Only a few hours left now!

The holidays have gone so quickly I have fiddled about with the bike, topping up the fuel so I don’t have to stop on my way over to Worcester tomorrow morning. If the forecast is to be believed, If I stop I would no doubt be turning back due to the cold.

The route I will be taking after leaving Monk Sherborne is to take a couple of back lanes to Ewhurst on the A339. A part of the journey that slightly worries me as it is the one section that will not be gritted. I will then take the A339 until it joins the A34 just South of Newbury, a quick run through town at around 8am should mean the road is pretty quiet. Then onto the M4 at Junction 13 coming off at Junction 15 I will then take the A419 and A417 until I reach the M5 at Junction 11. The run on the on the A roads, should be pretty good, however I have ridden these before and not enjoyed them one bit, due to being frozen solid. I don’t think tomorrow is going to be any better.

Once on the M5 it is a relatively short run up to Worcester. Thankfully when I come off at Junction 7 it is only a couple of miles to the Three Counties Hospice and the opportunity to thaw out. I’m aiming to get there about 10-10.30am. The RAC route planner says it is just under 100 miles and should take me around 2hrs 10mins. I am hoping to meet some of the staff, have a coffee and get some pictures taken before I head of back not much later than 11.30am.


One thing I have been doing over the holidays is buying in the sales and I have certainly bought some more thermal gear and a nice thin fleece that I can wear underneath my jacket, so hopefully it will help me stay warm, the other things I’ve been able to pick up quite cheap are a new camping mattress and pillow. Wishful thinking you might say but as soon as the weather warms up enough and is not torrential rain I will be camping. If we get to 10 degrees during the day and no less than 5 at night then I will camp thankfully I have the gear, one issue though is finding anywhere open, This is where the Youth Hostels and Universities come into play, I’ve had one offer from a South West University to host me, that I need to confirm pretty quickly now. If I am to stay on schedule I need to be hitting Cornwall, sometime in March at the very, very latest, much later than that will mean a lot of catching up later in the year.

I have been playing around with the Camera over the last few days as well as charging up plenty of batteries as I am hoping to take a small video of arriving and leaving the hospice. It really will be an experiment at this stage but it will give me some ideas for when I get the camera equipment from Mobotix to mount. My good friend Jay has been away over the holidays so I haven’t got his helmet cam yet, in fact when I spoke to him, he didn’t believe I was going to actually start tomorrow. Therefore over the coming weeks I will be I will be inundated with Cameras to track my progress.

Now to a serious message, I want to wish everyone that reads my blog a very. Very happy and prosperous New Year and I really do mean the last part. In this time of global financial turmoil I wish all of you reading a seriously good year.

Take care and as Mick says 'You don’t stop riding when you get old, you only stop riding when you need your head checking!'

Rain stops play, or should I say Floods!

Thankfully I got the message that the Cheltenham Santa Run had been called off due to lack of numbers, which is a great shame and an indictment of the current economic climate I suppose. It was also almost physic as I didn’t think it would have taken place anyway due to the floods of last weekend, which left a race meeting at Cheltenham called off due to flooding on the course as Pittville park is less than a mile a away I am certain it would have been under water as well.

It meant that I was able to do a couple of extra jobs on the bike, fitting the camera mount and wiring up the 12V auxiliary power outlet and Yes I did it right, you will find out why a bit later in this piece. It also left me time to venture into Festival Place in Basingstoke for some Christmas shopping, how I hate shopping! Especially when the place is packed with screaming kids and disgruntled parents, trying their best to work out what to buy. Me I enter shopping arcades like a man on a military mission, I know what I want and where I am going and if I can escape inside an hour I am one very happy shopper. I almost did it on Saturday 1 hr 20 mins for 8 presents.

Anyway I am jumping ahead of myself. The Mayflex Customer Christmas Party at The Gable in Moorgate, London last Thursday was an excellent night and I am very, very pleased that I took the following day off to allow me a lie in. it was good to see so many people from the industry together in one place, especially at a time when people are starting to worry about the economic climate. It also turned out to be a very good night for the cause with Brand Rex, Arthur McKay Building Services and The Pink Elephant Party all stating that they will support me across the year. I will add the Pink Elephant Logo in due course.

I was also due to be on Holiday on Monday of this week however the only chance we had to get a meeting with Acorns was on that day, so I rode up to Birmingham, starting off in the mist and the murk, it did get better but never really that warm, that said it was certainly a lot warmer than a couple of weeks ago. It all went very well until I was less than half a mile from the office, when I got the scare of my life. Just approaching the entrance to the industrial estate, I had a lorry in front of me that braked suddenly and turned right, obviously he had been looking for a specific road, all I did was touch on my front brakes as I had given myself plenty of room, right away the front wheel locked up and started to go away from me, thankfully with my quick reactions I let go of the brake and gathered it back up and straight with a bit of throttle. Basically with so many heavy goods vehicles go up and down that road and there is also a breakers yard as few hundred yards away meant the whole road has a covering film of oil, so any moisture means it is close to lethal for a biker.

