trip report
at last, here's my trip report... left it as it was written for my work, but you can see more photos on Richard's RTB site
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Hopefully you will have read the previous notice about my charity tour round Britain? If not then check out
www.roundthebend.org.uk. The main page has been updated, but the early content is still in there somewhere.
[font color=black size=5]The Background[/font]
Myself and others planned to ride our motorbikes (approximately) round the coast of Britain in just a week stopping at all the coastal compass points of the three Nations, the 4 corners of Britain, and at a couple of landmarks:
1. Ardnamurchan Point - GB/Scotland's most westerly point
2. Applecross - GB's 3rd highest road & longest single ascent from sea level
3. Durness - top left corner (without going on the rowing boat to Cape Wrath)
4. Dunnet Head - GB's/Scotland's most Northerly point
5. John O'Groats - top right corner
6. Peterhead - Scotland's most Easterly point
7. The Border just north of Berwick-upon-Tweed - England's most northerly point
8. Lowestoft - GB's/England's most Easterly point
9. Dover - bottom right corner
10. The Lizard - GB's/England's most Southerly point
11. Land's End - bottom left corner & England's most Westerly point
12. Barry - Wales' most Southerly point
13. St David's - Wales' most Westerly point
14. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - GB's longest name (ok, it's on Anglesey, but you'll let us away with that one?)
15. Prestatyn - Wales' most Northerly point
16. Mull of Galloway - Scotland's most Southerly point
We called it the Round the Bend Tour.
All this was done to raise funds and awareness for the Multiple Sclerosis charities MS Scotland and Revive Scotland and was a plan hatched by my (surprisingly still) good friend Richard and I as we both know people badly affected by the condition:
Scotland has the highest prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the world. There are around 10,500 people in Scotland with MS with women twice as likely as men to develop MS. Who will get MS and how it will affect them is impossible to predict but the Society aims to support everyone affected by MS, through projects such as the MS Nurses, respite care and our MS communities. We also invest in innovative research with the hope of finding more effective treatments for MS (taken from MS Scotland's Charity Mission Statement)
Richard, who likes a challenge, was also interested in an extreme biking landmark: doing the Iron Butt Association's "Numb Bum" award (see
www.iba.com) by riding 1000 miles in under 24 hours - most bikers attempting the Numb Bum in Britain use the motorway network to do a big loop. But that's too easy for Richard: he planned to ride from Glasgow to St Andrews via the coast of Scotland, and decided to combine the RTB with the Numb Bum.
The Build up
The overnight stops were planned for St Andrews, Skegness, Brighton, Newquay, Dolgellau, and Annan. The first two and the last were staying with friends and relatives which kept the costs down as did a Travelodge special offer. We did a luggage drop to St Andrews the weekend before to allow us to travel light on the first day(s). Richard had an on board video camera mounted on the front of his bike to record some of the route (these will be posted on the RTB site in due course).
Who did what
I'd initially intended to do the first day as planned. Jim (of Harley Rider Training, based in Springburn Glasgow), a friend of Richard's, was joining us for Day 1. We had a couple of 4 & 500 mile practice runs during the spring to get an idea what to expect on the day. However, as the start date of 1st June approached I decided it prudent to split the first leg into two days with an overnight stop at Ullapool on the 31st. Richard and Jim would set off early on the 1st and likely catch me up by John O' Groats.
In all 5 of us did all or part of the route. Richard and myself completed the whole trip. Jim completed the Numb Bum with Richard, my wife Karen flew down and joined us at Brighton to sit as my pillion from there to home, and my old school chum Colin joined us for part of the second last day between Ulverston, Cumbria and Annan, Dumfries & Galloway.
Wesbite links:
http://www.roundthebend.org.uk/index.htm
http://www.justgiving.com/RTB07MSScotland
http://www.justgiving.com/rtb07revivesco
Day 1, Thursday 31st May - Dumbarton to Ullapool
All was ready, and just before 9am I set off heading for Ullapool through some of the most breathtaking scenery there is. The early roads were wide, mostly dry, and quiet allowing a steady but brisk pace to be set over the "Rest and Be Thankful" to Inveraray, then down the shore of Loch Fyne to Lochgilphead, up through Oban and over the Ballachullish Bridge to the Corran Ferry. From there it is pretty much single track all the way out to the Lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point, and back up to Lochailort.
