Well, what can I say? I had the time of my life.

I won’t bore you with the reasons for doing this ride or how I got into biking in the first place, I will tell you about the planning though, in case any of you fancy doing the trip and if any of you are thing about it, don’t think, do it. You only live once.

It all seemed so simple, just ride around the coast, but the planning was so much more difficult than the actual ride. I had a look on the net and the main reason riders failed was the bike breaking down, so my old Bandit looked a bit poorly anyway, so thought I’d better get myself a bike. Wrote to Suzuki as I loved my Bandit, but they didn’t reply. Wrote to lots of other companies, without success, then rang Mike Doble of Doble Motorcycles, Coulsdon, Surrey. I couldn’t believe it he just instantly said yes. A brand new Honda CBF600. Luck was really on my side, and so it was throughout the planning and the ride itself.

I’ve just thought that if I go through all the planning I’ll never get to the ride, so I apologise I’ll keep the planning until I write the book ‘Move Over Ewen’. No. I am only joking!

Tom Davis from Shrewsbury saw our fab website, thank you Rick and Trish, and sponsored our fuel, he wanted to do the ride last year and had his own personal reasons for doing it. After several emails and phone calls I found myself inviting him along, then wondering if I’d not thought this through enough! But I needn’t have worried, Tom did our ride proud, he collected an amazing amount of sponsorship money for Hurstwood Park League of Friends, he was such good fun and most importantly he is a truly genuine person. Oh, nearly forgot, he’s an excellent bike rider too. We are all IAM riders and are a fairly similar standard, although I’m the most novice, which it proved when I dropped the bike in a garage forecourt. A Bright Red Face, I am so ashamed, and I really, really wanted to give the bike back to Mike dirty, not damaged.

The ride to Brighton took about 45 mins and for me it was a bit thoughtful. I had been asked several times if I was nervous and no I wasn’t, just incredibly excited.

I had tried very hard to promote the ride, but had no idea if there would be a crowd or just the three of us!  Yet again, luck was shining down on me, plenty of bikes and plenty of sunshine. Chris, from Bikesafe (thank you Paul Masterson for my Bikesafe day) escorted Richard, Tom and myself out of Brighton, followed by riders from SERV (Dean and his riders, thank you so much, I felt very proud), followed by a stream of bikers, clubs, friends and individuals. If you knew how good we felt, I can’t put it into words. Brain surgery leaves you with a lack of confidence, but on that day, my confidence was sky high! Friends and family rattled buckets and Charita from Momma Cherri’s got the crowd cheering for us. Thanks for all your help Charita.

Off we go, spectators wondering what was going on, cameras clicking, I loved it!

When I glanced behind me at Beachy Head, I saw all the bikes round the bends and couldn’t believe so many had turned out. I thank all of you.

On the way to our first stop Felixstowe some riders left, but others joined us, waiting in lay-bys for us, I couldn’t believe it. What a way to go!

We filled with fuel and Richard’s bike started playing up, it coughed and spluttered at low speeds, but was fine at higher speeds. We took it to Lings in Lowestoft where they stopped everything and worked on Richard's bike. Richard didn’t have time to ride out and check it properly and consequently the bike wasn’t fixed. When we got back and Dobles serviced it they found there was debris in the tank, so poor Richard had done the whole ride with a spluttering bike, which proves he is the most brilliant rider, you’d agree if you saw some of the hairpins up and down mountains that we did!

The second day was to Grimsby and if you look at the photos, you’ll see some of the riders that joined us. At Grimsby we were met by !!! and some fellow riders, they took us to The Yardbirds Club and considering we were late due to Richard's bike, there were so many people waiting for us, all watching us with cameras poised, this time I felt nervous, I wanted to stay in my Shoei helmet, what do I do? What do I say?

But yet again, I needn’t have worried, they were so friendly, I found myself chatting to so many people. All different, all lovely.

Ian of the Warlocks looked after us so well, there was a rock band playing for us, a raffle where, I’m so sorry I can’t remember her name, donated a weekend in Holland as the prize. They had collecting buckets and we came away with a good start to our collection. Richard told me not to take the paying in book on the trip as it wasn’t a national charity and no one would donate to our local charity, how wrong you were Richard!

After a late trip to the local kebab shop where they insisted I had the biggest kebab, I’ve put on so much weight, eating such great food. It was off to bed. Ian had given us his apartment. Thank you Ian. A good nights sleep.

