Chinnor Bike Dayz in Covid

Difficult Decisions, Disasters and Death.

 On Halloween 2018, just after being re-elected for the eleventy-millionth time, the Rep for Wycombe MAG passed away. You know when you lose someone, and it takes 6 people to fill their position and do what they did alone? Well, that’s where we were. I promise this isn’t a morbid article. Bear with me here.

We were very fortunate, he’d laid a lot of the groundwork for us, and Chinnor Bike Dayz 2019 went off marvellously. It raised thousands for Thames Valley Air Ambulance, Macmillan Cancer Support and MAG. A lot of bikers got drunk in a field. We had amazing bands, including one all the way from Spain. The Silly Games were ridiculous, the food was great, the beer was better, and the bar staff volunteers insisted “Paul Merrett’s Pint” remain on the bar all weekend underneath where his waistcoat hung. There was that hint of sadness, but it was all taken away by the spirit of camaraderie of 1500 odd not-so-sober bikers who’ve been coming to this field for the last 20+ years, and gradually welcoming a wonderful new generation of bikers every year too. 

We did it. People loved it. And that’s all that matters really. 

 Then we got 2020. 

 And in true MAG style, we said Jog On Mate, we’re not having this.

And we didn’t. Nothing stops Chinnor. We’ve had literal floods and still run Chinnor! We weren’t going to let a little apocalypse get in the way.

So, like a lot of groups, we held a Virtual Chinnor. And we went rather over the top. Without getting too technical, it involved 3 Macbooks, at least 8 other laptops, a gaming PC, a solid 3 months of practice, and a week long argument with Virgin about internet speed. And it worked!

Hundreds of people joined us “Virtually”, either watching and chatting on Zoom, commenting on Facebook, or watching on YouTube. We had live bands playing from their studios from as far away as New Zealand! Other bands pre-recorded sets separately, and then put them all together for us with some serious tech-wizardry. Our compere got drunk live on camera introducing the bands, and amongst our virtual guests getting drunk with him, were two gentlemen wearing chicken hats. No one was charged a penny for Virtual Chinnor. But they did all buy some Imaginary Beer from our website, and we managed to raise nearly £3k from having no rally at all. 

Faith Merrett, Wycombe MAG

Extract from Faiths brilliantly entertaining book, 'A Journal of Bad Decisions Made In and Around London...Most of which involve Boats (or Motorcycles)' which is available here

So, disclaimer - the video we are linking is not a professionally polished marketing effort, it is a collation of happy memories from a super chilled out and friendly event, but if you have 11 minutes by the end of it you will have a pretty good understanding of what your first rally field may hold.

Some tips...

  • If you can go with a friend or two, great. But if you go alone then there is a sure-fire way to meet and make friends quickly - reach out to the event organisers beforehand and ask how you can pitch in and help. A volunteer is always welcome, running charity events is hard work. There will always be a need for more hands on the gate, selling raffle tickets or pulling pints, and even one shift over the event will break the ice.

  • For essential packing - a tent, wellies because the grass is always wet first thing in the morning, baby wipes and your toothbrush, cash for the gate and bar, and a sense of humour.

  • It never hurts to jump on the event Facebook page and ask for the what3words to pinpoint your location- its amazing how well 1500 people, 10 bands, 2 stages can disguise themselves behind a hedge!

  • You don't have to ride there, although its fun to see what you can lash to just one bike, it's ok to drive, and to be in a camper not a tent. Its fun to join a rally rideout, but not obligatory, obviously.

  • If you aren't ready for a weekend long rally, consider a day trip, you'll probably be asked for the normal ticket price but its for charity, and when you look around and see what usually only a dozen people pull off to make these events in their spare time, you won't mind x

Enjoy your first rally - take pictures and share them with us afterwards!