17 th September 2014 ; The last hints of the early morning mist were still drifting past the main hanger doors as I took the key out of the 1200RT . All was quiet across the concrete apron at East Kirkby , home of Lancaster NX611 , ‘ Just Jane ’ who sat safely and securely behind the massive green metal doors at the front of the main hangar building to my left as I looked across the airfield . It was 8.30am on September 17th 2014 – I was , as I had been planning to be for months , the first of the Dambusters2014 Charity Riders to arrive ! But what if I was the only rider to turn up ??? What if all the promises to be there and be part of the 2014 ride on the internet were just talk with no follow up ?? How would I explain just me arriving in splendid isolation when I arrived at Arnhem in two days time for the 70th Anniversary Commemoration of Operation Market Garden , the largest airborne assault of all time ?
I need not have worried as just a few minutes later my fellow riders began to arrive , some who had ridden with us in 2013 , others new to ‘ Dambusters ’ for 2014 . That said there was an instant camaraderie between all the riders new and old . Even though many of us had not met before we had all been in conversation via email , Twitter and Facebook in the weeks and months building up to the ride itself and so friendships and a common purpose between us all had already been firmly established .
After the obligatory ‘ Team Photo ’ with all our bikes lined up under the nose of Lancaster ‘ Just Jane ’ we set off from East Kirkby towards our destination , the John Frost Bridge at Arnhem and the official commemorations of the 70 th Anniversary of the famous but ultimately unsuccessful Operation Market Garden , the ‘ Bridge too Far ’! First bike out of the gates was fittingly a British icon , a Norton , ridden by Red Arrows pilot Flt Lt Stew Campbell who had joined us for the morning ! There was no set route for the riders , with small groups and partnerships making their own way and plans until the next ‘ official Dambusters2014 rendezvous at The Airborne Museum at Oosterbeek set for 10am on the 19 th September 2014 .