Garden of England RAT Raid 2010

Friday 17th September saw the start of our first ever National RAT raid, based at the Ramada Hotel in Harrietsham, just outside Maidstone. Months of planning had come to an end and now it was time to make sure all went smoothly for the people attending. And some good news too - the weather forecast for the weekend was all clear.

We had booked the Heart of Kent Suite for the event so it was now time to set up the registration desk and get the T-shirts and RAT goodie bags organised. Oh and not to mention the three display motorcycles that were to be wheeled in. The new Thunderbird drew a lot of interest especially when someone placed a first prize sticker on it. For some reason that seemed to disappear fairly quickly...

With everything now done, it was time to meet our guests who had travelled from all over the country from the Isle of Wight across to Wales and up as far as Durham. Roland, a seasoned RAT, had even come from Germany. All in all 50 people were booked in for Friday night and even more were due on Saturday.

Registration complete and rooms checked into, it was time to have a quick shower and change of clothes followed by a well deserved relax in the bar, after a swim of course in the hotels leisure centre. After drinks and a chat and catching up with old friends we all moved into the dinning area for a sit down buffet. Poached salmon, roast ham, a variety of salads and other tasty treats were consumed in vast quantities before dessert of lemon cream tart and berries.

During dessert the quiz started, hosted by our very own Paul Brewster. Five rounds of six questions including food, film and of course Triumph motorcycles were called out - each round having a question which, if answered correctly won a small prize for everyone on the table. Did you know in 1907 Triumph built 1000 motorcycles? Not many did! After the quiz it was free time to continue chatting before some much needed sleep.

Bright and early on a wonderful sunny saturday morning, guests enjoyed a buffet breakfast and then it was time to change before the group photo and pre ride brief. The 50 guests from Friday were joined by many more for the main attraction - the ride. Three routes had been chosen that showed the Kent scenery at its most beautiful.

Eighteen bikes left on time for the longer route with a very friendly and obliging police motorcycle escort seeing them all out onto the A20; Peter Spowage from Help for Heroes had volunteered to lead this ride. Next to leave were the team of photographers from the club, they had selected places on route to take pictures as you went by. About 45 minutes later another twenty-four bikes left the hotel to ride the shorter route, which was still over 100 miles in length. Others riders decided to do their own thing and left at their leisure to ride around Kent.

Both the rides travelled along the A20 before splitting to meet at the Laguna Ashford Triumph shop for tea and doughnuts. Full advantage was also taken of the 20% discount voucher that Laguna motorcycles had given in the RAT goodie bags. Timing was excellent as the first group were just leaving as the second group arrived.

After refreshments the rides continued through some lovely countryside to meet in the small but charming village of Elham for lunch. Again the timings worked out a treat with both rides arriving at the same time. With lunch finished the longer ride set off again followed a little while later by the riders on the shorter route.

With all back safe and sound it was time to chill out and relax before the evening meal and entertainment. Around 150 people sat down for a meal of four courses; vegetable soup, chicken breast and fruit tart - not to mention the gorgeous cheese & biscuit selection, which went down well especially for those who had a few glasses of wine to go with it. Peter Spowage gave a brief but interesting talk on his next adventure 'The Great Escape Two'.

All fed and watered it was now time to dance the night away with the live band, 'Gherkin'. To complete the event there was a raffle during the bands' break and what good prizes they were. A Triumph watch, a new helmet and a commissioned drawing of your bike were just a few of the prizes donated to us. The hundreds of pounds raised during the raffle and sale of extra T-shirts will help support the Kent Air Ambulance and Serve.

Sunday was another lovely sunny day but all things come to and end so it was pack up pay up and make your way home but not before another buffet breakfast. For those heading west there was an escorted route avoiding the M25.

What more could we ask for when we had good company, good food and most importantly good riding and routes.

Thank you to all those who supported our first major event.

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