Trevski’s Trivial Pursuit

Back in action at last, it’s been a few weeks out of action because firstly my laptop decided it had enough and went into self destruct mode, so it had to go to the PC hospital and have a complete make over, luckily I had PC World business cover and they replaced the Keyboard, hard drive and power lead it came back looking and working like new.

I’ve also been studying hard for a new venture I’m embarking on which has taken up a lot of time and energy, so I have just not had the time to complete the column but hopefully now it will be all systems go and normal service resumed.

It’s been a bit boring recently with not much happening; I think the winter blues have been getting us all down as most of the discussions on the forum seem to be about bashing the ACU and in particular the TRC, I think there has been some justified criticism and some maybe a bit unfair, the problem really seems to be about communication and transparency which has historically been the case since I can remember, I think that any decisions made on the members behalf especially using their money should be unconditionally disclosed and documentation being available for public inspection on request.

What I think would be a better way of dealing with the various topics that people are unhappy with is to actually approach the TRC and ask specific questions, this I think is more likely to get an honest and direct answer. In the past our governing body could get away with whatever they wanted because information was much easier to withhold as the only source of information was via the motorcycle press and members did not have the luxury of the internet to get their heads together to discuss their concerns and compare views.

So having this site to bring information into the public arena is the most powerful tool we have ever had to ensure that the decision makers are held to account, as much as Stan Freeman can be controversial and at times a bit of a wind up, he has some very relevant points and has a great sense of fairness, if we use the power of this website properly any concerns and injustices that we see can be resolved quickly and fairly, this site has been accused by some in the past as being detrimental to Grass track but if every one recognised how valuable it can be any of the gripes we have seen this week can be met head on; remember the old saying “together we stand divided we fall” this is so true.

What I propose is that any topics that are raised like some that have arisen this week be discussed and maybe have a poll to gain a consensus of opinion, we could then write a letter to the TRC to be addressed at their next meeting and give them the opportunity to make an official statement, this would enable them to give the facts accurately and us the opportunity to challenge their decisions if it is not what the majority of ACU members want.

Stan’s posting on February 26th titled Tail Wagging the dog again, raised some very good points and provoked a lively discussion and is the very type of thing that members should have a say in. Stan seems to have the view that the British Championships qualifier should be based solely on the National Grading list, now my view totally differs from Stan’s but that doesn’t mean to say mine is right or that Stan’s is wrong, his view is that why should a rider in any particular class be excluded in favour of a rider of the TRC’s choice after riding all year to qualify for his place.

On the face of it his view sounds absolutely right and fair; but in this case because of flaws in the grading list system I actually agree with the TRC, I think that the NGL should be restructured because there are instances where much lesser riders entering small meetings picking up easy points can finish above a rider contesting the big meetings against top opposition, also riders competing in International meetings regularly can lose out.

So in some instances a rider racing regularly in a class throughout the year competing against the best competitors, may not finish in the top six but be in the top ten at every meeting could lose his place to a rider riding in only one meeting at the end of the year against either a very low standard of competitors or even none at all, I can give an absolutely perfect example.

Take a look at the 500 sidecar grading list, if the sidecars still run the same way it always did top 18 on the Grading list qualifying for the final; Wayne Yeldham would qualify ahead of 9 regular riders even though he did not compete in one race against any other competitor and here’s how. Wayne after retiring from the sport due to injury decided at the end of the season he may have another go in 2009, so he bought a bike and took it to a meeting run by the Woodbridge club, just to have a practice to see if he was still up for it, the club didn’t have a 500 sidecar entry but agreed that Wayne could go out a couple of times on his own, I think that the meeting was actually abandoned before the end but I couldn’t swear to it, but guess what Wayne was awarded 6 grading list points for a win.

Wayne did nothing wrong he just asked for a chance to have a practice and the nice guy that George Wilby is, gave him the go ahead, Wayne probably had no idea that his little practice session was ensuring that he would have automatic qualification for next years British Championships even if it reverted back to it’s previous format.

Now what would have happened next year when the qualifiers were announced for the finals? Who had ridden and earned his place to compete in the finals, Wayne in 18th place who had taken the bike out for two practice spins on his own to see if he still enjoyed riding after about 6 or 7 years out of the sport, or the guy in 19th place who had ridden in the class over the past two seasons, ridden in Internationals and all the big meetings against the top riders including riding at two British championship qualifiers making the Final on both occasions and still managing to qualify for the Final in 8th place after having to miss the last round through injury, an injury that kept him out for the rest of the season, I leave you to make your own mind up, all I can say is good job they changed the format for the 500 sidecars so every one gets a ride so there will be no arguments.