Single track road requires extra levels of concentration due to the narrowness of the road surface often with either bog, cliff, or rock face just over the edge, and also often due to their roller coaster nature. Gravel lines aren't much fun either as they can be as treacherous as ice to a motorbike. However on a motorbike you can move across the road to give the best view around corners & bends an also stand up on the pegs to see over hills & crests. You also don't have to stop as much as when in a car as, with a little consideration and a lot of politeness, you can pass most oncoming vehicles without always resorting to passing places. "Making progress" like this I had lunch at the most westerly point of the British mainland: Ardnamurchan Lighthouse.
Me at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse
Heading back to Salen I then turned north to Lochailort running for a time along the southwest shore of Loch Shiel before hitting the coast at the Sound of Arisaig. At Lochailort I headed inland via the Glenfinnan Monument and Fort William to Invergarry then out on the "Road to the Isles" to Eilean Donan. Here it was back onto single track through Lochcarron and up over Bealach na Baa / the Pass of the Cattle to Applecross. It seemed that the weather gods were smiling on me as the Pass was perfectly clear for the first time in three visits. Previously I had only ridden the hairpin switchbacks in low cloud/rain.
Looking back down Bealach na Baa / the Pass of the Cattle the longest continuous climb in Britain from sea level to 626meters (2050ft) and the third highest public road in Britain. See http://www.lochcarron.org.GB/road_network.html
Not stopping in Applecross, I continued round the coast to Shieldaig then on through Kinlochewe, Gairloch and past Gruinard Bay (home of Anthrax Island), arriving in Ullapool just after 10pm. As I said the weather gods were smiling, the only rain being short showers at Invergarry and Kinlochewe.
Distance: 500miles
Start Time: 08:45
Finish time: 22:15
Day 2, Friday June 1st - Ullapool to St Andrews
By the time I had worked my way through a huge bowl of porridge and cooked breakfast, then fought my way through the queue of caravans at the petrol station, it was nearly half past nine when I left Ullapool aiming to be at John O' Groats for lunchtime.
The previous days scenery was breathtaking, and this morning was proving to be just as good. The crisp sunshine bounced off the landscape, bringing the mountains into sharp relief, and the lochs and sea lochs vibrant in their colours. It proved difficult at times to concentrate on the road, making me wish I could afford the time to stop and take more pictures, and to later regret the fact that the on board video camera system on my bike didn't work - technology, eh? That first two days would've been a movie I could've watched hundreds of times.
Once you reach the top left corner, you enter Durness and the road turns east with the whole of the north coast of Scotland lying before you: an amazing concept. Through more spectacular scenery round Loch Eriboll and across the causeway at the Kyle of Tongue, I made for Dunnet Head, the second compass point of the RTB and of Scotland.
Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of the British mainland
From there it's but a short hop to John O' Groats. Which, for somewhere so famous is a bit dilapidated to be honest.
John O' Groats (top right corner)
I snatched a sly picture near the signpost and had a long lunch waiting for Richard and Jim to arrive.
At about 2pm I received a text saying they were still over 3 hours behind me (even with setting off at 4am to get the first ferry at Corran) so I decided to press on via Peterhead to St Andrews arriving just after 10pm.
Distance: 500miles
Start time: 09:20
Finish time: 22:20
The Numb Bum run:
Leaving at 4am from Glasgow Jim and Richard made the first ferry at Corran then kept their stops to minimum duration - including "lunch". They arrived at St Andrews 1000+ miles later after being on the road for 19hrs 49 mins. Well done guys. No wonder they slept till noon the next day.
Start: Ibrox, Glasgow 03:50.
Finish: Shell Filling Station, St Andrews 23:11
Mileage: 1011.4 miles
Richard at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse
Jim at Durness
Dunnet Head
John O' Groats (& half way through the Iron Butt)
Peterhead Harbour
Day 3, Saturday June 2nd - St Andrews to Skegness
Surfacing about 10am after a good nights sleep, Richard and I prepped the bikes for the days run. We discovered that the cameras on my bike were not recording even though they were providing an image during setup. We decided to keep trying and look again once we reached Skegness.