Got the meetings sorted, covered off some work I needed to do before I left and then headed off back before the light went, or at least got started on my way. It was a nice run to start with, the weather was actually quite pleasant and even the roadworks around Birmingham did nothing to take the edge off. The only problem started when I got off the M40 and onto the A34 around Oxford, the dual carriageway is not the best and it was now dark and around 4.30, when some muppet decided he wanted to pull on from the slip road and go straight into the outside lane without looking. I decided right there and then to give him full blast of headlights and spotlights, I’ll teach him/her a lesson I thought. Then Darkness, Damn, everything appeared fine but my Headlights pack up and my heated grips stop working. Just what I needed on an unlit section of the Dual Carriage way with 40 tonne container trucks racing each other to get to Southampton Docks. I pulled over at the first possible layby, thankfully after a quick check it IS only my headlights that have gone, I still have strong running lights and my tail light is working fine. So I head off again with the intention of finding the nearest Services, I had guessed that I had blown a fuse, if it had been just the headlight I would have suspected the relay but with the heated grips going at the same time it gave me a clue.

I pulled off at the Milton intersection and into the BP Service Station close by, thankfully the lights were strong enough to allow me to change the fuse. Sounds simple, half an hour later I am rebuilding the bike, by putting the side panels and the seat back on, the remounting the pannier rails and boxes. The next part of the ride was quite straightforward all the way to Tadley, which is the nearest town to my Village just when I am relaxing as I am nearly home, it happens, the long scrape followed by a loud, Bang! but thankfully not to me. I didn’t actually see what happened but the Van that had been a few cars in front of me turning down a side road had been brought to an abrupt halt by a young kid on a scooter who had come flying out of the junction. The poor lad looked a right mess and I did stop for a short time but there was plenty of people to help that and the Police Station is less than 50 yards away meant the situation was soon under control. The one thing I did notice though, was this lad had no form of protective gear on apart from his helmet, his tacksuit bottoms and trainers were in tatters blood all over the place.

I used to do some Motorcycle CBT training in the past and the one thing that we used to drill into people was safety. Here is a fact all these kids on scooters seem to ignore. At 30mph if you come off without protection, you are going to lose one layer of skin every 3ft, as you only have 8 to play with, you are soon down to the soft tissue, that goes pretty quick, so by the time you stop you will pretty much be down to the bone. The only way to stop this, is to wear the right gear and believe me the right gear works, I came off in North Wales a few years ago and I slid 60ft down a wet road and got up and walked away with just a few scuffs on my boots a broken press stud on my jacket and damaged pride.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you stop riding when you don’t wear the right gear!

Thanks Again !

Due to work commitments, and then playing Taxi to my children once again, I’ve not been able to do much over this last week. Apart from sending off begging emails at regular intervals. Unfortunately most of which have fallen on deaf ears, particularly those to the major Oil Companies. Some of these guys really do need to listen to the words of tracks such as ‘A thousand trees’ by The Stereophonics. I have to admit I haven’t listened to it for a while, then heard it on the Chris Moyles Show on Friday during his Golden Hour and it’s been on my MP3 player ever since. In fact listening to the track as I write. I’m even thinking of sending Chris Moyles a quick email to thank him for his show getting me think of this track again.

What it means to me in this context is quite simple something so small as a match or a very small donation can have such huge impact.

OKAY enough of the deep stuff.

Thanks once again to Andrew Stevens of CNet Training, not just for the initial sponsorship, or even the great plug at the BICSI pub club meeting, which lead to additional donations from the two guys from ERICO, but the invitation to the Cinnamon Club in Westminster, London, WOW what a meal!, that plug is for free.

As I mentioned, the latest batch of begging letters has had mixed results. A large number of ‘knock backs’ with various reasons most saying they had committed their funds already. I did receive two offers of help though, one from Scottoiler and the other from Anquet maps. Scottoiler have provided me with a selection of oils and protection spray along with a device called a Crampbuster which acts a little like a cruise control device.

As far as Anquet Maps are concerned they have agreed provide me with a series of Maps at a substantially reduced price, however I am going to have to talk to them in more detail to see. As I finish this chapter off, some further great news has arrived with the news that one of our partners Mobotix have agreed to provide a significant contribution to the cause. They are also planning to provide a digital camera so I can take footage of the ride across the year. Watch out YOUTUBE here we come.

A friend of mine has just come around with his ‘spare’ helmet cam for me to use, but I am loath to mount it on my helmet, I actually fancy mounting it on the front forks, on the rear top box, in fact I am planning to try it in a few place around the bike. I knew when I started this update it was going to be short and sweet, the next few days are going to be busy with both work and heading off to another Acorns Santa Run, So!...

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you stop when you get frozen solid’

Frostbite is optional!

For those that were either out of the country or on another planet, yesterday, Saturday 29th of November, was not a nice day. It also coincided with the first of Acorns Santa Runs in Brindley Place in Birmingham, I had promised Sanjay that I would attend and bring along one of the cheques I had already received.

