Mutch's Diary
The Road's editor
To the USA for my annual dose of freedom. The immaculate Dyna Superglide is polished to perfection and since its owner, the wonderfully trusting Pepper, is busy being the Numero Uno of the entire rally organising team she has no time to ride it. Fortunately I am able to offer a simple remedy which involves her handing me the keys and off I go. Like they say, someone's got to do it.
Another MAG member in the shape of Richie, he of the Glastonbury handfasting on the Tor, appeared with his pal Jim from Florida. Off we went with Richie on a softail and Jim on a hard tail Shovelhead chop, the man aint natural! Fabulous forested hills, canyons lakes and rivers. Ninety degree sunshine and no need for helmets, absolutely fantastic!
The on going case of Mutch versus the state re the lying in the road continues to gather momentum. I shan't bore readers with the details here as this has developed from a very wordy battle between the Gwent Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and myself, to an even wordier battle between the London CPS and yours truly. Why don't I drop it ? Because I'm right and they are wrong and one should never ever give in when a big principle is involved. Real criminals are let off with nominal penalties every day and regular tax paying citizens who can be identified, traced and fleeced are made scapegoats of by a failed justice system, and that's not right. Fred Hill was imprisoned 31 times for not paying helmet fines and if we were all as obstinate as he was, this country would be a finer place to live in, so I take my cue from him. If you're curious check out my personal website www.bikerlifestylepics.co.uk I'll try and get this stuff up there before we go to press.
To Somerset where I drop in on the Great Western Rally that I've not been to for a while now. This is a great little rally in a beautiful part of the country that's very accessible from the M5. I photograph 7 bikes for the 'My Bikes' slot , one girl on a trike for the MAG Energy page and 2 dogs for Beast Corner. Heading off on my way down a narrow lane from the site I encounter a fine pile of horse dung in the road and stop to photograph it. I'm not one of those who gets too bothered by this kind of thing as I take a pragmatic 'when in the country' attitude to it. I appreciate that this may encourage a howl of protest from some readers but I think that so long as we're not treating the road like a race track then such things are not a huge problem. If someone wants to express a contrary view however then I will have an excellent photograph with which to illustrate their letter. After collecting this gem of an image I spotted that the bushes all around me were heavy with blackberries which I collected in my baseball hat before continuing to the Isle of Avalon that is Glastonbury. Here I handed the berries to a huge female bear, who happens to be the subject of my next book 'Riding With The Beast.' Did I mention I had another book on the way? Talking of beasts, I've had a complaint from one member about Beast Corner but even as I speak I suspect the hounds of Hell will have dispatched him a la Sir Henry Baskerville. No Beasts in The ROAD indeed I should co co!
I'm gutted that no-one has made me a huge offer for my bike. I mean it's only done 64 000 easy miles and is a blinding machine that's never let me down. By the time you read this I am hoping to be aboard an '07 six speed 1585cc but of course I could be wrong.
To the Unity Ride, staring from London's Docklands. The riding standard and marshaling are excellent, the only exception being some clown on a black Harley who stopped in a slip lane to take a picture and got shouted at by the tail end bike cop. There's always one eh? Actually maybe he wanted to buy my bike hmmm there's a thought.
I hope the changes in The ROAD are making it a livelier and more readable magazine. My intention is to try and provide something to appeal to everyone. The volume of contributions I'm getting these days suggests to me that people really value the chance to appear in these pages. Please keep it coming and remember that pictures are all important. Keep it simple jpegs please, no pictures fused into word documents and no silly attachments just jpegs and text in word or in the body of the message.
I finish September with a brief bout of seafaring by crewing on a big yacht from Ipswich to The Pool of London commanded by old friend, MAG member and K100 rider Shaun Jarvis. For the first time in my life London stops as Tower Bridge opens - just for us, what a feeling! Now all things are possible.
Ian 'megalomaniac' Mutch
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