The
100 mile VMCC Cyclemotor Run 11th Oct 2009
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Starring:
Ray Butcher - 1955 New Hudson
Terry Hopes - 1964 Ariel Pixie
Jack Madge - 1984 Honda LAC
Barry Cooksley - 1974 Honda PC50
Ken Griffiths - borrowed Suzuki 50cc
Alan Williams - Honda 90
Glyn Jones - Honda PC50
Bill Phelps - 1967 Honda P50
John Lipscomb - MBK
Didn't
our section have a good turn out for the annual 100 mile cyclemotor run
on the 11th Oct. The weather forecast was for nice dry weather with
some sunshine - gosh, how they lied about that. Ray and I were on the
road at 5am with both bikes packed in the back of Ray's van. Glyn and
Ken had gone the day before and stayed the night in a local hostelry,
probably the right thing to do. Anyway, Ray and I made the start venue
at 7.45 and there were quite a few VMCC members already
there as we arrived. We passed an early starting
Velo-solex
heading out onto the course as we turned into the start venue. There
were even a pair of 1912 Triumph veterans in attendance as all the VMCC
Cyclemotor Section events are open to veteran machines as well as
'gutless wonders'.
Seen at the start:
A
group of us headed out onto the course at 8.45 with the weather holding
dry but quite cold. Ray promised that it would warm up for the second
lap. Second Lap? ok, I'll explain. The course is of just over 33 miles
and to make 100 miles you have to do three laps, but it's optional.
Finish three laps and you get a commemorative badge.
The route
of 33 miles was just about completely flat and was easy to follow.
Barry set off in the lead as he could remember the route from previous
years. It seems that the same route is used each time the event is run,
no doubt because it's easy to ride, even on a real tiddler such as the
two Itoms that Alan and Robert Hummerstone were out on.
We
lost no-one from our group and after about 1 and a half hours were back
at the finish to clock in. Time for a quick cuppa and a walk about to
stretch the legs and get other bits of the anatomy to come back to
life. We reckoned on about 30 minutes, during which time Terry and Alan
arrived from their first run. They had started about ten minutes after
the rest of us. By this time the grey clouds were beginning to sweat
and it was that sort of mist that can soak you right through, plus it
was still cold. Ray still reckoned that the sun would come out soon,
but I didn't believe him. A larger group set off, after our break, on
lap two. Must say that I don't know why, but we seemed to finish it a
lot quicker than the first lap. Was it real or just the fact that I had
to run my P50 flat out to keep up with Ray on the New Hudson. For sure
the sun hadn't shown itself - in fact it drizzled even more and at the
end of lap two we were all quite wet. Luckily I had my wet suit on from
the beginning - more to keep warm than keep dry.
After
another break of 30 minutes we were clocked out by Ian Young at around
13.00 and were all back on the road for the last lap. It was raining
quite a bit and we had decided that we'd stop at the Buckingham Steam
Railway Centre on the way back for a warming cuppa. Again we seemed to
cover the lap quicker than the previous two and were soon turning into
the Steam Railway centre for that cuppa. As it happened there was a
'collectors fair' on and the entry was £2, before we even got to the
cafe. So we gave that a miss as we were all a bit on the wet side
anyway. Back at the finish at about 14.30, David Hughes handed me a
finishers badge with a smile. "Something to be treasured", he said.
Soon the wet weather gear was off and the bikes loaded and as we drank
a nice hot cuppa we watched the clouds begin to clear and the sun come
out. Where the hell had it been until then? As Ray said "The 100 miler
is something that you have to do at least once in your life". MInd you
it was a day with a difference, I must say - and I may well have a go
again at it as there's a challenge to riding a gutless wonder over 100
miles. My New Hudson Autocycle next year, maybe?
BP.
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