Desert Rose at The Ace Cafe

Desert Rose attended the Ace Cafe’s Overland and Adventure Bike Day, a chance to catch up with old friends, chat about bikes, share stories about adventures and plan the next trip, course or ride out. It was great to see such a range of bikes in attendance. We were delighted to share the car park with big adventure bikes, GSs, Africa Twins, Harleys, Trikes, sports bikes, R1s, GSXRs, Triumphs old and new, a couple of side car outfits, supermotos and of course a couple of C90s. Everyone we spoke to was interested in the Desert Rose Riding Academy and the idea of learning to ride off road, or improving existing off road skills.

THE ACE CAFE, A POTTED HISTORY The Ace Cafe was established in 1938 on the then brand new North Circular Road surrounding London. It was a simple roadside Cafe catering to travelers, particularly truckers. With its proximity to Britain’s fast arterial road network and being open 24 hours, the Ace Cafe soon attracted motorcyclists too. In world war two, the building was badly damaged during an air raid on the adjacent railway marshalling yards. The post-war increase in road traffic and advent of the “teenage” phenomena saw the Ace booming, and with it, the arrival of the “Ton-Up-Boys”. The British motorcycle industry was at its peak, and along came Rock ´n´ Roll. Not played on radio stations, initially the only place it could be heard was at fairgrounds or on jukeboxes at transport cafes. The Ace Cafe is a biking landmark.

Paul King
20th March, 2022

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