Joint Rally

1984

2nd November 1984 - ABC/Hatfield Poly MCC

NOTE: The ORIGINAL Joint rally. Held between 1984 and 1988 in Hertfordshire. Not connected with a later rally run by some other clubs in Kent.

Having met the guys and gals of the ABC several times at the Simmer Dim Rally on Shetland, I was expecting a disorganised but fun rally. It was fun, certainly, but not at all disorganised. I assume this was the influence of the HPMCC, whose grant from the Poly financed the weekend. (Their money was made back in following years and then some.)

The two clubs were connected due to most people in the clubs knowing each other and also, after people left the poly, they joined the ABC. The field they used was also being used by the Prowlers BC for their rallies, a fact which I noted and made an effort to attend that one next year.

ABC Hatfield Polytechnic MCC Fat People Welcome Cor!!! STONE ME Yes folks, at last it's ... The Very First JOINT RALLY As found under benches and hedges Oh no ... it's near Watford On November 2nd to 4th Usual silly games & some unusual ones! Bad weather, alcoholism, skinning up. Censored by the Met Police (D.S.) Real Ale Bar Cheques made payable to H.P.S.U. More sheep than the Shetlands 1984 ABC, Firkin Pints of Adnams Productions

For some reasons I forget at the moment, I was on my RS200 this weekend, probably due to a breakdown on the part of the BMW. On the way home, even this gave me grief, requiring replacement parts before I could use it again. But, as we were only in Kings Langley, this wasn't very far from home.

Even with the short distance from home, as I had to work that day and it was November, it was dark when I arrived. The party was starting up in the marquee and I had some food from "Olley's Burger Crematorium", 55p for a cheeseburger back then, and I was soon in the groove.

Saturday morning was a bit dull and people, who had driven through a fair bit of rain to get there, were drying bits of clothing over the bonfire. Because I arrived in the dark, I hadn't seen quite how muddy the field was. This was not helped as the field was below road level and alongside a canal. As it was nearly November 5th, some rockets were zipping about the field as well, leading to some people building fortifications out of the firewood.

Due to the fact that the organisers couldn't get folk out of the bar for a while, the games didn't start until late, meaning that the light soon failed, leading to them being finished in the marquee.

For this time of year, there was a surprising number of young women willing to divest themselves of their garments, which was well received by the men in the audience. And the party went on, pretty much as usual, with plenty of not-fake beer being consumed, leading to some very not-fake hangovers!

Sunday morning revealed that at least one cold rallyist had hit upon the idea of filling their tent with straw, (or maybe that was their club-mates), which, as I have found out in the past, is often more spikey than it's worth. The field was even muddier than when I arrived, but the lightness of the bike was useful, in that I could almost lift the thing up onto the road. Many heavier bikes were having quite a bit of trouble.

I was sufficiently impressed with the rally that I started going to meetings regularly. I joined the club after the 2nd Joint Rally, which I was unable to attend, as I was in hospital following my big crash, which is reported elsewhere.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley