LEADER OF THE PACK

The ride to the 59 Club was, apart from a couple of dices along Hyde Park, uneventful and the lads parked their machines in the fenced area at the front of a majestic Church. The Church grounds were packed with hundreds of bikes, street lights reflected off the polished surfaces of the machines making the whole glitter.

Two motorcycles approached. The lead machine was a Yamaha and it pulled up in a haze of blue smoke, the marshal at the gate saw the 59 badge on the fly screen and waved him on. The second machine arrived seconds later, it was a Police Triumph Saint. The rider tried to follow the first , but the marshal blocked the way. The head marshal approached "Where's your club card?"

The Policeman looked up "Eh?"

"You can't come in here unless you are a member."

"I'm the Law!"

"How do we know? There are that many ex-Police bikes around, half the club are on them. I think I'd better see your Warrant Card."

The Policeman went to ride through but he was now surrounded by more than a dozen marshals and a couple of dozen spectators. He fished in his pocket and pulled out his card. The head marshal examined it minutely. A gate clanged at the rear of the Church yard and a two stroke moved off at a rapid rate of knots. The marshal gave back the Warrant Card "Sorry about that Officer, we can't be too careful you know. You can go through now."

The Policeman bit his lip and backed his motorcycle into the road. He pulled off in the direction of the rear entrance.

"Nice to belong to a club that looks after its member's interests." said Lew as they waited for GR. GR was having difficulty in getting the ignition key out of his bike, he gave up and came over to where the others were standing. They crossed the road and approached the Club House. After much flourishing of cards, and passing over of money, they went in. The downstairs of the converted school house was a lot cleaner than the usual haunt of the lads. The walls were brightly painted brick, and the fact the paint had been donated meant that no two walls were the same colour. In fact some walls were two or even three different colours. The lads went over to a small room and handed in their helmets and gloves at the helmet park. It was a warm evening so the lads didn't bother buying any tea or hot food from the buffet but, instead, went straight upstairs, taking their jackets off as they went.

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