Oor Wullie (me) and a Tellytubbie (Richard) in St Andrews
After the first two days it was good to have a riding companion, and the fact that we had bike-to-bike intercoms meant we could chat and discuss things as we travelled rather than "wasting time" by stopping. The comms also allowed us to play the game "I can see the sea". Stepping outside our helmets like that went a long way to easing the mental tiredness.
Today would prove much easier though as we whizzed round the Fife coast and then around the Edinburgh bypass and onto the A1. Our only landmark this day was hit fairly soon - the Border, and England's most Northerly point.
Me at the Border. The burger van in the background serves the most excellent hot filled rolls. Well worth a stop just for that.
There was a bit of haar on the coast which got steadily thicker through out the day, so glimpses of the sea were few and far between. We skirted Tyneside and cut across to the Yorkshire coast over the spectacular crossing that is the Humber Bridge, and into Lincolnshire finding some very bike friendly roads in the process.
Our stop this night was with a friend from the Fazer Owner's Club website who'd kindly offered to put us up for free.
Start time: 12:31
Finish Time: 22:44ish
Mileage: 440 miles
Day 4, Sunday June 3rd 2007 - Skegness to Brighton
A hot breakfast was followed by a cold start - the haar was still lurking, keeping temperatures down and refusing to be burned off by sun or blown away by wind. It'd take until mid afternoon before the air began to clear.
The route round the Wash was uneventful, however the nature of the fenland roads beyond made for a very frustrating day: the roads of Norfolk and East Anglia comprised shortish straights with many right angled bends making for a very stop-start style. This inability to flow on the route combined with the limited visibility made it a mentally tiring day which combined with the physical discomfort and tiredness meant that Sunday was by far the worst day of the tour. Things weren't helped by coming across a mass cycle race where literally thousands of cyclists of all shapes, sizes and abilities were heading in the opposite direction. We had to be very alert on the narrow fenland roads.
By the time we reached the next landmark the GB's most easterly point at Lowestoft we were glad of the short rest, but so scunnered that we didn't make as much an effort to find a telling landmark as maybe we could've.
Two tired souls at Lowestoft (honest)
For the next stretch to Dover we could relax a bit and pick up the pace again as we were heading for the A12 and the Dartford Crossing - one of the few stretches of motorway on the whole tour.
overlooking Dover Harbour (compete with Ferry just visible)
from there it was but a short spin along the coast through Hastings and into Brighton, The haar was still persisting in patches but were starting to get glimpses of the channel beyond the breakwaters and sea walls - relief as we were nearing the end of the day's ride meant the "I can see the sea" game was restarted
The early start meant an early finish for us this evening as we rode a few miles inland to the night's accommodation at Hickstead Travelodge. It was here that Karen, my wife, would join us having flown down from Glasgow to Gatwick. She was to take her place on my pillion seat for the second half of the tour.
Start time: 08.10
Finish Time: 18.25
Mileage: 421 miles
Day 5, June 4th 2007 - Brighton to Newquay
After a much needed 10 hours kip, we set out refreshed and ready to brave the early morning traffic near Brighton. With the morning sun on our backs we gladly turned west, heading past Portsmouth and onto a short stretch of motorway around Southampton. Karen on the back was to play tour photographer from now on: taking shots from on board of the increasingly scenic landscape. Before we knew it we were into the New Forest, then crossing into Devon, round the south side of Dartmoor National Park and into Plymouth where we soon crossed the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall. The landscape this day was a welcome diversion from the aches and pains we were feeling. The route passed over rolling hills and swept through wooded valleys, meaning we had to move around on the bikes a bit thereby avoiding cramp and discomfort.
We were soon past Bodmin Moor, through St Austell and Truro and before we knew it we were at Lizard Point, the most southerly extremity of the GB mainland. As we had made such good progress, and with the weather being glorious we felt we just had to have an extended afternoon break to sample the famed Cornish Cream Teas. Mighty good they were too!
Lizard Point with a couple of vagrants in the way
Tearing ourselves away from the lunch table, we took the short hop over to Land's End. You can see from the pictures that the weather changed quite a bit in such a short distance: haar was beginning to blow in from the west. However, that wasn't going to dampen the mood as we arranged to position the bikes at the post for the obvious photograph. We arranged a little joke at Jim's expense - he was unable to do the whole tour with us, but would join us in Greenock for the run into George Square in Glasgow.
