Kew Gardens,
six of us, plus Julian and Sandy

Anybody who knows me, knows that the phrase fair weather rider was invented for me.  There was the infamous “cover on the motorbike” incident at Micks wedding when a few spots of rain threatened and numerous “under the bridge” moments when clouds have appeared.  So, with this in mind and the weather forecast less than positive, I agreed to venture out and risk Lucille not talking to me for the next week.

Ed and Sue arrived and a short blast up the M4, dodging the clown who went from the inside land to the middle and then slowed down!!  We met up with Richard and Jacqui who had bought a fantastic belt for me (greatly appreciated) and bearing in mind the possibility of rain, but trying to deal with my demons I left Lucille without a cover.

Kew gardens is always a joy, not very bikerish perhaps but it never lets you down.  There is a different feel for nature every time you visit.  Flowers at different seasons, trees in green leaf or brown leaf or no leaves at all.  Trees that have been there since 1700, wow, what a place.  It is with this in mind that you should picture six bikers, leathered up and attracting the more than odd look as we trundle by.  When we asked someone to take our picture, I’m not sure if she was entirely comfortable with the whole process, but when she realised that we were there for the same reasons and not to trample on the orchids she looked a little more at ease.  Richard and Jacqui seemed to know all the names of all the plants and I didn’t.  Ed looked startled when Jen started pinching and punching me – haven’t you ever heard of a monkey puzzle tree – tradition has it that you should pinch and punch the first person you see when you see one.  It just seems to be coincidence that I’m the first one she sees every time!

Clouds started to show early on and it was pretty obvious that we were in for a soaking, but in the typical English way, we ignored them and were surprised when the heavens opened.  We sheltered and waited for the worst of it to go and the sight of Jen “singing in the rain” was fairly surreal, given again the tassels and the leathers.

We all headed for the nearest pub and being Kew, the first one we came across was owned by Anthony Worrall Thompson, or Handsome as he is known locally’ We thought we were going to be tramping around for ages.  We found an “Ask” Italian restaurant and went in without a great deal of optimism of getting a table and I’m pretty sure the manager at first didn’t really want bedraggled bikers amongst the rest of the diners, most of which seemed to have at least 3 bottles of champagne on their tables, and that was just the ones who were on their own, but credit where it’s due he found a table and after a very good 3 hour lunch, in which Sue had a salad made for 6 and the management realising that we knew how to eat with a knife and fork, they said “please do come back” when we left.  Note they didn’t say “please come back soon” but better than “don’t come back at all”.

With a good lunch to walk off we re-entered Kew Gardens only to get as far as the Conservatory and Lily House before the rain came again.  All through the day we had kept on encountering two loved up gay men and the conservatory seemed as good a place as any to declare their love to the rest of the country.  We nicknamed them Julian and Sandy and plenty of  J&S impersonations followed (if you don’t know who Julian and Sandy are, ask your mum and dad).  Wherever we went, there they were hand in hand without a care in the world.  Ain’t love grand!

It seemed pretty obvious that the rain wasn’t going to go so we decided to call it a day.  I was pretty anxious walking back to the bikes, would Lucille still be there, would she have gone off in a strop or melted away, found her own way home or just had a tantrum and refused to start.  Well, apart from the rain seeping into the crash helmets and Jacqui obviously looking forward to a wet bum because she had jeans and chaps on everyone started up and home we went.

We arrived home only to find that the weather had been fine, the sun had shone with just a tiny shower, as the old saying goes -  if you don’t like the English weather either wait five minutes or drive for two miles!

Not much biking but a bloody good, wet day.

Terry