Leaving the outskirts of London behind and travelling along the A127 most people opened up their scoots and the groups became more spread out so that everyone could set their own pace. This was a good chance to give that scooter a good belting and see what it was capable of, or to just tootle along taking in the fact that here you were with 300 or so plus other scooters just heading for Southend! Personally I did a bit of both along with Mark on his T5 (with newly set up mirrors) but not wanting to give the old girl too much welly yet as i hadnt long overhauled the top end.

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Within 30miles, and as i was thinking that we had passed it, we suddenly came upon the Fortune of War where Tom & Wendy said that we would be stopping to meet a few more people. I managed to squeeze the scooter into a space down the street. I would estimate there were 300 or so parked round this pub and spilling into the McDonalds across the road.

It was a good time to stop to give the ass a rest, meet up with the group again and grab a pint. Mind you, the fact that there were a couple of hundred people looking to be served at the bar and only 2 staff didn't inspire a lot of confidence and i think annoyed more than a few people, making it a shorter stop than i think it could have been. Still, i downed my pint and it was time for the final leg to Southend.

Click for larger image (May take up to 30 seconds)

Click for larger image (May take up to 30 seconds)

By now we were within spitting distance of the sea, ok, it was nearly another 10 miles but you get the idea, you could nearly smell it through the 2 stroke. As we went up the seafront passing all the scooters parked in the middle of the carraigeway we spotted the ideal parking spot on the pavement. The fact that it was near a pub and a chippy had nothing to do with this decision, (honest guv), and having met up with Tom, Wendy, Rachel, Paul etc it was time for fish and chips and then a wee drink to wash it all down. (And get over the sight of Paul's whiter than white legs)

All in all, i think we all enjoyed it and though we only stayed a couple of hours, which seemed longer than some as there were some scooters that came along, rode up and down the seafront once and then turned around and went home. Speaking of which......

The voyage home