So this experience was actually Alex’s Christmas present…from last Christmas!
Alex finally got round to booking it over the summer, and it turned out, we both weren’t free on a Saturday until September – it’s crazy how busy summer can be.
So on Saturday we made our way down to Redhill, got a taxi from the station to Priory Events, on Sandy Lane (it was pretty cheap, only about £7 each way), and arrived at The Barn ready to sign in early and kit up.
We had a quick briefing in the Lambing Shed, where we were kitted out with helmets and safety glasses, before heading up to the field to be briefed and get going.
There were 9 of us in total in the lunchtime group, and after a quick briefing from our instructor we were set off on warm-up laps (one at a time, but three per group). Whilst not on the track, we were waiting and watching picking up tips, talking about how good people were. And taking a couple of selfies…
Obviously the first lap is always a bit iffy – we were told how to go about the war up laps, which cone were stop cones (you had to stop the quad and double tap the cone) and which to weave in and out – but it was scary getting faster and learning how to control the quad. OK, not that scary, I was just listening to all the tales about people who couldn’t control their quads and rolled (apparently, not good quadbikes!).
Alex’s slow and steady start…
Alex and I got faster, coming off the warm-up laps a little more confident. Next up, three laps with the seesaw finish, which were awesome – a tad scarier, but I was so proud when I got over it safely! Alex seemed to be a pro at this straight up, whilst it took me couple of laps to get to grips with it.
Alex became a pro at the seesaw really quickly!
Finally, we did timed laps – everyone got two goes round the lap for this bit. It was so fun, finally being way more confident, it felt like I whizzed round! Everyone did better on their second timed lap than their first, with the instructor reading out our times once everyone had finished up. Alex came second in the group – I couldn’t believe it! – and I came close to bottom – how? haha. I think my adult fear got the better of me, but I did feel like I was going super quick.
Me getting ready for my timed lap (above) and finally nailing the seesaw first time…
On our way out, we got to watch a group of people trying out the archery experience, which looked pretty awesome. This is definitely something I want to give a whirl.
Priory Events is only roughly 45 minutes outside London, and is super easy to get to, so is close enough for an afternoon out. They have so many activities I think we’ll definitely be going back. Although I did think we’d get longer on the quad bikes, it was still a fab experience and one I’d highly recommend.
Have you done any big experiences recently?
Chloe xx