Yarmuff

Mar '08

Write Up

Hurrah! The long awaited start of 2008's rally season was upon us! Excitement had been building in our household for weeks - scoots had been serviced, my new 150 kit had been fitted and run in (no more being left on hills!), kitchen had been redecorated so we could spend the rest of the year doing what we love - not what we must, B&B was booked (how organised?), new waterproof (hopefully) gloves and luggage purchased after last years soggy holiday etc etc. Then it all started to go tits up!

The weekend before Yarmuff we went on the YSA Knaresborough to York rideout, and my scoot decided to start misbehaving - threatening to nip up as soon as it got warm or was made to go more than 45mph for any length of time. So after a frustrating days riding with my hand over the clutch (now I know what Lambretta riders feel like ;o) ) it was into the shed for Bos to swap back to my old barrel and piston - tut! As the week progressed we became more and more concerned as we watched the weather reports - Friday - wind, rain, possible snow, Saturday - scattered showers with chances of sleet, Sunday - snow! Eek!

So it was with a pleasant surprise that we opened the curtains on Friday morning to bright blue skies and sunshine. We had planned to set off between 9 and 10, but not wanting to wait for the rain to find us we were all loaded up and ready to go by 8.15. A quick trip to the garage to fill up and we were on our way! A1, A17, A47 passed by uneventfully - plenty of scoots on the road and a few "scooterists" in vans and cars who beeped as they went past - "Thanks!" The following wind saw us reaching Dereham before needing to fill up - about 140 miles! We pulled into Morrisons for lunch and while we were in there someone up above must have flicked a switch, cos as we came out the wind had really gotten up and was throwing us all over the road. Riding at 45degrees and clinging on for dear life we travelled the last 50(ish) miles to Yarmuff, making it to our B&B just as the heavens opened - unbelievable!

Bags dumped and all 99 layers divested and we were off for a wander along the seafront, running into a few peeps we knew - DMs and Dunny to name but two. The Barking Smack was rammed with people so a pleasant hour was spent saying hello to people we had not seen since Brid, swapping riding horror stories - those windscreen wipers can be a real bugger (and don't even get me started on choosing a CD!) as well as sampling a beverage or two. After eating we went back to the B&B to get ready for the evenings festivities - and promptly fell asleep! We finally surfaced at around 8 and went back to the Barking Smack for a livener before heading into the VFM do. The main hall was pretty empty - but as the music was ok we had a good old shuffle until the band came on, at which point we retired to the Ska/Reggae/Soul room - where the music was ok - but not really condusive to dancing - especially as the floor was soaked and more than one person went arse over tit! We decided to call it a night at around 1am and made the short dash back to our digs and oblivion!

Saturday morning dawned grey and windy, so it was on with coats, boots and gloves for a brisk stroll along the front. As we turned the corner we were hit by the full force of the wind - oh my god! I am not the smallest person in the world (no really!) and it was pushing me along at a rate of knots! Not wanting to stand in line to get into the parts fair we carried on walking - running into Chuckles who grabbed onto a nearby lampost to chat to us for 5 minutes. Deciding it would be better to be inside than out we turned around and joined the queue - getting blasted by hailstones for our trouble! The parts fair was the same old same old, and the custom show was disappointing with the small number of entrants.

The rest of the day was spent bimbling from pub to pub and wandering around town - I don't know if it was the weather or just a general lack of numbers, but there really didn't seem to be that many people around. Back to the B&B once again - and another nap - before getting ready for the evenings entertainment. As we were later getting out than we intended we decided to go straight to the do. The dance floor was pretty empty and we managed a couple of dances, but the dj kept changing the style every other song, so it was really hard to get into a flow. Angelo Star and the Team put on a really good show - but there was just a general lack of atmosphere with the dance floor pretty empty for most of their set. In the end we gave up and left for our digs at about 1am.

Sunday morning dawned grey but dry - but that was all about to change! As we were packing up the scoots the first few flakes of snow started drifting down - and that was only the beginning of it! The snow got heavier and heavier until visibility was reduced to about 50 yards - and this was further hampered by the inside of my visor steaming up! In the end I had to pull over and wipe the inside before trying to catch Bos up. I thought I saw him at the side of the road - but it turned out to be a guy from Manchester who had seized and was waiting for recovery- lucky bastard! By the time we reached Swaffham we had had enough, so pulled in to grab a coffee and a break at the services - along with around 30 other scooterists!

Coffee drunk, thawed out and scoots re-fueled there really wasn't any point in prolonging the inevitable and we set off once again. Fortunately the snow started to ease before too long and the ride actually became enjoyable - right up to about 30 miles from home when the wind picked up again - followed by hailstones and then adding insult to injury - more snow! Arriving home, we dumped the scoots in the shed - they would have to wait til the morning to be cleaned - a coffee and a hot bath were the priority!

So our thoughts on the first rally of the year? - some good riding, some awful riding, crap weather, lack of people & atmosphere. Maybe it was because it was earlier than usual, maybe it was because people were all holed up in different places who knows? But the main thing we keep asking ourselves is WHY???????????

Taxi xx

P.S Are you happy now Pashy?