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Two in One

Two different events on the same day at almost the same venue. How could that happen?

On the Sunday of August Bank Holiday in the UK an event was organised at Dover on the esplanade in the harbour between the two docks.  

The Eastern Docks are primarily for passenger and freight ferries to the France and the Western Docks for cruise liners.  In the middle is a crescent shaped beach and an esplanade. 

At the eastern end of the esplanade the owners of the Pebbles Kiosk and Gift Shop had organised "Bikes on the Beach" for a third year.

At the Western end. The local sailing and rowing club had organised a fun day with stalls and exhibits.  The exhibits included some local classic car owners and the Dover Transport Museum brought some of their collection along.

I was a little late getting up after some overnight dog barking and disruptive sleep because of that.  The Dover event started at 10am and as I rode out of the close I was in two minds whether to actually go.  In the end the Meldrews were on a longish run from the Blue & White from about 1030 so I decided to go there, have a cup of tea and a chat and then see where that left us.  

They left about 1100 and I togged up and decided that as I had my camera slung over my shoulder I'd go to Dover after all.  Rather than go the A20, I went up the road a bit and then onto the M20 south and cruised to Dover.

There didn't seem much traffic around and it was pretty clear and warm. Glad I had the Joe Rocket on again.  Even though it is getting a bit "tired"  it is still comfortable in hot weather.

Amazingly for us in the UK, the Bank Holiday weather was dry and hot for the entire three day long weekend. I expect that the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey will make itself felt later in the week. We usually get the bad weather generated by hurricanes on the US east coast a week or so after they hit.

It was also good that after a year or more the ridiculous 40mph limit on the last five miles into Dover has been scrapped.

On arrival I was directed by a volunteer onto the esplanade via a drop down kerb and told to ride along until I found a space.  It was about 1120 or so.  I had to go about 100m down to find a space and back into it.  I locked up, and took a walk to the Western end first.  The stalls didn't really interest me much but the cars and buses on show did and I expended a lot of MB of memory card to get some pix.


I had a chat with a guy showing his 1958 Oldsmobile 88.  The 50's and early 60's must have been a great time to have been able to buy these cars.  They are so big and look like they are worth a million dollars.  It seems that each maker had to have something to stand out. Cadillac with their fins. But on the 88 it is the tail lights.  A real golden age of design.


Back towards the eastern end I hadn't seen the RBLR crew I had expected to be there form the FB page.  They were meeting a guy called Aaron Mitchell, who was returning home after riding around the world.  (See http://www.aaronmitchell.net/) 

I didn't realise that there were bikes etc the other side of the Pebble Kiosk! DOH! And that's where they were.  It's only after when I looked at my pictures, mostly of individual bikes, but some shots of the esplanade with multiple bikes, that I had got him by his bike.  What a plum! Me not him.

I missed them leave for a massed run to Rochester in North Kent as I was in one of the little shaded seating areas out of the sun and enjoying a tea.

All the pictures are on Flickr and linked here:

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