Dave Parkinson 3 Sep 2011
Hi
Just wanted (no, not 'wanted' but more 'NEEDED' ) to contact you now that my head is back on planet earth following last weekends thrills at BSB Cadwell Park.
On Thursday 25 August i received a phone call from a young lady at your offices : the call went something like this .....
"Mr Parkinson, are you still going to Cadwell Park this weekend ?"
"Too right i am, we're setting off this afternoon and camping over till Monday. We've been waiting all season for this round and barring an outbreak of Bubonic Plague we will DEFINATELY be there"
"You recently signed up for a Club MCE Experience Pillion Ride ..... I'm pleased to tell you that your name has been selected and you should take your leathers, boots, gloves, helmet with you to Cadwell and report to the Club MCE Meeting Point at 1010hrs on Monday"
"Wow, Thank You, I'm Gobsmacked, Bloody Hell, Oh Bugger Me, Thanks again, Oh Yessssss, Wow, wait till i tell the missus, My mates are gonna be soooooooooooo jealous, Thanks, I know i keep saying thanks but bleedin' 'ell i dunno what else to say"
"Mr Parkinson, you're very welcome and we at MCE Insurance hope you have a great time"
"..... Wow, Thanks, I WILL, Oh my god, The weekend just got even better, Thanks"
...... anyway, you get the gist of the conversation.
Well, off we trundled to Cadwell with my head doing somersaults about what a buzz this was going to be ..... and my missus ears bleeding by this time with my non stop talking gobbledegook.
Monday arrived ..... leathers on and all ready to go (about 2 hours earlier than needed but hey, just like all good boy scouts, it's better to be prepared eh ? ).
1010hrs and i'm already 'signed on' at Club MCE Meeting point ...... adrenalin REALLY kicking in by this time ..... bring it on ..... lets get this show on the road.
After what seemed like an eternity ( but in reality was probably about 10 minutes ) we were ushered down to the paddock holding area to await our ride.
Trackside ..... duly suited and booted ( and helmeted and gloved and toileted of course ) and we're ready to go ......
Howie Mainwaring and Gary Mason would be our riders / escorts / pilots / chaperones .............
I got to go on the back of Howie ....... and after being told to hang on tight we set off ......
I'm sooooooooooooo glad i received that advice ...... hang on tight sounds so obvious but i really wasn't expecting the sheer speed this missile set off at ..... like being perched on an excorcet at launch time (not that i've ever done that but i'm guessing lol).
My lap of Cadwell blurred into one of the biggest adrenalin rushes i've EVER had ..... during my military service (many years ago) i did lots of amazing stuff but this topped the lot by a country mile (or any other kind of mile for that matter).
Howie has such talent ..... he obviously isn't going to take any daft risks with an unknown plonker (opps, i do of course mean pillion) sat on the back so he has to ride in such a way as to not 'bin it' but still 'give a buzz.'
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED HOWIE" ...... the speed was awesome, the lean angles were surreal, the wheelies were brilliant, both wheels off the deck at the top of the mountain was truely amazing ...... the experience was mind blowing.
..... so mind blowing in fact that following my ride i HAD to go back to the MCE truck in the paddock area to verbally offer my thanks ..... not sure if it was the MCE Boss or not but if you read this then i'm sorry if i came across as a complete pratt ..... i was still buzzin' my nuts off at the time i spoke to you.
Having just logged on to Club MCE i've seen a photograph of my ride at the top of the mountain ..... picture 9 of the 11 ..... BOTH wheels off the deck ..... Howie you're a star.
I do however have one small complaint ....... up until my pillion ride with Howie i honestly thought i could ride a motorcycle ..... i now KNOW that actually i can't ..... all i do is wobble my way from A to B (and usually back again).
Joking aside for one moment .......
My Pillion Experience was absolutely magnificent ...... i'm soooooo very grateful to Club MCE for giving me the opportunity to have such a thrill and equally as grateful to Howie Mainwaring for making it an experience i'll NEVER forget.
My sincere and heartfelt thanks to everybody concerned for giving me such a memory.
Best Regards,
David Parkinson
(St Helens, Merseyside)