Essex Rally 23^rd -25^th July 2004

Well, where do I begin? We had such a fantastic time at the rally; the adventure began with Ed & Sue and my good self, meeting up with Nick & his son Darryl at the café in Shepherds Hill before travelling to the rally site together. We hit the M25 at J15 and encountered the worst traffic jam I have ever seen in my entire life!

Basically it stretched all the way to the A127 Southend exit, meaning our filtering skills were thoroughly tested. Exhausted, we stopped at the first opportunity, for a cold drink and the chance to stretch our legs. We had been on the motorway for almost 2 hours!

The camp site was first class; being rally virgins we expect them all to be as good as that now, well spread out into centre groups, we easily spotted our flag and made camp. It was great to be greeted so warmly by our fellow members, who had arrived earlier and were already set up and raring to go; they instantly gave Sue & Eddie the sort of stick you come to expect from our mob as they began to erect their tent.

The horror stories we had heard about portaloo’s thankfully never came true. These were excellent, clean, fragrant, with loo rolls (soft) and the company serviced them everyday. There were plenty of them too, so no queuing or holding your breath on entry! The showers were hot and enough of them to adequately clean the entire gathering of ‘orrible bikers on display.

Although it was a little disappointing that there was only one trade stall the refreshment van was excellent. I keep using that word don’t I?

The free T & Coffee kept going all weekend and the chill out tent was well used. People were respectfully quiet too, as they returned to their tents during the early hours. I heard no complaints and most seemed to get a good nights sleep.

The entertainments provided, were by way of a Disco and live bands. Beaver & Park Lane and they were brilliant. The party atmosphere had us all in the mood and we rocked the place to hell & back…fantastic!

I assisted Dave in the promotion of the Vultures by holding my small bird, recently purchased from the hawk conservancy, high in the air and screaming Vultures….Vultures at the top of my voice, challenging the DJ to raise his volume to compete, Dave leaping up and down in unison. They certainly knew our flock was in town.

Fancy dress night saw a gaggle of birds, of all descriptions, see photos, which scared off some gypsies who thought they might like to add some shiny bikes to their collection! Dancing, drinking, laughing, fireworks, we all had the most wonderful time.

The sun shone down all weekend for the Essex VSOC rally and as we were close to the seaside, we took advantage by going to the beach after the ride out on Saturday. Ice creams and teas, paddling and sunbathing, we packed so much into this weekend; and I’m told that this is what rallying is all about. Give me some more, that’s what I say, I can’t wait for the Scrumpies rally in three weeks time!

A big thank you to all the Vultures that were able to attend, you helped ensure we had a great time; and congratulations to Sean, Lee and all their rally committee at centre 19, who worked really hard to ensure the event went smoothly. Well done it was a rousing success. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Srumpies rally in three weeks time, meanwhile ride safe. 

Big Rog