Your Worst Rain-off Experiences

[TonyMac 720]

YOUR WORST RAIN-OFF EXPERIENCES

For an article I will soon be writing for Speedway Star, I'm asking fans to recall their worst rain-off experiences. After you had travelled many miles only to find the meeting washed out or postponed for some other reason (snow, even dust!), what were the most disappointing - and please explain the circumstances surrounding them?

Maybe you had the misfortune to suffer TWO postponements (even three!) on the same very wet day?

What is the furthest distance you've travelled to find the dreaded 'meeting off' signs awaiting you on arrival?

I'm not talking about ABANDONED meetings that started. This is only about POSTPONEMENTS.

You can either respond here, or email me at retroeditorial@gmail.com

The best entries will be included in my piece for the Star.

Many thanks.
Tony Mac

Edited March 30, 2023 by TonyMac

[iris123 20,987]

Mine was travelling up to Aberdeen from London to see Celtic play 

I did actually travel to another country for a speedway rain off. 

Travelled up from Hamburg to, yes, Vojens for a saturday afternoon Division 1 meeting. Lovely weather the whole way uo. And i was riding a fairly small scooter, so it took me over 3 hours to get there. And as is typical about 5 or so miles away from the trak the first puddles started to appear, and gradually it all got worse the closer to Vojens i got. As i rode though the track gates, a German guy i knew came out of the cafe on top of the banking and told me it was off. Which i had in that instance guessed for myself anyway. So i just turned round and headed for home again........

Edited March 30, 2023 by iris123

[topaz325 1,859]

In the seventies traveled to Newcastle from Workington  rained off twice before finally getting to see the meeting on the third attempt, Glasgow a few years ago against Leicester travelled up on the train booked a hotel got into the stadium , track work carried out for about an hour and a half only for the track to be declared unfit, traveled to Redcar  for Robbos testimonial a few weeks ago got to the stadium an hour before the start only to find it was off. 

[Biffa 84]

Once travelled from Middlesbrough to Stoke to find it rained off, Speedway Star out, Belle Vue had a fixture. Hot footed to Belle Vue, rained off. Speedway Star back out, Halifax at home quick run on M62, meeting still on, junior 4 TT. Back home to Middlesbrough. Oh so miss all the Saturday options. 

[arnieg 3,643]

From Oxford programme 17.08.22 under my name:

The arrival of the Edinburgh Monarchs at Sandy Lane reminds me of one of my most epic journeys in search of speedway action. The year 1983, my destination Powderhall greyhound stadium, one of my all time favourite speedway venues.

 

Our great adventure took us to Edinburgh by train. Leaving Leicester at 8am, five of us travelled via

Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley. Unfortunately as the journey progressed it became

increasingly obvious that we were in for a wet day. On arriving in Scotland's capital we stopped at a

'greasy spoon'; Bob got a tin lid in his portion of baked beans - slightly disturbing! Having

established that the meeting was indeed off we decided to trudge through the rain to Powderhall. On

the way we bumped into a car of Leicester fans, and briefly retired to a pub.

 

Continuing on to Powderhall we were rewarded with the sight of a back-straight under water and an

invitation to the Monarchs Supporters Club post-match disco (which had been brought forward in

the absence of a meeting). I remember being told by Brett Saunders that we were mad to travel all

the way to Scotland for a challenge match. When a speedway rider says you are mad it's time to

doubt your sanity!

 

The overnight return trip was a noisy one as we shared the train with hordes of Scottish rugby fans

heading towards Cardiff Arms Park for a five nations match (note: not the Principality Stadium for a

six nations match). After spending the early hours of the morning on New Street station we finally

arrived back in Leicester at 8am on Saturday. So at a cost of £14 (£28 for Tony who was too old for

a young persons railcard) we had 'enjoyed' the pleasures of a Monarchs disco, an eventful journey

and the camaraderie created by our shared experience

It originally appeared on speedwayplus website over a decade ago.

[MassMarauder 22]

1978 - I took a day off work at the local canning factory (which I couldn't really afford to do..) and took the Kings Lynn Supporter's coach to Coventry to see the British Final.  When we arrived at the parking lot, the local parking attendant came on the coach and said don't bother getting off, it looks like the meeting is going to be called off.  And it was.  The only time I ever went to Brandon.  Just a miserable day on an old coach.

[steve roberts 9,246]

I visited Wolves on a couple of occasions and Cradley the once when they were called off...particularly galling as neither were that easy to get to or indeed find!

Took three attempts to see some racing at Boston and then only half a meeting as an earlier meeting at King's Lynn finished late.