Well it had to be done eh?
Our rest stop that night was in Newquay. To get there we followed the coastal route to St Ives as one of our few self imposed guidelines was to avoid retracing our steps wherever possible (in fact during the whole tour we only repeated about 60 miles, most of that in Ardnamurchan). Although this coastal segment route took a bit of time it was well worth it for the scenery and the rollercoaster nature of the landscape.
Start time: 08.30
Finish Time: 19.30ish
Mileage: 383 miles
Day 6, June 5th 2007 - Newquay to Dolgellau
As today was to be a longer day we initially stayed off the intricate coastal roads for the first segment, although the main road did bring us near the sea past Bude and Bideford. From Barnstaple we cut over Exmoor to Lynmouth then followed the coastal road to Bridgewater at which point we joined the boring M5 for a stretch past Bristol and over the Severn Bridge on the M4 round Cardiff. Although we hated this, it was the most direct route between Bridgewater and Barry, our next compass point without us getting snarled up in coastal settlements. The motorway was very draining just sitting on the bike. Because you are not moving about and guiding the bike through bends and over hills etc your body starts to remember how much it has been abused over the previous days and soon lets you know. Cramp and numbness soon set in forcing a long lunch stop at Services on the M5. The rest only helped so much, and by the time we had worked our way through the late afternoon traffic to Barry "Harbour" we were all suffering.
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Barry "Harbour" with Barry Island in the background. Wales' most southerly point.
Back on the road we decided to avoid returning to the M4 and instead stuck to the coast route reluctantly returning to the motorway at Bridgend where we whimpered our way past Swansea and Carmarthen before gladly hitting the winding A roads making a bee-line for St David's Head, Wales most westerly point.
Away from the population centres the roads reduced in size ever more following the contours of the land rather than cutting a swathe though it. As we neared the Point the road to St David's hugged the Pembrokeshire Coast providing some spectacular views in the late afternoon sunshine.
Maybe some homework would've helped us here as there were a couple of very narrow roads leading from the village (due to the Cathedral it is technically a city, Britain's smallest) but the lack of signs of any sort didn't help. My map and the GPS weren't too clear either, so I just followed my nose and rode west. By luck we found the location we were after, comprising a lifeboat station, a house and ruined church called St Justinian's. The accuracy of my nose was confirmed by a map on the bus stop sign showing this to be the furthest point west. The bus brought tourists to St Justinian's to take boat trips to an RSPB reserve on Ramsay Island about half a mile offshore.
St Justinian's, Wales most westerly point. Ramsay Island is in the background
Our non-repetition guideline took us along the north Pembrokeshire coast through Fishguard with the sun at our backs, lighting up the cliffs and shoreline ahead of us. This part of the day was very enjoyable even though we had almost 2/3 of the west Wales coast to cover until we reached our overnight at Dolgellau- something like 90 miles still to go. The roads and scenery more than made up for the pain and discomfort of the motorway/dual carriageway segments. We decided it prudent to stop on route for food rather than wait until Dolgellau so we found a fish and chip café in Aberystwyth just before they closed. The Italian owner was into bikes and racing cars and happily let us take our time especially when we mentioned the purpose of the trip.
Thoroughly refreshed, we set off on the last 30 miles to the B&B: Biker's Retreat - the most biker friendly accommodation I've ever visited. So good in fact that Police Motorcyclists use it as a base for training on the fantastic mid Wales roads. There were three staying that night and we discreetly asked them which direction they were heading the next day - as you do.
Start time: 9am
Finish Time: 10.30ish
Mileage: 462 miles
Day 7, June 6th 2007 - Dolgellau to Annan
After yet another slap up brekkie, we headed NW, travelling alongside the Ffestiniog Railway for a time before cutting across the LLeyn Peninsula, through Caernarfon and over the Menai Straits to Anglesey and our one non-standard landmark - the village with the longest name in the GB: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave). Can you pronounce it? I can't.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
From there we headed along the coast to Prestatyn, looking for the lighthouse approximately marking the Northmost point in Wales at the Point of Ayr. We couldn't get that close so settled for a photo on the beach behind the dunes. You can see the lighthouse in the left of the picture. The sea is beyond the dunes.
