Views of the Euro

With a few events now under his belt (as described in the last issue), LCGB member Terry Brown reflects on one of his favourites – EuroLambretta.

JUNE 2: DEPARTURE DAY

With views of the Euro trip already forming and with my passport, Covid passes and passenger locator forms at the ready (not to mention the euros for the odd Trappist beer), I was really getting into the zone. So starting with brunch on Thursday at our local cafe, it was then time to ride the 70 miles up to Hull to catch the overnight ferry to Rotterdam.

JUNE 3: ON FOREIGN SOIL

On landing, it was out of the port and on to the motorways for the quickest route to Libramont in Belgium. The roads got quite busy around Antwerp and Brussels with lots of filtering through the slow traffic packed with loads of lorries. There were many fuel stops on the way (more than £2 per litre in several places – and you had to pay before filling up)! So how much fuel can I get and does anyone want this half-litre I can’t get in my tank?

Our group arrived on site in sunshine, pitched the tent and then it was time for that beer – it wasn’t so good and we had to buy a plastic glass and vouchers to get it! But once sorted, we were okay. The pub was busy in town; they said they’d sold more beer in one day than they usually do in a month – what do you expect when there’s a scooter rally in town?

JUNE 4: ON FOREIGN SOIL

Didn’t make the rideout on Saturday, but heard that one of my fellow Boston scooterists took a wrong turn and finished up going another 100 miles to everybody else. I did hear that the furthest travelled to the event was someone from Helsinki – now that was a trip; respect to him (a bit more than my 275 miles ride from Boston).

Saturday night was Gala Night; the food and drink were all okay, but the PA system for the evening’s entertainment let things down a bit.

JUNE 5:

THE JOURNEY HOME

Sunday morning began with loading up in the rain, then riding 20 miles in light rain before it cleared. Can’t remember if it was the first or second stop before we decided on whether to have a break or keep pushing on to Rotterdam; we pushed on and luckily, it was fine all the way, although other scooterists half an hour behind us had a wet journey. Not so many lorries on Sunday as only certain lorries with perishables etc, are allowed on the roads.

It was a smooth ferry crossing to Hull, followed by a ride home with only one minor problem in our group (a broken exhaust bracket 50 miles from home, which was soon fixed with a bungee strap). Another memorable Euro.

[ED’S NOTE: We notice that Terry makes no mention of his ‘melted jacket lining incident’ – but we won’t mention it as we don’t want to embarrass him (oops, too late)!