Ok, well here goes...
After a weekend of tequila, sambuca, bar-b's and beer I rested my weary mind and body on Monday whilst waiting for my mate Greg to arrive and load the van ....
So van loaded, off to the train station to pick my mate Teresa up and off we go, fairly clean run up, no issues and arrive safely, after a minor detour (suggested by Gregs sat nav) and roll into the B&B
www.old-vicarage-laxton.co.uk/bed-breakfast/ to find Ian Harris awaiting our arrival on the drive, along with his new friend "Andy" sporting a lovely 4 inch verical scar on his forehead, I didn't ask ...
So a few phone calls later and dinners arranges, a table for 8 booked and we take a very scenic route (this time I navigated) to a lovely pub and met up with JPM, Lily & BDG for an evening of wine, beer, jack daniels, good food, cheesecake, biscuit bits, coffee and more importantly .. banter .. lots of it and fairly evenly spread around the table, although I think Greg & Andy (non DSC) were a tad shocked that a bunch of Ducatisti were so down to earth and some of the banter was a tad "coarse".
Fast forward to 6am and my alarm goes off, my mouths furry and I jump out of bed forgetting that I hadn't packed any shorts to wear to bed ... not sure Greg appreciated the view ... as we were sharing a twin room ... anyway, down to brekkie where I succeed an covering my cornflakes in salt .. only evident after the first huuuge mouthful ... so moved swiftly on to the coffee and then the cardboard toast, it would appear there had been a miscommunication about breakfast time with our dear landlady ... so we paid our bill and left for Rocky ...
So bikes unloaded, leathers on, more banter .. this time with David Cook who is scrutineering the kit ... and Andy Ibbott who starts taking the mickey as soon as he spots me ... hmmmmph, and me, a celebrity as well ... lol.
The morning goes quite quickly, new drill, new classroom sessions, more banter, bike alarm plays up and annoys everyone in the paddock and then its lunchtime ...
The only downer in the morning was some close passing, some of which brought JPM in early from session three but the day was soon back on track ...
So back out we go in the afternoon, Tess says she is really enjoying the day, which is especially pleasing for me as shes the closes thing I have to a sister and I've bought her the day and a rental R^ to thank her for being there for me, and she getting quicker by the session .. my favorite quote of the day was "I knew i was going really quick when I lookd down and saw how close the tarmac was" ... cool ...
I learnt loads, everyone was smiling by the end of the day, my mate Greg did well on his intructor assessment but wasn't quite "there", Lily was going great guns, JPM was looking quick as ever and BDG wasn't hanging about (or off) either .. lol .. Andy was glad to have some new mates for the day and also JPMs mate Ed from Visordown joined our clan in the day ...
What with TP being there, Chris Butcher working, Butcher senior popping in lunchtime and generally getting great weather, great track time, just 3 offs i think, no one hurt and an easy drive home made for a cracking trip .....
Roll on Levels 3 & 4 ...
(Oh, and I really like the National circuit at Rockingham again)
I would also like to thank MW for ALMOST popping in to see us .. lol .... I'll let him explain ..