Off to Edinburgh where Chris met us, Chris and two friends are doing the same trip in August www.coastrode.co.uk he took us all through Edinburgh and then onto our B and B. Then the next morning he took an hour off work, naughty, naughty, to escort us to the Forth Bridge, pics were taken and we were on our way to Helmsdale, right up the top of Scotland.

We met Mort and Neill and they took us over the Humber Bridge

Foby and a really good crowd from the Anglian HDRCGB met us at a café in Hunstanton. They were so patient waiting for us, due to the delay at Lowestoft regarding Richard’s bike. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the good weather why they waited so long! (Joke, always so worried in case my comments are taken too seriously). They did a whip round and I’m delighted to say that they were all extremely generous. Thank you so much.

Off we all went to Suzies Café where we were met by yet another brilliant crowd from HDRCGB, these were from Lincolnshire.

Suzie fed and watered us extremely well, no time to see the sights, helmets and gloves on and off we went again. This was to be the story of the whole ride, loads of fantastic people wishing us well. I want to cry.

From Suzie’s onto Skegness where all the bikes headed for the seafront, we had hoped to rattle buckets about, but it was early evening by now and most people had gone home, all that is except two dear old pensioners in not wheelchairs exactly, more like old peoples racing cars, at least that’s what Mort thought, as he hijacked one of them and tried doing wheelies! The old ladies took it all in good spirit.

From Scarborough to Middlesborough we had to go on a transporter bridge. When we got off, a transit police van with a police woman and two policemen, pulled us into a lay-by, the police woman asked me in an abrupt tone to get off the bike, move away from the bike and then told me she would have to arrest me as the bike wasn’t insured. Because I’d had problems with insurance 3 days before we left, I was taken in and didn’t question it, I remember thinking ‘how the hell am I going to talk myself out of this one’. As she asked me to hold out my arm and clicked the handcuffs on, she whispered ‘it’s a wind up’. I can’t tell you the relief I felt, or what an idiot I felt, especially when I saw the two policemen almost wetting themselves with laughter. I’m sure there’s some really good photos of my distress, but not if I find them and delete them first!

On to Seaton Carew where my cousin Virginia and her friend were waiting for us.

I needed the loo so we ventured across the road to this building where we asked if we could use the loo, they said it was private, but they would unlock it for us. Along the corridor on the way out, I mentioned to Virginia that there was a room full of men, so what did we do? Virginia burst open the door, explained what I was doing and asked the men to put there hands in their pockets (for donations, all you rude ones out there) we came away with £56, not bad for just a trip to the loo.

Goodbye Mort and Neill we’re off to Edinburgh.

We were told we wouldn’t make it to Helmsdale in the time we’d allocated, but you know us, of course we did.

We stopped in Frazerborough where Richard and Tom had battered black pudding and chips and I had the more conservative haddock and chips. How could anyone eat black pudding! Yuk.

While we were eating BBC Southern Counties radio rang for a live chat, as they did each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2.30pm. We were having glorious weather, sitting outside in the sunshine, but as they told me over the radio, it had been torrential rain almost everywhere, but we always seemed to miss it.

We had our photos taken at John O’Groats and sent postcards to Matt and mum. Bought a stick of rock too, only to take it out of the tankbag a few days later a rotten, sticky mess!

I miss my son Matt and my mum.

Helmsdale to Ullapool. I fell in love with Ullapool the moment we came over the hill and looked down, it was so beautiful, the kind of place I’d love to be.

Stayed at Harbour Lights where sisters Ishbel and Sandra looked after us so well. In the lounge you open the patio doors and what a sight, the most magnificent lake, not a ripple to be seen, amazing.

A lovely shower, now talking about showers, I don’t think I could of made this ride without a shower at the end of each day. I admit to wearing dirty clothes on this trip, we went minimal, just 4 t-shirts and 1 pair trousers for the evening, underwear and socks were from Matalan and were ecologically left at every stopping place! Before we left home I was worried about not having enough clean clothes, putting on the same t-shirt for the 2^nd day running was a bit unpleasant at first, especially as the weather was really hot, but in the end you didn’t think about it, you just had to get on with it. No whinging, well perhaps just a little bit.

