Ace Café Battle of Hastings ride out
May 6th 2013
Last year we missed many of the ride outs due to personal
commitments and bad weather, and for some reason, that I can’t recall at this
moment in time, we had missed the Southend run already and weren’t going to
miss any more.
The date was fix in the diary and at six o’clock on a
slightly cloudy Sunday morning I was up getting ready for our start time of
7.15am. The plan was to ride down to the Ace Café fuel up have a cuppa then join
the ride down to Hastings.
Ian, my brother, arrived at my house on time where I was
waiting quite eagerly and we set off on the start of the day’s journey. The roads
were quiet and we made good time down to the Ace Café. As we left the north
circular we turn away from the café to fill up our tanks at the garage on the
opposite side of the road. As we fuelled up other bikes were coming and going
doing the same and we could see bikes arriving at the Ace. Fuelled up we rode
across to the Ace to get a warm drink before we departed.
Despite arriving after a lot had already clearly been there
for a while, somehow we were put at the front of the queue. We were handed a
leaflet on the route the ride would be taking and whilst we sat sipping our tea
I examined where we were going. The route would take us through the middle of
London. Ok so the roads would probably be quiet at this time on a Sunday
morning, but town riding is not my thing, traffic cameras, speed cameras,
traffic lights, roundabouts, and the possibility ofcontinuous contra flowing to
keep up along with the possibility of getting lost just didn’t appeal to me or
my brother.
We discussed the options and decided that we would break
with the first part of the tradition of the ride out and instead ride out
around the circular joining the M4 then turning south onto the M25 here we
could make good time around to junction 5 where we would leave the M25 and join
the A21. Here we could join and continue with the planned ride out. Motorway
riding is also not my thing, the route would be slightly longer but at least it
was simpler and we could get a move on.
The motorway part of the journey went in a blur, with the
greens of budding leaves, browns of ploughed fields waiting for their dormant
seeds to shoot, the yellows of the gorse, primroses, cowslips and dandelions and
the grey of the sky and motorway. As we neared the end of our motorway journey we
overlooked the countryside and the trip about to begin. A low fog hung in the
valleys but the cloud was about to break giving way to blue skies.
I really enjoy the slip road off of the M25 on to the A21,
it’s a long left hand bend, very sad I know but there you go. As the road drops
down we rode into the dissipating morning fog and you could feel the drop in temperature.
This thankfully only lasted for a few miles and we were once again riding in
the broken sunshine. I really enjoy the ride down the A21 to Hastings, I
remember the first time I did it the bridges roundabouts and laybys were lined
with people out to see the spectacle, adults and children alike, all waving and
where possible wanting a hi five. The only thing with the first ride out that
made me feel upset was the amount of police trying to make a killing through
speed cameras and nicking people through things like having small number plates,
it sort of soured the whole experience.
This time the people still lined the streets, the police
still showed a presence but it was more subtle and less offensive. We arrived in Hastings welcomed by a slight
sea fog which couldn’t make its mind up whether it was coming or going. We rode
along the sea front and shuffled our way into a parking space. 
Once parked up we wondered around looking at the bike spectacle,
trikes, custom built bikes, hybrids and shop ready bikers lined the roads and
filled the car parks. Some looked like they were just taken off the shop floor
despite their age, whilst others looked unloved and neglected, most had
personal touches from sheep skin saddles to tank protectors to tidy tails and
personalised paint jobs.
After a good look round we abandoned the sea front and
headed into town to find somewhere to eat. There are plenty of nice places to
eat along the front but they are all heaving with tourists and bikes and whilst
the town is busy it’s still a little more relaxed than the hustle and bustle of
the sea front. The sun was now shinning the sky was blue and we had been fed
you couldn’t ask for anymore.
We then took another walk around Hastings, taking in the vernacular
railway and looking up on to the hill top with there are castle remains and
where people were enjoying May day activities. Each time we come here I say “next
year we’ll go up there to see what’s going on” but I never do. May be next year.
Along the front there were stalls and dealers one of which was a Victory dealer.
We stopped and chatted for a while as my brother likes this type of bike and we
arranged a possible test ride. We then again wandered some more and grabbed an
ice cream on our way and sat in the sun and relaxed for a while.
The day was now drawing on and we had a good hundred mile
ride to get home. So reluctantly we kitted up and started our long journey home.
We travelled up the A21 meeting the M25 but this time we travelled in the opposite
direction to the one we came in on travelling towards Dartford. After the A
roads the roads were boring motorway riding not my first choice but an easy and
quick way to get home.
The day had been enjoyable and I had enjoyed being out on
the bike, meeting likeminded people and seeing all the bikes.
No comments:
Post a Comment