Ride-out to Rykas Cafe ~ 26th July 2009
Rykas Cafe at Boxhill, near Dorking in Surrey, has been a meeting place for bikers since the 1920s and is still one of the top bikers cafes in the U.K. On a sunny Sunday, there can be 500 bikes or more visiting the cafe. However, the day we went to Rykas, was not a sunny Sunday! The forecast for the Sunday was for plenty of rain and I guess that the thought of an early 8 a.m. start to ride 350 miles in the rain was enough to put most people off; as a result, the ride was poorly attended.
Three bikes and riders pitched up for the dry, early start from Cardiff West Services and we waited there a while for those people who had earlier indicated that they might be coming. With no more people showing, we headed off along the M4. The obvious route to Rykas from South Wales is a blast along the M4 and then around the M25 to the Dorking turn-off; however, as you know by now, the Bevans R.A.T. Pack doesnt do much riding on motorways, so after approximately 45 miles we turned off to ride the remaining 130 miles across country. Our route took us along the old A4, through Calne, past the White Horses carved into the hillside, past West Kennet Long Barrow and on to Marlborough. From there we dropped down the A346 to Burbage and then via a series very minor roads through the delightful Hampshire countryside, through the villages of Oxenwood, Fosbury, Upton and Ibthorpe to Hurstbourne Tarrant. With the roads and weather perfectly dry all the way, this was a beautiful route. We passed through villages where 90% of the buildings were thatched, we saw an old steam car driving past us in the opposite direction, and we saw the signs for the British BBQ Championships and much more besides.
From Hurstbourne Tarrant, we followed the B3048 and then the B3400 through Whitchurch and Overton to Hook, near Basingstoke. It was as though time had stood still for 60 years or so as we passed through these villages several were decorated along their main streets with colourful scarecrows. However, we had made such good time on these deserted roads, that we couldnt find any cafes that were open for our coffee stop! We tried one in Hook that I knew from the time when I lived there, but that was closed. We tried the local Tesco store, but they have subsequently done away with the cafe in favour of more retail space. We eventually pulled into the Raven Hotel in Hook where we were successful, but as we rode into the car park, Bob announced that he had got a puncture in his rear tyre! We set to with a plug repair kit and a pump and soon had the puncture repaired so Bob was in the chair for coffees all round! From Hook we set off through Farnham and then via B-roads through Elstead, Milford, Godalming, Cranleigh and Ewhurst, to meet the A24 which took us the last few miles to Rykas, at the foot of Box Hill.
Although the weather was not sunny, the rain had held off for the entire ride to Rykas and was sufficiently bright to have attracted a sizeable biking crowd. The car park contained some pretty exotic bikes (not to mention the woman with the hot pants and legs up to her armpits!), including an old hand-change Norton, an Egli-Vincent, a brace of Vincent Rapides, a Black Prince and lots more besides.
Rykas is well-known for its burgers, so we all had a healthy meal of burgers and chips outside in the extensive grassed surrounds of the cafe. (Photos are now in the RAT Gallery on this site).
The journey home was via a different route, using the fast A31 around Guilford and down to Alton, then the A339 past Lasham airfield, before taking a series of B-roads and minor roads to get to Andover. From Andover, we crossed the Salisbury plains through Ludgershall and Upavon to Devizes and then on to our coffee stop, high up on Derry Hill. The weather had stayed dry for the first 100 miles of the return journey, but from our vantage point on the hill top, we could see that this wouldnt last much longer. Sure enough, we met the start of the wet road surfaces at Chippenham and then ran into the rain proper as we joined the M4 at junction 18 for the run back to Cardiff, where we subsequently learned that it had been raining all day! Fortunately, the rain was not heavy and we arrived back home, still dry, at around 6 p.m., having ridden about 350 miles.
This had been a splendid days riding, where the emphasis had been on the ride itself; the venue was of secondary importance, but was nevertheless a top bikers cafe. Now lets see.......weve done the Ace Cafe, the Ponderosa Cafe, Rykas Cafe.....I can feel the Busy Bee Cafe and The Cat & Fiddle coming on!
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