Box Hill or Bust

Jim, someone I have known for along while before discovering a shared interest in scooters took me out for ride in the Surrey countryside today. Despite commuting for nearly three years, the furthest out from the city I had ridden on two wheels was Burgheath. We agreed to meet up on Epsom Downs, at the fantastic viewpoint where you can see almost all of London laid out before you. Two problems, the mixed sun and clouds had become persistent heavy showers just before I set out, and when I got to the Downs, there was racing on and the normally free car parks had been turned into £5 a day parking for besuited race goers heading for the Grandstand. Fortunately I was able to slot into a coach park without being stopped, and Jim was along on his X9 before long.

Jim took us through Headley to Rykers Café at the foot of Box Hill and a favourite meeting spot for bikers since time immemorial. The journey there was a bit hairy in places. The rain had been quiet heavy, and the roads were often windy, steep, very wet, and with gravel and branches washed across them. We took it carefully, but it was good fun, if requiring a lot of concentration. Although not previously riding in these conditions, I have driven on these roads many times so knew what to expect, and what to take carefully. In all I was quite impressed with the Vespa. It held the line well even when the road was more river than tarmac. There were a couple of scary moments when the rear Sava slipped ever so slightly on wet manhole covers etc, but this was no worse than I get in London when commuting in the rain.

By the time we got to Rykers the sun was back out. The ground was still wet, and the car park was lacking many of the bikes the sun would not doubt bring out later on this Bank Holiday afternoon. Jim bought me a rather overpriced tea. Rykers must serve the smallest cup of tea I have ever seen. Next time I will be ordering large!





After this short refreshment we set of in improving weather for our lunch location. Jim took us a roundabout along the downs to the north of the A25, then an enjoyable ride down a steep wooded road, through Abinger until we got to Ockley.

We parked up, chatted, and had a drink and a light lunch. I popped outside to see if I could get a phone signal. No joy, but I did see a Vespa PX, two up, and with a mountain of luggage on the font, back and on the footplate. It was travelling at speed on a long straight stretch of road. Both were Italian made - the road was built by the Romans, the PX was weaving all over the place!

After stopping for about an hour we set of back. Jim picked a route cross country towards Reigate, then back along the A25 towards Dorking. The weather had got much better by now with dry roads, excellent visibility, and much faster riding. There were still some hazards though. The horse was simple enough, slow down, try not to scare the poor animal. I was a bit more alarmed, and had to check I was really riding and not just watching an official hazard awareness video when we swept round a corner to see a woman walking up a narrow lane with a dog on a lead, and a wide push chair. Fortunately, nothing was coming the other way so we slowed and passed with no problems.


At Betchworth we headed off to the East of Box Hill towards the Kingswood Roundabout on the A217. At the Burgheath lights we went our separate ways with me getting to Tescos on the Sutton Bypass just before they closed at 4pm.

In all a very enjoyable ride out, and big thanks for Jim for not getting us lost! I was very impressed with how the Vespa coped with the narrow winding back roads in Surrey which really showed how this bike is not just a city commuter and lives up to its Granturismo epithet.