Went down the road to a nice little pub that was packed, we were starving, so I noticed a table for 6 which only had a mum, her daughter and son-in law sitting there, so I asked if we could sit with them, they obliged and what a great night we had together, after 5 mins the mum squashed a £20 note in my hand for the charity. They were going to a relatives wedding the next day, hope you had a good a time as we did, if you’re reading this. There are some super people out there and we met most of them on this trip, or so it seems.

Nearly forgot the pipe band, in the middle of supper along came a pipe band, I think they were practicing for a competition. Everyone jumped up from the tables to take a look, cameras were clicking, it was a great atmosphere. I love this trip, still missing Matt and mum though.

I’ve got notes, but they seem in the wrong order, I’ve just typed all of this and there’s a bit before, can you just go up a paragraph please? I’m not lazy but I know if I try and do it I’ll lose the lot. Done the bike classes, think it’s going to have to be computer studies next. Why does life have to be so boring?

Helmsdale to Ullapool, Richard took us up a mountain which was not on our schedule, not sure if he planned it or if it just happened, but I wish it hadn’t. I don’t like heights, I can cope, but I’d prefer not to. Well up this mountain we go, up and up, over and over, it was very narrow, are vehicles allowed up here? I don’t know.

You know you shouldn’t look down, but you can’t resist taking a peak and then wishing you hadn’t. But you can’t bottle out now, you’ve got to go on, so on we went, on and on and on, it was an awful long way and there are no sides or edges, just oblivion! Gulp. But when you get to the bottom, well, I can call myself a rider now, can’t I? I can’t believe I’ve actually done it; it’s amazing what you can do if you have to. Which leads me nicely to the next bit. BBC Southern Counties were due to ring for the live phone in, but we were in the mountains with zero reception. I said the Richard and Tom ‘I’m off’ see you later, and then rode like a demon. What happened to all that IAM training? It must have been fame turning my head, or was it that mum and Matt were listening and if they didn’t hear me they would be really worried about me?

Anyway had a nice chat to Alison Ferns on BBC Southern Counties radio she said the weather at home was awful, I felt a bit guilty, the weather was summer at it’s best, glorious.

Ullapool to Skye. Do you remember the Wacky Races? That’s what it was like. A group of Germans in classic cars were doing a run of Scotland, they left before us, but we caught them up and overtook them. Sometime later we stopped for pictures etc. and these cars overtook us, there were loads of them. Anyway this happened for a good part of the day, and before we knew it, we were all jumping, tooting and clapping, we didn’t know each other, but it just seemed the right thing to do. We are miles up into Scotland and having Wacky Races!

Before we left someone had looked at our map and told us we should take a trip to Applecross, not far from our route, I had forgotten all about this until I saw the sign for Applecross, so off we went and found this fab tearoom in the middle of nowhere. Tea and scones with clotted cream and jam, yummy. My friend said I’d lose weight on this trip, I don’t think so. Not sure if any of you know or not but my surgery left me without my sense of taste, I can taste very strong things, but on the whole, not very much. But nature is a wonderful thing. I remember what I like and what I don’t like and you just adapt, I think the worst thing is people asking if the food is nice and I suppose I just fib a little bit, because it’s mostly all the same. I think I ought to be really slim, but I still love food and I still get hungry, it’s strange isn’t it?

Then over the bridge to Skye came our first bit of rain, it wasn’t too bad though. We rode all around Skye, the roads were good and the scenery was beautiful, finally ending up at our B and B in Dunvegan. The midges were out in force that night.

We’ve done the hard part of our ride now, the difficult bits, now it’s all plain sailing, nothing goes according to plan though, does it?

Skye to Oban a doddle!

Richard needed a new tyre and the closest garage was in Oban, it was Saturday and they closed at midday so Richard decided to leave Tom and I to have breakfast while he zipped 178 miles to Oban.

Leisurely we made our way to the main road and Tom turned left, it’s really spooky but for no reason I felt we should have turned right. After a fair distance Tom pulled in and said the sat. nav. had sent us North, when we looked at the map, it was sending us to the right place, but doing a massive circle beforehand. We decided to turn round. Another bloody U.turn, DO NOT take a massive tank bag with you if you plan to do too many U.turns!  You can’t get round, especially if your feet can’t reach the ground.

Found a filling station and bought fuel, then…. It’s even hard writing this, I’m so ashamed and I really don’t know why it happened, but, the bike fell on top of me, my ankle was trapped, this was a really quiet place, but a swarm of people were around me and before I knew it the bike was lifted.

