Editor’s welcome

Just lately, I’ve been thinking about fun. Mainly, I suppose, because in the last 11 months or so it’s felt in rather short supply. Sure, there are ways to be entertained and interested, and while we had a few months of ‘relaxed restrictions’ when we were able to enjoy a bit of normality it all sort of felt on borrowed time, or we were constantly checking rules to make sure what we were doing was within the boundaries of the ‘fun’ we were permitted to have. Roy Poynting’s column this month talks about the club-type motorcycle runs and the levels of fun different participants takes from them, and what it is that constitutes fun or enjoyment. Sometimes, it feels, that the very reason we’re doing it (that it is fun, not a duty or obligation) gets if not forgotten, then overlooked – but why and for what reason? Is there fun to be had in heading out at an ungodly hour aboard the motorcycle on a cold, windy morning in pouring rain? Where’s the fun in going for a ride on something you’ve half a mind will break down, might not restart after a stop and can’t wheeze its asthmatic self up even the mildest of inclines? The Pioneer Run often ticks lots of those boxes – but then there’s lots of us who do it for ‘fun’. Because achievement is fun, I suppose is the answer. It’s not the actual act of doing it which is the fun part – although of course, on say a Pioneer machine heading to Brighton, as the rain stops, the sun warms up, the engine note sound rhythmic and strong, then it does become fun – but more the achievement of having completed what was intended, enjoying it on the way being an added bonus. Then there’s the more simple definition of fun – which reflecting on riding Colin Jansen’s Bonneville and others of its ilk (see page 22) made me think of. Basically, you’d get your Bonnie out the garage, put on your clobber, and head out on your favourite road, and just, simply, have fun. It’s not exactly an achievement, but it underlines that there’s fun to be had in different ways in this hobby of ours. And, hopefully, as 2021 settles down and normality (rather than a virus) spreads across the world, we can all get back to having some fun. Whatever our definition of it is.