This was our first visit to the new ITV site, and we were just going for the day. That's the fantastic thing about MAG rallies, the price of the ticket (£15 in advance), for the entire weekend, is the same as a day ticket to most other events, so you really don't feel like you have paid over the odds, even if literally, you choose to just go for the day.
The weather had been horrendous the previous month, with rain every day for well over 3 weeks. The rains had stopped literally a few days before the ITV weekend, so we expected a mud bath of Glastonbury Festival proportions. However, the ITV site is incredibly well drained and the main drag, although a little spongy underfoot, was absolutely fine ..... brilliant.
We arrived early in the morning and most folks we just getting up after some hard partying the night before. It was a tad cold too, and we were later told that people had woken up to frost on the tents that morning. We registered for our bike show marshals shifts, then had a look about the site and the traders stalls. There were 17 traders stalls at ITV this year, together of course with the evening (and afternoon entertainment) in the main marquee, certainly enough to keep folks interested.
We met a few of the Wakefield contingent who were there for the weekend and were nursing sore heads. A good night was had by all accounts.
The weather was warming up nicely by the time we started setting up the bike show arena and registration stand. Registration officially opened at 12:00, with the judging taking place between 15:00 - 16:00, and then the prize giving at 16:00. The first bikes into the show arrived well before 12:00 with a steady trickle before we were kept pretty busy booking bikes and trikes in to the show from 13:00 onwards. It's always amusing how few people can ever remember their own bikes registration numbers, nor mobile numbers, and also seem to lose the ability to write once in 'rally mode'.
We had around 50 bikes and trikes in the show, with some stunning examples, all of which were ridden to the rally, all suitably loaded with camping gear. As is often the case with these rally bike shows, there were some equally stunning examples that stayed parked next to their owners tents, never actually making it into the show. Shame ... Got to be in it to win it as they say.
Six show trophies were up for grabs, including the overall best in show.
That isn't actually a lot so some people would inevitably be disappointed, and of course, the judges job is neigh on impossible. A good few circuits were made, head scratching, consulting with others but eventually, those difficult decisions were made and rosettes were attached to the winning bikes.
We needed a minor celebrity to award the prizes but could only find Rick Hulse (Chairman of the NABD bikers charity) .... Oh well, never mind ;-)
The winning bikes lined up and each were presented with their trophies. The Best Paint winner couldn't be contacted so his trophy had to go away until we managed to track him down later that day. The prize for Best in Show (in addition to a bigger trophy than everyone else) was £100, courtesy of BSH Magazine. Aidy donated half of this to NABD and half to the MAG fighting fund ...... Top Man !!!!
Wish we could have had more trophies to award as inevitably, there were some cracking bikes that deserved to win something and didn't (Triumph Trident, Reliant engined Sunbeam, Puch Moped, BSA A10, Honda Moped, several Harley's, several trikes, ..........)
The bike show stand was quickly packed up so it wasn't in the way for the forthcoming evenings festivities. We left site around 18:30 and although it had been lovely during the day, the temperature was already starting to dip and it was going to be another cold one.
Great to bump into so many friends during the day, both old and new. A cracking day, and a cracking rally weekend by all accounts. The ITV is a great way to start the Yorkshire MAG rally calendar (just take a few warm clothes for the evening !!!).