Checking it out on the road...
By John Dickinson on 12th Oct 07
Travelling is part and parcel of following your sport the length and breadth of the country. Editor JD keeps himself awake by keeping an eye on what everyone else is doing...
BEING involved in motorcycle sport, as we all are, travelling is a hugepart of the game and for by far the most part, I enjoy immensely theactual to-ing and fro-ing whether by land, sea or air.
Whether you travel with family, friends or even on your own assometimes is inevitable, there is always something going on which helpsto pass the hours.
Last Sunday was easy for me as I only had an hour each way in the carfrom home to the British Trials Championship final round at SkyrakesFarm near Skipton.
And as I set course along the familiar A65 I was once more aware offellow travellers all making for their own sporting or leisureactivities. It was a very reasonable 8.30am start for me, it isobviously often much earlier, but the sporting fraternity were stillwell in evidence on the road.
To start with there were already scores of repli-racers parked-up atlocal beauty-spot Devils Bridge, near Kirkby Lonsdale, with thewould-be Rossi's (they wish!) enjoying a bacon bun and a brew after anearly-morning blast spent terrifying the local populace.
Within just a few miles I had spotted several large vans towingtrailers coming towards me and you just can't help but look to see whatthey are transporting.
On Sunday there was quite a bunch of stock cars intermixed with what Itook for ‘oldish' rally cars. There were also a couple of Lotus 7s orCaterhams, or whatever they are called these days, trying to hide underprotective covers.
Other days I look longingly as well-cared-for vintage sports cars arecarted to some track or other. Sunday actually saw a few vintagetractors being transported, off to tear-up the fields in a vintageploughing contest. Come on, it takes all sorts...
Occasionally a well-stickered van is spotted and you can't resisttrying to catch whether it is a motocross or road-racer or even atrials enthusiast in the split second glimpse you get as you flash pastone another. Often it is none of the above, just a flash-paintedtrade-van minding its own business, but it doesn't stop you checkingout the next one, and the next.
There are always horse boxes of course, either big custom-built jobbiesor rickety old trailers bouncing along on the back of old Land Rovers –and usually getting in my way!
But, each to his own and at least the inhabitants of the cars, vans and trucks are out there doing something.
Like the mountain-bikers, canoeists, and everyone else out there, byand large they are cracking-on, keen to get out there and do whateverit is they do.
The bain of our lives comes later in the day, when Joe Bloggs and wifedecide that yes, the sun will probably stay out and they make thefateful decision: "Why don't we go for a nice little drive somehere?”
Cue lines of cars on Sunday afternoon getting more and more annoyed asJoe and Co weave and wobble and randomly jump on the brakes for Mr andMrs to gawp over a gate at a field of cows, totally oblivious to themile-long queue of cars seething along behind them and to the chaosthey are causing. Yes, even after several decades of driving, thisSunday scenario still drives me totally demented.
For the record, what drives me demented on ferries is busloads of kidson their school trips totally running riot as their supervisors give upthe ghost, hit the bar with a vengeance and let their charges gomental, working on the correct assumption that however much troublethey cause they can't actually go missing – apart from possiblyoverboard.
On planes, the people I can easily live without are the inevitablegaggle of pi**ed-up stag and hen parties, invariably containing theover-loud idiot who is convinced (he/ she is the funniest person in theworld – oh no they're not! – and they have a captive audience forseveral hours.
Intolerant? Me? Must pause now to allow the blood pressure to drop...
What got me onto all this? It was actually those old tractors thatalerted me to the fact that I was mentally, although almostunconciously (yes, I know!) checking virtually every single vehicle onthe road in order to see, I suppose, if I had anything in common witheither the people or if I was interested in their sport.
Vintage ploughing? Er, not today thanks!