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indexThe Met Office had suggested that Sunday's weather would be suitable for cyclemotorists. So, phone calls were made, heads peered skywards and, in no time at all, the Thames Valley boys and girl had assembled at Eversley and had begun to pay homage to Derek & Lorraine's Power Pak propelled tandem. A mighty and beautiful beast, weighing-in at slightly less than a pre-war semi and adorned with a very nice ZB mechanical indicator. This was to be the machine's first outing so, for safety reasons, Derek went solo to fire it up whilst the rest of us took cover.
The Power Pak started well enough and, with Lorraine astride the navigator's seat and in control of those indicators (her birthday present), we set off. The tandem was accompanied by a selection of Mini-Motor and Cyclemaster.
We stopped off at the Swallowfield Steam Fair and had an enjoyable stay, causing the usual interest from visitors and participants. Steam buffs are almost as nice as cyclemotorists; one of them offered a Power Pak that was dozing in a greenhouse and another related the story of how he was stopped for speeding on a Cyclemaster.
It appears that he had been tinkering with it and, when the officer had asked "And what speed do you think you were doing, sir?" he had replied that, according to his workshop manual, he would be lucky to touch 25. The policeman informed him that he had been clocked at 36mph and provided him with a speeding ticket. Now, I reckon that ticket should be regarded as a trophy.
After the steam fair, we rode on to a decent pub for a pint, a bite and the joy of reuniting bottoms with comfortable seating. Suitably refreshed, we took to the lanes and headed back to the lanes and headed back to the Thames Valley HQ for tea, cake, and an hour or so of happy chat.
First published, June 1998