Firstly...for the benefit of foreign readers and any UK teetotallers... the name of this rally is borrowed from a rather fine UK brewed 'real ale' by Wychwood Breweries.
Wychwood brew several splendid ales and ciders,all with rather intriguing names and fanciful artwork...they even have some branded clothing adorned with this artwork,available in exchange for so many bottle tops and a small payment.
A recent sidecar and rally club has formed under the name of The Hobgoblin Sidecar Club.
They asked Wychwood if they would sponsor them,but apparently they declined but permitted use of the logo.
Can`t beat a bit of free advertising,huh ?
I got word of the new club via a couple of friends in the Wirral Branch of the Triumph Owners Club...and also heard about their impending first rally via some of my 'Dark Side' contacts in the sidecar fraternity.
Anyway....June 25th - 27th 2010 saw the inaugural Hobgoblin Sidecar Club 'Engine and Pushchair Rally'.
Most of the Hobgoblin Club are sidecar enthusiasts who take their family with them to rallies and weekends away,so this was to be a social and family orientated event ... and child friendly too.
The Club had certainly done a lot of planning and preparation for this event as seen on the rest of the Rally 'flyer' sheet.
My initial plan was to go to this event with Glambabe and her daughter Megan on my 'posh' 750 Ural 'Dee' which I`d recently done my 'Wrong Way Round' Euro trip on.
Glambabe had been very busy in work lately,and I`ve been hectic trying to empty my garage and rehouse all my bikes and spares prior to demolishing the old garage and getting a new one built....so this weekend looked like being a nice escape from the world for a few days.
And being a child friendly event,there should be enough to keep Meg happy too.
Plans being plans,Meg had a 'double date' in that a long awaited sleepover at a friend`s house was on the same weekend...and she really didn`t want to miss it.
So then there were two....no problem,Glambabe and I could look forward to some time away together with no immediate distractions.
Again,plans being plans meant that 'Dee' had been temporarily rehoused in a kindly neighbour`s house .... so we would now be going on my beloved and trusy 'Skaya' 650 which I was keeping at mine throughout the demolition work.
Thankfully that wasn`t a problem with just the pair of us going to the rally,but with three people and associated gear it`s just that bit easier on the 750.
Also...I was now free of any bad weather and ensuing dirty bike syndrome.
Although we were having Saharan like temperatures and bad weather seemed unlikely,it still saved me from fretting about Dee`s condition.
(I`m like that...as most of you know).
Glambabe was working until 4pm whereas I was off roster,so after checking Skaya over...all oils,tyre pressures,security of fasteners,etc,I loaded her up in readiness.
Going away camping with a sidecar passenger is not quite the simple 'chuck it all in the sidecar' simplicity of when I`m alone on a combo (as in 'The Wrong Way Round' photos),but the massive Ural sidecar rear rack and my home made sidecar nose rack still makes for an easy job compared to a solo bike.
The rear rack took the big mega dome tent we like to use...two bedroom sections and a central area big and tall enough to stand up in to dress and move about easily,plus a nice area to sit in.
Also two folding chairs with armrests and two folding canvas tables.
On top of that was a camo bag with Glamababe`s personal kit.
The sidecar boot held toolkit and spares,four 2 litre bottles of water,sleeping bags,groundmats and a few other bits and bobs.
The throwover panniers held all the cooking equipment...plates,cutlery,gas bottles,pans,etc etc.
I used to take these in the boot,but the throwovers detach seperately and mean I can have a compact and easily moved 'kitchen setup' at the tent without rummaging in the sidecar boot.
The sidecar nose rack took my camo bag with my personal stuff in it.
The small black pouchy bags were former cycle panniers that clip onto the bars of the nose and rear rack which I was just trying out for the first time as an experiment.
These held some lemonade bottles and a litre of Pimms.
In the photos Skaya looks heavily loaded but it`s not all as big and bulky as it quite looks.
So...all loaded up.
This is where we were heading for.
A camping site and pub called the 'Engine and Tender' in a small village called Broome.
This is in lovely rural Shropshire and is just outside the town of Craven Arms.
Craven Arms is found on the A49 South of Church Stretton and Shrewsbury.
You can see it circled just at the bottom left of this bit of OS map.
It`s only about 80 miles from where we live and it promised to be a pleasant ride on mostly traffic free roads as I`d planned on picking up Glambabe at 6.30pm....so the evening rush hour madass traffic would mostly be over.
The evening would still be plenty light enough to put up the tent and get sorted,too.
The blazing heat of the day was finally easing off as I filled up Skaya`s petrol tank and topped up her sidecar mounted jerrycan.
The latter because she does about 4 miles on reserve.....and you try pushing even an unladen combo very far,never mind a loaded one!
Now you know why nearly all Urals have jerrycans fitted.
