Two club members took part in the Ipswich Transport Museums 12th Annual Road Run from Ipswich to Felixstowe on 9th May. Andrew Roddham rode his latest creation: a Power Pak fitted with a box sidecar. I was riding my Norman autocycle (which, for once, started without being pushed for half a mile).
The Power Pak suffered from a flat tyre on the journey to Felixstowe but, with the aid of a borrowed pump, the trip was completed without further incident.
After a stroll around the vehicles assembled on the sea front, we provided the public with some entertainment by swapping the front and rear inner tubes on the Power Pak. The reasoning behind this seemingly pointless exercise was that the ageing rear tube was less able to withstand the pounding of the drive roller than the newer front tube, so changing them over should prevent a flat tyre on the homeward journey. In a brilliant display of mechanical skill we completed the operation in less than ¾ hour.
Much interest (and amusement) was provoked by the two machines during the day, resulting in at least four potential recruits to the club.
At about half past five we set off on our journey back to Ipswich complete with a 'third man' in the sidecar. Despite a diversion for a mystery tour of Trimley, there were no mishaps on the return trip, vindicating the theory behind the tube swapping exercise.
(The 'Third Man' was a 78rpm gramophone record of the Harry Lime theme that Andrew Roddham bought in Felixstowe.)
This article was first published in Buzzing, Volume 1, Number 2 in Summer 1982
