dark. It's hard to imagine I had to unzip my jacket half way just to cool down at 9:30 pm at motorway speeds. I've learnt my lesson about riding home from Torbay as the sun is still setting as the A380 runs right into it. So as soon as it touches the horizon, I'm off like a vampire on a promise.

 

Weather might not be too crap for this Wednesday night so I might rumble down there if anyone else is about. I'll wear my 1000rr T shirt so I'll be easy to avoid.

 

Went down to Paignton seafront tonight. It was packed end to end again. BMAD have got a brilliant vibe going on down there and more power to them. It was only spoiled by a few dickheads wheelying through the crowd. Unbelievable.

The strange thing though was the ride home. There was an unusually low amount of traffic on the A380, even comparing it with a winters evening, and because of this, I would say that at least half of the people on the road were bikers. It was really odd being on the bike and in the majority too.