BoxhillRideout20th AnniversaryT
wenty years ago,amember of
Area 51 SC (Paul Labelle)
thought, ‘I know,let’sgoand
piss off the bikers at Boxhill
with ascooter ride.’ So after
chatting with Lost Souls SC, the Boxhill
Ride-out was born.
There were two meeting places, one in
Worthing and one in Surrey,and this built
up over time with other clubs. There were
many clubs from around the southeast,
sadly way too many to mention, but a
heartfelt thanks to all of them as they
know who they are.
The first time we arrived, the bikers at
Ryka’swere not amused and some even
left (ha, ha!). However,over time it was
generally the ‘plastic fantastic’ that
buggered off, leaving the true bikers to
chat and join in. At the first Boxhill there
were only 30 of us on scooters; now there
are hundreds. Each year patches have
been sold for national, local and individual
causes and each year everyone shows
amazing generosity towards them.
Some years the sun has been shining,
while others have beenacomplete
washout with Ryka’scar park even
flooding. Either way,Ryka’shave been a
great support and never let us down–a
welcome cuppa andagood burger.
In the old days we would leave Ryka’s
and head over to Shalford WMC where the
Lost Souls providedaDJand cheapdrinks.
This has changed over time from Godalming
to theWooden Bridge (Junction 13 SC),
which becameasecond ride-out. This
wasn’t popular due to distance, so myself,
Stu andacouple of others drove around
Dorking chatting to pubs to findasuitable
location.Afew turned their noses up, but
eventually the Stepping Stone pub
welcomed us. Afteralittle persuading they
agreed to us putting on the do, with Scooter
Surgery selling their goods and Rob Skelt
offering his time and equipment for free to
do the DJing.
This year being the 20th anniversary
was no exception; everything was in place
and the sun was shining. Over 100 of usleft fromWorthing pier,heading up the
A24 and arriving at Boxhill, where Stu and
the Lost Souls gang, along with many
others, had arrived already.Patches were
sold in aid of LoveYour Hospitals cancer
unit. In total about 400 scooters in Ryka’s
caf ́ ́, were coming and going and at round
1pm we started heading over to the
Stepping Stone pub to chill out in the car
park and garden area.
The pub put onaBBQ outside, whilst
inside some stayed for Sunday lunch and
others brought picnics. The tunes were
again provided by Rob Skelt of Pier
Pressure, and Scooter Surgery set up to
help any scooterist in need. The custom
show sponsored by Lost Souls took place
and trophies were handed out.
To reach 20 years for an event is
amazing and for us it is only through the
continued support of you guys.We made
£303 for charity,which shows again how
brilliant the scooter scene is.
On behalf of myself, Sarah, Area 51 SC,
and Stu (Lost Souls SC), thank you.t