An encounter of the close kind!

10^th June 2004

Well it all started innocently enough.

There we were; Graham, Rupert, Mike, Steve, Phil, Dave, Larry and myself, all out for a ride on what was one of the most pleasant evenings of the summer so far this year.

All was going well, up through the lanes to Tewkesbury and through Bushley for an impromptu photo call.

Little did we know that not long after, these happy souls would be the target for a motorised bowling ball!

It all happened on the lane just past Birtsmorton Church.

At exactly 20:29 L we were travelling at 16 mph, (25.8 kph) and approaching grid Reference SO 80186 35449.

Two seconds later we were stationary, taken out like skittles by an oncoming motorcyclist.

I can vividly remember approaching the bend and seeing the motorcycle headlight coming towards us. The next moment there was a squeal of tyres, and the motor cycle was billowing smoke from a locked up front wheel. "Oh Sugar" (or something similar) I exclaimed. At this point the slow motion camera kicked in. The motorcyclist "high sided", the bike went down, and two speeding projectiles came careering down the road towards us. There was the sound of crashing and breaking metal as we scattered like a flock of sparrows being chased by the local moggy. I just remember thinking, I need to get out of the way, quickly realised there was no escape, and prepared for the impact. I don’t know what hit me, but it was something hard and unforgiving! I ended up still seated on the grass verge, the motorcyclist at my feet. There were shouts of "Grahams hurt" and then the adrenaline kicked in as we went about counting the injured and dismounted.

Rupert and Graham took the brunt of the collision, With Graham sustaining the worst injuries.

Rupert, Graham and Mike all sustained injuries and Rupert’s, Graham’s, Mike’s and my bike were all damaged in the collision.

Ian came out in the car to pick up Graham and the bike, and take him home via the casualty department. The rest of us managed to nurse ourselves home!