Well I did make an attempt, some might say brave others may say stupid, I should have believed the forecasts and stayed in bed. I had spent Friday night fettling the last few things turning the bike around in the garage so I could just ride it straight out, putting a few more stickers on the panniers, basically just making sure I could just get going without messing about. I got up just after 7.00am and looked out of the window, still dark and murky, with the sunrise not due until 7.45am I was planning to get going just before 8.00am. I got myself sorted, even had time to make myself a flask of tea to take with me, which I promptly broke as I banged the base to hard as I put it down on the floor as I got the bike out of the garage, the garage floor now has a big tea stain to got along with all the oil and other muck.

Anyway I got going just after 8.00am so many layers of clothing on, I felt like the Michelin Man, the heated grips at full power and I didn’t feel too bad. I should have realised that this little trip was not going to work out well when I broke the flask. And the next problem was not far behind. I had to stop for fuel in Tadley, about 5-6 miles from where I live, unzipping the tankbag off the base to get at the fuel filler cap, I found that when it had been in for service they had not put the base plate back on properly and I had to fiddle around and adjust it into the right place to get cap off, in doing so I didn’t take the tank bag fully off the plate, being lazy well the strain was too much and I broke the zip which meant more messing about after I had filled up.

Finally I got going through Aldermaston Village on to the A4 and then onto to Junct 12 of the M4 at Theale the weather was miserable, still not fully light and that drifting Fog that makes driving a nightmare, you start to build up some speed and then you round a corner or come down a hill and you then hit a thick bank of fog that slows you right down. In these conditions it heightens all your riding senses. With the dampness on the road surface, diesel spills stand out like a big Bear Trap just waiting to catch you out if you let your concentration drop for just one second and boy it seems every roundabout I came upon had this thick line of Diesel right through what would have been the optimum riding line. I wish drivers particularly commercial drivers took a bit more care and didn’t overfill their fuel tanks.

I was now later than originally planned but thought I could make up the time and still get to Brindley Place before the first group of running were sent off at 10.30am. I left the M4 at Junct 13 Chievely and joined the A34 for the run north to the M40. It was here I started to encounter my next problem, this time with my new helmet, particularly the visor which was misting up really badly despite being fitted with a Pinlock anti-mist insert. Earlier in the week I had taken a great deal of care fitting it exactly as per instructions. It left me with what could be best described as Tunnel Vision which required a couple of unplanned stops to clear the heavy build up. This was compounded by rolling banks of fog, which was causing the traffic to slow quite badly at times.

I soldiered on and despite the knowledge that I was now going to be late and would miss the first run, there were 3 starts planned for the morning and I would get there whilst things were still going on. I found the faster I went the visor would not mist up as much, so when I got onto the M40 I thought I could maintain a constant speed, just above the legal limit (honest) and that would hopefully make up some time. However by now I had been riding for nearly an hour in temperatures just above freezing and with the wind chill factor of riding at speeds in excess of 50mph, it was starting to take it’s toll and I was very tempted to stop at the Cherwell Services for a good warm up, I thought no I will press on, I’ll be okay. (Idiot! Pride over brains).

Just after the turn off for the services I started to notice how the temperature was dropping, at least my core temperature was and my fingers were getting colder despite the heated grips being on full power. As I approached Banbury I was starting to feel as if I wasn’t going to make it, as the forecast heavy fog for the Midlands was first encountered, okay it wasn’t that heavy but I started to see the build up of moisture on the screen of the bike and drops of water falling away from the mirrors and brush guards. It was now 9.45am and despite the fact that the traffic flow was not slowing, I just felt I was getting later and later, and colder and colder. As I approached the Gaydon turn off the fog was really starting to build up but what was more worrying was what had been moisture dripping off it started to stick to the bike and build up a bit like a wet slush. It was at this point that I deemed that enough was enough. I was starting to get really cold, I couldn’t feel my feet anymore and my finger tips were starting to be painful. So with a sense of failure I turned round set off back home.

I was still cold but I wanted to get home and into a hot shower to warm up so I pushed on past the Cherwell Services and back down the A34 but as I went past the first Oxford turn off I thought I had to get something warm into me and remembered a good biker haunt on the A415 near Dorchester (Oxfordshire) Fox’s Diner. Even hardy bikers get into there even when the weather is as bad as this.


The above picture was taken on nice warm day obviously. Along with a nice Bacon Bap and a large mug of tea inside me I felt a lot better and I started to thaw out. The nice people running the place allowed me to put up a poster advertising the Charity Run and I even bumped into people I knew. The picture below show some of the new mods and stickers and was taken on the Diner forecourt.


When I finally got home, I turned the heating up as much as I could and stood in a hot shower for about 20 mins before I felt I had thawed out. I will make another attempt in a couple of weeks time when the Santa Run is due to take place in Pittville Park in Cheltenham. I then spent the afternoon fixing the zip on my Tank Bag and writing some more ‘begging letters’.

The one positive out of the day was ‘My Baby’ ran faultlessly all day and the trip of close to 200 miles did take the odometer to past 40,000 miles.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you stop when you get frozen solid’

Thank You!!!

