Sarah George – My First Rally

I’ve known Sarah George for decades, meeting her on various local rallies and rideouts. She’s the driving force behind Area 51 Scooter Club, she organises two of the biggest events in the local scootering calendar, the Boxhill and Bulldog Run rideouts. She also masterminded the first Southern Counties Scooterist Alldayer this summer, which is due to return next year. All of these events raise much-needed funds for charities which are close to Sarah’s heart, including the National Bulldog Rehoming & Rescue Centre and Worthing Cancer Unit.

Like many of us, Sarah got into the scene in the 1980s, and has not looked back since!

Sarah George – My First Rally

How did you first get into scooters?
It feels like a lifetime ago, but my first experience came from my mum. She was a biker in her younger days so after picking me up from school in the late 70s, she took me down to the seaside as there were a lot of bikes about and wanted to show me. It turned out they were being used in a little independent film and it backfired for my mum as there were also a few scooters there and it was them I fell in love rather than the bikes! I only found out the name of the film two years later, it was Quadrophenia, and no I only remember seeing a couple of scooters, nothing else. After that I remember riding my Raleigh Chopper around and pretending to change gears. I got my first parka when I was 12 and that was it.

What was your first scooter rally?
My first rally was Brighton Mod Rally in June 1984 – I was only 13 and I walked to it!

It was great, I saw loads of people I knew and also met lots of new faces who would become lifelong friends. Most camped on the lopsided Dukes Mound at Black Rock, but as I only lived up the road I went home each night.  I had a pair of army greens with my light blue scooter jacket, and they looked enormous on me as I was very skinny.

As it was my first rally I didn’t realise you could buy patches, but at least I took my 110 camera with me so I have photographic evidence! I remember the smell of two stroke and the noise of the engines, and I knew this was for life.

Did you have a job at the time?  
I was doing a paper-round and I was also working in a restaurant, washing up at weekends. The weekend of the rally was my mums 50^th so they gave me the night off and I utilised it. I had enough money to get into the marquee, where the bands were playing, and two drinks.

Were you in a club at the time?
No, I hung around with Southern Inspirations SC but I was not in a club. We were more known as the Churchill Square mods as there was nowhere else to go, except the Cavern on Wednesday nights.  I became a skinhead when I was 14, which I preferred, and I still do.

Do you have any memories of the rally itself? 
I remember that weekend sitting on the beach on Saturday lunchtime with my cousin Tina, a friend Kirt and a guy called Damon. Damon wouldn’t go out with me, so I sat on him for two hours until he did! I even have photographic evidence which my cousin took. Fag in my gob, Jam t-shirt on and army greens, so classy!

What scooters did you ride back then?
My first scooter was a Primavera that I bought for £10 as it did not have a kick start, plus I was not old enough to ride her, so sold her for £40. I then got a PX125 built by Eddie Holland, which had bits of what was left of Rainbow Valley. She never let me down going up to the rallies. I went through a bad period in 1988 when I lost my mum to big C. I was only just 18 and scooters just weren’t interesting any more.

I grew my skinhead out and pretended to live life, even getting married. But, as you can imagine, a couple of years without two stroke is not good for you so I took my full licence in 1994, bought a brand new PX200 and have never looked back.

Do you remember what your favourite rally anthem of that period was? 
I loved Boogaloo Investigator and Interplay, but I will always be a Madness nut and my all time favourite is Disappear from the Absolutely album.  

What was your favourite custom scooters of that era?
Worlds Apart and Sign of the Snake were my favourite scooters.

Do you still have a scooter now?  
In 1999 I bought a GP200 for £200 and still have her now, along with my PX200 I bought in 2002. I joined Area 51 SC in April 1999 and have been in the club ever since, and I’ve been the Number One since 2004/5. I have only ever been in one club.

Would I buy an auto? Absolutely, if my arthritis gets too bad. I would love an Vespa APE, but would have to sell one of mine…so not yet!

What do scooters mean to you now?
I love the feel of riding, and I’ve been riding for so long I can’t imagine not doing it. I’m lucky that my husband loves them just as much as me, so it makes it more fun. My son Joe went to his first rally at three months and was on the back from the age of four and a half.

He’s not a lover now though, which is a shame. Scootering brings together so many people and I have made so many friends over the years. I can live without the piss ups as I get older, but I can’t live without the riding. Area 51 SC is really important to me, as are the people in it. We have some great guys and I love them to bits.

Scooter Gifts

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Rally Guides

Rally Guides
If you’re planning your scootering calendar for 2021 then check out my 2021 Rally Guide to get the best choice of accommodation.

For an in-depth guide to the biggest scooter rally in the world, here is a link to my Isle of Wight rally guide.

More My First Rally stories

Read more My First Rally stories using these links (in alphabetic order)
– Ali Richards
– Bill Mac
– Dave Lloyd
– Dean Percival
– Dizzy Holmes
– Iggy Grainger
– Jo Jackson
– Lee Parker
– Lee Richards
– Mike Oxley
– Niamh Pennington
– Nick Jolly
– Norrie Kerr
– Roger Williams
– Sandra Smith
– Sarah George
– Sean Robinson
– Stacey Gardner
– Steve Bone
– Sticky
– Stuart Owen
– Vince Wooloff