This evening a merry little band of us made our way to the Bridge Inn in Llangollen, summoned by the promise of a cheque and the even stronger promise of cold drinks. The pub had raised two hundred and fifty pounds for Blood Bikes Wales through their weekly quizzes, and we thought it only right to turn up in person, shake hands, smile warmly and generally look grateful and heroic. It is always good to remind people that bikers do more than roar about the countryside. Sometimes we collect cheques.

Since we were going anyway it made perfect sense to combine the noble act of charity with the equally noble act of having a few drinks. Bikers are creatures of tradition after all. You cannot simply walk into a pub, accept a donation and then leave like a group of monks. There are standards to uphold.

And once the drinks had begun to flow it seemed only polite to join in the pub quiz itself. Hospitality demands participation. So we formed a team of four and gave ourselves the kind of name that would strike fear into the hearts of lesser competitors. We were Three Drunkards and a Girl. On paper we were unstoppable. Two who had been to university and still remembered most of it. One retired engineer with a mind like a toolbox. One who had travelled the world in the merchant navy and collected more stories than stamps. A perfect blend of ages too. Two baby boomers, one Gen X and one millennial. A cross generational alliance forged in the fires of mild intoxication.

We were certain to win. Absolutely certain. You could feel the confidence radiating from our table like heat from a forge. Answers were whispered with the kind of authority usually reserved for professors and people who have watched a lot of documentaries.

In fact I am fairly sure we did win. I assume we won. We had to leave before the scores were checked because duty called and bikers are always in motion. But in a gesture of international goodwill we handed our winning answer sheet to a group of foreign students. It felt like the right thing to do. A small act of cultural exchange. They seemed delighted. We like to help.

If anyone ever sees a group of visiting students proudly claiming victory in a Llangollen pub quiz, you will know exactly where their mysterious knowledge came from.