31 March 2008

Yesterday, we went to the Wistanstow classic show. Jon wanted to ride the New Hudson there so we decided he would drive the Transit van as far as Church Stretton, then unload the New Hudson and ride it along some of the back roads as far as Wistanstow. I was to ride the Tribsa all the way. It was a lovely sunny day when we set off. I was in front and knew where I was going so didn't haven't to worry about anyone else - I could just concentrate on me, the bike and road. This worked really well and gave me the first ride on wet roads, since I fell off on diesel in Belgium a year and a half ago, where I didn't have at least a moment of sheer paranoia that I was going to fall off dramatically and painfully on a slippery corner. I felt as if I had turned a corner and thoroughly enjoyed the ride to Church Stretton. It was a good thing my buff neck tube was covering most of my face as I was smiling a ridiculously smug grin and, at times, even gave in to the impulse to shout "I love you, little bike" while patting its tank affectionately.

The show was, as usual, very interesting and, for a change, the weather was very warm. We had a look around the show and the bikes in the car park. I had to tell BH never to park the New Hudson next to the Tribsa ever again, as it steals baby Tribsa's thunder.....New Hudson was constantly surrounded by nostalgic old blokes. Having said that, baby Tribsa had its/his admirers as one bloke kept dragging his friends away from the delicious array of tea and cakes inside so that they could appreciate the neat way the 3ta engine had been fitted into the Starfire chassis.

I followed BH back to Church Stretton, him on the New Hudson and me on Angus the Tribsa surrounded by a huge cloud of blue smoke! Some of the tighter, rougher roads were more like hard work on the Tribsa than they were for Jon on the autocycle. I could feel the two stroke haze filthying my face. It started hailing while in the Church Stretton car park and Jon offered to load the Tribsa into the van. "Oh no", I said, "This isn't a fair weather bike!"

It had obviously rained a lot over Wenlock Edge while we were enjoying the sunshine in Wistanstow, as there were huge puddles everywhere, somtimes meeting over the middle of the road. We did cross one ford during the day, which was fun, but I wasn't really ready for the depth of some of the puddles and got caught out a couple of times !

Still, most of the trip back was sunny and pleasant and when it started to hail I couldn't help but sing "Raindrops keep falling on my head"