Leading up to the Great London Rideout the weather was great lots of sun and nice n warm.
Who would have thought that the weather would be as bad as it was on the day. A few of us
met up at the Horse and Barge ready to leave for Hyde Park when the heavens opened and we
all looked like drowned rats wondering " what the hell are we doing here ". Though being
the people we are we took it in our stride and off we go to Hyde Park. The journey down
to the park was uneventful really apart from going through the same storm cloud that soaked
us about 3 times !!
When we got to Hyde Park we were amazed at the amount of scooters and people there despite the
weather there must have been at least 2-300 hundred there not a bad turn out if you ask me.
When we got there Brian had to make some minor adjust ments to his bike before we left and
also it wasn't long till the smae raincloud caught us up AGAIN. Before you knew it people everywhere
we diving for cover under trees and bushes.
Once the rain had eased off a bit the signal went up for everyone to leave the park and begin
the ride to Southend. After last year there were concerns about people getting lost and everyone
getting a bit confused. This year though the Mad Mods outdone themselves and were much better organised
and in full control of the route.
Every time we needed to turn or came to a roundabout / junction there was a Mad Mod Marshall there
pointing the way to go. This time no-one could get lost and i don't think that anyone who set out to Southend
did get lost. If they did then send us your excuse we would love to hear it !!!
On route we decided to stop off and get some breakfast and let the rain ease off a bit. But soon enough we
caught up some off the slower and broken down scooters on their way still. After a brief stop for Brian to
help out a Lone scooterist who had broken down, and some brave marshalling from Gonzo we got to the Fortune
of War. Here we caught up with a few more of our club members and off we went into Southend en mass. I thought
Once we got to southend we saw that there was about 300 scooters parked up there which was a few more then
originally left Hyde Park. After getting there and having some dinner we thought that we would head back
straight away as the sun had come out and the roads were drying up a bit. So back down the A12 after a quick
stop for petrol and then BANG brian blows his piston. Our thanks go out to the members of the Mad Mods and Englishmen
who stopped to help us and for the offer of a lift in the van. After deciding that Brian would take another scooter
back to get his van off he went leavin Sharon and me to push his scooter to the petrol station and wait for him
the only problem was the hill was bigger then we thought and this took us quite a while. So after a few hours
of waiting and seeing other clubmembers opassing us by and waving !!!! The van turned up and home we went, wet, cold,
hungry but full of excitement planning the next rally.
We think that a few of the Mad Mods deserve a mention and that is Andy, Aussie Paul, and Gonzo. On our journey down the A12 these people we always going up and down helping people out who were lost / broken down. Well done mates.
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