Tom came over and showed me the damage I had done to the bike, I had broken the clutch lever in half and where it was attached to the handlebars, that had broken in half too, plus a couple of scratches on the tank. I walked to the other side of the road, disgusted with myself. I had done so many tight little turns in the most awkward places and not come to any harm, why in a straightforward petrol station?

I really thought it was the end of the ride, but don’t tell Mike Doble, we gaffer taped it up and carried on.

Tom and I went another hour or so and on this huge bend that you could see right round I overtook several cars, what I hadn’t seen though was a big lump of gravel that a lorry had lost. I was doing about 60mph and the bike just zig-zagged through, heart thumping, phew, I thought that was it, the only thing that saved me I believe was that I hadn’t seen it, so I didn’t swerve, tighten up or brake and it was all over before I knew it. It did shake me up quite a bit though. What happened to the IAM training yet again? IPSGA? Information, Positioning, Speed, Gear, Acceleration I didn’t even get the first one, Information, or the second one Positioning. Maybe I just scraped by with Speed, Gear and Acceleration. Three out of five can’t be bad, can it?

A while later we went down this big main road and all the traffic had stopped, there was a head on collision, I’m sure it was a fatality. My nerves were in tatters.

At the Ben Nevis distillery we were met by Ross and Beryl, Donald and Kate, they rode with us to Oban, meanwhile I had rung Richard and he was on his way to join us with a new clutch lever, when we met I said it would be alright riding like this until we got to Oban, but the boys said it would only take 5 mins. Wrong. The clutch lever was from a new bike, but not the new version, so a little bit different and the screwy bits weren’t the same size. So off went Donald to find some. The distillery was proving quite a temptation and I don’t even like whisky!

Eventually the clutch lever was fixed, it looked like Frankenstein but it worked. Thank you chaps. We then were led through this lovely wriggly, bendy, roller coaster sort of road, which was jolly good fun. Sheep in the road, Highland cattle in the middle of the road, they take no notice of revving motorbikes. Hurrah, I’m over my nerves now, I couldn’t be happier. Still miss Matt and mum.

It’s Sunday and we’ve got the day off, well at least I thought we had, the boys had other ideas though, they wanted to take the bikes to Mull. So off they went and I caught up with some phone calls and caught the bus to Oban, all the bus drivers are Polish and don’t speak a word of English, they are kind though and they try to help.

Sorry, not so keen on Oban, it was a bit bigger and more touristy than the other places we’d visited. But I had a nice chilling out day.

The boys did 100 miles around Mull and said the roads weren’t good, I’m glad I didn’t go.

Oban to Stranraer. I know it’s silly but it feels like the trips nearly over, it’s going so quickly; I want it to last forever. I still can’t believe I enjoy motorbikes; three years ago they were all the same, horrible noisy things, now I just love them. I’m a weirdo. They must have swapped my brain when they did the surgery!

Caught the Dunoon to Gourock ferry a freebie thanks to DanTheMan, sorry we didn’t see you Dan, but you’re a proud granddad now. Your brother T.J. or J.T. oops, sorry, looked after us well, lovely to meet you.

Patsy my best friend Zu’s sister in law put us up for the night, what a lovely lady, ran the bath for me as soon as we arrived, she could read my mind or was it the smell!

We went to the local pub in Portpatrick where we had another fantastic meal and a good laugh. On the next table were a dozen golfers and they asked if we could take a photo of them, I said it would cost a £1 each for my charity, I’m getting really cheeky now, how can you change so much, I’m not usually like this, but it worked and so more money for the charity.

Patsy cooked a huge breakfast, the boys tucked in but I was still full from the night before, thank you so much Patsy. These memories will stay with us forever.

Still missing Matt and mum, they should have come pillion!

In Ayre met Eleanor and her sweet little daughter Alice, we had pics. together. Eleanor has the franchise About My Area on the website, worth a look.

Stranraer to Southport The ride had been extremely windy; I hung on to the bike, gripped with my legs, if I go, my bikes coming with me!

We met three riders in Silloth, more charity money, thanks chaps.

Richard and Tom were really tired tonight, they shouldn’t have gone to Mull, I chilled out and I’m as high as a kite.

We arrived at Blackpool Tower and the weather was a bit gusty and dull, Blackpool looked very sad and lonely, it should have been sunny, this is summer isn’t it?

Graeme and Lindsay met us at the tower and took us back to their flat and really looked after us, a super meal and great company, they were like old friends. Thank you so much.

