Recent Events

Contents:

• August 2008
  Yorkshire Pudding Rally & Dave's Stag Do
  
  
• May 2008
  Demo Run
  
  
• March 2008
  Easter Egg Run
  
  
• February 2008
  Fred Hill Run
  
  
• May 2007
  Leeds Motorcycle Show and Demo Run
  
  Yorkshire Pudding Rally & Dave's Stag Do

  As this was my first Pudding Rally and my Stag do I was understandably apprehensive about what might happen. I had been looking forward to a weekend without the women folk, a weekend of giggling at drunk men doing stupid things, a weekend of being 17 again.

  

  The Pudding itself is a lot like the Farmyard but on a smaller scale, like a 1/5th scale model with 1/5th of the people, stalls and entertainment. That isn't a bad thing though, it made it feel more intimate and friendly. You couldn't get lost at the Pudding in the same way as you can at the Farmyard. There was still the custom show though which produced some interesting rides and the comedy show was excellent as my aching ribs testify. The bands were pretty good too.

  

  I thought I had escaped the usual Stag do traditions of 'getting' the groom but I was mistaken. There is a lot of pressure on stag do's these days to be full of strippers and drugs and take place in far off foreign cities at great expense. I had decided to go for a more traditional affair with men drinking, telling tall tales, passing on hard earned wisdom and being a bit daft. It turns out most of the people with whom I associate haven't worked hard enough for wisdom yet and most of the tall tales involve me…. So they decided to dress me up in various daft items of clothing and false lady parts instead. This was ok until a scary half naked man took a fancy to me…

  

  All was going well until some of the female members of Leeds MAG (I don't know who let them in…) decided I looked too warm and needed to lose some of my clothing. Now I'm not against public nudity but I feel it has a time and a place so I decided discretion was the better part of valour and beat a hasty retreat.

  All in all a good weekend and a good rally, thanks to all those who came to mourn my passing from bachelor to husband…

Amazing really, I should have bought a lottery ticket and put a bet on too. I managed to pick the only day that it rained in a whole month of sunshine for the demo run. Still at least it wasn't too hot…

This year the message behind the run was to highlight the lack of multi-purpose test centre in the Leeds / Bradford area which means that come October, when the new test comes into force, novice riders wanting to do their practical test will have to travel to Hull or Rotherham which is completely unacceptable. We also had a minutes silence at 12 O'clock to commemorate the life and times of Robert Dunlop.

The run set off from Squire's café bang on time (Leeds MAG time, obviously…) and we met up with the police in due course. As the run snaked its way along the A63 I was surprise by just how many bikes there were forming up behind me, there didn't look that many in the car park at Squires…

There were about 60 bikes on the run despite the weather and I'd like to thank all those that turned up, particularly those who marshalled. The run couldn't happen each year without marshals and they do grand job. It was great to see most of the bike clubs in and around Leeds represented on the run, it's good to know that there is still support for MAG out there.

The rain held off until almost the end and as far as I'm aware the run passed without incident, which is nice. We did have a slight detour, for one reason and another, but the run was none the worse for it and everyone I spoke to said they preferred the new route so maybe we'll go that way next year too.

A big thanks to West Yorkshire police who provided support for the run, as they do every year, in particular the boys on the bikes who swapped shifts and days off in order to be there, they did a sterling job.

Once again a well supported event from riders all over Leeds and beyond, many thanks to all that turned out. The kids up at Lineham farm gave us a sterling performance of 'Mirror Island' which, although put together at short notice, provided a showcase for some of tomorrows acting superstars!

We were all impressed at the restraint shown by the kids in the face of a table full of Easter Eggs; they waited patiently until they were allowed to pick one which is much better then my other half can do!

My thanks to the staff at Lineham for the tea and Easter related cakes.

Once again February was upon us and the Fred Hill run loomed, usually a wet, cold and slightly miserable run attend by a few gluttons for punishment. This year the sun shone and the clement weather encouraged lots of you to come along from all over Yorkshire and beyond.

As I wandered around the car park at Squires it soon became apparent that there were A LOT of people coming on the run this year. Two thoughts hit me; firstly 'perhaps we should have considered some marshals' and secondly 'I wish I'd left the pub earlier last night' just one more indeed…..

All in all nearly 200 bikes made the trip from Squire's in Sherburn to The Sun Inn at Norwood which is a phenomenal turn out. Big thanks to all that turned up and the staff at the Sun Inn who coped admirably with the sudden influx; let's hope the sun shines next year too. I hope those that we lost on route finally found their way home. Thanks to Big Dave for shepherding a few lost souls to the destination.

Another year another demo run. Gathering at Squires in Sherburn people arrived in dribs and drabs until the car park was looking respectably full and we had a bout 90 bikes for the run, we even managed to press gang a few people into marshalling duty. Time for a brew and a pastry based snack before setting off to liaise with the police on the A63. The run followed the usual route up the A63, on to the A64 then the inner ring road before threading out way through the city centre, up the Headrow dodging pedestrians and cyclists before heading out towards west Leeds. The marshals did a sterling job as did the boys in blue. The main body of bikes was an impressive sight snaking along and many onlookers were waving and taking pictures. There wasn't a specific message behind the run this year other than just promoting the use of motorcycles and raising public awareness of who we are and what we do.

A novelty this year was two Sheffield based artists filming the run from the back of two bikes. They're putting together an art exhibition about bikes, bikers and biking. A premier of the film will be held on the 26th May at Hyde Park picture house - for more info email mag.leeds@gmail.com or check out www.nofixedabode.org.uk

The run went well and without incident, we even nearly managed to keep to the times we'd given the police! Despite the weather doing its best to either cook us or drown us every few minutes I think everyone had a good time. It was good to see some of the other Yorkshire MAG groups represented there too.

My thanks to PC Wylde and the police riders, the marshals and to Louis and Russ for providing camera platforms and not scaring 'the artists' too much! I hope next years run is just as successful.