This summer has been a little different for me. A new business venture has kept me busier than ever and meant I need to do some stuff differently (hence the late timing of this article, sorry).
The Isle of Wight would see me doing a trade stand there for the first time ever, and instead of riding my scooter, I’d be driving a big Luton van full of new Italjets to show off. Thanks to everybody who came and had a chat with us on the stall over the weekend.
Anyway, better late than never, and Booga was there to cover the island for us.
Iggy
Short trip
Many of us in scootering will have a ‘local’ rally, one close enough to avoid weeks of pre-planning and the organisational skills of Heathrow air traffic controllers. Well, this is mine. The Isle of Wight. Because my ride is shockingly short (two miles to the Wightlink ferry, eight miles across the Solent, and nine miles to the rally hub at Sandown Airport), I roll out of bed, load the scoot, and head off.
I’ve still had to leave early as I’m helping out the VFM crew at Sandown; however, I seem to have miscalculated, as I arrive an hour early for the ferry! Oh well, I’ll grab a coffee and wait… nope, coffee will have to wait as there’s a ferry coming in and I’m ushered straight on to it, woohoo!
All in it together
Now it’s quite easy, fashionable even, to slate the IOW rally. Pork pie hats, millions of mirrors, etc., but the truth is far from that; yes, you get some of that, but proportionately it’s probably not much different to any other major rally. When all is said and done, it’s a scooter rally, and it’s about the friends you have and the new friends you make. They all help to make a rally good. It’s not about one person’s opinion of someone else’s interpretation of what makes a scooterist.
Having made the obligatory ‘I’ve forgotten my passport’ joke, I ride off the ferry. Now that’s an event in itself; the sight and sound of a bunch of scooters starting up and riding off the ferry is (almost) worth the cost of the ferry alone.
The failed pilot’s ‘graveyard’ makes a simple two-stroke seizure on the motorway seem like a good laugh!
Airborne division
Off to Sandown Airport (yes, AIRPORT!) to the official rally site and campsite, pitch my tent and have a wander round before I start my shift at 10 am.
Ominous clouds
Work starts; it’s busy, the weather’s great, and everyone’s in an equally great mood. First shift ends (I’m doing a morning and an evening shift), food, catch up with everyone, then back for my evening shift.
By about 11 pm, the weather is giving a sneak preview of tomorrow’s forecast. How bad could it be?
Shift finished, food, a quick visit to the silent disco and bed.
Not all gazebos blew away; what was left could be used as a place of refuge…
The apocalypse
Saturday morning arrives… Bringing with it some weather – horrendous weather. It’s raining, very windy, and after the glorious weather we’ve been treated to over the previous few months, it’s just annoying. Why couldn’t summer just last a few more days?
My Saturday morning at the IOW always starts at Richie’s Diner, just down the road from the rally site. They make a great breakfast, and they love us and make us feel very welcome.
Back to the rally site, and I’m met by the apocalypse. We’re now looking at near gale-force winds, with gazebos becoming low-flying aircraft and the rain coming in more or less horizontally; still, I’m here, so might as well make the most of it, so off to the doughnut stall it is then!
Custom show
Donuts munched, and it’s time to check out the custom show, and there are some absolute crackers in there, display wise I particularly liked the group of original IOW-registered scooters (maybe because I owned an island-registered J125 back in the early 80s), but The Foresters SC and the Olympic Li Series 2 definitely deserve a mention.
The wind was strong enough to lift Big Kev at times; he had to ditch his helicopter hat
Just a few Chords
I’ve taken refuge in the hangar for the afternoon, as have a number of stallholders, as their gazebos are now landing at Heathrow. Slowly drying out and the singer starts, just a bloke with an electric guitar, sounds good, but I’m more invested in not catching pneumonia, then, hang on, that sounds familiar ‘Sometimes everything feels so far away…’, wait, what, that’s Chris Pope of The Chords! And just like that I’m transported back to 1980! VFM, you have made an old man very happy.
Ticket to Ryde
Saturday night, and it’s a trip into Ryde to sample the local hostelries. The plan is to pub crawl, but we end up in one pub, Coburgs on Union St, for the night. Prices weren’t too bad, and we could get to the bar- win, win!
Rideout
Sunday is rideout day, and if you don’t know, it’s huge, starting at the Ryde ice rink car park and snaking all the way back to Sandown Airport. It leaves at 1 pm, and traditionally we all meet at The Green down by the pier before the rideout.
I must admit I haven’t done the rideout for a number of years, but I enjoy watching it, as do the locals; it’s a big thing on the IOW calendar.
Right, off to the ferry and home.
Before I sign off, I’ve got to give a big shout-out to the VFM team. They give up their time (and risk physical, mental and financial ruin on wet weekends like this) so you can enjoy yourselves. Tori, Daz and Kev (with the help of the whole crew) seem to be everywhere, making sure everything is running smoothly, and it really is a great weekend. So next year if you’re going, make sure you take a visit to the official rally venue.
Words and photos: Booga