All that time spent writing begging letters has really paid off handsomely. Thanks must go to a number of companies for taking the total committed to over £1,100 and a number of others promising to contribute but to date have not given me a committed sum if we keep going at this rate we should hopefully exceed the overall target by the end of next year.

It would be remiss of me not to mention them all now. Firstly CNet Training has been very generous with a donation of £500 closely followed by FineLine Labelling Ltd who came up with £300 JNC projects have committed £100. Then outside the IT industry. The helmet manufacturer ARAI through their UK distributor Phoenix have offered a significantly discounted price for a new helmet and on this basis I will therefore commit the difference to the Charity. I won’t give the exact cost of this, however let’s just say that ARAI are not only the best they don’t come cheap.



This last couple of weeks hasn’t seen as much work done as I had planned however time is moving on rapidly, it is only a couple of week away from a couple of the Santa Runs I am planning to attend on the bike. I’ve fitted some extra parts to the panniers, these are water bo9ttle carriers and an emergency fuel can, this could be vital as I have a habit of pushing my luck as far as fuel is concerned. This 2litre Plastic Can will give me an additional 10-15 miles.

I’ve got a load of stickers to put on the bike this coming weekend, the weather doesn’t sound that good but I’ll get the heater on in the garage and get stuck in (no pun intended).

One thing I have done and it may sound a bit crazy and ahead of the game, but I do intend to start camping out as soon as possible. I spent the weekend going through my camping gear, sorting out my stoves, cooking gear. Washing my sleeping bag, sorting out the blow up mattress, yes at my age I do need one of these and although they can be a bit bulky and weigh more than a roll up foam mattress, I believe a good night’s sleep will be vital.

One of the reasons why the preparations have slowed down, is quite simple. WORK. I was away all last week from Sunday evening through to Friday Night on a course at CNet Training This week I am on the road with meetings in the North of England, so once again I am writing this from my hotel room. One of the benefits of being away on a course last week was the hotel I was staying at had both a gym and a swimming pool. A real bonus and it allowed me to really work hard on my fittest levels. I feel a lot better for it and I worked really hard and have been dieting on top of that, but I haven’t seen the weight come down but I do feel a lot trimmer and the old belt to tighten by one more notch.

One of the next elements I need to achieve is to plan my first ride from Calshot Castle, I am hoping to do it over the weekend after New Year, but given the probability of bad weather or at least wet weather. I am planning to stay at a Youth Hostel, I just need to work out which one will be best. I( have done a bit of a test run last year along this section and I reckon I will reach somewhere around the Bournemouth/Poole area so I will be looking for one around there and hope it is open.

With a bit of luck I am planning to get quite a bit done in the coming week, I will have too, when I think about it I am only 5 weeks away from starting this endeavour and time has really flown by in the preparation, out of that 5 weeks, there is Christmas and at least one weekend when I will be riding up for one of the Santa Runs at least. Therefore I only have 2-3 weekends to get things completed. I though I had absolutely loads of time, now I’m thinking I won’t have everything lined up before I start and will need to play catch-up, it should be okay, given the first few sections are relatively close to home but not the way I really wanted it.

Take care and as Mick says ‘Don’t panic, just get on with it!’

Begging Letters!

A lot of the weekend was spent with a combination of route planning and writing begging letters, when not playing Taxi Driver to my children. Anyone with teenage children will know what its like, unfortunately there is no one to share the task with, when they come to stay with me every other weekend. The only problem being my Daughter is into Horses and works at livery yard whilst studying this means some very early starts. My Son on the other hand is mad keen on Golf and whilst I used to have a pretty low handicap (5) he is going to be way better than me but it does mean he is at the course and range from dawn till dusk at times, especially last weekend when he had a tee time at 8.00 and he wanted to be there 45 mins before to warm up. Now that wouldn’t be too bad, but the destinations are both about 10 mile away and whilst not in opposite directions, they are certainly not the same. Then at the end of the day the reverse is required. I timed it out one week and it was nearly 4 hours of my day spent running them about on the upside we do tend to have good conversations whilst driving around, I’ve banned their iPods in the car, I got fed up of the silence in response to questions or grunts.

The route planning is moving on at a pace the first book of 100 pages of route is now complete and it takes me from Calshot to a place call Halton Quay in Cornwall, quite close to St Mellion That has taken me the best part of 20hrs to do that work. Print the pages off, check and trace out the route, then double check that some suspect parts are actually legal to ride. As I have said previously I will use the closest legal highway or byway to the coast at all possible times. You will also see from the picture below, there is a question over the definition of coastline and I have chosen not to cheat, so I will trace out the tidal estuaries a closely as I can.


I thought I was doing really well until I had a look at a map of the UK, and it just went to show how far this really is. I’ve worked out by my calculations it will take me approx 3 days, 6-8 hours a day riding to get down to St Mellion. By following all these routes as closely as possible, given some of the roads I will be on and how twisty they are I reckon my average speed will be less than 30 miles an hour, taking into account stops and comfort breaks etc.

