Ride Out for Kelly - October 30th 2016 - Report

From five of us at the Meldrews' meeting point there were only two of us, me and Cal,  that made the ride to the Ride Out starting point in Canterbury. There we found that the local scooter clubs had turned up in large numbers and on a range of scooters form the 1960's right up to latest model four-strokes.

There were fewer motorcycles though and that was a little embarrassing after the publicity the run had been given locally.  

Not that I hadn't seen plenty of bikes on the road to and from the event.  

In the end we had donations from the non-attending Meldrews (well most of them) and this was handed into the run organiser.  Amounting to just short of £1600 in cash and some online donations made from people's phones to justgiving.

The run itself was along the A257 to Sandwich and then to Deal and then ending at Dover seafront.  Our group was led by a bloke on a GoldWing.  What a prat.  On an open section leading about forty assorted scooters and bike he did 30mph.  We all bunched up and there were cars getting mixed up with us. 

The guys on the 125cc scooters could cope with 50mph and were getting more frustrated than me, I was unable to run top gear even.  

Then he lef us into Sandwich.  An old town with narrow one-way streets, then after that the wrong way so we ended up u-turning to get out.  Cal and I passed a load on the way to the Magnet pub in Deal where we had a break. It was just after 1pm when we arrived.

When the run leader announced we were to leave at 2pm (!) at 1.30pm I decided to call it a day and head home.  

I have to balance a life out on the bike with a family home life and both are precious to me. Perhaps if I was single I'd be able to devote more time to one or more of my pastimes.

I was home about 2.15pm and had a spot of lunch before taking the dog out for a walk and a bit of a rest!

Once again, Red Pepe was the perfect gentleman.

#doingitforkelly #rideoutforkelly