Right, you lot, time to dust off your leather jackets, open-face helmets and goggles, kick-start your British classic into reluctant life and get back in touch with your inner Rocker.
But don’t panic – you’ve got until September to polish your Alt-Berg classic boots, fold a pair of white wool socks from the local Army and Navy Store over the top and get yourself some Brylcreem.
That’s when the Ace Cafe is having its 28 th annual reunion, a three-day celebration of the coolest biking venue on the planet which also marks the 21 st anniversary of its reopening in 1997.
For those of you who’ve been living on Planet Zog for the past few years, the Ace is an old transport cafe on the North Circular Road near Wembley in North West London.
The original cafe opened in 1938 and closed in 1969. Mark Wilsmore organised the first Ace Cafe reunion outside the building in 1994, then reopened the cafe itself in 1997.
Obviously it doesn’t have a poncy French acute accent on the e of cafe, because that’s, well, poncy and French, innit.
There are now Ace Cafes in Finland, Switzerland, Beijing, Barcelona and Florida, but the coolest and best is still the original, as I found when I called in for a mug of tea and the best bacon butty in the known universe at the start of my round-the-world ride for the book In Clancy’s Boots.
Anyway, where was I before I interrupted myself? Ah yes, the reunion in September.
It’s spread over three days of jollity between Friday September 2 and Sunday 4, both at the Ace itself and on Madeira Drive, Brighton.
The Friday and Saturday evenings at the Ace have live music, rideouts and special guests to be announced by Mark closer to the time.
On the Saturday morning, there’s a rideout leaving the Ace at 10.30am to All Saints Church in Hanworth for a Blessing of the Bikes at noon by 59 Club Chairman and motorcyclist Father Sergiy Diduk.
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The 59 Club was originally started by All Saints vicar Reverend Bill Shergold, a keen motorcyclist who visited the Ace Cafe in 1962 with some trepidation to invite the bikers there to attend a service and blessing of bikes, since bikers had a dodgy reputation at the time.
At 10.30am on Sunday September 4, a rideout leaves the Ace for a grand gathering on the seafront in Brighton, waved off by the Mayor of Brent.
When they get there, there’ll be live music and nosh.
“See you at the Ace, and in Brighton. Rev up and ride with the Rockers. Strictly no deckchairs!” said Mark.
And if you need some music to get you into the mood, December is the 60th anniversary of that classic biker single Just For Kicks by Mike Sarne.
For details of the September bash, keep an eye on london.acecafe.com.