I have had a quick look at some of the other sections and thankfully there are long stretches were the main A road is the closest to the coast and I will be able to pick up some speed, in fact most of the North Cornish Coast from Land’s End upwards is covered by major highways, the only problem would normally be traffic, however I am planning to do these sections early in the year, well outside the main holiday season, so I should be okay there.


I starting off calling this piece ‘Begging Letters’ well I’ve had my first response, one from Ordnance Survey, giving me bad news. Something I expect from most of them, however ‘if you don’t make the call, you won’t make the Sale!’ They were very pleasant but basically stated that their sponsorship budget for the year was already committed. Still haven’t heard back from Wightlink Ferries yet and they were the first ones I got in touch with.

To be honest whatever I get is a bonus, I just want to reduce my costs and in turn the level of support Mayflex are giving, they are being very good and flexible in allowing me to do this. Churlish as it may sound, a lot of organisations wouldn’t even think about supporting one of their employees to do this never mind, provide the support of the Marketing Team to get it off the ground, quite frankly without them I would not be as advanced in the planning or have the whole challenge looking as professional as it does.

Okay Guys, I know you’ll be reading this and I am not creeping, I really do appreciate the help!

Well for another week I need to sign off and get back to some real work. Hopefully the weather will be better next weekend and I can get the bike out of the Garage and I can take some photos of the work I have been doing. That is if we haven’t floated off by then, the flooding in the lanes round by me, threatened to cut the village off today, it certainly stranded our Postman, whose van conked out in the middle of a flood.

Take care and as Mick says ‘Hey up, Father!’

Navigation Trials!

Don’t get used to all these updates, it isn’t going to happen all the time, it’s just that I was stuck in a hotel last night and they only had the Liverpool game on the television, don’t get me wrong I am into football but watching Liverpool isn’t top of my list.

If anyone wants to think I am a Ewan wanabee, sorry! I’ve been doing this sort of thing for a long time, okay I have not done what he has achieved but sorry I have to work for a living.



This picture was taken at the Coast 2 Coast Rallye in 2002. The ford is North of Bowland Bridge in the Lake District. The event is a 2 day Navigational Trial that starts at Flamborough Head and ends at Roa Island near Barrow in Furness. The route takes in the North Yorkshire Moors, before an overnight stop in Hawes at the top of Wensleydale, then an early morning start to ride through the Lake District and including a very exciting run over Hardknot and Wrynose Passes.

The whole event is a bit like orienteering on a motorbike 4 mandatory checkpoints on each day, with a total of over 100 points to get to over the two days. I came 5th in 2002, and 3rd in 2004. Unfortunately due to lack of numbers it was cancelled in 2005, the organisers had less than 40 entries so decided it wasn’t worth putting in all the effort to mark out all the routes and checkpoints. A great shame as I used to really enjoy that event. If anything I think that part of my desire to complete this task is based on the enjoyment of discovering new and interesting routes.

I promise to give some info on the equipment I will be taking with me or riding in.

Personal: During the Colder times, shall we say I will be wearing various layers, from Puma Compression shirts, you see the Rugby Players and some Footballers in, through to good old M&S Thermals and then a cycling jersey on top. On top of which I will have my Hein Gericke, Tuareg suit. (which has a slight oddity, the Goretex weather proof layer is a detachable inner liner, so usually the outer jacket becomes totally sodden but I stay dry). I then have a Giants Industries, waterproof oversuit if things get really nasty.

The Boots: a trusty old pair of Gaerne Motocross style boots I’ve had them for over 5 years and they are just about broken in. Waterproof if you don’t go paddling in fords, like the above image.

The Helmet: someone once said to me you either have an Arai or a Shoei head, and that is so true, I wear an Arai TourCross (TX) it is so comfortable it is amazing. I can’t even get a Shoei to fit and a helmet fitting correctly is probably the most important piece of your gear.

Gloves: I have a selection but my favourites and the ones I wear the most, even in deep winter, with the heated grips set at maximum are my 661 Winter MX gloves, a set of thin MotoCross gloves with a neoprene inner layer, they are so flexible but still warm.

I reckon during the complete ride the boots will probably last, the suit also. However the gloves will need replacing but they are quite cheap. My fear is my Helmet. I have had it almost 5 years now and that is about as far as it goes but at £300+ a go it is not cheap.

Take care and as Mick says ‘I started off with nothing and have most if it left!’

Route Plannning

I’ve alluded to the challenge I have been having concerning planning my route. The following is an example of the problem I am facing the following two images will give you some idea. If I look on Google Earth the route highlighted in yellow, it appears as if it is a single track country lane.

Now if you look at Google maps, it doesn’t actually exist, according to them or so it would seem.

However if you look at an Ordnance Survey, Landranger map of the selected area, it is identified as a Byway Open to all Vehicles, which means it is legal for me to ride and like a lot of things, ‘The truth is somewhere in between’.

This has meant the ‘inspired discovery’ of last week is not as useful as I first thought.

