Isle of Wight Rally 2010

 
 
 
 
Six of us set off from Dob's Hill on friday morning @ 8am.Judy and me ,Bernie and Tracey and Nige and Steph from Rhyl Elite s.c. in dry cool conditions .Easy run down with a tail wind all the way .On the Andover by-pass the Gremlin in the tv200 decided to act up causing it to die a couple of times before settling .Soon after Bernie was missing with a wire having come off the CDI unit .This was soon sorted with a nip up by his teeth !We were on the 4.30 boat in the sunshine .Friday night was in Ryde to see The Birds and Small Fakers in the Balcony bar ,excellent night.Saturday saw us going to the parts fair at Smallbrook Stadium,then on to Ryde for Custom show . Sat night into Ryde again on very crowded buses Bern +Trace to hip shakers ,others to Ice Arena to see the Lambrettas and Basket Case .The bus back to Shanklin at 2am was something else !Sunday was the big Rideout,the high point of the Rally.Bern+Trace elected to do it and the rest of us elected to sit outside the Wishing Well pub and watch everyone go past .Fantastic turnout ,it took 50mins for all the scooters to pass the pub ! A good night in Shanklin was had by all of us later ,after eating an excellent carvery @the Hollies Hotel ,on Bernies recommendation.
Monday saw us meeting up at 9.30 for the 10.30 boat E.Cowes to Southampton .Nige ditched all his luggage with a mate with a van and we left the docks at noon.Niges scooter ran rough ,traced to choke sticking on,Bernies stand spring broke coming in to Romsey and we finally stopped after120 miles at the Trumpet Inn,near Ledbury,for munchies .Final fuel stop at Shrewsbury and all scooters flying along.Judy and me made 400 yards away from the fuel stop when we skidded off the A5 in a Big cloud of burning rubber smoke ,rear suspension strut snapped off,trapping the rear tyre on the mudguard .It was Bye,Bye to the Vespa jockeys and a short wait for Mr Grumpy from Carole Nash recovery .So the last 50 miles were done on the breakdown truck,thanks to Hagon suspension units !Fantastic Rally ,no wonder they come from all over the world to do it .All ready booked for next year ,see you there ! Dave .