York Scooter Club’s 50th Anniversary | RALLERY

There’s nothing like a weekend of camping to bring an untimely end to an endless summer!

Sadly, York’s Scooter Club’s 50th anniversary rally at Breighton Ferry brought about that change last weekend. Luckily, Friday was scorchio and dry because we were treated to a full day of rain on Saturday, some of it quite biblical. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t dampen the spirits of those scooter riders present.

Breighton Ferry is billed as a scooter-only event, and it takes more than a bit of rain to stop play for hardy riders.

What’s it got?

As a venue for a scooter-only event, Breighton Ferry has the lot.

• Picturesque riverside spot
• Middle of nowhere
• One access route
• Plenty of camping
• Decent pub
• Great facilities
• Top people

Yes, this place has all you need for a weekend of drunken debauchery whilst away on your ageing motor scooters.

Flying ant day

Friday was one of those mad hot days where you’re just sticky and sweaty for the whole day, the kind of muggy weather where flying ants go out on the prowl. It would be a waste of time getting ready for a night on the pop, five minutes later, you’d feel just as sweaty again. Just as well, really, because I didn’t bother after setting my tent up beside the River Derwent.

Scooter mad Reuben can’t wait to go on the rallies with his mates…

What mates are for

Four of us had a lovely ride up there with no bother, other than Twister seizing his TS1 on the way to my house before we set off. After collecting him and his scooter in the van, I lent him my Spanish Series 2, rather than taking him home to get his own spare scooter.

This was probably an unfortunate mistake in hindsight…

Scooter tales

Friday night was a beautiful evening, spent sitting around outside, chatting, drinking, and merry-making. Listening to tunes from the bar, stories of journeys from as far away as Scotland and beyond. Knowing all the people around you had ridden to this event, as they always do, no matter whether it’s ‘scooter-only’ or not. Old scootering tales retold, dodgy jokes resurfacing, and new memories made.

Chilled out

This event is a lovely, chilled-out affair; there’s nowhere to go other than the one pub on site. There isn’t a town within walking or taxi distance, and there are no bars elsewhere if you want a change of scenery. Instead of chasing around various drinking establishments, we spent a lovely evening with friends. In fact, it was so nice that after the pub closed around 2:30 am we sat chatting outside and the sun had come up and the noisy herd of cows just over the river were ready for milking by the time we went to bed.

It’s only spitting

We’d all seen and heard the weather forecast, so it was a pleasant surprise to wake up on Saturday morning and not hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on my tent. Sadly, it was conning me into a false sense of security, and not long after 9 am, it started to drizzle. Why is it that rain sounds 100 times worse when you’re in a tent than it actually is outside?

After the drizzle came a bit of spitting, then it got heavy, turned into torrential rain and then got even wetter than that. Some scooterists were so unhappy that they took to sheltering under the #Andysmanclub gazebo. A very miserable start to the day.

Testing the facilities

I was starving, so I braved the weather and nipped across to the food van for a filling bacon butty and a coffee to wake me up (it couldn’t have been that filling though because I soon went back for seconds).

I surprised myself by having a shower straight afterwards (£1 a time but lovely, hot and refreshing) and I was ready for the day by 10 am.

Most people spent the morning in the useful outside shelters.

Darrell Taylor had set his dyno up, and the odd punter was braving the rain, which by this time was getting much heavier

Our Col put his workhorse PX 125 on the rolling road and hit the dizzying heights of 7.33 bhp. He rides that scooter everywhere, the lunatic!

Custom scooters

A few custom scooters had started to line up in the courtyard, although it was too wet to move from the long line of bus-stop-style shelters to go and look at them. Unsurprisingly, the show was down on numbers, so York SC squelched around the campsite to award a few trophies. Vince’s ‘Habit of a Lifetime’ took best of show, despite spending all weekend next to his tent with most of the paintwork covered by a PVC bra.

Killer

By lunchtime, the rain was really bouncing down, and this had an effect on day trippers and Saturday-only campers, although quite a few still turned up and braved the weather. I was glad we’d had a nice dry ride up the day before, though. What else can you do on a day like this but have a few beers, wander around the LCGB club shop, maybe play a bit of killer pool inside?

I’d say there were still a good couple of hundred in attendance though.

Melting Pot

At some stage after the raffle prizes and trophies were awarded (which was in between pints 8 and 12, I think), an excellent band took to the early evening stage. Melting Pot played a mega set of indie classics, a really great covers band that got the crowd singing along and even a bit of dancing. I’d like to see these on a National rally soon.

Here’s a couple of wrong ‘uns if ever I saw one…

Shep poses with a couple of starstruck fans

Mobile DJ

The rest of the evening turned into a blur, DJs pumped out their music, including Shep, who’d brought his vinyl all the way from Scotland on the back of his Lammy (happy 60th Birthday for this week, pal).

Moonlight stroll

Looking around the pub, there were many drunken scooterists enjoying themselves, and there was the odd one or two sleeping it off in the bar. Outside, the rain had finally stopped, and it left a damp and misty evening for the final night under canvas.

In hindsight

It was dry the following morning, and after a full English in the bar, we packed up and headed home.

Looking behind me, about three miles from the campsite, I noticed my two riding companions had vanished. I waited for a couple of minutes, then went back to look for them.

I wasn’t expecting to see my Eibar being picked up from the grass verge, nor was I expecting to see Twister covered in mud.

It turned out he’d suffered a 60mph blowout and ended up cartwheeling onto the grass verge with the scooter. Luckily, he was only shaken, bruised and feeling sorry for himself (he got checked out at the hospital a couple of days later).

My scooter suffered a snapped handlebar and headset, plus a few bashed-up and dented panels. Luckily, it’s a scruffy original paint scooter, so a few extra scratches won’t ruin it. I’m hoping somebody finds me a new original paint headset, though.

It wasn’t the only accident during the weekend. I heard of a lad from Liverpool breaking his shoulder on the way there. Another two mates crashed on Saturday in the rain and another mate crashed in the wet on the way home.

A combination of a long dry spell followed by heavy rain had made the roads treacherous in places. Be careful out there, folks!

Aside from all the damage and disaster, it was a fantastic weekend. Not many clubs stick around to celebrate their 50th birthday. York SC are a great bunch of scooterists, with a mixture of old and new members; they should be able to keep our precious scene alive for decades to come.

Words: Iggy

Thanks to Glynis and Steve Clarke for the photos