We were ready to go before 9 and things were initially quiet but numbers soon picked up. And what a turn out in the end! We were positioned about a mile or so out of the town centre, where the majority of bikers seemed to have congregated, but before long there were two lines of bikes parked all the way along the sea front as far as the Casino. Estimates say in the region of 60,000 bikers turned up. I am not sure on the numbers but I can say for certain that I saw just about every type of bike on the day; from scooters (wailing along the promenade sounding like wasps with their arses on fire), custom cruisers of all sorts (too much chrome to polish for my liking), touring bikes of every shape and size (including the ubiquitous Honda Goldwings complete with trailers in tow) to the latest litre sports bikes (more my thing).
In a nutshell, it was jammed.
We spoke to some great people on the day, with bikers seemingly coming from the length and breadth of the UK to be there, we even spoke to some bikers over from Europe. Although the weather wasn’t great, drizzly and overcast in the morning, the sun did finally make an appearance at about 4.00. Despite the slightly gloomy weather everyone seemed to have a good day. We were certainly very busy, and our earplugs and canisters seemed particularly popular for some reason. The day seemed to whistle by and before you know it, we were back in the Great White Whale for a return road trip.
It was the first time I had been to an event organised by the Ace Café and, on the whole, I have to say it was well planned and organised. We spoke with a huge number of bikers and everyone seemed to have a good day. Hopefully we will be able to do some more work with the Ace Café in the future and see you all at another show. Next stop is the Bikers in Paradise show at Broxbourne, hopefully I will see you there.
Ride safe
Paul
We are sorry to announce that as of 22 June 2012 Paul Henry has retired from the partnership due to ill health. We wish him a speedy recovery and all the best in the future.
All photos courtesy of Chris Gothard – ESN
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