Hot on the heels of a very successful International at Prescott,  the Kenley rally seemed to be on us before we knew it.  It was great to meet up again to exchange stories and reminisce.
I arrived on Friday afternoon and got off to a flying start (thankfully not literally) sharing a bottle of wine-or two- with Anita to celebrate a recent birthday. The weather was good and by the evening our numbers had swelled and we enjoyed supper in the gazebo cooked by Sybil and then moved into the clubhouse for drinks and entertainment from Cliff.
The weather held good for our ride out on Saturday after a leisurely breakfast. Nobby had some trouble with his bike so rode Jo’s Harley Servicar. Carl and Pauline had planned the route which took us through the leafy lanes and lovely villages of the Surrey Hills, 14 bikes in all. We had a pit stop for coffee and then rode on again to Newlands Corner for lunch. Lots of bikes here, lovely views and obviously a popular bike ride destination. Martin caught up with us there on his Sunbeam  after changing bikes as he had had some trouble with his Scout.  The ride split here, some choosing to take the shorter route back to Kenley which was not uneventful. Waiting behind Nobby at the traffic lights we heard a very loud bang and Nobby found he had lost power and a spark plug!  The spark plug had blown out of the cylinder head and so Phil and Pete adapted Mike’s trailer for the recovery.  Another evening in the clubhouse and the fish and chips organised by Sybil were excellent and piping hot. 
Sunday was fine, a pleasant surprise as rain had been forecast.  Quite a few people left due to other commitments so we decided to ride to the pub “The Battle of Britain” at Gravesend, as they were holding a bikers charity event and there was music, a few stalls and plenty of bikes.  The six of us rode back to Phil and Jo’s for coffee and biscuits and then back to Kenley for a slap up barbeque in the gazebo followed by a few drinks in the clubhouse.
We had a lot of rain in the night which continued all morning so slowly loaded up and left about mid day.  Thanks to all the staff in the Portcullis clubhouse for making us so welcome again, it is a good easygoing venue which is well suited to our needs.  Thanks also to Mike and Sybil and to all club members who made it there and to Carl and Pauline for planning the excellent ride out.

Linda "Papparazzi" Jeffery