The
Isle of Wight Scurry 2010
(Click
any
photo to see a larger picture - then just follow the slide show.)
The weather looked promising for this event as Jean and I set off with
the Indian in tow on Saturday morning, 18th September. I
reckoned that it would take around three hours to get to Lymington for
the ferry to Yarmouth, however, I'd forgotten about the bottlenecks of
getting
through Bath, Salisbury and Lyndhurst. You can never tell about traffic
so I decided to by-pass Bath and take the Bradford-on-Avon road. That
was the first problem out of the way. Next was Salisbury where traffic
is permanently queued around the ring road waiting to get onto the A36
to Southampton - that cost us three quarters of an hour last year. So,
not wanting a similar holdup this year I decided to take the road south
from Wilton and come into the roundabout for the A36 from the other
direction. The signage was none too good and I found myself running
along on the
nearside lane, with a long queue in the outside lane and I needed to
turn right. That was fun as I sailed into the roundabout, signalled
right and pulled across and onto the Southampton road. I felt my ears
burning, for sure. The final bottleneck was Lyndhurst and I'd learnt
never to approach it from the north as there's always a five mile queue
to get into the town. So, I headed on towards Totton and turned right
for Lyndhurst, turning left for Lymington, just as I met the outskirts.
We made the ferry on time. Terry and Dilys were also entered in the
event and were nowhere to be seen, then, as we were boarding, they
arrived, but had to wait for the next boat. The Solent was calm as a
millpond and we were soon in Yarmouth and heading for the other end of
the Island.
On
reaching the Whitecliff Bay holiday camp where the event was to be
based we were given the key to our chalet and were soon settled in with
the Indian unloaded. We wandered off to the other side of the site to
find Terry and Dilys and make arrangements to meet for the evenings get
together in the function room. A buffet had been organised and I must
say that it was 100% better than 2009 - amazing what new owners can do.
The evening raffle turned out to be a real benefit for our table - we
won 11 prizes between the ten of us on the table, with Fran Wiles going
for the star prize of a ride in a tank during our visit to
the Tank museum on Monday.
Sunday morning, and after a super cooked breakfast we lined up with all
the other bikes to set off on the Scurry. Something like 70 odd miles
with a lunch at the Cowes community club. We set off towards Ryde and
were soon passed by a very fast single speed 1913 Indian travelling as
though we were
standing still. At one mini roundabout on the approach to Bembridge I
was about to take off, just as a local drove his car at speed from the
left, and turned into our road, missing us by inches.
Some
of the Islands side roads are certainly a bit bumpy but our Indian and
Terry's Ariel managed them ok. We took a wrong turning on the outskirts
of Cowes but knew where we were so just rode on until we found the
lunchstop.
Seen at the Cowes lunchstop: -
From lunch we set
off for a shorter run back to Whitecliff Bay with a stop on Brading
Down for Ice Cream. It was blowing a bit cold by this time, but
welshmen are tough, aren't they?
The
evening was spent in the function room where a game of carpet golf was
played for the prize money of £21 - won by Reg Glading.
Monday,
and we were
to display our bikes in the centre of Newport, the Islands county town.
It was a bit of a nightmare getting into Newport with Steve Hart on the
single speed 1913 Indian describing the traffic as 'Interesting'. And
there was me with a foot clutch and left-hand throttle thinking that I
had it hard.
A rather nice 1902 Clement Garrard
turned up which was not on the
event. I spoke to the owner who was not very enamoured with
the VMCC for some reason or other and declared his undying allegiance
to the Sunbeam Club. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his bike
was not a Garrard and somehow had the feeling that he wouldn't have
believed me anyway.
From
Newport town square we headed north out of town to the Tank
Museum. They had quite a few interesting tanks and
other military vehicles, including a couple of motorcycles. Fran Wiles
took her raffle prize of a ride in a Russian T54 Tank, whilst Terry and
I contemplated just how big a garage we would need if we had one to
play with.
Back
to Whitecliff Bay and we decided that we'd try the Propellor Inn, just
outside the camp gates. It was an excellent choice for food and all
four of us felt well satisfied when we left and went back for the
customary evening get together. This time there was a quiz - we didn't
do too bad but didn't win, of course. Who knows the name of the scooter
made by Excelsior or where were ROC machines made?
Tuesday, and there
was an option
of riding your bike to Calbourne Mill
and Carisbrooke castle or riding on a 'Vintage' bus. Terry
and Dilys, along with Jean and I opted for the bus - a 1966 Bristol
single decker, lovingly restored in the colours of 'Enterprise' buses,
who were one of the Islands bus companies before being swallowed up by
the Vectis bus concern.
First stop was Calbourne Mill - a
real working mill that had history going back over the best part of
1000 years. There was a demonstration of milling at 12noon, especially
for us to see, plus the starting of a large Gas engine. All very
interesting indeed and lovely to see in such an idyllic setting.
From the Mill we were taken in the bus to Carisbrooke Castle.
I
suppose that we were at the Castle for two hours or so and were able to
watch a donkey inside a large treadmill that was used to haul water up
from the deep well.
This was the last day of the event and the evening was spent in the
function room tucking into an excellent buffet - followed by the awards
ceremony. A super way to end the event.
Wednesday, and most people were booked on the ferry for the trip back
home. No problems from our point of view - just a shame that it all had
to end.
Some
of the Islands side roads are certainly a bit bumpy but our Indian and
Terry's Ariel managed them ok. We took a wrong turning on the outskirts
of Cowes but knew where we were so just rode on until we found the
lunchstop.
The
evening was spent in the function room where a game of carpet golf was
played for the prize money of £21 - won by Reg Glading.
A rather nice 1902 Clement Garrard
turned up which was not on the
event. I spoke to the owner who was not very enamoured with
the VMCC for some reason or other and declared his undying allegiance
to the Sunbeam Club. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his bike
was not a Garrard and somehow had the feeling that he wouldn't have
believed me anyway.
From
Newport town square we headed north out of town to the Tank
Museum. They had quite a few interesting tanks and
other military vehicles, including a couple of motorcycles. Fran Wiles
took her raffle prize of a ride in a Russian T54 Tank, whilst Terry and
I contemplated just how big a garage we would need if we had one to
play with.
Tuesday, and there
was an option
of riding your bike to Calbourne Mill
and Carisbrooke castle or riding on a 'Vintage' bus. Terry
and Dilys, along with Jean and I opted for the bus - a 1966 Bristol
single decker, lovingly restored in the colours of 'Enterprise' buses,
who were one of the Islands bus companies before being swallowed up by
the Vectis bus concern. 