This is why I think Stan’s view is wrong, his reasons are right but because of the flawed grading list system it makes it in my view wrong to go on grading list alone, years ago it worked better because the points were awarded differently as the top ten in National meetings were given points, so riders competing and having success in big meetings were rewarded for it, the way meetings are run now means that virtually none are run under a National permit so winners of meetings like Wimborne Whoppa, Worcester winner etc will only  gain the same points as a rider winning the Southend & DMCC donut fun meeting.

So someone winning for example a British Championship qualifier will only be given the same points as Wayne was for his practice day at Woodbridge, is this fair; of course it isn’t.

So I have thought about this and think I have worked out a fair and simple way of creating a more accurate reflection of how riders should be graded, why not have riders score points according to how many entries there are at any meeting they are riding at, that way the amount of points scored would reflect the level of difficulty of the event.

So If there are 36 riders in the class on the day, the winning rider receives 36 points second place 35, 3rd 34 and so on down to 1 point for last place, if there is another meeting being run in a different part of the country on the same day with only 6 entrants the points would start at 6 for a win and so on, this would then reflect the true level of achievement of each rider, I also believe that a rider riding abroad representing the UK who is riding at an even higher level but receiving no credit should be credited points in the same way.

This would be much fairer; if we just go back to the scenario of Wayne and the rider in 19th place on the NLG, Mr 19th place was credited with 5th place in the first British Championship round with 21 competitors so he would have received 17pts he was then 6th in the second round with 18 contestants so would have received 13pts he was also  5th in the Astra CoC meeting with 7 riders so would have received 3 points giving a total without any other results 33 points, Wayne riding in a meeting on his own would have only received 1 point so a truer reflection of both riders levels of achievement would be demonstrated and less likely hood of any arguments, it also makes the grading list a much finer assessment and would be less likely to have several riders on the same points thus avoiding disagreements as to which rider would go through out of several on the same points and make it less likely that the old pals act would come into play.

Now others will hold differing ideas which is great but I’m sure it’s clear that the existing process is completely ridiculous and needs changing. I am in no way knocking Wayne with this article but the circumstances could not have been more perfect to show the system up for what it is; a complete and utter out dated sham. 

Bob Radley out of Intensive care

Bob (Pops) Radley is thankfully out of intensive care and recovering well, Bob had a fall at Sittingbourne speedway whilst pushing grandson Sam Radley-Smith. He fell face first cutting his nose and grazing his face, he was attended to by the track first aid staff. He felt very unwell, passed out and was taken into the ambulance for treatment; they found his blood pressure very low which was a concern. After a while he started to feel a bit better and was revived with his usual cup of tea but was strongly advised by the paramedics to go to A & E.

Karen checked on him Monday morning and found that he had a badly swollen face but he was still feeling unwell and stayed in bed to recover, by Tuesday he was feeling so bad and his face had swollen to such an extent he was unrecognisable, Karen was so worried she phoned for an Ambulance, when the Paramedics attended to Bob they found his blood pressure again dangerously low so rushed him off to Hospital where he was immediately taken into intensive care where he was put on life support as he was suffering from Kidney and Liver failure.

He was put on very strong anti biotic which helped clear up what they also found was septicaemia caused by the graze Bob had sustained in is fall.

After speaking to Karen this morning (Sat) she has said that Bob has now been discharged and continuing his recovery at home with his family, they would like to thank every one for the kind messages and concern.

We all wish Bob well, he has been a great member of the grass track family for many years helping and encouraging many riders my self included, nothing is any trouble and he has a wealth of knowledge which he is always willing to share.

Any well wishers wanting to send cards and get well messages please send them care of Karen Radley at: 6 Hand post, Cottages, Station Road, Wickham Bishops, Witham, Essex, CM8 3JF.

Sidecar Track Racing Championship

Details for the exciting new track racing sidecar championship have been finalised, it is to be run over six rounds with 20 competitors coming from both grass and speedway.

Points through the heats are awarded as per traditional speedway rule’s i.e, 3-2-1-0 which carries throughout the meeting, the top 4 will go into the final where points will be awarded 4-3-2-1 and added to the points tally won in the heats.

For each round of the championship series the top four point scoring teams will contest the final with the first crew over the line winning that round.

