Mabon Rally 2007

The forecast was a bit dire as I left Twickenham at around 7pm on Friday to head for the Mabon Rally just off junction 14 on the M1. As it happened, I had great weather all the way, but not good traffic; 90mins later I arrived at the Robin Hood pub in Clifton Reynes, tired after a long day at work and looking forward to a great weekend.

The warm greeting given by the Cernunnos MCC members reminded me why we like this rally so much, everyone was pleased to see me (makes a change!) and I caught up with a few old friends as I signed in.

I started to get a bit worried as Slob was not there and he told me he was going to leave around 4pm to head down from 'op norf', but he arrived not long after I did, and proceeded to explain about his horrendous journey, a few other riders also made the bad journey down and regaled me with the horrors of riding in heavy rain… not old school despatch riders then?

Slob and myself pitched our tents and then found the bar, while Slob partook of his favourite tipple cider, I tried the pubs special 'Mabon Ale' brewed by Adnams, it was a tasty pint and at £1.50 disappeared from the barrel at a fast rate of knots, most of Friday was spent chatting to old friends and making new ones. I was asked to prepare the bonfire for lighting (Dunno why they asked me?) by Derek the Cernunnos MCC rally sec and after one match the fire was soon warming the site. Carrie (of Ogri MCC fame) organised a run to the fish and chip shop that was well appreciated and the fish was excellent, we sat chatting and supping til late under a cloudless sky with a roaring fire and the sound of Bodhráns in the background, perfect!

Waking up to bright sunlight with only a few clouds in the sky boded well for the day and I wandered down towards the pub looking for breakfast, which I found in an outbuilding, £2 for as much breakfast as you could eat and discovered the tea and coffee was free all weekend to the rally goers, now how many rallies do that? After breakfast the Motorsickle team (well Slob and me) set about chatting to people about their bikes and why they had chosen to come to the Mabon, most everyone had heard about the chilled atmosphere and the fact that, although it's essentialy a pagan rally, the pagan aspect is not forced upon you and no matter what your beliefs you are made welcome.

The other reason given for turning up was a recurrent one that we have been hearing a lot, the fact that the Mabon is a traditional rally, with no bands and no trade stands. The Mabon does not make a lot of money, if any, the profits go to the NABD and they also give out some nice rally trophies ones that are a bit different from the usual fare. It also makes a nice change to be able to talk to people without shouting or having to wander off to get some piece and quiet.

Lunchtime approached and around 30 of us got ready for the runout, I had no idea where we were going except that it was to a pub that was laying on a chilli lunch for us. The run was great, I have not ridden around Bucks for some time and the run took us through some great little vilages and superb countryside, this was only spoilt by some twat on a black FJ looning up and down like a nutter… cough - grin!

Derek led the run on his Wankel engined Norton, which makes a loud and interesting sound, he was then followed by a succession of different bikes from a lovely BSA 650 and sidecar to new Triumph Rocket 3, not to mention a couple of trikes.

Eventually the run had to end and we ended up at a pub called the Coffee pot in Yardley Gobion where we discovered that Tim the landlord had laid on the chili for free! This weekend was getting better and better!! We chatted with Tim and found he was a biker and that there were regular meets for bikers on Tuesdays and again they always laid on food. Tim - the chilli was very good and the beer most quaffable, thanks mate!

The ride back was only spoilt by the same loonie hurtling around like a 17 year old with a new toy. Ho hum.

Slob had to shoot off to get back up north, we watched him leave and then sighed with relief… only joking mate! I dived into the pub to grab a quick beer and then waited for the silly games to begin, now I'm not really a fan of rally games, but we were soon enjoying the sight of grown men trying to catch water ballons in a bucket after a few ales The 'push o war' was a novel twist on an old favourite and had two teams pushing a scaffold pole that had been threaded on a rope, instead of pulling against each other the idea was to push the pole along the rope. It was alleged that the team from 'Sons of God' MC had a hidden member on their team as they were winning all the time!

I ducked out of joining in any of the games by claiming I had to film them, and I'm certainly glad I did not join in with the 'sedan' chair race, the chairs were made from scaffold poles and metal barrels and looked very heavy.

Saturday evening rolled around far too quickly, so a few more beers with the guvnor of the pub, who is an amiable chap with a good sense of humour, then we settled back to watch the sunset and await trophy giving and raffle draw; I like the way the Mabon does its raffles, they pile loads of freebies into black binbags and just hand them out those people holding the winning tickets! Each binbag has a selection of things given by shops that help support the rally. The drinking continued until late with people mingling around and everyone chatting with everyone else, that's the attraction of the Mabon for me, with no loud music or chavs wandering around you get to chat with like‑minded people who are there for the same reasons as you. I even met a woman who spoke sense! (Until her sixth gin…)

Sunday morning broke bright and sunny, I went down to grab some breakfast with the Cernunnos members and congratulate them on a fine rally - very chilled and friendly.

Feeling good, I headed back towards the south and London, secure in the knowledge that next year will be just as good.

See you then my friends!