Bright & Breezy: The Brighton Breeze 2014 - Part One: Epsom

It's October, and for some of us it means bedtime for our Buses and Bugs as the leaves flake and fall gently onto the floor resulting in a messy, damp pulp come mid November. For others, it may mean finding a new winter coat for themselves and more importantly their beloved classic VW. Although, with all the fun and sun of the Summer firmly behind us, for a thousand plus VW owners and several more fans of the iconic car, it only seemed fitting to roll out their pride and joy for one last time before the Autumn/Winter seasons start to roll in and the nights slowly creep up on us.

Father and Son, Doris & Lennon.

Friday night, swiftly after a week at VW Heritage marked the start of The Split Screen Van Club's very own Brighton Breeze event, starting in Epsom, Surrey and culminating in a relaxing cruise from the Hook Road Arena down to the legendary Madeira Drive in the seaside city of Brighton, East Sussex. For me, it meant heading home from work and travelling up to Epsom before a reasonable hour to collect my ticket and pass for the destination and the run itself with my family.

We decided to rest my car, Lennon in a bid for the Saturday morning run. After all, my boy covers 350 miles per week so it only felt fair to play passenger and below par rally co-driver with my parents in Doris, who hasn't had a solid run since Stonor Park in June earlier this year, which we contracted wicked food poisoning the night before.

Stage one on the way to Epsom with nothing but an iPhone for a Sat Nav was always going to spell out T-R-O-U-B-L-E. All was well until we actually hit the town of Epsom, which according to my supervisor is renowned for 21 bars in the same high street (a town I would to visit properly, if you know what I mean...) and the Sat Nav took us to a house supposed to the arena. Never fear, a 25 minute detour and moderate levels of arguing, some raised voices, and grovelling to my sister on the other end of the phone to get us to the arena via Google Maps was no trouble and we arrived at the Arena in good time.

As my mother and I met the organisers, signed up, and received our pack and pass for the run, my dad proceeded to take a piss... for 20 minutes. After some chatting to the guys with the Split Screen Van Club about rides, the day ahead and the strong turnout we found my dad who was hitting on an ex-student of his and his girlfriend to which we got along well with after introducing ourselves, especially as they were local to myself.

Blazing sunshine for Epsom! 

So Friday ended well, I didn't decide to camp as it was likely I would turn into an ice cube and there may have been a 50% I could have shriveled into a wrinkly, sullen version of my former self.

Join me tomorrow for my antics on Saturday where it was wet and windy, hot and cold, and the weather was just as unpredictable as taking a Beetle out for a Sunday drive.

Doris, the trusty steed succeeded in her duty once again!