Let's look at the positives
By TMX Archives on 21st Aug 08
This issue, Editor JD reflects on a week that highlighted the very best in off-road sport Kendal Classic club's cracking Nostalgia week... IF you would like to know something that's really good about our sport rather than what's not, and people are queueing-up to tell me what's not, I am pleased to say that I can oblige this week! What with the state of the economy, the price of a gallon of juice, the never-ending wet weather and the fact that Dorna has taken MotoGP from Eurosport to put on the bloody BBC, 2008 has not exactly been a vintage year so far and our correspondence has tended to be on the depressing side to say the least.
However, last week I got inextricably linked to the Kendal Classic club's Nostalgia bash and it was an amazing few days. The event originally started off as a one-day Nostalgia Scramble, held on a Sunday to allow folks to remember what fun a good old-fashioned scramble was.
It expanded to include a Saturday evening Nostalgia Trial, as many riders arrived on Saturday evening to camp overnight before the scramble. Entries soon rocketed and so the trial was itself extended to take in all day Saturday. On Saturday this year there were exactly 200 Pre-65 and Twin-shock entries – and the list was over-subscribed. Sunday's scramble then took care of another 240 or so entrants.
But that's not all folks! On Friday, (as it did last year) the Kendal Classic faithful, led by the indefatigable Pete Remington, staged a re-run of the route of the 1913 International Six Days Trial which was actually based in Cumbria. Former Top 35 MX ace, Norman Barrow, has taken a leading role in the this event which was enjoyed by a huge bunch of riders on old British tackle, plus a few bods on more modern stuff, with the latter led a merry dance by David Gates who managed to cover most of the northern Lakes – and all before lunch!
On the Thursday there had been several trail bike runs in the Lakes, (several in order to keep group numbers within reasonable bounds) and on Wednesday, ‘Rem' was involved in organising yet another road-based run for older bikes which veered over into Yorkshire for a run around Scott Trial country. The entire week was actually supported by Triumph Cumbria and the Hinckley factory responded by sending up half a dozen demonstrators for the week.
Tuesday was actually taken up as a Triumph demonstrator day for the public while Monday was set-up as a Press call.
In short, from humble beginnings as a one day Nostalgia Scramble the event has expanded into a full-blown Nostalgia Week. And it is still growing.
Now, the weekend of sports action is enough for most people but good old ‘Rem' was involved for the full seven days! And I was privileged to get an invite on the Wednesday Scott Trial run, on which I was mounted on a mega Triumph Speed Triple – and I'll fill you in on that particular day's excitement in a future column. It features a former British scrambles champion and an LC350 Yamaha...
Then, on Friday, it was out again for the 1913 ISDE run which was being run in memory of former Northern Centre all-round off-road ace, the late Tony Sharp.
Friday's run was a wonderful piece of organised chaos where the genuine British Bike crew were actually well looked after and chaperoned whilst the ‘rabble' were pretty much left to look after ourselves. But genuine motorcyclists being a pretty resourceful bunch, getting lost a few times, and not really knowing where we were – or even where we were supposed to be – didn't get in the way of a brilliant day out in the hills on bikes. The ‘rabble' included Mick Grant, Barry Briggs, Tony Calvert, Chris and Mike Myers, myself and Pete Remington.
Chris managed to stall his 608 Cheney BSA on a Lakeland pass near Buttermere – and collected an earful of abuse from a passing rambler about ‘noisy motorbikes' as he kicked the big lump back into life. It took so long to fire-up that we got lost again...
Sorry to say but out of the entire bunch, only International trials rider Alan Wright blotted his copybook by crashing a brand new Triumph 748 triple. I am even more sorry that I didn't witness Wrighty's ultimate embarrassment. OK, it wasn't really a crash as such, he simply lost control and fell off the thing, which, in a way is even more embarrassing! How Wrighty managed to bin it on a road that Westmorland stalwart Alan Elvey, with daughter on the pillion of his big Suzuki, managed to negotiate with elan, is something only he knows... and he will never, ever, live it down...