After last year’s try-out, organisers Sunbeam MCC declared the final destination for this year’s Pioneer Run would be Shoreham Airport (Brighton City Airport for younger readers).
Understandably, in this, the 82nd run, those who have ridden many times before have fond memories of the original finish on Brighton’s Madeira Drive, that long ribbon of surfaced road with its own contribution to automotive history. Sadly, city traffic and the organisation of its progress were proving ever less compatible with ancient motorcycles. The road to the airport is far less frenetic. Another change has been with the calendar, the Pioneer is now the event that essentially marks the close of the riding season rather than the start, when it was usually staged around the time of the spring equinox.
With so many other upheavals, it’s hard to gauge the effect those changes to the Run have made, but entries were still some way short of the 300
