Account
Pictures
The Inaugural Ride of the Humberside region, stop for a coffee at Elsham Hall
| The Event | |
 No rain at Market Rasen! Ian & Jo's positive thoughts prevailed and all memories of the dreadfully wet 1997 Market Rasen National have now been over-written by a whole week of excellent dry rides - brilliant! Tricia Anderson and Neville Frost rode the medium length rides on all days and the following, brief summary is an extract from Tricia's personal diary for the week. | |
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Click on any of the following pictures to enter a slide show (with larger pictures) at the selected day.
Click here for an alternative set of pictures by Stephen Dee.
Click here to go to a video record of this event created by Roy Bradshaw Video Link.
| Friday, 22nd August Pre-Rally Setting Up | |
| Ian decided to buy a large marquee going cheap and then set the early volunteer arrivals the task of getting it up! The dozen or so volunteers were co-ordinated into an amazing team and the completed marquee rose triumphantly into the air providing shelter just seconds before a heavy downpour of rain!  |  Amazing team work |
| Saturday, 23rd August Evening Event: Welcome evening | |
| Members arrived throughout the day to set themselves up either on the large sports fields or in the school dorms. At the Welcome Evening the usual hubub rose around the tasty cheeses whilst members sipped wine and greeted friends and we were all welcomed by Ian. The rain stayed away until we were all tucked up in our beds and then fell quite heavily during the night. |  We were all welcomed by Ian |
| Sunday, 24th August | |
| A bit damp but no actual rain around when we all set off for the pleasant, flattish ride to the City of Lincoln where there were many treasures to be explored - the cathedral, the castle and old prisons, the medieval bishops' palace, the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Wragby Maze provided good entertainment for the children. |  Lincoln Cathedral |
| Monday, 25th August | |
| Ian had had enough of hearing about "flat Lincolnshire" and started our introduction to the Lincolnshire Wolds (= hills!). We set off east to Louth with stops at Rushmore Country Park and the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway and, after battling against the south westerly wind and the hills, gratefully partook of the excellent home baking provided for us by Jo and "the Mums" at the Reading Room in Binbrook. Evening Event: Quiz The day was rounded off with an excellent quiz organized by Steve & Cait Rickard. |  Lincolnshire Wolds Railway |
| Tuesday, 26th August | |
| North west to Mount Pleasant Mill at Kirton in Lindsey for coffee and cake, then a lovely ride along the ridge to drop down to Ingham for lunch: we were able to enjoy the wind at our backs for the return journey this time. Evening Event: Saddlebag Sale The Saddlebag Sale took place in the evening with people probably buying back as much "stuff" as they sold! |  Mount Pleasant Mill at |
| Wednesday, 27th August Official Rest Day plus Sports Fun Day (Velocio Trophy) | |
| Fourteen teams took part in the Sports Fun Day event which comprised 5 disciplines:- slow ride, timed ride to set point (Ice Cream Parlour!), hill climb, freewheel, timed ride to end - this is the simplified version of the rules! It was much enjoyed and resulted in Dave and Sarah Jefferys being the winners, the Butcher family on their triplet coming second and Cliff & Pauline Hayward third. Evening Event: Roy Bradshaw's film show Roy Bradshaw's excellent film show of previous rallies entertained a large audience in the hall that night. | .jpg "The winners on the Freewheel") Velocio Winners |
| Thursday, 28th August | |
| Finally the weather was warming up and the clouds let the sun through properly for another very hilly ride up and down the Wolds south east of Market Rasen. A beautiful ride along Blue Stone Heath, climbing up to Fulletby with amazingly clear views before dropping down into the busy little town of Horncastle for lunch. The return journey was billed as "generally flat(ish)" and we did have to concede that it wasn't quite as lumpy as the outward leg! The short riders went to Newball Falconry Centre and enjoyed piglet racing amongst other entertainments! Evening Event: Water Rockets! The evening brought great excitement as the children lined up with their various 'rockets' which they'd decorated at the Kids' Club that morning: Graham had his car foot pump, launching pad and water supply ready and after the best decorated 'rocket' had been judged (won by little Nancy), they were off to see whose 'rocket' full of water could be shot the furthest: speedy footwork by Roger and Jenny ensured each 'rocket' was marked as it landed and the winner was the one owned by Evie. |  Spot the Water Rocket? |
| Friday, 29th August | |
| People were actually complaining of the heat and humidity today! More hills to add to our warmth too. North easterly to the little tearooms at Binbrook (they coped cheerfully and the cakes were excellent) then on to Waltham Windmill and even more hills after the tea stop at Rothwell. OK Ian, you made your point! Evening Event: Barn Dance The week's events were finished off with an excellent barn dance in the school hall (ably led by the Rosianna Ceilidh Band), where thank yous and gifts were given to the organisers. |  Paul really enjoys a good Barn Dance |
| Saturday, 30th August Clearing Up and Going Home |
| That marquee had to be taken down again! Another excellent team effort and the job was soon done and soon it was as though there had never been 340 people taking part in an event at De Aston School. Conclusions A very enjoyable rally very ably put on by Ian & Jo with help from Eamonn and Joan - our thanks to all of them. An additional bonus to this rally was the high standard of meals (full cooked breakfasts and suppers) which were provided by the school's catering staff at very reasonable cost; this added to the social aspect of the rally. |
This page written by Neville Frost
and maintained by the - 2008 The Tandem Club
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are provided by Neville Frost
and maintained by the - 2008 The Tandem Club
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are provided by Neville Frost