Five capitals in 24 hours, raising £22,700 for Make-a-Wish
A is for:
Accommodation – I stayed in the student digs at Pollock Halls. The room was wallpapered with dead cats (either that or previous occupiers had tried swinging theirs). The nylon sheets crackled with static and swishing your legs too fast created a mini-Northern Lights under the duvet. For students it must have been luxury. No, it was fine. I was knackered and in bed, lights out drifting off by 9.20. Woke at 4, though, too excited to get back to sleep.
Ace Café – Can’t say a big enough thank you to Ace (link opens new window) and the staff for opening up especially for us, providing free teas and coffees and all those butties – especially making me and the other non-bacon eaters egg sarnies. It is a special venue and the ideal place to finish a ride like that. And where we handed over the last of the massive £22,700.
B is for:
Bacon Butties – these seemed to feature a lot on the journey, what with Adam’s mum and Alpslapper’s sister providing piles of the things, as well as the Ace
Ben – Meesh’s steed. Having led Meesh (and Italy1) over the Wrynose and Hardknott passes on Friday I know how hard she rides poor old Ben (she only laid Ben down for a rest once).
Belfast – when about 50 of us in a huge convoy tried to tour the city en masse, including down the infamous, but now much reformed, Falls Road. It was a great feeling to be part of that, but also made me think how terrifying and imposing it must have appeared to onlookers. They would have had no idea we were a great bunch of people riding for charity. It must have been pretty intimidating.
C is for:
Carole Nash – I called in the Altrincham HQ on the way up and collected the genuine cheque for £3,300, so a huge thanks for that. I also went to the Dublin office for the official presentation of the enormous phoney cheque. Great to have tea and cakes there, and to collect some free mugs and keyrings. Big thumbs up to all the CN staff and to their insurer friends.
Carlton Hill – possibly the best place from which to start a ride like that. Well done to Robster for booking it.
Coffee – another major player in my stay awake strategy. The only bad one was at Leigh Delamare services where the proper coffee shop was shut and the canteen gave me the biggest cup of brown washing-up liquid I have ever had when asking for a small coffee. I left most of it.
Cardiff – The briefest of stops just to makes sure Stu’s foam filler had reinflated his tyre. Oh and the group I was in all behaved like dogs and staked out our territory while there (have a pee against the fence).
Camaraderie – Great feeling to be part of something that big, to meet old and new friends. Only wish I had got to know everyone.
D is for:
Drogheda – where a few of us followed Tom (Alpslapper) to his sister’s and where he picked up his niece for a ride to Dublin. Again, great hospitality.
Dublin – the Sat Nav’s nemesis. Those hunting the Make-a-Wish offices had trouble but I found my way to the Carole Nash office with Adam, to find half a dozen others had arrived half an hour before. We unfurled the banner and had our photos taken inside and outside the building, blocking the road with our bikes and insisting cars turn round and find another route (only the Irish could do that and not cause road rage). In their hunt for a photographer I had put forward a name of a college I have worked with before, so it was good to see a familiar face behind the camera too.
Decals – Thanks to Robster for the designs. Did anyone manage to get them flat?
E is for
Edinburgh – A city I hoped to tour but hardly saw as Meesh and Italy1 and I took the scenic but much longer route to get there. I’ll be back.
Euros – and to Stuart the Bureau de Change who had more Euros than a nationalised Belgian bank.
Effort – put in by everybody. Well appreciated.
F is for:
Fuel – with no speedo working I had no idea how many miles I did between stops but it felt like I was getting really good mpg. Riding in groups does that as I ride at a less aggressive pace (except when I was leading towards the M4).
Ferries – never entrust your airbed to PDSquire. I inflated mine then went for a drink, leaving Phil in charge. I returned to find a drunk asleep face down on my mat, dribbling all over it. I now have a dribble stain on it and will have to get it out to wash it.
Flag-wavers – that little crowd on the A71, standing in the drizzle, cheering us on – what an uplift that was.
G is for:
Guests – those who turned up in Edinburgh to see us off, direct us out of the city’s roadworks, or ride with us for the first leg, to the likes of Wee Jack who appeared out of the mist at Troon and the familiar faces at the Ace to greet us. It was great seeing so many of you there.
Gentlemen – A gentleman never ‘arrives’ first, so hats doffed to Italy1 who was gentleman enough to wait with Meesh and make sure she got in safe.
H is for:
Hurry – although we were never really in one.
Heroes – every one of you.
