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to the Archive indexThe weather was fine again this year for Steve Cobb's annual event. Riders began arriving at Roydon Village Hall from about 8:30 am. We were greeted with tea, coffee and biscuits from Steve's wife, June, who was acting as Catering Officer. Their daughter, Hollie, ably assisted in charge of washing up.
Mark Daniels, David Evans and Mike Flood set up moped jumble stalls in the car park. This idea, being Danny's baby, is superb and extremeley welcome. Is this the way forward for NACC events?
Eighteen riders signed on for the start, although four others were unable to, as they could not produce membership cards. We departed at 11am, with Richard Wightman [New Hudson] leading the way. We all followed obediently for some distance. Most bikes were going well, including David Jockel's NSU Quickly, Laurie Coates's Moby Rust Bucket, Pete Smith's New Hudson and Steve Gleed's Falconette. Roly Scarce's PC50 and Martin Gates's NVT were both running nicely, but Paul Nelmes's Francis Barnett misbehaved until he changed the spark plug.
It wasn't too long before David Evans on his MS50D took several of the others on a mystery tour, ignoring the route, unintentionally of course! The main group arrived at the Six Bells at Gislingham at around noon. Already there were Mike Flood [New Hudson] with brother Keith [Honda PC50]. The pub landlord, Ray, opened a function room for NACC only, which was much appreciated. The leading group were tucking into their meals before David Evans arrived. 'Nellie' managed to go straight past the pub, despite 15 bikes being parked outside. The return journey was delayed because Paul Stevenson's Rudge failed to start. The lads finally got it going after some coaxing and use of strong language. David Whatling left first on his Power Pak, which was performing well with some pedal assistance.
On the approach to Roydon, yours truly aboard the Nippy, and Danny on his rarely seen Ambassador had a fierce burn-up. The Nippy reached a staggering 36mph, with the Ambassador left in its wake. Steve Cobb arrived back sedately on his MS50V with son Ricky on the pillion, after ensuring all riders had returned safely. After more tea and biscuits, we began to leave for home at around 3pm. On behalf of all the riders, may I thank Steve for an excellent day?
Riders as follows:
First published, October 2004