Gremlins all over the road
North Herts MAG Bike Show
On a sunny September Sunday in beautiful Baldock, residents of the High Street awoke to find that some little gremlin had been out putting flyers on their cars. Okay, I own up - I did it, on the way to the Indian takeaway, to ask them to remember to move their vehicles and make room for the 10th annual North Herts MAG Gremlin Bike Show.
The lower end of Baldock High Street is entirely given over to the show. This might be expected to cause some unhappiness, but while we were setting up, one of the good citizens of Baldock came out and told us how much he liked having the show there, which is a very nice compliment to all concerned.
The first job of the day was to nail down the parachuting MAG stall. After the flying tarpaulin had been re-captured and suitably punished with six-inch nails, everything went so smoothly you'd think years of practice had gone into it. The party started to come to life in the late morning and by lunchtime was in full swing. I did penance for my non-attendance at previous Gremlins by volunteering to work on the barbecue. It was the smokiest barbie I've ever seen, so my view of the proceedings was a bit sketchy. But from the glimpses I caught when the smoke cleared momentarily, and from what I saw when I escaped for a while, I can report that everybody appeared to be having a jolly good time.
And the sun shone all day long! I'd had a bit of a worry about that when I woke up but the noise I'd thought was rain turned out to be a diesel van up the road.
The event is sort of centred around the White Lion pub, with the barbie in the beer garden, the bike show itself out the front along with a couple of outside traders, and Micky Flynn providing musical entertainment in the bar. The sweet shop down the road also looked like a major attraction. The car park alongside the road was full of bikes from one end to the other. In fact the show is becoming so popular it's in danger of outgrowing the venue, up from 200 people at the first one to over 1,000 this year.
The trophies are mostly sponsored by local businesses and are awarded by Popular Vote.
Best Trike, sponsored by D & G Motorcycles, went to Gavin Sweeney's XV1700 Warrior. Rivets' XVS1100 took Best Paint and Stella's BMW LT100 was voted Worst Rat, both unsponsored trophies. Tatters won the Best Chop trophy, sponsored by A & R Pound Auto Trimmers, for his CB750. Best Brit Classic, courtesy of Jackson's Scooters, was won by Griff Jones' Triton 820 special. The Del Basso Bros-sponsored Best Scooter went to Tom Furness's IWL Berlin, and Shrek won the Colin Collins trophy for Best In Show with his Harley Fat Boy. The trophy for Most Trophies, had there been one, would have gone to Pete, who staggered away under the weight of the Best Engineering, Best Street and Best Brightwork trophies, sponsored respectively by A & M Motorcycles, SDC Performance and Dug Heath Polishing & Plating. North Herts MAG say a huge THANK YOU to all the sponsors!
As is usual, there were some really nice machines in the car park. I was very taken with the enormous Goliath trike, someone out there definitely thinks size matters!
There were some thorns among the roses. Boy racers, if you're reading this please note that while wheelies up the High Street might fascinate a few small children, your behaviour doesn't impress the rest of the world and does put the future of the Gremlin Show at risk. The organisers DID get your registrations,courtesy of the other show goers, and WILL hand them over if asked. Mr XJR rider, though I didn't see you, your donut was described as "pathetic" by one well-known stunt rider - why did you bother?
I've been asked to thank GirlsBike2 for their donation of a raffle prize, and all the local businesses who have continued to support the show. Also, much gratitude to all the organisers and marshalls - it couldn't happen without you guys! Scouse wishes to express his especial appreciation of everyone who has aided and abetted in running the show during his tenure as rep, and all of your tolerance in putting up with his whinging and moaning over the years...
Keep an eye on this space for details of next year's show - North Herts MAG hope to see you there!
Words and Images Nik Macve
Images Gra
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