The Flying Gate Weekend has been running since 1997 and is held on the weekend after the August Bank Holiday.
Each year Gate owners and enthusiasts alike get together to ride, eat, meet old friends and make new ones.
All are welcome whether you have a shed full of historic examples or are just interested in the marque.
We have a different venue and ride organiser every year
The format is as follows:
Most of us stay in a hotel which we use as the HQ for the weekend, making sure that we have somewhere secure to store our bikes overnight. Others either find a local camp or caravan site and some people prefer to stay in local B&B’s, but we all come together for the Friday and Saturday evening meals at the HQ. The daily rides will normally start from the HQ as well. All bookings for the hotel, evening meals and daily food stops are made through the organiser, see contact below, who will send out booking forms and menus well in advance of the weekend.
Thursday: People start to arrive through the afternoon, check in, meet up and put their bikes in the bike room. Evening meal is informal, usually old friends eat together, but there’s always room at a table!
Friday & Saturday: Breakfast then a group ride out. Relaxed pace with mid-morning coffee/tea and an organised lunch stop with another stop for afternoon tea. Sometimes we stay more or less as a bunch, sometimes it all splits into one’s and two’s, but who’s counting?
There are usually two routes each day, one about 40-50 miles and another significantly shorter. There is usually a place of interest to visit during the rides
On Friday and Saturday evenings we have a (semi) formal group dinner followed by a talk, presentation or similar, sometimes a guest and sometimes from one of the group.
Sunday: A final group ride, culminating in a pub lunch, quite often a proper Sunday roast dinner. From there we try to keep the route short back to the HQ where we pack up and say goodbye to next year.
Many of the Gater’s work and so attend for the parts of the weekend that they can, often just the Saturday and Sunday. There’s no expectation and you’re welcome to come along and experience the idiosyncrasies of the world of the Flying Gate for a day if you wish. I should warn you, however, that most people make friends pretty quickly and for someone to not return year after year is rare!
To get yourself on the Flying Gate Weekend mailing list and be kept up to date on the arrangements please use the link below.
