Ace Café, Harley night 25th April 2013.
It was once said to me, by a biker friend of mine, that when
the evening is right when the sky is blue and the sun is shining there is no
better thing then to venture down to the Ace Café on Harley night. The noise,
vibe and presence of these iconic machines is something not to be missed. I can
remember him saying on the right evening when the London elite uncover their
bikes for their annual outing, the sight is one well worth seeing.
I had previously in years passed, popped up to the Ace Café,
on the odd occasion, on evenings I thought were suitable but I was never privileged
to see this spectacle, and I must admit I was beginning to think that it might
even be a Harley type of El
Dorado and that no matter how much I searched for this wonder I would in fact
never see it.
It had been good weather all this week and tonight it was forecast to be
nice. My brother Ian has always had a liking for Harleys and has on many
occasions dabbled with the idea of owning one. So there wasn’t much hardship or
arm twisting involved in convincing him to go for a ride with me, to see if the
advertised Harley night was going to be just another small collection of twenty
or so bikes, or would we, by some miracle stumble on our own El Dorado.
Like with all things my evening’s plan didn’t go the way I wanted. Although
I had arranged to ride down to the Ace with my brother I hadn’t arranged a specific
time. I had it in mind to finish work then wander down around 4ish to miss the
evening traffic, sit down to a nice café meal and watch hopefully as the spectacle
arrived. My brother on the other hand had arranged for our mum to visit him, he
was going to eat before he left and would wander in on the tail end of the
evening traffic arriving once most of the Harleys had turned up.
At around 6.30pm we set off, luckily it’s only about a 30 minute ride but
unfortunately the ride is a boring one. I have looked at different ways of
getting to the Ace but as it’s on the north circular on the way into town,
there is no nice way of getting there, so it’s a trip straight down the
motorway. However spring had finally sprung and the white blossom of the wild
cherry contrasted against the dull brown of the hedge row and the now lush
green verge was dotted with yellow from the flowering cowslips and primroses.
We made good time and arrived at the Ace by around 7pm and there was a
nice collection of Harleys already on display but not the turn out I was hoping
for. We parked up and went for a look around. I joked with Ian saying he wouldn’t
be able own one as there was simply too much chrome to clean. Ian’s not one for
cleaning. After a good look around we went inside for a drink and that dinner I
had been waiting for. Whilst sitting, eating and drinking the bikes arrived,
some on their own others in groups. The car park was filling up fast and from
what I could make out, by the logos stitched onto the back of the biker’s
jackets, they were coming in from far and wide.
Once feed and watered we again wandered outside and as the evening sun
glinted off the polished chrome, I finally found the El Dorado I had
been looking for. We stayed until the sky turn grey and the sun started its
decent beyond the roof tops. The car park was now full and the over flow of
bikes lined the road sides. I’m not myself a Harley person but they are lovey
bikes to look at and that raw thunderous noise of when they burst into life is one
of their major attractions.
I think if I was to sum up a Harley it would be traditional bike looks,
lots of chrome, that rocking V-twin roar and a big fat rear tyre. Ok that’s not
that accurate but it’s how I like to remember them.
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