1
The last camp for 2012 Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:54 pm
sidecar paul
Life time member
Well, that's it for this year. Our destination for last weekend was the Colne Valley Railway, in Essex, for the Hedingham Sidecar Owners Club's 'Winter Warmer'
Thursday was as wet as you could get and it looked a bit dodgy for the weekend but Friday dawned sunny and bright so I enjoyed a pleasant ride south-east, even though the low sun was in my face much of the time. I set up my tent high up on the field, in case of rain, and behind the carriages, in case of wind.
Of course, clear skies at this time of the year don't offer much insulation, so when I returned to my tent around 1.30AM the door was as stiff as a board with frost.
Those who camp in winter will know that butane gas is useless in the cold. I wouldn't trust a petrol stove inside my tent and although I have a meths stove, I do prefer the convenience of gas.
So, what does any enterprising camper do? He makes himself an 'electric sock' (20W) to heat the gas canister.
It works a treat, giving good heat right until the can is empty.
For those of you who worry about such things, it does have a thermostat.
Saturday morning started cloudy, but by midday the rain started. I chose not to join the ride-out so was given the job of keeping the outside log fire ticking over. Fortunately we had the use of a railway carriage for 'socialising' (read - drinking). The first carriage behind this loco.
And the buffet car, left in this picture, provided meals and a bar for the evening sessions.
The rain continued well into the evening and several of those who braved the run, returned with soggy clothes. Many places in the UK suffered flooding that day.
There were 3 K's in attendance, but only one proper K.......the others were 1200's! This one was rather nice though, a K1200RSP, the police version.
The forcast for Saturday night was storm force gales and, sure enough the old tent flapped a fair bit during the night, but it held firm with no damage.
I did see the remains of one tent in the dustbin on Sunday morning, though.
As the Pythons would say "always look on the bright side of life", well Sunday dawned sunny but windy, so, quite unbelievable for this time of year the wind completly dried my tent, so it only needed a brief airing before being packed away until next year.
The ride home was, again, in sunshine, passing many flooded fields on the way but most of the roads were dry. About an hour after arriving home, it started to rain again.
At many of these rallies the organisers give awards to the furthest travelled, best outfit etc, and, much to my suprise the 'independent' judge chose my bike as the best outfit. So now I have to suffer all the ribbing from my mates about my 'award winning outfit'.
I know it will run for years.
So, I've managed 32 camping weekends this year, 21 with the outfit (may have had something to do with our weather this year) 7 with the Vincent and 4 with the solo RS.
Roll on next year,
Paul.
Thursday was as wet as you could get and it looked a bit dodgy for the weekend but Friday dawned sunny and bright so I enjoyed a pleasant ride south-east, even though the low sun was in my face much of the time. I set up my tent high up on the field, in case of rain, and behind the carriages, in case of wind.
Of course, clear skies at this time of the year don't offer much insulation, so when I returned to my tent around 1.30AM the door was as stiff as a board with frost.
Those who camp in winter will know that butane gas is useless in the cold. I wouldn't trust a petrol stove inside my tent and although I have a meths stove, I do prefer the convenience of gas.
So, what does any enterprising camper do? He makes himself an 'electric sock' (20W) to heat the gas canister.
It works a treat, giving good heat right until the can is empty.For those of you who worry about such things, it does have a thermostat.
Saturday morning started cloudy, but by midday the rain started. I chose not to join the ride-out so was given the job of keeping the outside log fire ticking over. Fortunately we had the use of a railway carriage for 'socialising' (read - drinking). The first carriage behind this loco.
And the buffet car, left in this picture, provided meals and a bar for the evening sessions.
The rain continued well into the evening and several of those who braved the run, returned with soggy clothes. Many places in the UK suffered flooding that day.
There were 3 K's in attendance, but only one proper K.......the others were 1200's! This one was rather nice though, a K1200RSP, the police version.
The forcast for Saturday night was storm force gales and, sure enough the old tent flapped a fair bit during the night, but it held firm with no damage.
I did see the remains of one tent in the dustbin on Sunday morning, though.
As the Pythons would say "always look on the bright side of life", well Sunday dawned sunny but windy, so, quite unbelievable for this time of year the wind completly dried my tent, so it only needed a brief airing before being packed away until next year.
The ride home was, again, in sunshine, passing many flooded fields on the way but most of the roads were dry. About an hour after arriving home, it started to rain again.
At many of these rallies the organisers give awards to the furthest travelled, best outfit etc, and, much to my suprise the 'independent' judge chose my bike as the best outfit. So now I have to suffer all the ribbing from my mates about my 'award winning outfit'.
I know it will run for years.So, I've managed 32 camping weekends this year, 21 with the outfit (may have had something to do with our weather this year) 7 with the Vincent and 4 with the solo RS.
Roll on next year,
Paul.
Last edited by sidecar paul on Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:10 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : small mistake)
__________________________________________________
'84 K100RS (0014643) (owned since '85), 86 K100RS (0018891) with Martello sidecar (built as an outfit in '88),
'51 Vincent (since '67),'72 Montesa Cota (from new), '87 Honda RS125R NF4 (bought 2015)
....No CARS never ever!