At the final round of the championships, the top four point scoring sidecar teams over the series will contest the final, the points from rounds 1-6 will determine the final line up with the team amassing the highest amount of point’s throughout the series taking the championship and being crowned the ACU Track Racing 1000cc Sidecar Champions.

The series will kick off on the 4th of April at Scunthorpe; the other 5 rounds are as follows: 17th April, Plymouth, 15th May, Kings Lynn, 5th June, Kings Lynn, 20th June, Newport ending at Scunthorpe on the 4th of July.

For any interested parties I have also managed to get a copy of the regs which David has attached a link for- [pdf], we also have a list of registered riders.
The link for the official website is www.trackracingchampionships.co.uk

Dutch B Licence

Holland will see the introduction of a sidecar B class this year, there is a group of Dutch riders who have decided to opt out of the high cost ultra competitive A licence ranks and have set up a series for the enthusiast, they are just interested in having a good days racing without breaking the bank and hopefully any bones.

They were running last year riding on makeshift tracks often with no first aid and very lax safety standards; however the KNMV have stepped in as they considered the risks unacceptable so agreed to let the riders have their own 8 meeting series to be run at mainly youth and National events.

There are some familiar names involved with the likes of Roel Liemburg, Rik Diephus and long time passenger Erik Van Dijk taking part. Erik usually in the sidecar is taking to the handle bars with one of his many daughters acting as ballast.

They have decided to restrict the meetings to the smaller tracks from 290mtrs up to 500mtrs, they are hoping that it will also act as a stepping stone for new drivers to learn their trade before stepping up to the international class, this may be a good example to follow for our own novice riders.

Thanks go to Roel Liemburg for the information.

ACU Awards

Recently the ACU awards took place where all the 2008 track racing champions were crowned, I have a complete list of winners which David again has attached a link.
We have managed to get all the photo’s of the evening kindly supplied by  Brian George, there is a great group photo of the adult winners which just had me wondering, is it just me or does Richard hall look like Rob Smiths love child ?

Chris Barton visit

I had a surprise visit from Chris the other week over from Australia on a whistle stop tour of the UK visiting his many family and friends, this was the first time I had seen him for best part of 20 years. He had put on a bit of weight like the rest of us and lost quite a few of those famous locks, Chris used to look like a typical 80’s pop icon and was sponsored by Vidal Sassoon. Before every race we used to dope & oil the bike and Gel Chris’s Barnet.

We chatted for hours boring my wife senseless with all the old stories, but it was great to see him again, he has been road racing out there but had a serious spill last year which sidelined him for a while but he hopes to be back on a chair on the long tracks in Aus.

He also has a young son who is continuing the family tradition and making a name for him self in Speedway.

John not Jim

Whilst visiting my wife’s sick Nan on Friday I bumped into Johnny Bryant ex 1000 driver of the 60’s putting out his rubbish. He lives next door to my aunt Sylvia in Corringham, Essex who incidentally lives next door to my wife’s Nan, small world isn’t it.
Any way John has agreed to do an interview for the column so I’m going round in a couple of weeks for a chat, I’m sure that will prove interesting.
 

Page10 24th January

Jays Jottings

Now to finish up Jay has provided yet another one of his hilarious stories Adventures abroad Parts 1 & 2, sit back and enjoy.

Adventures Abroad  (Part 1)

I have lost count of how many meetings abroad I have been to now, but journeys with Les Rumsey as chief guide are always pretty interesting!

My first venture abroad was to Marmande many years ago, I flew to Bordeaux, got the jet bus from the airport to the station and then got a train straight to Marmande.  The booking hall was interesting, it was the eve of Bastille Day, and the booking hall was very busy, when I finally got to the kiosk window, there was a slight language problem, despite having had someone type out my ticket request in French!  After some 5 minutes of utter confusion, the clerk got someone who could speak in English, who told me that the hall I was in was for ADVANCE tickets only; I needed to go downstairs for tickets on the day of travel!  (And we think we English are burdened with jobs worth’s!)

Anyway having got my ticket, I ascertained what platform the train was leaving from, Que heur le train departe et que et platform du departure? – “well it was something like that anyway!

 I did French for a few years at school, I wish I had paid attention to the lessons, the only teacher that I learned any French from was a young pretty student teacher who (for some mysterious reason!) took a great interest in me, or was it me taking an interest in her!!!!

Well the train was due to depart from platform 23 or thereabouts and it was a 35 minute wait, they go by train NUMBERS out there, that seems a bit foreign to me, but if it works for them………….. !