Point of Ayr, Prestatyn, Wales
It was at this point we discussed our options regarding the congestion that we'd certainly find in Liverpool and the frustrating roads in and out of Southport and Blackpool. (Richard had been there a few times recently for work) So we decided to suffer 20 miles on the M56, and a further 60 on the M6 before peeling off at Carnforth then heading up the A6 before turning west along the southern edge of the Lake District.
At Grizebeck we had arranged to pick up the only other person brave/foolish enough to join us for even part of the route: Colin my old school friend. . It had been quite a while since I'd spoken to him other than by e-mail and was looking forward to seeing him again. He wanted to join us for the next segment round the Cumbrian coast up to our home town, Annan. I was wondering how he might manage this right until the point where we met him - on his motorbike. He'd kept that one quiet. I was both pleased and relieved at that, as there was little chance he'd keep up in a car.
For a relatively novice rider, Colin coped very well with our reduced pace on the twisty Cumbrian roads, riding his own ride, but not being left behind - not that we would've done that, but we still had to travel the 100 odd miles to Annan.
Riding back over the Border was a bit weird for Karen and I as it was the first time we'd been "home" since the cooling towers of Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station had been demolished. The skyline had been dominated by them for as long as I could remember - and now the "cloud factory" of my childhood was gone.
Start time: 10.00
Finish Time: 18.30ish
Mileage: 330 miles
Day 8, June 7th 2007 - Annan to Glasgow
Last day. One more landmark to go - the most southerly point in Scotland at the Mull of Galloway, near Stranraer. As this was the shortest day for us the pressure was very much reduced and hence the pace Richard and I could set made it feel more like a gentle Sunday run.
Leaving my parent's house we set off on roads that Karen and I knew so well, but had hardly ever ridden on a motorbike as we'd moved up to Glasgow before getting my first bike. It made me promise to myself to make more of an effort to visit the area I grew up in.
We'd arranged to meet up with Jim Harley in Greenock at 5pm for the ride into George Square so decided to stick to the main road across Dumfries and Galloway rather than do the coastal route to Kirkcudbright round the other skyline dominating feature of the area, Criffell Hill. The A75 would still bring us to the coast once we'd reached Gatehouse of Fleet. We decided to include the road to the Isle of Whithorn following the coast round to Glenluce before turning south round Luce Bay ending up at the Mull of Galloway lighthouse perfectly timed for lunch in the splendid little purpose built café perching on the top of the cliffs. (The cream scones are recommended - yum!)
Scotland's most Southerly point
Thoroughly refreshed we set off again up the very scenic Galloway/Ayrshire/Inverclyde coastal routes passing the Electric Brae in the process. Before we knew it we'd arrived in Greenock. As luck would have it Jim was delayed by about half an hour by the Glasgow traffic, but that actually that worked to our advantage, allowing the Glasgow rush-hour to dissipate enough to make for a relatively gentle ride to George Square.
Start time: 9:30ish
Finish Time: 17.30
Mileage: 285 miles
A small reception committee of friends was waiting for us, full of congratulations and a discreet bottle of beer for celebrating the end of the tour.
George Square, Glasgow
From L-R: Alan, Karen, Jim, Richard
Richard's GPS showing the final readout
Over the tour we did 3,350 miles, riding about 10 hours per day. The Numb Bum was done in 19 hours and 21 mins and the sum total of problems were numb posteriors all round, stiff backs and shoulders plus one sheared bolt on Richard's top box mounting.
Fuel costs were covered by specific donations, and by Harley Rider Training. Free services and a set of tyres were donated by Motorrad Central for Richard and by Ride On Motorcycles and Stevie Brierton Motorcycles for me.
As far as the charities are concerned, when all things are totted up we expect to have raised about £10,000 for the two charities. There are still e-bay auctions to be held of items donated such as a hospitality package at Knockhill round of the British Superbikes (now past) as well as "Long Way Round" & "Race to Dakar" books and DVD's signed by Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman which they kindly donated to our cause. There is also still a chance for anyone to make a retrospective donation via the Justgiving.com pages Richard has set up (links on the RTB website).
Would I do it again?
Mmm, let me think about it…
What happened a few days later when Richard mentioned his next idea…
(for want of an abvious "pokefun" emoticon)
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