The recon missions had been run, locations chosen, maps organised and the cabby shined. The public's appetite had been whetted for weeks in advance by forum banter - but at last Saturday night had come!
I arrived at Pola's pad, having brought Jeffers from Southend, and diverted to collect Leanne from Gatwick en route. After some sitting about, the anticipation became too much to bear, so we piled outside to the waiting cars. After confirming my suspicions that the cabby would not be happy with 4 people on board (due to the ongoing tyre/arch conflicts), Pola was convinced to open his wallet and fire up the VR.
Upon arrival at Heston services, we found a lonely Rocco in the car park. It was Slugga, sitting there desparately hoping that people would turn up! But he needn't have worried - within 15 minutes the carpark was full to the brim with well turned out dubs, resembling a mini Guildford meet.
Once sufficient pictures had been taken, the group departed in two halves to try to avoid unwanted attention from the law (as well as pesky ricers!). The initial run down the M4 was great fun, with all the usual convoy japes. The route was pretty straight forward, but as always, someone up front took a wrong turn and the rest of us followed like lemmings. The other road users looked on bemused as a queue of dubs pulled off an outrageous u-turn in the middle of a busy London street!
After it all though, the quality of Slugga's maps shone through, and we arrived on Southwark bridge. It was already busy, but once the convoy had fully arrived, it stretched right across the Thames. Everyone jumped out of their cars, and as always the cameras began clicking and complete strangers chatted like old friends. The atmosphere was supurb, and although a couple of people started hooning back and forth, they soon stopped once the organsiers had a quick word.
Next stop on the agenda was the Embankment - just opposite the London Eye. This proved to be the prime picture spot for most people and my new tripod also proved it's worth. It was a little bit iffy as most of us were parked illegally, but the passing coppers just slowed to admire the scene, saw we weren't creating havoc, and passed on.
At this point, some of the contingent headed off home, but not for us hardcore dubbers! We headed back over the river to park up behind the Eye. The few late-night tourists that were there starred as we pulled up again, parking were ever we could. This was a more chilled out part of the night, and the clicking of cameras was replaced by the chatter of mates. Glen took the oppertunity to show off his LPG conversion Golf, and I took the oppertunity to put the hood up on the cabby.
By this time, the stomachs were growling almost as much as the sporty exhausts. The last blue line on the map led down to the 24hr McDonalds in Wandsworth, so we started to depart. I managed to keep Pola in sight (best seats when he blitzed a Celica GT4 repeatedly) so I had no trouble finding the route. Slugga and Glen were less lucky and went for a small detour round Brixton instead!
But they eventually made it, and after tucking into some quality food, it was time to make our way back across london and homeward - arriving back in Southend at 5:30am. An awesome night - congrats to Slugga and Stef for sorting it out.
Words & pictures by Tris.