Day 1 (aka D-Day) on the 'Follow the Blue Dot' Tour

** The day before D-Day

I'd like to say there was some calm before the storm - but while that might have been the case in Sussex - I'm not sure that it was in Dorset. Both Beef and Dave had to work before setting off and Beef had also scheduled a chiropractor’s appointment; Dave diplomatically discouraged that, so they could at least beat SOME of the traffic on the M27 / A27.  Needless to say they arrived safely... 

** Route Plan

START: 9am - Brighton - Madeira Drive BN2 1PT

FUEL: Hawkhurst - BP, A268 / Rye Rd TN18 4HD

FUEL: Margate - BP, 233 Canterbury Rd CT9 5JP

PHOTOS: Margate - Lido (sign), Ethelbert Terrace CT9 1RX

MEET: Margate - TASS 114 Northdown Rd, CT9 2RE (30 to 45 mins)

FUEL: Thurrock - ESSO, Arterial Rd RM16 3BG

FUEL: Clacton - BP, Colchester Rd CO16 9AG

PHOTOS: Clacton - Pier, Pier Gap, CO15 1QX

STOP: Clacton - Royal Hotel, 1 Marine Parade E, CO15 1PU

MEET: Time TBC - Clacton - Moon & Stars Pub, 1 Marine Parade E, CO15, 1PU

** D-Day - Here we go 

Henry & Dave riding: Home to Brighton/Brighton to Margate/Margate to Clacton.

Brighton was the venue of scooter rallies in 1981 and 1982 and still hosts massive rallies every August Bank Holiday; it was also Henry's home for many years and as it is only 20 miles from our house, it made sense to start from there. In the run up to the tour, some Brighton scooterists had told us that the Modern World cafe was going to open early for us, so we could have a hot breakfast to send us on the way. Like a well-oiled (and hungry) machine, we left home at 6:45am for the short journey to our starting point of Madeira Drive and the cafe. Henry opted to ride but because both Beef and Dave's scooters were already in the van and Brighton was our official starting point, they left well alone and our little convoy of 2 vans, followed Henry.

Our arrival at about 7:30am was exactly on schedule - leaving us plenty of time to eat bacon butties (vegetarian options [should have been] available) before officially setting off at 9am. Unfortunately, something happened with the cafe and they didn't turn up until it was nearly time to leave so our carefully orchestrated plan kind of failed at the first hurdle. In the meantime, some scooterists from various places along the south coast turned up to see us off - this included riders from Uckfield, Peacehaven, Lancing, Eastbourne and of course some more locally from Brighton; Henry's Dad John was also there, together with our contacts from the Alzheimer's Society so lots of pictures were taken before we finally managed to get some food. After hurriedly scoffing our belated breakfast, we managed to depart at about 9:30 escorted by the Eastbourne and Uckfield massive and headed off (back past our home) towards our first fuel stop. 

The second stop of the day was Margate; a town that hosted four national rallies from 1986-1989. I left Stoke at 18 (in 1984) and moved to Kent - living initially in Gravesend. I did a few small local(ish) rallies but Margate was only a paltry 50 or so miles for us and despite shocking campsites, it was a great rally.  As part of the tour though, we had about 100 miles to travel and the Eastbourne lot rode along before peeling off at various points between Brighton and our first fuel stop in Hawkhurst. After fuelling up, it was back on the road with Mungo and Neil continuing to ride along. We arrived in Margate and took the opportunity to fuel up before heading to the site of the Margate Lido to take some pictures. Parking was always going to be a bit of an issue but the boys stuck the scooters on the pavement and I abandoned the van in a bus stop temporarily - just while we took a few snaps. Honest Guv! (It's surprising how much I used that phrase over the 10 days).

The lovely Bex and Chris Galbraith were waiting for us and we took a few pictures before getting back on the road - to drive the 1/4 mile to TASS where we would have a bit more time to chat.  It was lovely to see Roger and some of my other old friends waiting for us: people like Bex and Chris (again) and Gin and Tommy Tomlinson who had all taken time out of their busy lives, on a weekday, to come along, chat and even, ride with us for a bit in some cases. We also still had the Uckfield massive still with us... 

After an almost religious experience (a cup of tea made by Roger) we set off again with our escort and headed out of Planet Thanet and up towards the M2 and A2. As I have mentioned elsewhere, Henry really tried to minimise motorway travel as much as he could but in some places it was unavoidable - and this was one of those places.  Mungo and Neil peeled off at the A249 to head back across country to Sussex - leaving us all alone (well, just the four of us anyway) for the first time since leaving home. We made good time right up until the A2/M25 interchange and the scooters (and Beef in the advance van) hit traffic. Me being me, with a little bit of local knowledge, completely bypassed the traffic and my rear party van made it over the Dartford Crossing to get to our next fuel stop at Thurrock first. Oops.  At this point, it was gone 4pm and we'd done about 178 miles of an estimated 240 so while the day's end was kind of in sight, it made sense to crack on as quickly as we could.  Unfortunately though, that timing meant that we were on the A12 during rush hour and this in turn meant that it took us nearly 2 hours to do the remaining 60 odd miles.

Clacton only hosted one national scooter rally (in 1985) and I went as it was so close to us in Gravesend and we had the Tilbury Ferry to ensure we didn't have to get anywhere near the Dartford tunnel (as it was back then). Having said that, my memories are a bit sketchy of that rally and there isn't really anything that stands out so I had no pre-conceptions at all.  We arrived at around 6:30 and easily found our photograph point, took pictures and then went to find our hotel. This was just literally across the road and conveniently had a Wetherspoons attached to it. I wonder which genius of epic proportions booked that then! Oh yes - that'll be me! We checked in and with 238 miles done, we tucked the scooters safely away in the hotel carpark before having a quick freshen up and heading to 'spoons for something to eat.  It was lovely to see Darren Glenn who'd come out from Colchester to meet us. We had a lovely time eating, chatting and maybe having a drink or 3 before common sense and being a bit knackered caught up with us. And so to bed... (well if it was good enough for the diarist Pepys, then it's good enough for an amateur like me!)