J is for:
Jet-black sky – as we rode out of Fishguard the road sometimes seem to be an underground tunnel, with no street lights and no star light. The eeriness added to the excitement of the ride.
K is for:
Knackered – speaks for itself really.
Keys – Stageonesimmo losing his key at the services at Troon.
Kit McNally – a lovely little old lady Tom met on the ferry from Ireland. She wasn’t one bit phased surrounded by 50 bikers in various stages of undress and consciousness, and when she found out what we were doing, described us all as ”very brave”, wished us all a safe journey, and promptly donated a fiver to the cause. What a great lady.
L is for:
London – our final destination and never so welcome as when we got there.
Ladies – Our two lady riders, DrLaw and Meesh, both with less than a year’s experience under their belts, brought a civility to the occasion that might otherwise have been missed.
M is for:
Motorways – the worst part for the trip (yes fast, easy, convenient, but also dangerously monotonous for tired heads).
Maps – it was great knowing that some people, at least, knew where we were going.
Mortonhall Caravan Park for letting WinXX-Master and Palerider stay for free upon hearing about our charity ride.
Memories – see about 30 of us hammering towards Cardiff with all lights blazing.
Make-a-wish – the charity we are collecting for. Now the ride is over it is vital we redouble our efforts to collect as much as possible for this great cause. Make-a-Wish (opens new window).
N is for:
Night riders – The coal-black night coming out of Fishguard. The great, empty roads, the twisties, the RD04s in the lead.
Newbies - Adam has only had a licence for two months.
N11 - The fantastic stretch of road after Gory.
O is for:
Open roads – there were plenty of them on this trip. Ireland’s roads are superbly surfaced and wind perfectly for bikers. Most drivers also pull over to let you pass (though when 30 others bikes follow you they get a bit taken aback).
P is for:
Punctures – Stuart got one in Cardiff and Austin got one as he arrived in London. Both dealt with them without calling for breakdown recovery.
Photographs – of which I hardly took any. I hope I can get a few good ones off everyone else.
ProPlus – Keeping many of us awake on the trek from Fishguard to the Ace.
Politeness – Every car we came upon on the way to the ferry pulled over for us and let us through, even on the double whites. And not forgetting the drivers in Scotland who waited patiently on the roundabouts for us to get through en-masse.
Passport – Buggles’ brother left a passport in his tankbag at the stopover in Wicklow, Ireland, and was promptly handed in to the police who phoned ahead to Stena line to let us know it was in safe hands.
P&O ferries - for the generosity of the event rates.
Q is for:
Queuing at the ferries and the tolls.
Quality – which is what the whole ride was.
R is for:
Red Bull – another weapon in the war against tiredness.
Rosslare – where a man who just saw the stickers on our bikes walked into the pub and asked if he could give a donation – handing over €10 in cash.
Riding – which was great
S is for:
Sleep – which we all needed so badly. I managed 2 1/5 hours on the ferry to Fishguard, which was more than most.
Speedo – mine stopped working on the Thursday before in Tring. According to my clocks from then to finishing three days later I notched up 125 miles.
Starter motor – Armco Adam’s failing and needing a bump start on the Falls Road, Belfast
Sohoeasy – whose dad brought him to the Ace on Sunday – It was so good to see him up and dressed after his terrible accident a few months earlier.
Single-handed – riding a bike, even as part of the group event, is always a single-handed effort, but for DrBig it literally was a single-handed effort. And my right wrist was throttle-sore by the end, so respect is due.
StenaLine – for the generosity of the event rates.
Speed cameras – whoops!
T is for:
Tolls – I hate tolls, stopping and finding the coins and removing gloves and then getting started again. Luckily I did both mine with Adam so only one of ungloved and paid each time.
Travelodge – Kiki at the West End Travelodge who arranged a continental style breakfast for 5am, as normal breakfast did not start until 8.
Tiredness - You don’t know how tired you can be until you’ve done a TLD event.
Team effort – 50 riders, all made it safe.
U is for:
Unique experience – which this was, even for those of us who did last year’s event.
Uncomfortable – the number or riders stretching out their legs, standing on the pegs or moving in their seats grew as the day wore on.
V is for:
Visor – or the bug genocide machine, as it became known. Mine wiped out entire swarms.
Video – all of which I now have to edit
W is for:
Wheels – they all stayed rubber-side down.
X is for:
xrv.org.uk - without which, none of this would have happened.
Xenophobia – thankfully, we experienced none.
Y is for:
Year – a whole one till the next xrv charity ride.
Z is for:
Zeds, or zzzzzzzz – those 40 zeds you could grab every now and then were so important.
