Pointed Nipple Rally
Free Spirit Riders MCC - Billericay, January '95
- Phil the Spill
I had to work Friday night, so I didn't get to this year's event until Saturday morning.
Just as I arrived the rain started or - more accurately - returned, as it was already quite wet there. I decided to leave my tent until later and adjourned to the bar, where I met Nev, who had made the trip on Friday. He had just been out for a walk, and had been caught in the rain. The rain looked like it was set in for the day, so we decided to go to the pub down the road for lunch.
The welcome was as warm as ever, but the organisers had forgotten to tell the landlord about the rally, so he nearly ran out of beer.
A couple of hours later we went back to the site, and the rain had temporarily let up, so I rapidly put up the tent with Neville's help, as his tent by now had given up all pretence of being waterproof and he was in need of somewhere drier to sleep that night. (His sleeping bag was only kept dry by the airbed floating on top of the water!)
By now it was pretty obvious that my left boot was leaking. As I didn't have a spare pair handy, (who would think of it?), I had to squelch around for the rest of the weekend. That foot was filthy when I got home on Sunday.
Phil the Spill may not have been onto his photo mojo at this rally but he still played Point to the Nipple.
The evening passed quite quickly. As usual we went back to the pub while the band were tuning up, (always a noisy business), and returned when things were in full swing.
Neville disappointed us by not repeating his newt impression, but everything else was up to expected standards, and I gave up about 1am, not bad considering how little sleep I had during the previous two days.
On Sunday I packed up fairly haphazardly, as the tent was soaking wet, (the tent was hanging up drying in my garage for nearly a fortnight afterwards), and this is possibly why, on the way home, the bike had an alarming tendency to veer to the left all the time.
- Phil (the Spill) Drackley