The day dawned bright and clear is the cliché, but this really was bright and the sky was blue and almost cloudless! The Stig and I set out nice and early for the 11am rendezvous at Rykas café at the foot of Box Hill. When we got there at 10.15 others had already started to arrive and we set to having a late breakfast including Rykas’ legendary hot chocolate.
By 11 nearly twenty bikes had turned up and Jim gave a short briefing of how he expected everyone to behave, safe overtaking, looking out for people coming from behind etc, and the duties of corner men etc. It was a shame that a greater number of smaller bikes didn’t turn up. The ride was aimed at 125s and the like but in the end the only small bikes were two Vespas and a CBR 125.
Once we were all mounted up we moved out. Jim had picked an excellent route. Whilst some of the roads were potholed, and some had patches of loose gravel or dried mud in the middle of the road, most of the first section was windy country lanes, with very little other traffic. The corner marking system worked very well, with us using a third man drop off as Huskyteer on her Vespa ET4 was riding as number two to set the pace as her bike was probably the slowest and would be most affected by the poor roads.
The Stig and I rode a little way back but corner markers on faster bikes were regularly able to get back in front of us to keep up the supply of number threes to drop off. After about 40 minutes we pulled up outside a pub for a short break, and to ensure all was working well. I was very impressed, everyone seemed to be working well together, all the corners were well marked, riders of larger bikes were happily accommodating the smaller bikes and taking over corner marking whenever one of us ended up number three. And the big Hog at the back made spotting the tail a breeze!
I was very impressed with my 125, it was coping well with the surfaces, taking the corners easily, and was cruising a 40-50mph with no effort at all. The Stig was also very pleased with the comfort and handling of her X9. Not all were so happy though. One rider who had only passed her test and moved to larger bikes had a minor spill at a nasty hill start on tight junction on a gravel-covered road. Fortunately all that happened was that bike stalled and slipped from under her. Neither she nor the bike were seriously hurt, but the spill meant about a dozen bikes immediately in front and behind her stopped. Not good when the intercom and telephone links we planned immediately broke down.
I and some others went on ahead to try and link up, but things got worse when I saw someone at a corner and thought he was marking it. Instead he just wasn’t sure which way to go. Whilst I discussed the route with him, others turned up until there were four or five bikes. We settled on the most southbound route and tried to catch up with the front of the ride. By now Jim had stopped, and all the corners were marked, but he was in Cowfold, about five miles ahead of where the incident occurred. Fortunately, once the corners were marked, the bike and rider were checked over, and everyone moved off again, we soon gathered in Cowfold, and set off again.
Jim’s route took us across some lovely countryside including the meadows of the Adur Valley, before a 690 foot climb to the car park on Devil’s Dyke for a last break and a 99 (thanks Kay!) before dropping into Brighton.
The traffic in Brighton is never much fun, but we managed to get through it OK and found just enough bike parking for us all on the seafront when we arrived at just before 2pm. Some went off to do their own thing, but most of us headed straight for some shaded tables outside a seafront fish and chip restaurant. I know there is no reason for it, but fish and chips always tastes better at the seaside, and we were not disappointed.
After an hour refreshing ourselves, Kay, who had originally introduced The Stig and I to London Bikers, and Huskyteer decided to make their own way back, as they had people they had planned to meet up with, whilst the remainder of us set out to spend some time chillin’ on the beach. Some played some energetic looking Frisbee, whilst other’s paddled. Most of us just had a good rest!
At the agreed time of 4pm we met up back at the bikes, and Jim offered to lead us back to Godstone, just outside the M25, but further east than where we had started. As Huskyteer had left he needed new pace setter and Jaxster on the CBR125 agreed to do that. I confess I didn’t really want to set the pace, as I quite we enjoyed moving forward and backwards through the group, but as it turned out I spent most of the run in third or fourth place.
After a short refuelling stop, and a tiresome ride through Brighton’s traffic, a couple of chav scooterists who found themselves surrounded b your group, Jim soon had us out on the open road. This time we were mainly on better faster roads than the ride south. I was a shame there was no time to stop at Ditchling Beacon, about a hundred feet higher than Devil’s Dyke, but still the views across the Low Weald were fantastic, as the earlier haze had burned off. The 400 foot drop down the face of the hill was good fun, certainly much more fun than the congestion we found in Ditchling Village. From there it was a mainly straight run north at 40mph until we stopped in Godstone at a little before 6pm. There followed the inevitable long discussion about how to get to the Ace Café. It seems compulsory that any discussion involving London Bikers about how to get from or to anywhere has to involve the Ace Café!
I suggested that as The Stig and I would be riding up the A217 from Reigate to Sutton the others that wanted to go to the Ace could peel off at Burgh Heath and follow the signs to Kingston. The consensus appeared to be that I should lead through Redhill and Reigate. Jaxster and The Stig stayed with me, but somehow I managed to lose sight of all the faster bikes, despite riding strictly to the speed limit. I would have though at least one London Biker would have caught me up! To be honest I wasn’t that bothered as I knew Jim would be familiar with the route. The Stig, Jaxster and myself pulled over just after passing through Reigate, I thought it best to get reorganised before we crossed the M25.
We rode on through Kingswood and to Burgh Heath. Jim and the others split off towards Kingston, and The Stig and I set off for home and got in the door just in time for Dr Who!
I would like to give special thanks to Jim for organising the route and doing his usual excellent lead. Rocketman and Elad for holding the line at the back, Alice and Jaxster for setting the pace, and everyone else for some excellent corner marking deserve special mention. The Stig and I had a really good time, and I hope everyone else did also. I know The Stig and I would we well up for similar rides in the future, I just hope we are so lucky with the weather next time!
More pictures are available in this Gallery.
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