You know what its like, you go two hundred miles to a town and then when you get there, can you find the road/camp site you are looking for? No way!
Similar thoughts crossed my mind as we discussed route options in a petrol station forecourt somewhere near Epsom race course, a place we visited twice on our way to Brooklands. I think there were eleven of us when we set off from the Pied Bull on a perfect Sunday morning. Saying that, the club had split its forces with a large contingent of Bexley Triumph members attending the BMF Tail End Rally on the same day, so I think the turn out was excellent.
Barry and Janneane had worked out a route more suitable for the older Meriden twins and I rode my old 1992 Trident outfit so as to fit in. We set off in fine style at 9:15 as planned with Barry leading and Janneane working with Bob Colvin to keep us in order. I was a bit concerned with the route plan that Barry had dished out in the car park, instructions like "turn right onto B374?" and "Look out for signs" should have alerted me.
Anyway all went well until John's Bonneville backfired and blew his Mk II Amal carbs off. (They all do that sir). John and Little John sputter to a halt and Kim advises him that her Japanese bike is still running perfectly. With the wonders of radio communications we all stop in a lay-by and Barry zips back to help with the spannering. The rest of us clear off but I'm confident because I've noticed one of those Sat Nav things on Paul & Alison's Honda race rep.; how wrong I was!
Any road up, eventually we arrived at Brooklands, it was a special day "The Brooklands Bike Bonanza" and the place was full of old pre-war Brooklands race bikes blatting around with riders like Sammy Miller ignoring all the calls to slow down.
If you haven't been to Brooklands, you should. The exhibits are great: bikes, cars, aircraft, engines and heaps of nostalgia. The place held its last road race just months before the outbreak of war in 1939 and at that time the lap record was over 143mph!
Andy and I climbed up to the top of a piece of the banked track; the top part is almost vertical and there are no safety barriers of course.
The heat got to some of us in the end and Dave Warren, Colin, Colin, me, Andy and Bob decided to slip off back to the Pied Bull via A3 and M25, some took longer than others, but that's another story!
All in all a fantastic day out and thanks to Barry and Janneane for making it happen.