Saturday the 1st of July found 6 of us yawning at Trinity at 5.30am. You've been there, I know ! Still, we got to the boat in fine style with empty roads and Murray setting the pace. By the time we sailed at 8.15am we'd already had most of the full breakfasts devoured and then went to explore the ship for 3 or 4 minutes perhaps, before boredom ensued.

The weather forecast was good for the next 3 days with temperatures around 27° and sunny - hot for the bike. Coming off Anglesey, we headed for the B roads through Bethesda and Betws-y-coed; lovely roads spoiled only by just a little too much traffic, but for a sunny Saturday in Summer we couldn't complain really.

Somewhere near 'Glyndyfrdwy' (and another vowel please, Carol...) we stopped at a small cafe (rated -9 Michelin stars) for refreshment before deciding that time was getting the better of us, as progress was slow. Over to the TomTom sat nav to plot the fastest route to the B&B in Hathern, still 90 miles away. And it proved faultless, taking us right to the front door. We made good time from approx. 4.00pm that day as the roads were deserted with the natives all dashing home to watch the England-Portugal World Cup match on TV!

Sunday dawned with a light skiff of rain and breakfast booked for 6.45am. WHAT!?? Well, we did need to get to the track early. Apparently. We left Hathern at around 8.30am and unfortunately got separated in the traffic, with the number of bikes like wot I've never seen before.

Murray, Bobby and John ended up at one end of the track, while Alan, Kenny and Debby were at the other with only 2 tickets between the three of us. A few frantic phone calls and a long walk reunited everyone, just in time to find Eddie Floyd 'parked' comfortably just at the Foggy Esses. God was certainly shining on us this morning - and thank you Eddie for your hospitality !

What a super spot, and the sun was just starting to dry out the track as well. We saw the 125 and 250 warm ups and then the real 'toys' came out to play - WHAT A ROAR OUT OF THOSE THINGS ! I don't really think they were road legal cans somehow. First Valentino decided to practice his starts in front of us. Then Melandri decided to do the same. Rock'n'roll maybe ain't noise pollution, but these bikes surely were ! The track was bone dry by the time the race began, at lunchtime.

Danni Pedrosa started on pole with Valentino down in 12th place, still riding with a fractured wrist. A group of four broke away early on with Pedrosa, Melandri, Casey Stoner and Kenny Roberts Jr all being separated by a fraction of a second. Slowly you could see Rossi climbing his way up through the field. Melandri, who started third on the grid, challenged Pedrosa in the early stages before the Spaniard broke clear. From there on, only a mistake could cost Pedrosa the win, but Rossi clawed back what seemed an incredible gap to pass Roberts, Casey Stoner and finally Melandri..

The 2 Italians then swapped 2nd and 3rd place on several occasions in what was a fantastic race, before no. 46 made sure of his second place podium finish.

Even now I'm still excited as I type this, and what lasted 45 minutes in reality, seemed to be over in, maybe four minutes? So that was it. That's what it was all about ? Heck yes, and I'll probably do it all again next year too for that four minutes of ecstasy !

The day's excitement was relived again and again that evening over dinner (after Alan Kenny and Debby eventually found their way home, from getting lost somewhere near Derby). It was nice not having to ride back to North Wales that night for a boat too.

Another early breakfast (Note to Murray - this early morning thing will have to stop !) and we were away by 8.30am. Missing rush hour, fairly clear roads got us into North Wales and a comfort stop at McDonalds, at some services somewhere - it was here that John found his new vocation in life - hereafter to be known as Father Magee to all his parishioners ! We arrived at Holyhead about 2 hours later at 1.00pm with temperatures back down to near what I would call 'normal' for Ireland, with a cool sea mist along the North Wales coast.

First off the boat in Dublin, we were able to filter through a lot of the evening rush hour traffic before getting split up again in what had now become our own indubitable style! This time Murray and Alan were sightseeing somewhere in Malahide, while Bobby, Father Magee, Kenny and Debby opted for the more direct route home via the M1. And thus the fellowship of the (Donington) Ring was finally broken - for this trip anyway!

Kenny.

(For more photos have a look in the Gallery)