Today was Saturday, the rally in Adria was well underway so we headed there to join in with the fun and games.
The weather again was scorchio, we all decided to ride to the Adria race track in shorts and T-shirts and for a change we didn’t have luggage piled up on the Lambrettas.
When we arrived we were told we couldn’t go in because we didn’t have our wrist bands and entry stickers on the Lambrettas, we asked where the registration point was and were told that it wasn’t open because the people staffing it had gone on the ride out into Chioggia. Unbelievable! Anyway we did get the Lambrettas past the front gate and managed to walk into the event.
Even though the ride out had left, there were still many scooters and people milling around. After a good look around the stalls we headed off to the building people were using as a repair center. Scotty had gone in there to take out the bodge chain tensioner and replace it with a new one he had purchased from one of the stalls. A few others we knew were also in there, Selby taking things apart on his scooter for what looked like the hell of it, Lee Maddocks doing something that involved him being covered in oil and a few others generally taking the piss out of each other. Good fun!
When Scotty got his side case off all of us were amazed that the bodged tensioner had held up well, it was still there and showed no signs of wear. Also the repaired hole wasn’t leaking oil.
By now we had been informed that the registration point was now open so we managed to get our wrist bands and goody bags along with the scooter pass stickers. The bag was a big bag!
I wondered around distributing T-shirts I had promised people, luckly for me some people were on the ride out so I managed to keep a few as I was running low on clean ones by now.
After a few hours we decided to go back to Sottomarina and that those of us staying off site wouldn’t bother returning for the evening event, choosing instead to go out on the town instead.
On the way back we saw the returning ride out which was being escorted by police vans and outriders, there was a great mix of Lambretta models from all over Europe. We also saw a drone filming at one point, I wonder if we will ever see the footage from that?
On arriving back at the hotel we heard from the others staying on site that some of them had gone out on the Adria race track. One thing that would have been worth hanging around for, but as protective clothing was required and we had rode there in shorts we wouldn’t have been allowed on track anyway.
Everyone opened their goody bags and threw most of it away, spaghetti and leaning products for shoes etc. Bonkers! Also when they gave the T-shirts to us they said they didn’t have the sizes we had noted down when filling the application forms in months earlier, very funny when people tried the T-shirts on as all of them had XL on the labels but all of them were different sizes, ridiculous.
Russ’s take on the event:
The Adria 3 (Me, Curt and Brad), got to the site quite late, after a quick scan of the onsite “campsite” which consisted mainly of hard-core we decided to pitch up on the campsite field over the road. Where we were greeted by other ILC members, Neil and Anne, who had flown over, and James and Zeta who had driven. Also, a nice welcome from Andy from Bristol LC with gifts of cold beers, at which point Jonny turned up. I think he must have smelt the free beer. After a quick wash and brush up, we went over for the evening meal. Brewery and piss up springs to mind! after that, a few drinks with fellow scooterists, we even managed to get Toddy to get his wallet out!
Saturday started early with blazing sunshine. I’d had a bit of an issue with a clicking noise coming from the chain case, I’d investigated on the evening in Trento the night before, couldn’t see much wrong, but adjusted the kick start ramp and that seem to lessen the noise, but it was still there. So, I decided to have another look, good job as my exhaust had a massive crack in it, and I noticed the kick start ramp was bent and the pin in the kick start piston was loose. Took the exhaust to the onsite mechanics, who welded it up (top job) and bought a new kick start ramp off Andy Francis.
After lunch, we had a mingle and a wander around the parts fair/ stalls etc. and caught up with other ILC who were staying in Chioggia. There was also the opportunity to have a race around the track in the afternoon, Brad and Curt decided to have a go, I thought I may be pushing my luck if I went on, as I’d still got 1400 miles left to get home, they on the other hand were going home in Johnny’s van on the Monday, so could risk it. So, I was given the task of camera man, unfortunately, this coincided with the regional Italian clubs who had their own individual stalls giving away samples of food from their region, to which me and Jonny got stuck in, hence only a couple of pics of Brad and Curt before they came back in, sorry lads. One of the stalls that was served by a chap who was camper than a field of tents, consisted of half a hard bun, sprayed with water then topped with tomatoes, onion, olives, shallots, peppers, herbs and olive oil, taisted lovely, but was basically a stale bun with some salad on the top, but done with such style and panache as only the Italians can.
The evening Meal was a repeat of the night before …shambles…. By 11.30 we still hadn’t had our dessert and we decided to call it a night …. bit disappointing really, but I think drinking in the day and tiredness got the better of us.
Those of us staying off site went out on the town and had a nice meal before drinking in a few bars. Quite late on a few of us were in one bar when a street magician came over to our table. Now I know I was a little drunk but I swear he was a striking resemblance to Valentino Rossi, The Italian MotoGP race at Mugello was taking place the next day. Anyway he came over did a few tricks and then took a cigarette off Lynsey and then …. well watch the vid.
He had also made some balloon animals and handed them out to the girls, we headed back to the hotel to meet the others and to drink the rest of the night away. Nathan being Nathan positioned the balloon animals on the table and let the slight breeze do the rest, juvenile but very funny.
We all had a good day on Saturday, it gave us a small break from riding which by now we all needed.
