As seen in 100% Biker issue 247  

Now in a change for me, I curtailed my usual Good Friday visit to Wheels day and Horsham to brave the Badlands of Berkshire for the Thames Vale Vultures Berkshire Egg Run. I have known of this run, since the TVV were first started back in the early noughties and even they are not sure if it’s the 13 or 14th run.

This meant a quick shopping trip to purchase some hollow chocolate comestibles as those previously purchased I had either given away as trophies at my show or to grandkids although I am reliably informed by my good lady some had evaporated.

It will come as no surprises the curse of Berkshire soon came back and I was very lost in seconds and I had thought that me and Berkshire had made up at last and become friends. Thankfully a pair of bunny ears was spotted on another rider’s helmet and ever hopeful I followed to the meet point.

At the start there were bikes everywhere, taking over most of a trading estate, it was estimated over 800 bikes were there with a lot of scooters too. With the warm, note tabloid newspaper “phew what a scorcher” headline most riders were desperately seeing shade and the ice-cream van was doing a great trade.

Eggs were being stored in a huge van before taking to their destination meaning they no longer had to be precariously tied to backs of bikes. Apparently, the final egg count was over 6600 which is a tremendous total, the TVV having been collecting at various retail outlets prior to the event. I’m sure every diabetes nurse and dentist in a 5-mile radius was looking forward to the custom.

While hiding from the heat, I bumped into friends who haven’t met in ages, oh you will know our new bike they say, it looks like a mobile nail bar which is a very fair description of a very bright sparkly Honda Valkerie, but a neat little 50cc trike near it was getting a lot of attention I was lusting over a green z650 almost identical to what I used to own , minus a big dent in my tank. I am not also sure quite why Elvis in full on Vegas suit was on the ride either, but it made us smile.

Considering the number of bikes, the ride was superbly organised, with a real smooth flow of vehicles, though all the lights and junctions, it may not have been that far, but it was fun. In fact the marshalling all told of the event was superb, though maybe one outside the trading estate to let people know the way to the start may help.

But being surrounded by scooters I arrived at the reading rugby club in a big haze of two stroke. Once again everyone dived for the shade under the trees or joined the queue for ice-cream, honeycomb for me thanks, keeping up my motto of “live to ride, ride to ice-cream”.

All round a brilliant day out, I wish I had done it a lot earlier, it really was one of the friendliest rides out I have taken part in.