Only Fools & Bikers Rally

I was quite excited when I left work early on Friday at 4pm and I raced home got my kit off and put my leathers on, Jake had packed the panniers already and off we went. I felt exhilarated knowing that we were going to be away from home (and the kids, though god knows what the house was gonna look like when we got back, but I didn't care) the wind was in my face, I swallowed a fly and shut my visor quickly, we were off.

We had a good run we actually managed to avoid any major traffic – except for one little set of roadwork traffic lights, so no big deal. It was great flying past all the cars that were obviously on their way home early to enjoy their well earned breaks.

We arrived at our mate Simon's in Bourdon, had a cuppa and a chat to Tash & little Jake then we were off once again, only this time it was only down the road literally 10 mins we arrived at the front gate and were greeted warmly by all. I dismounted and started taking some film of the main peeps at the desk and some of the 3bs members who were obviously having a good old chat and didn't mind me taking some footage of them relaxing, relaxed is how they looked because as we know they would be working very hard over the weekend to make sure that we had a good time and that we behaved ourselves. I also filmed some bikes arriving – some were in convoy and some had just raced from work like us.

We pitched our tent – well, the lads did – and we did some filming of the bikes that were already there and chatted to their owners. It seemed a lot of people weren't going to be turning up because of the weather, but from our perspective we thought that if you've been on the road in the pouring rain for 2hrs surely it was better to carry on for another 2 - to get to your destination rather than turning back, but then it wasn't us and if the weather was getting into your clothing I suppose the thought of a really wet weekend is no joy, so here's to you lot who didn't make it, shame coz the weather was actually great, but hindsight is a great thing!

The one thing I really love about the 3bs location is the lake, it just relaxes you straight away, you can just sit staring out at the lake and looking at the comings and goings of the wildlife, ducks with ducklings, coots with cootlings?? I suppose and more! You can do a spot of fishing and it's great for kids too!

We met up with Ernie and his lovely lady Sara – who had come along from Southampton, they heard from friends in Scotland that they wouldn't be making it so they had to put up with our company. We went off and had a look around the traders' tents, which had a nice mixture of goods and then it was time for tuck – the only complaint about this was that there wasn't a lot of choice if you were a vegetarian, but there was a couple who did the best cheese omelette in a roll that I've ever tasted – cheers guys!

We had a minor drizzle for about 10 minutes and then it was warm again, bellies filled off to the beer tent we went. There was a young band on and they were really good - even though it was early they had the crowd dancing and so we took more pics! So have a look through ours and see if you can spot yourself or a mate.

We carried on drinking and talking to people, had another trek around the stalls and did a bit of chatting to the stall holders, Simon thought that he might buy a hat, but changed his mind when he knew Jake already had one!! We popped up to the Lithuanian Hotel and found a seat and had a drink in there.

Sara and I agreed that the toilets were rather grander than the ones on the site and the hotel was a beautiful building. After a few drinks we headed back to the beer tent and another band came on - The Alleycats – they were doing rockabilly and great fun… the whole tent seemed to be rocking… everyone was having a great time! The good thing was that there were a lot of younger people who had obviously come along with their mates and families and just out to enjoy.

There was a rumour that Dan was going to be there and I saw this guy and I thought was him - still not really sure!

Morning came earlier than I wanted it to, around 6.30, so we went and sat by the lake and watched the Heron come in – they always look like Pterodactyls to me, you can just imagine all those thousands of years ago, er, was I smoking last night??? The noises from the tents are always the same – snores and farts and always an earlier than normal stream to the loos, which weren’t a very nice experience!!

But just sitting in the nearly silent morning was yet again relaxing – and this is what I feel a rally is, relaxing, drinking, eating, talking to people, whether they be mates or just someone who shares that common interest, it really is a cool experience and the weather was kind to us, sunshine! If you have never been to a rally then the any of the 3B's rallies are a good start.

We were initially a bit early for breakfast, but one of the vans started doing tea/coffee early, which was a great help especially to those who had a slight hangover! Not a pretty sight. We hung around until all the food vans were up and running, then we had some breakfast and caught up with a few people that turned up early on the Saturday morning – they delayed coming on the Friday coz the weather was so bad, but then they saw the sunshine on the Saturday morning and headed over.

I spent some time interviewing Sara and getting her views of biking and what kind of things she has to deal with, then it was off round the tents again, buying a few bits and getting a henna tattoo to wind the kids up. Jake took a load of photo's as the bikes were coming into the circle for judging and there were some pretty amazing ones, the work done on them was phenomenal, blood, sweat & tears! Some of the pics we took are up on this website and there is a video on youtube, so try and take some time to have a look.

The sun was shining still around 4pm on Saturday when we had to head home, shame we couldn't stay for the Saturday night. We said our goodbyes to everyone and took a slow ride home. no traffic or rain, how lucky were we. We just got in whilst the threat of rain was in the air, house still standing, no kids about, lovely, made a cuppa, sat down and the heavens opened up.

All in all it was a great rally thanks to the 3bs, good one lads, see you again next year!!