Thanks to everyone who turned up to support the club stand, our first at this event. The event is organised by the West Kent section of the VMCC and took place at Aylesford Friary, near Maidstone. The Sunday turned out to be rather hot and sultry and hats and sunglasses were orders of the day. We had a good selection of bikes on the stand and I hope I've got the following details correct. The event was mainly for older bikes up to 1980.

The oldest machines entered this year were a Triumph 500cc from 1911 and a 1912 Excelsior American X 499cc; also a 1913 Harley Davidson Model 9E 1000cc which looked like it could do with a lick of paint! There is always a large contingency from Holland and Germany and they provide quite a show with their old bikes and gear! Barry was taking an interest in an old Indian but decided it was a bit too technical to ride with lots of knobs and levers to think about.
Barry and Duncan were running an auto-jumble stall during the day and were being kept nice and busy. Lots of interest in a lot of old rubbish, (or do I mean specialist material?)
The gymkana event was a bit slow but still competitive this year due to the sudden heat of the day. Barry's dad, Maurice, had a go on another of his old bikes the Ducati Cucciolo 48cc and Barry had a go on Anyas's bike. As he has won this event twice before he decided not to put in too much effort into it and was consequently beaten on speed.
With over three hundred bikes entered for this event it is always worth a visit just to browse at the many varied and often rare bikes and chat to their enthusiastic owners. There are always many tales to tell of how bikes have been 'rescued' or found and the joys and pains of the restoration process.
On the Saturday there is an organised run for all those who wish to enter. There is a choice of routes of between 75 or 100 miles with stops at Tenterden and Challock. Duncan and Anya and myself and Barry took part on the run. I was using my Dad's old 175cc Honda 1957 which developed a bit of a starting problem due to the fact that the kickstart broke off. (Dad had warned that it was a bit loose!) This year's event caused a few problems as there was some confusion about where the two routes split up and it wasn't until lunchtime when people were talking about the view of the sea that we realised that we had taken the shorter route along with a large group of followers! We also went sailing past one of the turn-offs and ended up doing many miles extra before everyone came to a stop looking confused at their route guides and turning round to confront others doing exactly the same. Luckily someone was standing at the right junction waiving us through on our return. We managed to make it back to the Little Gem pub in Aylesford (Kent's smallest pub) to wind back a much needed drink and watch some of the riders returning. All in all a good days riding and a lot of fun too.
I know that some people thought it was rather expensive for camping and entering the run and were going to contact the VMCC to ask why this was. Money raised on the Sunday event went to the Heart of Kent Hospice.
I hope that the club can be represented again next year and that more people will be interested in entering the run on the Saturday. Numbers are limited so you need to check the website for details nearer the time.