Now here goes, I spent a wet weekend working two computers, on with the OS website up. Then my laptop in dual screen mode, one which showing G Earth and the other showing G Maps. It seems like it is a bit over the top but it has stopped me from going down a couple of dead ends. One in particular looks fine on G Maps but it would have meant having to having to back track some 5 miles even on the Ordnance Survey site it appeared as if it is okay, only on G Earth can you really see the detail that the road involved tapers out as it runs by the Sea and it is obvious that the road has been washed away and never fully restored.

I’ve now mapped the route from Calshot to half way up the Dart estuary, in Devon not that far really, however it has taken 80 A5 pages to achieve. Okay that sounds excessive, my alternative is to use OS Landranger Maps, that small section alone would have required 7 separate maps, at an average cost of £6 each. If I were to add up all the Maps required for the complete route it comes to a total of 125 without taking into account those needed for Northern Ireland. So if I was to buy all those I didn’t have in my existing collection I am still short approx 115 or nearly £700. The other problem being the waste, have you ever opened a Landranger Map, on some of the sections I would have a huge map opened and folded just for just a few miles, its just not practical.

So I now have an A5 ringbinder with plastic inserts with each one with a couple of sections of the route.

For all those that think I might be a Luddite I tried again to program my GPS to the level of detail I wanted and! Yep! it would take me absolute hours to program it to the detail I need and, in fact it actually missed the Byway I first started talking about on this copy of my Blog, okay it is old, but it is and has been a faithful servant but it would have sent me miles out of my way.

So unless I can blag the latest and greatest software update for it, which still doesn’t guarantee me success, my trusty printer is going to be working overtime.

Take care and as Dangerous Brother One says ‘Keep the shiney side up!’

The Starting Point

The Ceremonial start will be from the 3 Counties Hospice in Worcester on January 1st but the real work will start from Calshot Castle in the following days, weather permitting. From here I will be travelling westward, by doing this I am hoping to hit the tough part around and off the West Coast of Scotland where 60% of the challenge lies in early Summer, hopefully giving me some decent weather. I know, I know it’s a long shot but I’ve got to try.

What I haven't decided yet is whether to take a detour when I get to Lymington and jump on the Wightlink ferry to the Isle of Wight and do the coast of the island, or leave it until later, looking at the map it should take no more than a day. Part of the planning phase will now include contacting all the Ferry Operators I will potentially use and see if I can get some free travel from them, or at least a heavy discount, in return for which I will carry their logos on the bike as a supporter/sponsor. At this rate it is going to look like a mobile advertising hoarding.

The last time, I promised some information on the bike I will be riding (My Baby)

She is a Honda XRV750 RD07a built and registered in 1998. I have had the privilege of owning her since the beginning if 2002. Since that time I have completed over 20,000 miles, fallen off a couple of times, both in extreme weather conditions one of which was on a dirt track in North Wales, both times they were thankfully at slow speed. I have also been knocked off once, in the Lake District by some dumb woman who didn't look or indicate and was obviously too blind to see me before pulling across a road. Thankfully I almost anticipated what she was going to do, due to the mobile phone she had in her hand, unfortunately I didn't spot that until too late but it did allow me to start to take avoiding action which saved me and the bike from suffering more serious damage, this said she did spend a week in the care of Nick Robinson having certain parts replaced at her cost. (that ended up being an awfully expensive phone call she was making)

I talk with great reverence about the bike which you will find is common amongst everyone that has owned or ridden an Africa Twin. Since production ceased in late 2003 it has started to gain cult status, with adverts appearing for people looking to buy good copies not just sell them.

The Original XRV750 was launched in December 1989, being based on the 3 time winner of the Paris-Dakar Rallye, the NXR750. There was a major redesign in 1993 which brought about the RD07 and the final version the RD07a was released in 1996. It is seen as probably the most reliable bike Honda has ever built.

Some basic specifications: these are manufacturer's listings, My Baby has had some tweaking done over the years, to improve the mid-range performance, she is not a lot faster but she does get there a whole lot quicker than just about any other copy of the bike I've come across.

Engine Size:	742cc
Engine Specification:	6v V-Twin
Power:	62bhp
Some stats show 61bhp or even 60bhp the modifications on mine have increased this, to in the region of 67bhp (A very subjective measurement really as what really matters is the power at the back wheel, standard is 52bhp, mine 56bhp)
Torque:	46ftlb
Weight (unladen):	202kg
Fuel capacity:	23 litres
Ave Fuel consumption:	38 mpg
Tank Range:	190 miles

Next time I will add some information on the equipment and clothing I will be taking with me. Some of which will have to be upgraded or replaced across the year, as well as an update on whether my begging letters to the Ferry Companies has some effect.

Take care and as Mick says 'You don't stop riding when you grow old; you grow old when you stop riding!'

Snow! ........ SNOW?!

