Finally !!!!

I got real lucky yesterday and was able to make it over to the 3 Counties Hospice in Worcester. I got a weather window just long enough, in fact apart from the wind that was a problem at times, the weather was pretty good and the ride back was a great pleasure up until the part when I was washing the bike down and it started to rain again. I would really like to thank Fran Winterbourn, the Fundraising Manager for meeting me there and showing me around.

I did follow the planned route listed below and the first section from my village up to the A339 at Ewhurst did prove to be the tricky part as I expected, I took some footage using the helmet cam and it gives an idea of the conditions, although it is not the best due to riding into the sun, at the same time it has to be viewed with the sound off (noise from the vibration and wind roar is too much), but hey! It was the first time I’ve used it so that first section is an experiment. It does show some of the flooding and mud that had come off the fields with the heavy rain on Friday night and early Saturday morning. It was a pretty uneventful ride to be honest, apart from the gusting wind which reminded me why I didn’t like the A419, it is down to the fact that in places you are quite high up and with the wind yesterday it is quite tough, I did have one occasion when I relaxed a bit only to be caught by a sudden gust that pushed me into the outside lane of the dual carriageway, I had been planning to pull out to overtake a van so I just let it go, thankfully there was no one travelling faster than me coming up on the outside.



The visit to the Hospice was both uplifting and heart rending at the same time, seeing the common area and some of the children playing with their parents, cannot leave you with anything other than warm thoughts about what the staff and volunteers do, then the teenage common room makes you smile, they have put signs up and are very clear that it is theirs and off limits to anyone else. But the most telling part for me and I am not ashamed to say made me well up and proved a real battle for me not to break down completely, were the two rooms they have set aside for after a child dies, they have special bedrooms where the body can stay until the funeral and the family can visit. Even the thought as I write of seeing the small cot and the crib alongside it in one of those rooms is bringing tears to my eyes. That visit alone has made me more determined than ever before.



As the weather was that good I decided to come back using a different route and I am glad I did, it was great fun. Basically the route was, Pershore, Evesham, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, Witney, Abingdon and then down the A34 to Newbury, then retracting the morning route along the A339 to Ewhurst then back through the lanes to home.



I set up my other digital camera, a Fuji Finepix S1000 for the ride to Pershore and again it worked pretty well, apart again from the sun and the sound level, due to its design the microphone is on the side and the wind noise on the footage is too much, so next time it goes out with me, I’m going to use some tape to block the mike off, I’ve also worked out the problem I had with the helmet cam was vibration so I got a work around for how it mounts that should make it better next time. I will also look to put the footage up, again without sound.

As I arrived in Pershore the footage will show another guy on an another Africa Twin, again he had added a couple of tweaks to his, if he reads this, sorry I didn’t stop and had to push on as I had someone coming around to collect some old parts during the afternoon. During the whole ride The further I went during the afternoon the nicer the conditions got, It was then that I decided to really take the long way home, by going through the Rissingtons and Barringtons going past the old RAF base at Little Rissington, well really it is at Upper Rissington and now a business park like so many other RAF bases. But first I went through the beautiful village of Broadway and then up to Broadway Tower which is one of England’s outstanding viewpoints and, at 1024 feet (312m) above sea level, it is the second highest point on the Cotswold Ridge. Built in 1799, it is a perfect example of an eighteenth century Gothic folly from which it is possible to survey an area which includes as many as thirteen counties. The views encompass the Vales of Evesham and Gloucester and on a clear day you may also see across the Severn Valley and as far as the Welsh Mountains.







As I got down near Burford the clouds started to build and the sun disappear, straight away I could feel the temperature drop so it was time to really push on, then on the quick blast down the A40 just as I am passing a couple of cars I glance down at the tripmeter to see how far I’ve travelled I think to myself, I’m getting low on fuel, no sooner I start to work out where the next petrol station than the engine starts to miss and I lose speed, a quick fumble around behind my left knee and I located the fuel tap and switch to reserve but in the seconds it takes to do this my speed has dropped from close to 80 down to less than 60 and the cars are coming past me again on the inside. Thankfully as soon as the fuel gets through I’m back up to speed I know of a big Petrol station at a set of lights on the road from Witney towards Abingdon and pull in there to fill up.

The roads were pretty clear and when I got on to the A34 I was really able to open it up, from Abingdon to home in less than 30mins, not bad when you consider it is 32 miles. I’m really glad I got back when I did within 20 mins the wind is picking up again and it completely clouds over, all of which was a pre-cursor for one hell of a storm overnight which took out the power for 2 hrs. Just as I was settling down to watch ‘Match of the Day’ so it was an early night whether I wanted to or not.

As you can see from the final photo, the bike was in a filthy state by the time I got home and I just had time to wash it down before the first of the rain started I even had to push it back into garage so I could dry it off and spray it with some protection treatment. One thing I always try and do at this time of the year is to clean the bike as soon as possible after a ride to ensure I get not only the grime but mainly the salt off.



It feels a bit a strange writing this chapter of the story the roads taken through the Cotswolds are probably some of the furthest from the actual coast this challenge is all about.

