Last year, I decided to spend a weekend in Portrush, while the North West 200 motorcycle races were taking place. I wasn't really interested in watching the races, but there are lots of other things to do and I enjoy mingling with other bikers. I gave my old Ariel 650 a good check over and on Friday evening, I set out from Belfast on my sixty-mile journey.
I was six miles from Portrush when I noticed that the bike was handling badly when cornering, so I pulled up and then noticed that my front tyre was almost flat. I decided that the only solution was to find somewhere safe to put my bike and then continue on my journey to Portrush.
At that very moment, three bikes stopped and one of the riders asked me if I was having problems. I told him about the tyre and he offered to give me a lift to Portrush. I knocked on the door of the nearest house and asked the owner if I could leave my bike there until the following day. He turned out to be a biker too and let me put my bike in his garage. he also told me that he'd fix my puncture the following morning.
I returned to the bikers who had waited for me and rode pillion with a guy called Mike for the rest of my journey. We stopped at the boarding house in Dunluce Street, which is where I always stayed when I was in Portrush and after saying hello to the landlady, I invited Mike to my room for coffee.
I chatted with Mike while we drank our coffee. He was tall and slim and had long hair and I found myself drawn to him. I told him that all my friends were already waiting for me in the Imperial Bar at Kerr Street and I'd join them there after I'd had a shower. Mike said that he'd been on the road all day and hoped that he'd be able to get a shower in the caravan that he and his friends had rented for the weekend. I thought things over for a few seconds and then told Mike that we could shower together if he wished.