Like a lot of the country I woke with a bit of a surprise this morning and it made me think, starting this escapade on January 1st may not be a good idea if we have a bad winter on the way. I can wrap up against the cold and I have fitted heated grips to the bike. But it is the icy road conditions I am not looking forward to even riding as safely as you can it is still a major task staying upright, as I can tell you from a previous experience in the Italian Alps, when we came upon a stretch of about 1km of mountain pass that was blocked to cars due to a small avalanche but was passable on the bike but the frozen slush was lethal and even riding with my feet off the pegs like outriggers I still dropped the bike in slow motion 3 times before I got through.

The Snow also made me think that the work I have been doing over the weekend on route planning will come into it's own in months to come. I have a bit of a conundrum here and it could be really helpful if someone out there knows more about programming a GPS from my computer. I understand the basics, however the amount of detail I am going into means it may prove to be too big a task and may be simpler to use good old Ordnance Survey Maps with the GPS for back up and checking.

It is not like the 'simple' way most people use their GPS in their car, which I have to say in my opinion has led to more accidents on the road due to wrong directions than you can imagine. I even heard one woman talking to her friend in the supermarket some months ago, about how she had programmed in the best route to get her beloved children to school, for Pete's sake, some people should not be let out on their own.

What I am trying to do is trace out the route on a map on my PC then upload it to the GPS however it is proving to be far from straightforward and downright fiddly.

With this in mind I spent a lot of time at the weekend going through my maps and in the end, I decided to have a look at Google Maps, which turned out to be somewhat inspired. I have been able print out large sections of the route I plan to use. This has proved to be another area where paper wins over electronics, maybe it's just me or the version of MapSource software for the GPS I am using but it just doesn't seem to go down into the detail I would like to see which means I lose some of the spatial awareness I am used to when looking at a Map. I am certain I will find a way around this, but all hints and tips are most welcome.

I've even thought about investing in a Road Book, which is basically a small box with a roll of paper in it, driven by small electric motors. Used by the guys that compete on the Paris-Dakar, similar to what Rally co-Drivers use it takes a bit of time to set up but once you do, they are pretty good, one downside, THE PRICE, having had a looking on the Touratech site recently when ordering some bits the first decent one starts at £260 and then you have to add the cost of the roll of paper and if you might like to ride at night, or at least after dark, which is a distinct possibility in the first few months, you have to buy a lighting kit, basically two bits of wire and a 12v bulb with instructions but Touratech still want to charge you the earth for it. I swear all their prices went up as soon as Ewan and Charlie used some of their kit. Great Kit, shame about the Price and the Customer Service. I am even thinking of making my own, I have some sheet Aluminium in the garage, I'm quite good with the soldering iron and I have a Maplins 20 minutes away. We'll see but £260 is an awful lot of fuel for the bike, in fact about 10-11 tankfulls. The Africa Twin has a 23 litre tank and at today's prices of around a £1 per litre. The paper map is winning again.

For those that like statistics I will comprise some details for the next edition of the Blog, when I will outline the specifications of the bike. And therefore how many times I will have to refill and how much it will cost me to do the route, excluding camping and accommodation at Youth Hostels on the way round. I can also give an estimate on the amount of tyres I will go through and I will use at least one set of Sprockets and Chains.

Take care and as Mick says 'You don't stop riding when you grow old; you grow old when you stop riding!'

Extreme Gardening

Now the bike is starting to look pretty good, last weekend was spent doing some basic test fitting of the panniers and the complete removal of the old and redundant graphics on them and the bike to make room for all the potential sponsors, it may seem like wishful thinking but if all those that have said they will do something actually come across, it will make a huge dent in the target.

I didn't get to do as much work done on the bike as I had planned at the weekend I will have to do some catching up in the evenings now, as each week goes by the start date gets ever closer, obviously.

Now for the reason for the title, I had read somewhere that chopping wood and heavy gardening was a good way of getting fit, well it turns out I live in an old gamekeepers cottage surrounded by a copse and over the last year or so some of the trees have got rather out of hand as well as some of the older and more diseased ones need to be felled. With this in mind Saturday morning saw my good friend Jay come around to help me with chopping down a couple of trees and trim back a couple of others, as I would have to lop some of the branches 25-30 feet up, I needed some safety cover. When a major branch decided to twist back and knocked me off the ladder it proved a very good idea, thankfully I had a safety harness and had strapped myself to the tree, so rather than falling 20 feet, I just dangled there for a moment before Jay got the ladder back in the right place for me to climb down. I got off very lightly in the end, with just a couple of bruises, far better than the broken bones that might have stopped this project before it even started.

By Sunday evening at about 6.30pm whilst standing looking at the glowing embers of the bonfire, I knew I had been in a very tough workout, parts of me were aching that I had long forgotten existed. My shoulders and arms ached right through until Tuesday night, carrying round 20kg lumps of wood and raking leaves generated a good sweat a got the blood pumping. It was certainly an interesting option to a visit to the gym. To give an idea on the amount of work that went in, there is an image of one area part way through the felling and before the bonfire was lit, the other indicator is the fact that I have had to go out and buy a new chain for my chain saw, it wore out, I couldn't sharpen it anymore without it losing teeth. This coming weekend will be some more of the same, to clear up the last couple of trees that have been felled but not cleared up. The added benefit apart from getting fit, is when the wood dries out properly in 6-12 months time I'm going to have between 2 and 3 years of wood available for my fires.

