I had been considering meeting the Cruiser Cub and joining their Ace Trip on the 12^th September when I overheard R1 Bob and Pete planning a trip.

Arrangements made, I was picked up at a few minutes past seven on Sunday morning, Pete’s VFR800 leading with a ZX6R, GSXR600, VFR750, SV650, Sprint ST, R1 and my Sprint RS.

Breakfast at Popom Airfield was on everyone’s mind.

Following a warm reception and excellent cooked breakfast we continued on our progress to the Ace. The weather was bright and sunny , clear blue sky with sporadic cloud and a light breeze, however we were all well aware what had been forecasted, rain from the west in the afternoon!

Motorway progress was good and I had now settled into the tail position as the group held, broke up and then reformed in a staggered lane formation.

Arriving at the Ace we were directed to parking up on one of the footbridges leading over the north circular, and, with the amount of bike traffic around decided to stay with our machines and admire the spectacle. We had only been parked up for a short while before the ride off (mad dash) begun. Joining the ride in the group, we all soon became detached. I found myself overtaking a motorcycle and sidecar with brown bear whilst clinging on to our GSXR600 and VFR750 as we progressed via the M25.

 Our group started to reform once passed the M3 junction, some vigorous petrol tank pointing and a slowing down to conserve fuel enabled Pete to shepherd most of us back, all except Tom, he kept his head down on his SV650 and disappeared into the distance.

After a short detour for fuel and Pete reviewing his map it was decided to keep on with more of the same (motorway). Progress again became interesting as we sliced through the outskirts of Brighton. All single lane roads became dual and a dual carriageway became four lanes as bikes swarmed towards the sea front. Still down the back I again struggled to stay in touch as I became enveloped by three biker babes (I can still picture the Daytona blond) following their leader.

Parking up, we were reunited with Tom, took refreshments, I picked up some Parkstone (Brighton)  rock and then joined  a gentle stroll to soak up the atmosphere.

 

The voted route home was to find some corners and beat the weather, the sky had by now turned angry looking with south westerly winds  blowing hard. We headed for home via the A272. A brilliantly timed little chef stop enabled us to miss the worst downpour as we made steady progress home. On rejoining the M27 we ran into a trio of line astern HD’s, and we mixed it with them for a short. The group finally moved on unable to live with the racket that the HD’s were making. I again found myself out of touch as the traffic thickened. My last sighting was R1 bob and the GSXR600 waving from a lay-by as I descended towards Ringwood, I took a left at Ringwood and home for a bath, thanks to Pete for leading another  great day out.