Speed Cop
by Dave Tooley
One of the pubs we would rush to get to after the Club meetings was the Sir John Peel public house in Bridgemary. There was always a bit of a race to get there, because if you arrived a bit late somehow it befell you to buy everyone else’s drinks.
One particular evening I volunteered to give the delectable Miss Angela Twigg a ride there on my pillion seat. We set off in convoy from the Connaught Halls, but we weren’t long into the journey before it became obvious that some of the riders were getting a bit of a wiggle on. As we gradually got faster and faster, several of the more sensible and sedate riders gave up the chase and fell back. Before long, I was heading the group down Grange Road and quietly congratulating myself on becoming the leader of the pack. Every so often I would peer over my shoulder to make sure nobody was about to challenge my pole position.
Then suddenly there was a large headlight to my rear. “I’m not having that” I said to myself, and opened up the throttle of my Wildcat race tuned machine. Another couple of hundred yards further on I peered over my shoulder once again. He was still there, but this time a little closer.
Dammit, a little more throttle. Same thing occurred, only he was closer still. I peered at my speedometer and noticed my bike was touching nearly 70 mph in a 30 zone. Never mind, just a little more gas should lose him. You know what’s coming next, don’t you? Well, I didn’t. As I approached 75 mph, a large white Norton Commando Police Motorcycle drew level, and signalled me to stop. I got that sinking feeling in my guts as I realised what a pratt I’d been. I was trying to burn off one of Gosport's finest…Oh God!!!
That incident earned me my first Endorsement on my Driving License, and a fine which equalled an entire weeks pay. Ouch! That really hurt. It could have been worse, what the officer didn’t notice was I was still sporting a provisional license, but wasn’t carrying ‘L’ plates, and to make matters worse I was carrying a pillion passenger. Young Miss T could have been fined as well.
Phew…that was close. You don’t get many brownie points from the girlies for that.
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