No-Rice Convoy & Photoshoot

Stanmer Park, Brighton
30th August 2004

  
Following a late night of fitting buckets & harnesses, it was a beautiful blue sky that greeted myself & Pola as the racer sped down the A3 towards Guildford - the meeting point for the annual No-Rice convoy and photoshoot. We arrived at Ladymeads to see lots of familier smiley faces, and a host of maticulously prepared dubs. The event organisers, Nicky & Alex, were looking a little anxious about the low turn-out - but they needn't have worried; 30 minutes and a strawberry milkshake later, forty or so VWs exited the car-park to begin the jaunt down to the coast.
The short run back up the A3 to the M25 was quite a spirited affair, with the convoy becoming a bit disjointed at first. Once we joined the London orbital, the stragglers caught up, and the convoy fun began. Overtaking, undertaking, waving, etc. all took place, along with some fun sights along the way... two of which stick in the mind: the cute girl with an inflatable donkey in her passenger seat (!) and the boy'd-up Fiat Uno that came passed us, encoraging Pola to show them that the new buckets and harnesses weren't just for show!
Once off the M25, the convoy relaxed as Brighton approached. Russ was still performing fly-bys in the Cupra-R with the video camera mounted out of the back window. Tim was still making enough of a racket with his straight-through exhaust to be heard a good half mile back - inside the racer! Then there was Bruce, who appeared out of nowhere in the Polo to merge with the rest. Up to this point I had been in the passenger seat, busily capturing the action on camera. A quick pitstop later and I was in the driving seat, blasting down the outside lane, looking for the train of dubs ahead.
Following the map Nicky had provided, and remembering getting lost last year, the racer entered Stanmer Park. We were met by a single Bora, wondering where everyone was. Our little group parked up by the path to watch the main body of the convoy roll in. Pola took to the roof of the car to get some better shots - a position he seemed to maintain for most of the day. Once the rest had arrived, Slugga took charge and organised the group into a decent display - with the land banking slightly towards the back, it really looked cool. This was the cue for the photoshoot to begin.
We spent several hours in the Brighton sunshine chatting, chilling and photographing. Nicky had organised a show & shine, which was won by a gorgeous purple mk1, with Tim's jade green mk2 in second and Russ' Leon grabbing the bottle of Bud on offer for third. New No-Rice recruit Becca turned chauffeur to take Slugga, Pola, Jels & I to the local Asda to purchase lunch... consisting of sarnies, sweets and a pork pie. Awesome! As the afternoon wore on, the racer went walkies round the park, with Jelly at the wheel, and various peeps hanging out of doors, sunroofs etc. Pola even tried his hand at surfing on top!
With the afternoon getting on, a group of ten or so cars left Stanmer, heading along the coast to Jelly's place in Eastbourne. You have to wonder what his neighbours thought as his small close was filled with modified dubs! Following some drinks, ginger cake and Sam showing off the wonders of GPS, the guests drove off for some dinner at the pub on top of beachy head. The view was breath-taking in the early evening light, enspiring the group to partake in one final staged photoshoot.
As the local-boy, Jelly knew just the place: a bay a few miles along the coast. The run down there was more than spirited, with the silver Polo up front showing us some excellent back roads. We arranged the cars quickly and stood on the beach swapping stories of irate women in people carriers, and Jelly's attempts to get airbourne over the level crossing. It was a great way to finish off what had been an excellent day out. Congrats to Nicky & Alex for organising everything, and thanks to Jelly (and his parents!) for the hospitality.
Words & pictures by Tris.