Time for a little two-wheel fun at Bike Shed London 2018, held in the wonderful Tobacco Dock. It’s been a while since I last visited this event, so when the chance of snagging a VIP/Press preview ticket came up I jumped at the chance. Turning up early Friday evening I wasn’t expecting such an eager queue of excited people. Pennington Street was awash with low-slung jeans, Redwings and checked shirts. As I waited for the doors to open I chatted with others in the queue. While a selection of riders cruised by on a variety of bikes, giving a taste of what was to welcome us inside.

The Sunday of our little LA trip was another early start to get to the Long Beach Hi-Po Swap Meet for its’ 06:00 opening. This swap meet has been running for over 30 years, although we’ve not been going for anything like that long. It takes place at the Veterans Memorial Stadium. While it’s not on the scale of the Pomona swap meet, it’s become world-renowned for its content of antique, vintage, classic and high-performance cars and parts for sale, usually at lower prices than Pomona too. It’s a must-visit for any hot rod, muscle car, street rod, classic car enthusiasts. This months event happened to fall on mothers day, which explained the smaller than usual crowds and vendors. With the lower visitor numbers, there were a fair few bargains to be had.

On my recent trip to LA, I managed to visit the famous Donut Derelicts breakfast meet in Huntington Beach. While this has been a breakfast I’d wanted to visit for a long time, I’d never managed to get there on previous trips. This time I was determined to not miss it, even though it meant a very early alarm. This event has been running every Saturday morning since February ’85 in the parking lot of Adams Ave Donuts. Enthusiasts from all over gather to enjoy a doughnut, a cup of coffee and the spectacle of street rods, hot rods, classic and speciality creations.

Bank Holiday Monday and another 911UK drive down to Rye for breakfast. We knew the roads wouldn’t be quiet as the early May bank holiday is synonymous with the Mayday Run which sees 1,000’s of biker make the run down the A21 to Hastings. The sheer number of bikes is always an impressive sight, but we decided to meet up earlier than usual to get a head start on our journey down to the south coast.

Beautiful weather teased out quite a few people for the May edition of Exclusively Porsche, which meant it was going to be a busy meet-up. I arrived a little late and was greeted by a throng of stunning Porsche’s and a few other classics for added interest. From Simon Moore’s beautiful 356 coupé, Toby’s 912 and a few 718’s representing the flat 4’s and various air-cooled 911’s plus a brace of watercoolers representing the flat 6’s – there really was something for everyone. It was also nice to see some other classics joining in the summer sun, such as the wonderful Triumph Herald and Paul Campbell’s 1953 VW ‘Zwitter’.

We were blessed with glorious sun for this months 911UK Kent breakfast meet at the Toby Carvery, Badger Mount. Given that it was the same day as Bister Heritage Sunday Scramble there was still a great turn out. While most were water-cooled later models, two guards red 80’s air-cooled 911’s graced the car park with their presence – one of which was still driven by the original owner. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to chat with him, but I’ll try and catch him at another event. Once again I found this group super friendly, welcoming and I left having made more new friends.

The third Sunday of the month means it’s time for a little jaunt over to East London’s Fish Island for Porsche Club GB’s R20 ‘Out East Porsche Meet’. This time Max and I hooked up with some Ding Dong Kinky Disciples in Chislehurst for pre-breakfast coffees and to cruise on over to the north side of the river – it’s safer for us south-Londoners to travel together. As the others left our meeting point I was held up at traffic lights, so decided to take a shortcut, hoping to catch them further up the A20. My shortcut must have been a good one as I arrived over at Beachy Road, E3 2NS a good 5 minutes before them.