Trip meter zeroed.....let`s go and collect Glambabe!
(To be continued a bit later....)
Wychwood brew several splendid ales and ciders,all with rather intriguing names and fanciful artwork...they even have some branded clothing adorned with this artwork,available in exchange for so many bottle tops and a small payment.
A recent sidecar and rally club has formed under the name of The Hobgoblin Sidecar Club.
They asked Wychwood if they would sponsor them,but apparently they declined but permitted use of the logo.
Can`t beat a bit of free advertising,huh ?
I got word of the new club via a couple of friends in the Wirral Branch of the Triumph Owners Club...and also heard about their impending first rally via some of my 'Dark Side' contacts in the sidecar fraternity.
Anyway....June 25th - 27th 2010 saw the inaugural Hobgoblin Sidecar Club 'Engine and Pushchair Rally'.
Most of the Hobgoblin Club are sidecar enthusiasts who take their family with them to rallies and weekends away,so this was to be a social and family orientated event ... and child friendly too.
The Club had certainly done a lot of planning and preparation for this event as seen on the rest of the Rally 'flyer' sheet.
My initial plan was to go to this event with Glambabe and her daughter Megan on my 'posh' 750 Ural 'Dee' which I`d recently done my 'Wrong Way Round' Euro trip on.
Glambabe had been very busy in work lately,and I`ve been hectic trying to empty my garage and rehouse all my bikes and spares prior to demolishing the old garage and getting a new one built....so this weekend looked like being a nice escape from the world for a few days.
And being a child friendly event,there should be enough to keep Meg happy too.
Plans being plans,Meg had a 'double date' in that a long awaited sleepover at a friend`s house was on the same weekend...and she really didn`t want to miss it.
So then there were two....no problem,Glambabe and I could look forward to some time away together with no immediate distractions.
Again,plans being plans meant that 'Dee' had been temporarily rehoused in a kindly neighbour`s house .... so we would now be going on my beloved and trusy 'Skaya' 650 which I was keeping at mine throughout the demolition work.
Thankfully that wasn`t a problem with just the pair of us going to the rally,but with three people and associated gear it`s just that bit easier on the 750.
Also...I was now free of any bad weather and ensuing dirty bike syndrome.
Although we were having Saharan like temperatures and bad weather seemed unlikely,it still saved me from fretting about Dee`s condition.
(I`m like that...as most of you know).
Glambabe was working until 4pm whereas I was off roster,so after checking Skaya over...all oils,tyre pressures,security of fasteners,etc,I loaded her up in readiness.
Going away camping with a sidecar passenger is not quite the simple 'chuck it all in the sidecar' simplicity of when I`m alone on a combo (as in 'The Wrong Way Round' photos),but the massive Ural sidecar rear rack and my home made sidecar nose rack still makes for an easy job compared to a solo bike.
The rear rack took the big mega dome tent we like to use...two bedroom sections and a central area big and tall enough to stand up in to dress and move about easily,plus a nice area to sit in.
Also two folding chairs with armrests and two folding canvas tables.
On top of that was a camo bag with Glamababe`s personal kit.
The sidecar boot held toolkit and spares,four 2 litre bottles of water,sleeping bags,groundmats and a few other bits and bobs.
The throwover panniers held all the cooking equipment...plates,cutlery,gas bottles,pans,etc etc.
I used to take these in the boot,but the throwovers detach seperately and mean I can have a compact and easily moved 'kitchen setup' at the tent without rummaging in the sidecar boot.
The sidecar nose rack took my camo bag with my personal stuff in it.
The small black pouchy bags were former cycle panniers that clip onto the bars of the nose and rear rack which I was just trying out for the first time as an experiment.
These held some lemonade bottles and a litre of Pimms.
In the photos Skaya looks heavily loaded but it`s not all as big and bulky as it quite looks.
So...all loaded up.
This is where we were heading for.
A camping site and pub called the 'Engine and Tender' in a small village called Broome.
This is in lovely rural Shropshire and is just outside the town of Craven Arms.
Craven Arms is found on the A49 South of Church Stretton and Shrewsbury.
You can see it circled just at the bottom left of this bit of OS map.
It`s only about 80 miles from where we live and it promised to be a pleasant ride on mostly traffic free roads as I`d planned on picking up Glambabe at 6.30pm....so the evening rush hour madass traffic would mostly be over.
The evening would still be plenty light enough to put up the tent and get sorted,too.
The blazing heat of the day was finally easing off as I filled up Skaya`s petrol tank and topped up her sidecar mounted jerrycan.
The latter because she does about 4 miles on reserve.....and you try pushing even an unladen combo very far,never mind a loaded one!
Now you know why nearly all Urals have jerrycans fitted.
Trip meter zeroed.....let`s go and collect Glambabe!
(To be continued a bit later....)