Well 5 minutes before the train was due to arrive, the train number that I wanted had disappeared off the electronic board on that platform and another one appeared!  I then had to dash back to the main board to see where my train (number!) had gone to – it had been moved to platform 16!  Phew!

For some reason I had booked a slow train that stopped at every station on the outskirts of Bordeaux instead of an express that was going to Agen and would stop at Marmande.

Everything was fine until a ticket inspector appeared, I gave him my ticket at which point he started waving his arms around and speaking very fast in French.

 “Parlez vous anglais” I asked
He came back with a stern “No”
So I shrugged my shoulders and started looking out of the window hoping he would go away – but he didn’t!

He kept waffling on in French, and indicated that I get my wallet out; I showed him 2 empty pockets whilst pointing to the ticket.

“I have bloody paid – it says so on this ticket” I told him

Voices were raised to shouting level for a while and then he walked off. (It was just like a rider discussion at a grass track on any Sunday!!!!)

As he walked off I did catch a word that sounded something like “Idiot”, to which I replied that he probably used to work in a bank!

When I got off the train in Marmande, some people were entering the platform as I was leaving and they were all getting their tickets stamped by a ticket machine as they did so, I looked at mine, and then realised what the ticket inspector was on about!   Ooops !

Trips abroad with Les Rumsey don’t involve trains, he hires a car, and he always pays the extra damage waiver on hiring, if you travelled with him – you would realise why!!!

We usually have one or two problems in departing from Gatwick, Bert got caught with an 18 inch screwdriver hidden in the lining of his bag the first time he went abroad, and on the same trip Les was a bit worried when they detected traces of explosives on his shoes, he told the security bloke that he was amazed they had picked that up but missed all drug residue on him!  Now how did that explosive get on his shoes? I am sure it was nothing to do with the shotgun cartridge I took apart the previous evening!

We also had a panic one year when security was high – Bobs Videos had baggage to check in – we don’t normally take any – though we took Vic with us one year – more about that later! Anyways - 5 minutes before the plane was due to depart, Bob still stood in the check in queue, was Bob panicking?  Yes he was!  Can Bob make it to the plane – “Yes he can” - just, they shut the aircraft door before he had even sat in his seat!!! 

Now Bob is not a good traveller in aeroplanes, in fact he goes positively green at take off – so we always try and get him a window seat, not that it matters, he grips the arms by the seats so tightly his fingers go white, and he shuts his eyes and looks upwards, - now think about it – if you shut your eyes it don’t matter where you are looking does it?

Bert nearly didn’t travel with us to Germany from Stansted once, we was all packed into the Ryan air plane and it was almost full when a voice came over the tannoy – “Will passenger Bert Turner please make himself known to a crew member” 

“He’s here” we all chirped up in unison! Bert looked positively worried, he turned to me and said “You bar steward – you have stitched me up” 

But I was as surprised as he was, - though it would be a good stitch up to do though!

The steward came to Bert and asked him where he was travelling to, “Germany” he replied. The Steward said “Well that’s a start – you are on the right plane then, are you coming back ?”

Bert replied”Yes – I am coming back on tomorrow mornings flight”

The steward asked Bert if he had a ticket for the next day’s flight, Of course I have” said Bert and he produced it for the steward to examine at which point the Steward said, “But this ticket is for TODAYS flight“Bert went very pale and looked at me for inspiration, but I was no help – I was on the floor laughing, he had handed in the wrong ticket at check in! 

Adventures Abroad  (Part 2)

An exciting part of any adventure abroad is Les Rumsey learning the controls of the hire car, now normally you check where the knobs and buttons are before you set off, but Les always gets up to around 120km per hour and 10 metres from the car in front before he gets bored and starts to play with the air con and various other controls. He found the cruise control once and we almost accelerated into the car in front whilst doing 120km per hour! Les was still rummaging about in the glove box at the time to see if there were any more knobs or buttons in there!

He takes with him a special accident avoidance audio system, its usually 4 of us shouting in unison “BRAKE!”

Les never asks why – he just hits the brake pedal – which is just as well on many occasions!!!!   Once again, Bobs eyes are normally firmly shut and his fingers white!

Its usually a bit of a rush to get to the track on time for the first race if we travel on the day, so Les has his uses, he does not do “slow”!  We noticed a fixed speed trap on the way back from a meeting in Germany once, trouble is – we didn’t notice on the way there – and that was the way it was pointing, Les got a nice letter from the hire car people saying his credit card had been debited with the fine, thank goodness they haven’t invented Euro driving licence points yet!!!!

