Bob Dixon remembers… One of my fondest memories of my dear friend Pip is a road trip we did together back in the early noughties when I accompanied Pip and his brother Bill (also sadly no longer with us) to participate in the Moto Club Piston Rally in the Picos De Europa.
We loaded up Pip’s VW Transporter and set off for our Spanish adventure. My overriding recollection of the trip is the three of us laughing all the way down to Portsmouth, across the Bay of Biscay and up into the mountains of northern Spain. Pip and Bill were like a double act: Pip with his always-up-for-it sense of fun and Bill with his dry, laconic observations on life and the universe in general. The pair of them were so funny together.
Although Pip will always be remembered for his riding genius on fire-breathing drag bikes, he also loved tiddlers, particularly his Ducati singles. Bill also liked small bikes and both brothers could hustle a lightweight Ducati along at an indecently quick pace. I couldn’t wait to get out with them into the dramatic terrain of the Picos to participate in the Route of Five Thousand Curves time trial event and who knows, we might even pick up a prize or two…
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We unloaded the bikes, signed on for the event at rally HQ and set off with serious intent into the rugged Cantabrian scenery. As I recall we were doing pretty well up to lunch-time, perhaps not potential winners at this stage but certainly contenders and Pip and I were keen to press on and build up a time cushion in case we hit a problem.
Bill was perhaps less serious about this sort of stuff than Pip and I and it was at this point Bill announced he needed to find a cash machine. We had plenty of cash, but Bill was having none of it and shrugged off all protests from Pip and myself that we simply didn’t have time.
Now, if you’ve ever been to the Picos you’ll know how preposterous it was to suggest we might locate a cash machine in this remote, mountainous region of Spain but Bill, ever the optimist, dragged us higher and higher into the mountains looking for the elusive cashpoint which of course was never, ever going to be found.
Bill’s proposed 15-minute detour turned into half an hour, then an hour and it became clear not only had we thrown away our early lead, we were now in real danger of being disqualified from the event. By now Pip and I had got over our initial frustration and were starting to see the funny side of Bill’s hopeless quest for cash. Eventually we managed to
convince Bill the Picos De Europa was a cashpoint-free zone and could we please get a shimmy on in order to reach the final checkpoint before it closed, hopefully avoiding the humiliating embarrassment of being scratched from the event.
We’d gone from heroes to zeroes in the space of a Spanish lunchtime. All that we could hope to salvage from the event was to cover the remaining 20 miles of the route as quickly as possible and with a bit of luck avoid the shame of disqualification .
Those last 20 miles are forever etched into my memory: Pip and Bill were both outstandingly gifted motorcyclists and Bill, far and away the quickest amongst us, took the lead and set the pace.
As tail-end Charlie I could only watch in awe as he carved his way around perilous mountain passes closely shadowed by Pip, both riders inch perfect and Hailwood-smooth.
It was a motorcycling masterclass, joyous to behold and remains one of my all-time favourite motorcycling memories. Bill at the front, imperious and in total command, Pip chin on the tank and fiercely gunning his little Ducati through the high mountain passes to keep up with Bill without giving an inch and myself trailing hopelessly behind praying I didn’t lose sight of them.
It was both hilarious and, if I’m honest, quite scary. The three of us were grinning from ear to ear when we parked up and performed our ignominious walk of shame into the final check point just as the officials were packing up their kit. We were the very last riders to do so.
Pip was the kindest, most generous-spirited person I’ve ever met. Small in stature but a giant of a human being. I will never forget him. Let’s hope Bill and Pip are reunited once more and still getting up to mischief together.
