EACC Grafham Water Gander

In July the sun is hot.
Is it shining? No it’s not.
M Flanders

For those that were tucked up well in bed this morning a group of hearty souls (some say stupid) made their way over to Yelden Village Hall for bacon butties, tea and biscuits, and more tea, etc, before setting off through the villages of Dean, Nether Dean, Shelton, Kimbolton, Tilbrook, Dillingham, Perry and Ellington before calling in at the Visitor Centre at Grafham Water for further refreshments and a little respite from the British Summer time, before the return leg back to Yelden village hall where Ralph had laid on more tea and cakes!

Ralph, our local EACC runs organiser, once again did everyone proud and, despite the dampness of the day (most were soaked), none more so that the foolhardy (just Fool) chap that arrived without remembering to bring a coat or any form of waterproofs whatsoever … and yet he still did the ride and kept a smile on his face!

There were ten members on tiddlers including me, the new boy, and four of my mates: Trev who sneaked out his wife’s baby Honda (125cc?), Short Legs on his CB250, Rod on a 500 Enfield, and Mark on a 650 Panther, all of whom joined the ride and were content to ride along with us. Of course there were also four or five additional EACC members on four wheels including Ralph and Big Al following behind with the support vehicles which proved unnecessary, I am pleased to say. Ralph continued to apologise about the poor weather but it was great to see the enjoyment we managed to give those at Grafham as they watched the water running off, or in my case out of, our wet gear!

Final mention is reserved for the gentleman sorry, I missed his name who came over from Bury St Edmunds especially, they say, for Ralph’s Bacon Butties … and there you were thinking you had it nice and easy just lying in bed listening to the rain on your window.

Matt (3909)

The Grafham Gander weather was true to form with extremes: good, bad, and downright ugly conditions. Unfortunately the bad and the ugly occured on Sunday just as we departed from Yeldon village hall. Twelve hardy souls riding various sizes of machines splashed their way towards a soggy visitor centre on the north-east side of Grafham Water. Alex followed closely with a trailer, with me bringing more back-up. The rain was of biblical proportions—I was in two minds whether go back for a dinghy or contact the RNLI! Such was the deluge that several riders elected to abort the run and head for home. The diehard Suffolk contingent, namely Andrew who, incidentally, did not have any wet weather gear, saying, ‘It’s only water’, sat in the cafe forming a small lake! And a literally ‘under the weather’ Mark wringing out his fleece jacket before heading out on the return leg.

Matt Cox led a reduced group back to Yelden, with a brief respite from the rain. Luckily no one required the services of the breakdown back-up. Hot tea and coffee with cake and biscuits helped ease the discomfort of being soaked. Jim from Sutton, as always, kept smiling throughout and, despite all this, I sold some regailia, even a t-shirt to the ever positive Chris Saunders.

A heartfelt thanks to all who braved the adverse conditions to come on the run, also thanks to Chris and Matt for their help with setting up the day. Hoping the weather gods are in a more favourable mood for the Shuttleworth Shuffle on September 6th.

Ralph.