Motorcycle Explorer August 2015 Issue 7 | Page 146

We found a ‘spot’ by the other tents using the
halogens of the van and announced our arrival
to the snoozing campers by unfolding the large
groundsheet, which sounded like we were
opening a giant packet of crisps. To the
harmonious shouts of “Shush” w gave up and
tried our best to sleep sat upright in the seats
we had travelled the last few hours in.
Rule 3) Take a foot pump and a small camping
gas stove.
In this modern age of camping everyone who
enjoys the great outdoors owns an airbed of
some description. As you can guess the one we
had borrowed matched the giant tent and was
what I can only describe as a queen size double
air mattress. Any larger and it would have
Rule 2a (again) 4am and the sun stretched
qualified as a hot air balloon and I would need
lazily from the distant horizon. It was as if we
a pilot’s licence. It had more compartments
had arrived during the hours of daylight and
than the orient express and the electric pump
we set about the task of putting up the
which came with it and plugged into the hire
borrowed tent . To say it was large would be an van was the early morning alarm call our fellow
understatement. When we had finished
campers didn’t want to hear. It was louder than
erecting the god damn thing, it was as if
the Reveille at the local Garrison and went on a
someone had dropped a ‘pop-up’ McDonalds
lot longer, in fact it went on so long the hire
restaurant amongst the one man and two man
van overheated and it took us a further three
tents that had somehow managed to squeeze
attempts to blow the mattress up once the van
onto the huge field around us. It took us a
had cooled down. The rule is always use a foot
couple of hours and the exhibition marquee
pump!
which housed the motorcycles in the adjacent
field was erected in a faster time, although I’m
sure the two leviathan’s may have been of
similar size and I think I have seen smaller
town houses in Cleckheaton.