I usually sign off with an adaptation of something a friend of mine uses to sign off his emails, one of Mick’s other favourite sayings is ‘I started off with nowt and still got most of it left’ I mention this, as I have been listening to an album by a Blues artist called Seasick Steve, he is an American that was pretty much discovered by Jools Holland, he appeared on Later with Jools Holland and then at Glastonbury, he now lives in Norway and is on tour in the UK at the moment. Well his latest Album is called, ‘I started out with nothing and have got most of it left’ It’s well worth a listen if you have heard him. He also plays a guitar if you can call it that, it is a wreck from a junk store that only has 3 strings but boy can he play it.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you just enjoy it more!

Finally... Let’s try again

Also the weather is also set to be pretty good, okay it’s going to be wet where I live to start with but it is going to be significantly warmer than it has been so far this year. So it is all systems go for this coming Saturday the 17th of January.

I’ve not been resting on my laurels though, I’ve continued to chase down potential sponsors as well as tinkering with the bike. One of the major challenges is going to be mounting and getting the Mobotix camera working on the bike. I have a few ideas and but getting what is fundamentally a camera designed to be mounted on a building and powered over Ethernet working on a motorbike is going to be an interesting challenge.

On the subject of cameras I will have two others for use on the ride one mounted on the bike handlebars and the other on my helmet.

It is an Oregon Scientific unit that is powered by two AA batteries and uses a SD card to record up to an hour of footage. It’s actually pretty light and I can’t really feel the additional weight on the helmet, the one thing don’t know yet is how the wind resistance will effect it when riding at speed.

One up side of the illness is the fact that it really gave the weight loss an in turn the fitness program a real boost, overall I have now lost over 8kg or 16lb since starting, which in turn has led to approx a couple of inches off the waistline. Part of that is down to no alcohol for the last 2 weeks and I don’t know how long I can keep that up, especially in this industry.

The added benefit of the weight loss is the fact that I can do some light running these days, I’ve had a long term injury on one of my knees, that dates back to when I was playing Rugby but I aggravated it last year playing Cricket and before you laugh I was the leading wicket taker for the club last season, so there! Anyway back to the point I went out for a bit of a run last Sunday morning with my dog and I took my small camera with me, the next picture will so you why, however the best part is when I got back my knee felt fine, so the rest after the cricket season the training in the gym and now the weight loss, has meant my knee while not brand new certainly doesn’t ache the way it used to after exercise.

Until next week when I am hoping to not only get some photos up but also a small video clip.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old; you get old when you stop riding!

Well!.... Best Laid Plans and all that jazz

Only hours after I wrote the previous update, I was hit with the dreaded Flu Bug and yes it was Flu and not Man Flu or a Cold, I will keep it simple, I have never shivered so hard in all my life, in fact I shivered so hard it hurt, I even pulled a muscle I was cramping up so much, that was then followed by burning up for the next 3 hours.

I am not going to go into any great detail about spending 3 days in bed, it’s bloody boring.

I have however spoken with the local Fundraising Manager for the area, Fran Winterbourne and arranged for a new date of Saturday 17th of January for the re-start weather permitting, this cold snap has to finish sometime.

Just before Christmas I did an interview for a local newspaper, okay it is only a free one but still they have featured my story on the 2nd page, in fact main pieces in the whole Newspaper and takes up almost the full page. Lisa from our Marketing Department is now sending out another batch of press releases to the West Midlands Press to see if we can get them to take it up as well.



I was talking with John from work yesterday and he was asking me whether I had started etc, he also mentioned that he had been reading the blog and found it rather interesting so rather than end this with the shortest update so far, for obvious reasons, I thought I would give you a little insight into what we discussed as it covers one of the instances that stimulated the idea in the first place.

I had always wanted to do a big ride but was stuck on things like a long trip down through Europe to Greece to give an example however each one would require a fairly major amount of time off work, so obviously they kept on being put off. I had been watching the first series of Coast and found it really interesting, so the inklings of an idea started to gel.

Then one Bank Holiday my ex- wife asked me to take my 12 year old son up to her parents so he could spend half-term there, after a lot of discussion and persuasion shall we say, she agreed I could take him up on the bike and give him a bit of a boys adventure with his Dad.

We set off on the Saturday morning early and I dropped him off near Chester with the Grand Parents late afternoon, after we had taken a non-motorway trip up the country, sticking to more interesting riding roads etc, mainly taking in the Welsh Borders around Craven Arms and Shrewsbury etc. Yes the Long Way Up (okay, sorry about the pun).

After going to see my Father on The Wirral and then spending Saturday Night with some old friends in Chester, I was left with the ride back home and a couple of free days to do it, so I decided I would ride down the North Wales coastline to Mid Wales and try and see what it would be like to re-create the Coast programme but on my own and on a Motorbike, after that I was hooked on the idea. It is not just the riding, it is the scenery, the history and even some of the quirky little facts you come across on the way, as an example of what you may find going forward with the blog.

Do you know where the title of the Beatles song Nowhere Man comes from? Well, here’s the answer and a photo to back it up. In the late 50’s John Lennon was sent to stay with his Auntie who ran a famous pub in Chester called the Bear and Billet, it did become infamous during the 70’s and 80’s as the place in Chester to get your ‘gear’ if you know what I mean. Anyway I digress in the 50’s it was one of a large number of watering holes inside the City Walls of Chester up Watergate St. However she used to live just over the bridge in Handbridge down by the River Dee in a little white cottage called ‘Nowhere’, okay it’s changed a lot over the years and is now a very desirable property.

So there you are Trivia No 1, get ready for many more as I travel around the country.


Take care and as Mick says 'You don’t stop riding when you get old; you only stop riding when you get confined to bed!'

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’