We hired a Mercedes once and after an hour on the autobahn Les was impressed with the fuel consumption, Steve Brace pointed out it would be even better if he put it into 6th gear instead of staying in 5th!!!

Finding the hotel when we stay over for a night is usually interesting, I can remember an exciting trip around Bordeaux from the airport to the hotel. Les always insists we find the hotel in daylight rather than drive around looking for the hotel in the dark – and that is a VERY sensible approach to hotels! (I spent 90 minutes looking for a hotel near Angouleme airport in the dark last year; it helps if you remember that French hotels are often located on industrial estates!)

Anyway we went around the Bordeaux ring road and then hit the city – somewhere near the station (La Gare!) We had a map – of sorts – but these maps are never accurate are they?  We ended up in some back streets and time was marching on – so we was in a hurry  (as usual) the roads were very narrow and at one point Les just popped the nearside wheels up on the pavement (at around 40mph with no drop kerb – but no worries – it’s a full damage waiver!). Then we came up a narrow road with cars parked either side – and three quarters the way up it a car pulled out and started coming down towards us.  Now I don’t know if Les Rumsey was a jousting knight in a previous life, but he accelerated towards it and we both came to an abrupt halt bumper to bumper.

 A MEXICAN STAND OFF! Well a French one actually! Les suggested that the French driver back up – well that is putting it very politely indeed!!!  The French driver decided to try and squeeze by, well we had already folded in our wring mirrors to start with )Les never uses mirrors anyway – what’s gone is gone – no-one is EVER likely to overtake him!!!) So we tried to squeeze by each other, when Les got level with the driver, with both windows open, he told the French driver what he REALLY thought of him.  I don’t think the French driver was really bothered that we were late and couldn’t find our hotel – even if he could have understood English!!!

Eventually we found the hotel, Les went in with the paperwork, and came out 5 minutes later looking a little flustered “Its the wrong one” He said !

I said “It can’t be – it says on the booking form – Hotel Stars”

But Les then explained Hotel Stars in France is just like Hilton Hotels over here – its just one hotel that is part of a chain! – Oh no – here we go again – search for the hotel!!!!

Les had now ascertained it was close to the ring road, but we got off the ring road at several different exits before we finally found it!
Having said all that and despite the navigational problems we had – without Les’s little bit of French and ability to wave his arms and point to bits of paper – we would have had to sleep in the car!!!

Les was an experienced traveller abroad in his speedway days, he had even been bowled over as a pedestrian by a car abroad and was knocked out  - Bob Dolman was with him at the time , but he had looked Left, not Right, so had stayed on the pavement!

Just remember, when abroad, don’t look right, left and right again, do it the other way round!!!!

I guess we could always take Bert’s Tom Tom abroad with us  – but it don’t even work properly in this country, and, knowing our luck, if it did work it at all, it would talk to us in French!

Les usually gets a print out from the internet of where we are SUPPOSED to be going and I usually draw the short straw of being navigator (Lets face it – the others can’t even read a newspaper let alone a map!)

On our first trip to Germany I said to Les that Ausfahrt must be a huge city because it had been on every exit sign for over 30 miles, “You idiot“ he said (Or was it something like that but beginning with C !!!) “Ausfahrt means EXIT - so it will be on every exit sign wont it!”   Doh! (I didn’t take ANY German lessons at school – the teachers were unattractive!)

We never managed to be able to navigate directly to a track, we always went past it for 10k or so and then turned around, at one event we went up and down the same piece of roads 6 times before we found the village that the event was in – and even then we couldn’t find the track!  We pulled up behind a moped rider at some traffic lights and he had a flag in his bag – a marshal!  Instead of just following him – Les jumped out of the driving seat to ask him where the track was, Les hadn’t put on the handbrake and but for an acrobatic effort from Dave Rumsey to get to the brake, we would have rolled into the back of the poor moped rider!!!

One year we took Dave Rumsey’ s sponsor – Vic, no doubt some people will remember “Vic’s adventures in Marmande”  - I wish I could remember all of them!

Vic was more of an unseasoned traveller than I was, though I think he fought for us against France in the First World War.  Whenever we pulled up for a drink or something to eat , Vic was always told to get his money out as it was his round, by the end of the first day he said – “Its expensive out here isn’t it ? “ !!!!

