Wet, wet, wet. Not the group, the S&T rally.

Blimey, its quiet around here. Where you all gone? Do me favour and leave a comment now and again, just to let me know I'm not talking to myself all the time.

Right, so you wanna hear about the S&T Regularity run at Crieff? Normally I go down on the Friday, the event is on Saturday, then Sunday is a social ride out which I miss 'cos I'm heading home by then. This year though I had to work on Friday (still making up for taking a week off to go to Scarborough), and the van was still in the garage for puncture repair and brake investigation work. Anticipated being home from work by 6pm, have tea, pack up and be away to Crieff by 7pm, a 3ish hour journey would see me there while there was still some daylight to pitch the tent by. Was almost on time, picked the van up from the garage on the way home, had tea, just had to pack a few clothes etc. Well 7 o'clock came and went, followed suspiciously quickly by 8, then I decided half 8 would be ok, then 9pm ticked by. At 9.37pm, Cubbie was secured in the van and I'd found all my camping stuff and set off. Well, was about to, but Ginger Geoffrey had decided to take up residence in the back of the van. He's only a cat, you may think, but trust me, you don't want the job of shifting him if he doesn't want to be shifted!

Poddled on down to Crieff, the brakes on the van were a bit better but still judder rather worryingly when applied. Arrived at the campsite at about half past midnight, stopped at the club house to use the loos but they were locked. Great! Saw a row of porta potty things on site, had to swing the lights round to be able to see.....sorry campers if I woke anyone doing that. Then had to swing them back round to get my bearings and choose a suitable place to pitch. Got out, had a listen, nope...must have been too close to a snorer, backed up and finally found somewhere a bit quieter. T'was a very lovely night by then but a little on the dark side, with just an array of twinkly stars to guide me. Was a rather chilly night, even with two bike jackets and a blanket draped over my sleeping bag I was still frozen. Then sometime in the early hours, silly lady walked her dog through the campsite, letting it bark and snarl at all the tents. Then...down came the rain. And it didn't let up all day. Cubbie started first kick. Andrew Rae, he of Ariel trials-ish sidecar fame had arrived, followed shortly by Short Stan and his mates (I think he has to pay them to call them that though, hahaha, ooops, duck!). Signed on, got wet, talked to loads of people, set off, got wetter, broke down, fixed it, got lost, arrived at lunch an hour early, managed to follow the exact route all the way back though. Got even more wet wandering around the campsite, chatted to more people, rain was lighter by then so able to write things down at last. Food was nice and healthy but the marquee got flooded (again). Ooohhh I nearly forgot, how exciting, I WON A TROPHY woooohooooo!!!!! Yes, someone has finally recognised that GBC should be awarded a prize simply for being young and beautiful. And I won a raffle prize tooooooo.....can't wait to get in the kitchen and start using my new Nigella Express COOKERY BOOK. Still, Mrs BC seemed to like it.

Sunday, Andrew Rae offered me the use of his little ring a ding ding MZ for the social ride. He's been trying to get me to ride it for years so I finally gave in. This was after he had fixed the clutch cable on his Ariel with one of my solderless nipples. Always handy to have, you never know when you might need one. He gave me the drill; bit of choke from cold, ignition on, big kick to start. Yup, seemed to work. No tick over though. Sun was shining by then so no need for the still damp waterproofs, although I took them with me, just in case. Right enough, had to stop a few miles into the ride to put them on. The MZ felt slightly unsafe at first, skinny tyres on very wet and slimy roads, dotted with fallen leaves. Then I got the hang of it as the roads dried out. My instructions were to keep it in the red zone, between about 3 - 6000rpm so I did. Hehehehe! What a hoot! Once we got to a bit of road I knew rather well -the one from Thornhill to Aberfoyle, dispatching a line or two of cruising classics was soooo easy and soooo fun. That little bike just revs and goes, up to 60mph in a trice and with a stonkingly good front brake, the speed was easy to scrub off too. Mind you, you don't want to use it too enthusiastically on a damp patch. Stopped in Aberfoyle to take a few photos of the guys I'd jus overtaken, then played catch up over the Duke's Pass. That part was slightly spoiled by a sudden and heavy shower, calling for a little more calm. But I still caught a Triumph and an Ariel. Twice. Time for lunch, then back to base to pack up and head home.

Hope you enjoyed that, still got the National to come next weekend. Shorty has threatened all kinds of revenge for what I've said about him on here over the last year, so think I'll have to give the evening meal a miss on Saturday!

BIG thanks to everyone who gave Cubbie's Counties a few quid on the weekend, you S&T guys raised just under £100!