Go
to the Archive indexThere was, again, a huge turnout for David Evans' ever-popular event on 8th January 2006. Over 40 riders signed on at the start. Some members had travelled considerable distances in order to participate: Ben Teuben (Zündapp 517) and Derrick Roest (Motom SS48) had come over from Holland, Lindsay Neill (Raleigh RM5) came down from the West Midlands and Luke Booth (Levis 80) journeyed up from Hastings. Peter Lawson (Puch) came over from St Albans, while Alex Lees (Norman Autocycle) and Bob Richardson (Rudge autocycle) travelled from St Neots. Given some of these distances, your reporter's journey from Billericay pales into insignificance.
As usual we were greeted by our host with tea, coffee, biscuits and, of course, mince pies. The weather was cold but it remained bright and only rained once during the afternoon. We set off at around 11:15am with, I gather, one exception: Mark Daniels's Hercules Corvette 'failed to start' (sorry, fire brigade term...) We took the outward journey at a gentle pace, except, of course, for young Mr Gates on his confounded Raleigh RM11. We arrived en masse at the Shipwreck pub, Shotley, at about 12:15 and tactics were discussed for the homeward voyage during our lunch pit-stop.
As regular combatants know, the return trip is a tarmac-melting free-for-all. During a tear-up with Ray Gibb (NSU Quickly) and Lurch (Kerry Capitano) my Nippy reached blistering speeds of nearly 35mph. We all arrived safely back at the yacht club by 2pm. Again, our diminutive host indulged us with refreshments, however this time something a little more warming was on offer. Mr Evans asked me not to mention that he later flooded the kitchen with washing-up water, therefore I won't say a word...
Finally, on behalf of all participants, may I thank David Evans for such a great day out.
Riders: A Lees (Norman), R Richardson (Rudge), Lindsay Neill (Raleigh RM5), David Evans (Puch MS50D), Steve Cobb (Garelli), Frank Brzeski (Mini Motor), Carl Harper (Norman Nippy), Paul Nelmes (Sun), R Vince (Bown), Mark Daniels (Hercules Corvette), Peter Lawson (Puch), Brian Barley (Tomos A3M), Neil Bowen (Excelsior), Paul Daniels (Ariel 3), Colin Glover (James Comet), Mark Gibb (Honda Stream), Roly Scarce (PC50), Neil Dennis (Zündapp), Mick Anderson (Zündapp), David Whatling (Power Pak), Luke Booth (Levis 80), Ray Gibb (NSU Quickly), G Daw (Garelli), Dave Jockel (NSU Quickly), Steve Gleed (Zündapp), Keith Ashby (New Hudson), Laurie Coates (Honda C90), Bob Stafford (Honda PC50), John Stafford (Honda PC50), Jon Shaw (Vespa ET125), John Daborn (Mobylette N40), Ben Teuben (Zündapp 517), Derrick Roest (Motom SS48), Dave 'Lurch' Freeman (Kerry Capitano), Martin Gates (Raleigh RM11), Steve Wright (Honda SS50), Mick Cook (Honda PC50 GT), Sam Cook (Peugeot 50), Paul Efreme (Norman Nippy S).
First published, April 2006