Vic was not too nimble on his feet and the track in Marmande is a fair step from the town itself, so we got a taxi for him, but trying to get a taxi back after the meeting is pretty nigh impossible, we thought we was going to have to leave Vic at the track overnight until John Meredith stepped in and gave him a lift back – phew!

There are always a good number of people from England that travel to Marmande ,and one year we sat on the bank in searing heat and enjoyed a beer or two with the late Dave Durham, a real nice bloke for those that didn’t know him, a great loss to our sport. Dave Rumsey and Dave Durham once had a coming together half way down the straight at SCGTRA. Les Rumsey had told Dave Rumsey never to shut off in a coming together, I don’t think anyone had ever told Dave Durham that, and as a result he cart wheeled down the track for over 50 yards! Les was keen to remind Dave Durham of the incident at Marmande and we had a good laugh over it.

One year at Marmande we was struggling to find a good viewing spot, as we had spent too much time at the many bars around the track, we spotted a nice space half way round the far bend, and couldn’t make out why no-one else was sitting there, until we sat there – it was an ants nest !!!   
 
We thought Bobs Videos was a lightweight as he told us he didn’t drink alcohol, but after a really hot evening at Marmande he was tempted by Les Rumsey onto some sort of spirit after the meeting had ended – an hour and several glasses later, Bob was p*ssed as a parrot (maybe that’s why he takes parrot food with him to events?). Bob sat on a wall near the pits and was chatting to some French girl who was trying to persuade him to try some of her wacky backy!  I guess that was probably the year that the temperature was 40 degrees centigrade! Les and Bert sat in the shade drinking water that year; I loved it, but did concede to drinking one water to one beer to avoid dehydration! Vic sat in the shade with his traditional knotted hanky on his head! Now how do people spot the English so easily when we are abroad?

We nearly came back from Marmande without Vic, we was outside the hotel one morning when he stepped back into the road just as a car came by really fast and really close, Vic did look as he step backwards into the road – but he looked the wrong way ! Bob Ruffle grabbed Vic and saved his life, better buy us all a round then Vic for “us” saving your life!

Steve Brace had stood outside earlier that morning and pronounced it was raining, well there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was still around 30 degrees, and then a little face resembling Bob Ruffle appeared out of a bedroom window holding a jug of water!

We managed to fuse all the power in one restaurant when we visited Bordeaux one year, it was either a fan or a telly that we switched on and at the same time as we did so, the lights and the radio went off – hmm – coincidence?   Then the cook came out of the kitchen and said that we would have to have our steaks rare as the power had gone off – don’t worry – pay the lady Vic!  At which point Vic announced he had run out of money “Don’t worry “we said “We will LEND you some”!!!!

Now you wouldn’t think finding a petrol station near the airport abroad would be too difficult, but it was something we ALWAYS had an issue with.  We would never buy petrol on the motorway ‘cos it was too expensive – so instead we would drive another 40km around the suburbs to find a petrol station that was open, and then, finally one that accepted credit cards and actually dispensed petrol ! By doing that we never had to wait long in the departure lounge at the airport, ‘cos the dam plane was usually taxiing up the runway by the time we got to check in !

On one occasion, the British Airways check in had actually SHUT at Bordeaux.

We had been sitting near the station at Bordeaux in the sunshine and had moved up from small beers to grande beers, we were watching what times the jet bus was leaving for the airport and Les said he had been noting the times and that we needn’t get the one we had planned to, we could get the next one and still get to check in on time.. Trouble was, the next one left dead on time and we missed it and there wasn’t another one for a whole hour! We ran through the airport to check in, which was closed. I negotiated myself to be checked in as I had no baggage, and the fact that it had only just shut (and I had ran the fastest from the hire car drop off!)  I then had the problem of negotiating a late check in for Steve, Bert, Vic, Bob and Les, none of whom were even in view at the time! I think they must have thrown Vic into a courtesy wheelchair else he would have never made it in time!  They let us on the plane, and as we boarded one stupid woman complained to an air hostess that we should not be let on as we were all drunk, we got Bob to speak up for us, as he was the only one that was not slurring his speech (But he did have a massive hangover from the previous night)

Bert was nursing a huge bump on his head – he had somehow got in the wrong departure lounge and lost us, when he found us again he put on a big grin and walked towards us – not seeing the GLASS PETITION!   Bang – it was a cracker!!!! (And Bob Ruffle missed the action (the camera had already gone in the hold) no change there then!)

Remember be careful out there.

Trevski