2026 Pioneer Run

Hi ABCers

Sunday 22nd March was the 86th annual Pioneer Run from Tattenham Corner near Epsom to Brighton City Airport which for the second time incorporated the Pioneer Plus class. Just in case anyone is unsure the Pioneer Run is the other big annual vintage motorcycle run in the UK for machines dating from the beginning of time to December 1914. In the last couple of years the organisers, the Sunbeam MCC, have decided that there was room to open up the event to machines dating from 1915 to 1930. And this year there was an extra special treat for the spectators on route as there was not one but two ABCs entered!

The ABC team on the day was made up of MD and WA piloted by Tony Crump and Phil Batten respectively. The ABCs were joined by Tony's wife, Kate Clark-Kennedy with her 1919 "Busy Bee" three wheeler. 
 

Arrival at the start was about 7am which with our scheduled start time around 9.30 should have allowed plenty of time to have a look at the other entrants. Not the case. By time the bikes and three wheeler had been unloaded, fueled up, the riders had signed on, brought a cup of tea, found the loo and answered all the usual questions "ABC, I have not heard of those before" etc, the two and a half hours in hand had gone in a flash and we were off.
 

The run itself has a total "official" distance of 43 miles with a compulsory stop around the 24 miles mark at the Leonardlee Gardens. This first half took about an hour to complete sticking to A roads all the way. Although there was traffic it wasn't too heavy and momentum was maintained. MD performed well and reached the midway point with the Busy Bee without any issues. WA on the other hand began jumping out of 2nd gear somewhere around Crawley which curtailed my fun on the numerous round-a-bouts as I had to adopt a 1st to 3rd gear change regime until the stop. At the stop a washer was removed from behind the 1st and 2nd gear detent plug which fixed the issue for the rest of the run. Once WA's gear selector was sorted there was just time to queue up for the complementary cup of tea or coffee (rider's choice) and a flapjack bar before we were off again.
 
 

The second half of the run was only 19 miles and was a touch slower taking about 40 mins to complete. The roads on this second half were still A roads but mostly single carriage way which meant a bit more traffic. At one point I found myself behind a column for traffic winding its way slowly down to the coast. When we went around the next curve I was unsurprised to see some old bike with a low Pioneer Run number holding everything up! As a rider on the event I was surprised to see that the attrition rate appeared quite high and there was a good number of machines on the side of the road requiring attention. Not ABCs of course.

The team got a bit split up on the second leg and WA arrived at the finish first with the MD and the Busy Bee coming in a few moments later. Once parked up and signed off there was plenty of time claim our complimentary lunch, a choice of a baguette, a cheeseburger or a toasty with either tea or coffee (I had a tea and a cheeseburger. I know but I don't care!) and talked to various people about both their machines and run experiences.
 
     

Was it worth all of the hassle and planning to attend this event. In a word "yes".

For me it was almost a three day event by time I picked up my hire van, got to to the start, did the run, returned the van and put everything away once home. But worth the effort it was so much fun to meet up with friends, meet new friends (please get in touch John) and ride through pleasant countryside. Will I do it again? I do hope so.