Trigger Happy
A voice from the Young Guns SC Time for the Young Guns to get out and about in Germany. It’s not all straightforward though, from war memorials, to breakdown trucks and pool parties, it’s an interesting trip!
Buzzing off the good weather and our swim in the Rhine, it was time to pack up and hit the road again. This time we were Holland bound and heading to the legendary town of Arnhem. I think we’d all watched the epic A Bridge Too Far as kids, so it was great opportunity to visit somewhere with such prominent history.
Again, we got lucky and the campsite was another gem. Each pitch had its own private shower hut; how good would that be on a national? Anyway, the night in town was relatively quiet: a few beers and a pool table was all we needed before we hit Venlo! In the morning we headed back to the bridge, this time to properly immerse ourselves in it all and get some snaps. Taking in the memorials and information plaques was a strange feeling. It made the Second World War seem much more palpable, in a way that it’s hard to appreciate in the UK. Seeing the postwar pictures of the towns reduced to dust after the battle really does make you think.
With the weather still swelteringly hot, we were looking forward to Venlo and the advertised ‘cocktail bar and pool party’. It was only 80 miles, and it was meant to be easy. Famous last words and all that, my Lambretta came to an abrupt halt 30 miles from the rally. It was locked solid, and I assumed that it had to be the top end. I stripped it down as Lyda and I awaited recovery to find that it was in perfect order. A little bit of mental diagnostic work pointed me towards something jamming the flywheel. It went into gear, the clutch was still working and obviously the top end was okay so that had to be it! We arrived at the rally on the back of a recovery truck, much to the amusement of the gate staff! The priority was beer, then sourcing a new flywheel! It wasn’t a pretty sight when I removed the flywheel – a stator thread had stripped taking everything with it! Thankfully, Philipp from SCK was coming the next day and he said he'd bring a flywheel and the taps to repair the stripped stator threads.
We found Liam, Jake and Ben, and went to hit the ‘pool party’... Little did we know it was no more than a mere paddling pool, with a sweaty scum slowly forming on the surface. We opted for cocktails instead, and in the heat the ‘comedy Mod’ was going down a treat! The atmosphere was something else, it had a real chilled vibe and nobody gave a toss about anything! Scooter stand? Who needs one when you can just wheel spin and leave your Vespa in a hole. Rear tyres? Who cares, just have a blowout doing burnouts! Want to get to the bar? Just ride across the dance floor... the list goes on. It was just fun, no clichés, no BS just scooters and fun. As the evening got into full swing, we hit the Darkside room and everyone there was soon covered in YGSC stickers! Me and Jake were the last club members standing, but we were well outdone by the Germans and Dutch! The music went on until the locals complained about the noise… The complaint could have been due to the fact the music went on till 6am, or it could have been my snoring!
Anyway, we all awoke to the usual heavy heads and hangovers… Saturday was even hotter, it was getting to the point where you could feel your skin crisp up as you sat in the sun. In the heat, the allure of the scummy swimming pool was too much to resist… I don’t know if we did British foreign relations any favours by having a water fight with some German children, but when the water bombs were rolled out it had to be done! As the day disappeared I was conscious that my scooter was still unusable and we had another destination to reach the next day. Philipp arrived as promised with the parts needed and soon I was covered in oil. A small crowd gathered as I tapped new threads and fitted the flywheel, with a small cheer the Performer had crackled back into life, and we were on to the next destination…