I still have the new Cockpit Dash to paint and fit, the dash will allow met to fit a couple of additional gadgets to the bike including an additional power outlet so I can recharge my laptop batteries whilst I am on the move. The next item to source is a RAM mount for my camera, I've seen a couple but it's going to a bit of task finding the right place to fit it, to make sure that I get the right line of vision, as with most digital cameras these days, it give the option to take some movie files, so it will be nice to see what it can do.

On the subject of Cameras, that good friend of mine who came around at the weekend rides in Enduro competitions, it turns out he is about to invest in a new Helmet Cam and is going to let me have his old one for the duration of the ride so I will be able to provide even more footage than I originally planned.

The Press release has now been fully signed off and Sanjay of Acorns has just let us know that he has been speaking with BBC Radio WM and they are talking about doing a weekly piece on my travels around the UK. This is getting serious no turning back now.

I will now start sending out the Press Release along with a covering email to all those companies and individuals that have said they will support the fund raising and gain their commitment as well as any logos they want to mount on the bike. One of the organisations I will be sending the info through to is The YHA, who have said they will post it on their website. Given the time of year I am starting this endeavour Youth Hostels are going to come in handy. And any additional publicity as I go round them will be useful.

Now where's that damn list, there must be something I can cross off ---- more later! and in the words of a good mate of mine. 'You don't stop riding when you grow old, you grow old when you stop riding!'

Some Statistics

Just to clear up a few points, some statistics on just what this ride is going to entail:

The UK's coastline is long in comparison to the UK's area and to the coasts of some other, similar sized countries; - the length of the UK coastline is around 12,500kms or 7,760 miles. We estimate (piece of string!) that it is about 5000 miles around the coast of mainland Britain - excluding all islands.

Around 60% of our coastline is located in Scotland and the off-shore islands.

It is around one and a half times longer than the coast of Italy - 7,600 kms.

It is more than three and a half times longer than the coastline of Spain - 4,964 kms.

It is more than five times longer than the coastline of France - 3427 kms

The coastline of China is 15,273 kms long.

The coastline of Greece is even longer than the UK's at around 13,600 kms. The reason being that in common with the UK, Greece is made up of many islands.

(stats taken from Wikipedia)

Starting Point

It is now one week since the meeting with Acorns and the enormity of the challenge is starting to sink in.

From what started as the simple task of adding a bit of meaning to a long held ambition, the whole project has started to gain a life of it’s own something like trying to hold on to a wild animal by the tail. Okay over the last couple of years I’ve ridden sections of the coastline and realised how big the end task could be. That was done over Bank Holiday weekends etc, when it was a relaxed case of ride as far as I can get before heading home. It is now something with an end goal and Acorns or more importantly the children are in some way relying on me to complete the task.

The meeting with Sanjay of Acorns brought a couple of key points into perspective. Firstly how much it actually costs to run one of the Hospices just for one day as well as how much they rely on volunteers. It is almost criminal how little funding comes from Central Government. The other point was the fact that to date, out of the all the children that have been an Acorns Hospice, none have lived long enough to enjoy the experience of leaving home to go to University or College an added reason for visiting all the Universities that are close to my route.

I now have a major checklist over my desk at home, some of the items relate to me and some relate to the bike and the rest include things like route planning, getting the right maps etc.

To Do List

1. Service Bike
2. Check Camping Equipment
3. Renew YHA Membership
4. Remove old Graphics from Panniers and Bike
5. Arrange new Graphics
6. Complete Press Release
7. Review, Donation Website
8. Arrange Doctors Appt
9. Arrange Dentist Appt
10. Arrange Opticians Appt
11. Update GPS info
12. Check Personal Clothing & Boots
13. Prep and paint dashboard plate.
14. Fit dashboard plate to bike.

This is just a brief snap shot and is certain to be developed further.

I intend to camp wherever possible but as I am starting in January, I thought it wise to renew my YHA membership as they have the majority of their lodges and camping barns around the coast and I can use them to get a shower, a warm bed and dry my gear when needed.

Last weekend saw me working on the bike in beautiful sunshine outside my cottage, is the weather just teasing me? As soon as I need to get riding in earnest we are going to having the wettest and coldest period in the Uk’s history. The images show that quite a bit of work has been done to the bike and thanks to Nick Robinson Motorcycles in Turgis Green near Basingstoke it is in tip top condition.

This coming weekend will be about fitting some additional equipment to the bike so I can keep this Blog running even when I am huddled up in my tent. The dashplate will allow me to fit additional power outlets and mount a couple of extra switches.

Don’t expect major works of prose each and every week, however I will be reporting on my progress in as much detail as I can, having ridden huge amounts of the UK, there are areas of staggering beauty out there. If anyone wants to join me out there for sections of the run as I go round just give me a call or check on my progress map to see where I am going to be next.

-Paul