Determined not to be the last on site this year, I set off early to the 5th Beer Pig Rally; after filling up at a local petrol station the zip went on my waterproofs and I had to return home to dig out my old spare set, a very wise move as it turned out.
Any road up, setting off again, now snug in my zipped up waterproofs, I trundled down the M25 and A3 to Portsmouth without incident and brandishing my Beer Pig 2008 ticket claimed my cheap rate Wightlink ticket at the ferry terminal.
Arriving at the site at about 2 p.m. there were loads of familiar faces there to greet me and lots of poles and tapes planted in the camping area to warn off the "swampy bits".
The usually dry Smallbrook Speedway track camp site was subdivided into muddy bits and swampy bits; the parts near the track were not too bad but had concrete just below the surface. I camped near a Wight Rider member called Les, banking on his local knowledge.
Dave Jackson arrived a little later and wisely opted to pitch his tent in the centre of the camp site which appeared slighly higher than the surrounding marshland although Dave later attributed his careful choice of pitch to unwillingness to lean the Speed Triple on the grass and just stopping in the middle. Phil Loom adopted the same approach when he arrived later.
Surrey TOMCC were on site but as they were all in a CAMPER VAN had no problem pitching tents.
Obviously comment had been made about the dire Friday night band last year and we were delighted to see that "Cobra" were tghe 2008 Friday night band. Cobra rarely fail to please and started the rally off well with their charteristic mix of heavy rock and boogie; the Bexley dance team being boosted by (another) Dave, a Honda XBR 500 rider who sort of adopted us.
After a cold night which demanded two sleeping bags and a thermal vest for me, (frosty tents in the morning), it was time for breakfast and decision time as to what to do that day. After much discussion and heated debate it was decided to turn left out of the gate.
The turn-left option took us first to an Olde Worlde petrol station and then to Blackgang Chine, an endangered amusement park, parts of which have already slid into the sea. Fortunately, enough attractions are still in place to amuse three bikers for a couple of hours; the Cliffhanger rollercoaster ride was well worth queuing up for. The café is best avoided by those watching their cholesterol as I've rarely seen so much cream and jam on one plate as the portion of cheesecake that Dave had, and the lemon sponge that I had was huge.
Still feeling peckish, we lunched at the Wight Mouse Hotel before the traditional blast down the Military Road; I'm sure it gets bumpier every year of is it just my suspension? Regrouping at Yarmouth we found a local ice cream parlour and visited Yarmouth Pier, marvelling at the efforts of the local brownies, local families and other groups who had been involved in its recent restoration (apart from the gutter).
Returning to the site, me and Dave Jackson decided to get our 2008 Beer Pig patches sewn on by a nice lady on site who charged £2.00 per patch. There were also some name patches and we both decided that these were also for us. After much pondering and gnashing of teeth about where on our cut-off leathers to position the names, the deed was done.
Saturday night entertainment had a hard act to follow after Cobra on Friday but "the Trojan Scooters" were up for it and played a wide range of stuff from Black Sabbath to Pink Floyd, good stuff. They finished at midnight and after a while we drifted down to the burger van where we met the Surrey Branch again. Tess made two very good points to me and Phil as to why they should have won Best Club Turnout, we had to agree. On another tack, the burger van "Charlottes Snack Bar" was very good, tea and coffee at 50p and a wide range of excellent food; a possibility for our rally?
Saturday night was wet and very windy and Sunday morning it carried on raining, We slowly gathered in the breakfast bar to keep dry and drink coffee until the rain stopped. Unfortunately it showed no signs of stopping and so in a period of very light rain we packed our tents up, said our goodbyes and headed for the ferry.
It was an uneventful but wet ride back from Portsmouth, (I'm so glad I went back for my spare wet weather gear) but sadly, due to our late departure, no Pied Bull on the way home.
This is the second year that I've done the Beer Pig; it's a good, friendly little rally, nice people, perhaps more Bexley members next year?