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since 04.04.2000

The 17th Rock and Blues Custom Show.

27th - 30th July 2000

This rally marked mine and Deb's 4th anniversary - we met at the R&B rally in 1996, aided by Olwyns match-making skills. Going back to this field near Ripley brought back lots of interesting memories - most notably shagging on an airbed for the first time! (it's quite novel, try it!)

There aren't many pictures from this one, as it was the most inactive rally we've been to for a long time - chillin' by the tents was the favoured group activity, interspersed with some energetic 'putting the kettle on' events. This is no reflection on the rally - I've been told there was lots to do, but we were just too lazy!

Our nutty friend Helen came along with us - her first bike rally. The excitement of it all seemed to exhaust the poor girl - by the time we'd ferried all the crap from the car and set the tents up, she just flaked out! (No stamina these southerners!!) To be fair, she had driven up from Tunbridge Wells that morning, but we'll still take the piss!

Lounging around seemed to feature heavily all weekend (not helped by the red-hot weather) and the Master Lounger himself had turned up, to show us how it's done. Luckily, a few of the food stalls had been clever enough to set up in the middle of the camping area - do-nuts, cookies, burgers and bacon rolls were therefore available within 100 yards of the tents!! Damn good idea for such a big rally, coz it was a long walk to the main arena, and involved a very big hill.

This was the first time most of us had seen Nigel and Olly's new Monster Tent. Boy, is it big! We could have definitely set up one of our tents inside the porch area of this, without getting anywhere near the sleeping compartment. Some people just have to show off!!

Chris wanted me to take the picture on the right, showing my Beemer, his VFR, and a Harley belonging to the people camped behind us. He was going on about it "illustrating the difference in fundamental design principles favoured by American, Japanese and German manufacturers and it........" (there was a lot more, but I'd fortunately slipped into a coma by this point! He does like to go on!)

The main arena, as seen from the top of the hill. Lots to do here - loads of shopping, different food stalls, a fun fair with some seriously hardcore rides, and bands going on through most of the weekend. The Levellers played on Friday - you'll have to ask Nigel if they were any good, as I am (at best) indifferent to the fiddly buggers - and Motorhead headlined on Saturday - we missed seeing them coz it was on far too late (after 10pm!) and we'd retreated to the tents for some more lounging!

Opinion was mixed on the psycadelic superdream parked near our tent. Deb and I really liked it - it looked like it had been done with white primer, then coloured in with high-lighter pens!

Nigel and I spotted the Suzuki on our traditional Saturday Afternoon Walkabout-To-Look-At-The-Bikes. We weren't sure if owner was protecting his bike (he'd hear the cans fall if anyone messed with it) or protecting his beer (he'd hear the bike fall over if anyone nicked a can!)

Oh, look, more people lounging around doing nothing! Top style marks go to Helen, who not only brought pyjamas to a bike rally, but was quite happy to wear them outside the tent - even venturing to the portaloos early on Friday morning in them! Rumour has it that she left her tent in the early hours of Sunday for a 'quick waz behind the tent' in just her pyjama top - unfortunately, no camera's were around to capture the moment!

Nice relaxing rally - lots to do, and we chose not to! I've been told there was a Custom Show on the Saturday, but all three girlies were hiding in the tents with very bad hangovers until after the sun went down, so we didn't get to see it.

Some strange forces are at work in that field in Derbyshire. After Deb and me getting together the first time we went in '96, the same mystical forces made Chris completely forget that he'd brought his own tent, so he had to spend the weekend sharing my spare tent with Helen - we've heard rumours that they were shagging, although it couldn't have been that energetic as we didn't hear any screams! Maybe the laid-back, lounging atmosphere had infected everything we were up to that weekend!

Well organised rally, good weather, lots of food and beer, and a couple of mates to gossip about - a near perfect weekend!