Big Andys Scootering Site

Having been close to losing her life on the last two Isle Of Wight rallies when her scooter ceased on motorways on the way home, Dawn and myself had decided long ago to go this year in my van. Now i know some will be disgusted at our decision but the feeling of sheer panic you experience when your loved one has come off behind you is not one i want to experience again, so i personally don't care, i'd rather my wife was safe. Besides, after riding my scooter to rallies for over 23 years i'm sure we are allowed to do the odd one in the van. Also i had my daughter and her friend with us and we couldn't all fit on a scooter. So 7am saw setting off down the A38 heading for the M42/M40 and A34 towards Southampton. I was actually surprised to be away on time but loading the van the night before had certainly helped. We were booked onto the 12:00 ferry but we arrived early and were put onto the 11:00 crossing meaning we were on the Smallbrook Stadium camp site by 12:30. After saying a few hellos we set about getting the two tents erected and had just got our big tent up when the heavens opened so we spend the next hour and a bit inside our tent holding onto it so it didn't blow away in the now near hurricane. After a while the wind and rain was replaced by sunshine so we finished putting up our tents and unpacking the van before strolling over to the club to settle down for the evening. We stayed until the speedway had finished then retired to bed knackered, knowing that this was probably going to be the only decent nights kip we were going to get for a few days.

We awoke next morning to the sound of Dawns friend Joy calling out for us, so Dawn set about cooking breakfast whilst i had a chat with a few of my VFM buddies. After our hearty breakfast we set of into town. I phoned my mate Jimmy Jazz to see where he was but at arriving at the cafe he told us he was in we discovered he had gone so we went and did a bit of shopping before settling in with the ii posse at the King Lud for the day. We returned to the campsite for a BBQ before changing and returning to town so i could report into the Ice Rink and Dawn went back to the Lud.

The Ice Rink was slow in filling up Friday night so it remained cold in there for a while. The first band took to the stage just after 10. This was 'The Pietasters' who had come over America and were billed as a Ska-Rock and soul band. They tried their best to entertain us but i, as well as most people in the room wasn't impressed. Why is it that American bands and scooter rallies don't make a good combination as the band from America last year were poor as well. Next up were 'The Mods' with their covers of Small Faces, The Who, Kinks, Yardbirds and other sixties classics. I was amazed by the crowds reaction to this band as the dance floor was packed by people wrecking to their performance. The night was then filled by the usual VFM DJ's, Wigan Tim, Disco Daz, Bouffant Boy Evo and Steve Foster playing all the rally favourites until just after 3am.

Next morning saw us in Newport for the wedding of Jonathon and Deborah at the Newport Registry Office. These two had met over a scooter website chat room and Jonathon eventually moved to the I-O-W from Liverpool to be with Deborah. After a very nice wedding service it was off to the British Legion for a bit of a reception. The Location of the Legion was quite handy as it was just round the corner from the Holland & Barrett shop i deliver to every Wednesday so i popped in to say hello. After the reception we shot back to Ryde to catch the last hour of the Custom Show. This years show had an excellent amount of entrants and some beautiful scooters on display. The best by far was the Lambretta tribute to the Battle of Trafalgar, Rule Britannia. Another scooter that caught my eye was the Lamsuki. This was a Lambretta with a Suzuki 350 engine in it as well as a gilera runner front fork. How the owner got the engine in is anyone’s guess but the evidence was in front of me, i just know i wouldn't want to ride it at top speed.

Saturday night soon arrived. I had been waiting for this night for ages. The best possible B&B was on display tonight, my two favourite bands, 'Bad Manners' and 'Basketcase'. Myself and a few other VFM lads arrived at 7:45 and were amazed to see that they were already queuing outside and by 10pm the Ice Rink was almost full. We got a bit of grief of a few people who wanted a pass out but the Ice Rink management had told us we couldn't do pass outs and anyway had Bad Manners been playing at a big night club somewhere, you wouldn't pay to get in then expect a pass out so you can go to the pub down the road so why expect to do it on a scooter rally.

Basketcase took to the stage just after 10pm and were at the usual best singing their punk covers, dressed as vicars. The dance floor was packed and their rendition of Nelly The Elephant was warmly greeted, i even got a dedication as they played my favourite, Swords Of A Thousand Men. Patch, Martin, Spencer and Simon came back on for their encore due to popular demand and had made a lot of new friends that night. Next up were THE band. Bad Manners are without doubt Brilliant and the dance floor in front of us was heaving as the not so fat ba****d took to the stage and treated us to an hour and a half of pure brilliance. Buster really enjoyed himself up there and his performance reflected that fact. Afterwards i popped into see Buster who asked me to clear the changing room and keep people out for a bit whilst they cooled down, so i spent the next half hour on dressing room door duty before finally letting his fans in to see him. The usual DJ's had been joined by Dave Porter tonight and together they again treated us to our favourites until 3am.

I had hoped for a bit of a lie in on Sunday but with the Macclesfield Kroozers camped next to us i had no chance, so we arose and cooked breakfast before packing everything up and loading up the van. We were booked on the 12:30am ferry that night so planned on loading up the van and parking it in town until it was time to go. We didn't go to the ride out as i don't particularly like ride outs but i am told the turn out was as good as last year. I also heard that there was a bad accident near the camp site on the ride out so i hope everyone was ok. There was also an accident near the King Lud when a young lad was run over by a car so again i hope he was ok. Instead of the ride out we joined the VFM Sunday club for a pub crawl around Ryde although we left briefly to join Tim & Claire and Craig & Jo for a bite to eat. We stayed on to watch England win the cricket then went off to find my daughter and her friend so they could get some tea before we made our final visit to the King Lud then going to the Balcony Club to say our goodbyes and setting off back to East Cowes for our ferry. Back on the mainland we set off home on empty roads and no accidents and within 3 hours we were tucked up in our own bed for a decent nights kip.

So another year on the Wight Isle was over. This rally gets better every year and the number of people in attendance gets higher and higher but still you get people who don't appreciate the effort put in on their behalf. Oh well, you can't please everyone. I for one really enjoyed myself and more importantly, Dawn had a brilliant time. The next rally we plan to attend is Bridlington in October but we just might make an appearance at Woolacombe, we will see

SAFE SCOOTERING

BIG ANDY