Edited March 30, 2023 by steve roberts

[Neila 1,159]

Late 80'd early 90's 3 of us set off from Workington on good Friday morning meeting at Oxford, got to stadium but rained off 1 hour before meeting start, spent afternoon in Oxford, onto Swindon for evening meeting, dry all day until 6.45 heavens opened meeting called off, long return home to Cumbria 700 mile round trip no speedway but plenty of laughs 

[Daniel Smith 5,661]

I can't totally remember the away team as I suffer PTSD from it but I think it was King's Lynn vs Lakeside. It had been raining heavy an hour before tapes up so track work was needed & the meeting didn't start until around 8.30pm. The meeting should never of even started but was rushed to try & make it to heat 10. After heat 9 it poured down again & got abandoned. 

Worst of all was it felt like the promotion didn't give a shiny s#!te for the fans. Should never of started, awful 9 heats then getting offered £1 off & a free cuppa next meeting just really took the p!ss. 

It was the meeting that 'broke the camels back' for me, being a 'Diehard' attending fan. Tried a few meetings after but the King's Lynn vs Poole farce 2017 just totally ended attending again there & then. 

[salty 2,202]

Slightly different angle......

My eldest daughter lived for some time near Wareham in Dorset so whenever I visited from Belfast I often tried to take in a meeting at Wimborne Road. One May the Pirates were due to ride on a Bank Holiday Monday, so I arranged my flight back from Southampton to be on the Wednesday  (no Tuesday flights from memory). For some reason the Wednesday flight was quite expensive and it also entailed me pulling a sickie for a couple of days. So imagine my annoyance when the meeting, against Lakeside I think, was postponed at fairly short notice, not because of bad weather, but because holding the meeting would have caused difficulties with averages for Poole to make some planned team changes.  

At least I got a couple of extra days with my daughter, but it was an episode that me realise that domestic speedway was going down the tubes.

[*JJ 512]

A couple of times we went to Stoke, to discover that the only rain in the Midlands was centred on Loomer Road ... Another which didn't affect me, but I was sorry for the away fans. Edinburgh riders missed the gate in a quagmire of a track and came last, then the match was called off. I believe that Edinburgh's previous match had been rained off as well, so the travelling fans had a very long journey for nothing!

[steve roberts 9,246]

Although I didn't have to get in the car as I lived within walking distance of Cowley the conclusion of that fabulous 1986 season left a very sour taste in the mouth. The home league matches against Wolves and Sheffield were postponed thus denying the "Cheetahs" a clean sweep in the league but also the KO and League Cup Finals were "lost" to the weather although I personally feel that Oxford gained the "moral" victories in both having done the hard work at Dudley Wood but the record books show that the trophies were shared! What was all the more galling Oxford were involved in a pointless "Challenge Cup" which took up valuable fixture congestion and could have been avoided...never mind the awfull 3TT Easter meetings!  A very sad and frustrating end to a glorious season where Oxford ruled supreme and even featured in a two page pull out in one of the dailys!

[iainb 5,017]

Late 80's or early 90's can't remember exactly when... it was Good Friday though, travelled over from Leicester for the 11am King's Lynn meeting, was rained off when we got there so decided to head off to Ippo for their 4 o'clocker, rolled into the car park, the heavens opened and it was cancelled... off to Arena for their 6 o'clock (?) kick off, arrived, rained off... back home up the A1 in the hope of pulling in the 7:30 Peterborough fixture only for it to be called off just before we got there, so back home, a round trip of around 400 miles, over 8 hours in the car and not 1 lap of Speedway seen... madness 

[steve roberts 9,246]

3 minutes ago, iainb said:

Late 80's or early 90's can't remember exactly when... it was Good Friday though, travelled over from Leicester for the 11am King's Lynn meeting, was rained off when we got there so decided to head off to Ippo for their 4 o'clocker, rolled into the car park, the heavens opened and it was cancelled... off to Arena for their 6 o'clock (?) kick off, arrived, rained off... back home up the A1 in the hope of pulling in the 7:30 Peterborough fixture only for it to be called off just before we got there, so back home, a round trip of around 400 miles, over 8 hours in the car and not 1 lap of Speedway seen... madness 

...oh to be a speedway fan!

[iainb 5,017]

2 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

...oh to be a speedway fan!

it's like a drug isn't it... my most recent one was travelling up to Glasgow for the play off final in 2019, left home around 10:30 had a nice drive up north in nice weather, stopped at Gretna Green for a coffee, decided to look on Twitter only to discover it had been cancelled about half an hour after I left home, another 400+ mile trip and a horrendous journey back in the rain through the Friday rush