Boxhill Rideout 20th Anniversary

Twenty years ago, a member of Area 51 SC (Paul Labelle) thought, ‘I know, let’s go and piss off the bikers at Boxhill with a scooter 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’s were 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 been a complete washout with Ryka’s car park even flooding. Either way, Ryka’s have been a great support and never let us down – a welcome cuppa and a good burger.

In the old days we would leave Ryka’s and head over to Shalford WMC where the Lost Souls provided a DJ and cheap drinks. This has changed over time from Godalming to the Wooden Bridge (Junction 13 SC), which became a second ride-out. This wasn’t popular due to distance, so myself, Stu and a couple of others drove around Dorking chatting to pubs to find a suitable location. A few turned their noses up, but eventually the Stepping Stone pub welcomed us. After a little 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 us left from Worthing 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 Love Your 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 on a BBQ 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.