Night, night Matt and mum.

Southport to Cardigan, Rain and more rain, it rained from the moment we got on the bikes at 8am until we got off at 9pm. But were we miserable? No, we were singing ‘Singing in the Rain’. Tom is such a clown, he keeps us happy, I haven’t told you about Tom’s Shimmy yet. Well, when his bum is aching he stands up in the saddle and wiggles it, it always made me laugh out loud, a Tom Shimmy. Mind you we all ended up doing it, and it works, just a little wiggle, makes all the difference.

Tom’s brother John on his new Fazer met us, as did Tom’s friends Paul and John, we stopped at Tescos for lunch absolutely drenched. Spoke on Southern Counties radio again. Miss you Matt, miss you mum.

Bennetts Insurance sponsored this hotel for us in Cardigan Bay; it was a really posh hotel and all expenses on them. We were so soaking wet though and our only thoughts were how were we going to get our clothes dry. The central heating was on and we dryed them on the radiators at full blast. It’s a shame we didn’t have the time to enjoy this superb hotel, but thank you so much Bennetts. I apologise to the hotel for our cheap black socks leaving a fluffy trail along the beige carpet in our room!

I’m so glad it rained all day yesterday, I would have felt a fraud if we’d have had good weather all the way. We had to suffer a bit didn’t we? Especially as all of the other riders we’d met had had such bad weather, it would have been a very different ride with bad weather every day. So sorry for dear John and Mags on their Triumph Sprint who were a few days ahead of us and had appalling weather for the whole of the trip.

Cardigan to Bude. So many bikes again, I’m sorry I can’t remember you all, BAND, Phoenix, Warbird, Devon John. We had a lovely ride, well almost a lovely ride, Porlock Hill and the road was wet, I was really concerned about Richard's bike misfiring. We stopped in a lay by to let two caravans go first, then Richard went first, but what he didn’t know was that a van had stalled and it’s wheels were spinning, he couldn’t get any grip, poor Richard, thank God he’s a brilliant rider, thank God it’s his bike and not mine, I would have struggled.

Met the Traffic Police in filling station, what have I done wrong this time? Honestly I wasn’t speeding, it was the others! Phew, a donation instead. Thank you officers.

When we arrived at the B and B there was a good crowd with us, what a super ride. Most went home for the evening, but Paul, Lyn, John (hope I’ve got the name right) and the two young brothers, what great chaps you are. We had a meal together in the pub and had a really good evening, I couldn’t stop thinking how amazing biking is, around the table were two brothers aged 23 and 14, a man of 71 a husband and wife of mid life and strangers, but we all got on so well together.

My thought for the day. Everyone should ride a bike.

Matt and mum miss you so much, won’t be long now, will soon be home.

Bude to Weymouth. The Harley Davidson Riders Club of GB have been so supportive of us, we were invited to The Cornish Cream Rally and when we arrived, what a welcome, I sat on loads of big Harleys and even a massive trike, had my picture taken on all of them. Wow. I was given a fab Cornish Cream Rally t.shirt, which I wore with pride as you can understand how wiffy my clothes had become by now! The Harleys took us to Landsend, yet more super scenery and country lanes, even the trike came with us, she rode/drove it well, I can’t believe you don’t need a motorcycle licence or a helmet to ride this trike. I’d just like to add that she did wear a helmet though.

We arrive at Landsend go through the car park and wiggle down to the Landsend signpost. I don’t think we were allowed to take all of the bikes there, but we did, and no one moved us on, well they wouldn’t would they? I felt safe. Loads of photos, a postcard to Matt and mum. Won’t be long now, missing you so much.

Met Mo on his Harley and Chris on his Ducati at a pub in Bridport, a quick coke and then they took us back to Mo’s for the night, but not before we’d had a quick look at the sights from the top of the hill, I think it was called Chesil, amazing views yet again, to the huge, long beach. I never get fed up with views, they’re all so unique.

At Mo’s lovely house, we were met by his wife Judy and son Paul. I hope it’s all right to put this, but this is how much they impressed me. We arrived at 10pm and Judy had a huge spread laid out for us, I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the pudding, meringue, strawberries and cream, I don’t eat puds, but Judy made us so welcome I just had to eat it. Do you remember about my lack of taste? Well this is when I feel bad about it. Anyway, why I think the family are special is that their son Paul who is about 40 now, was hit by a motorbike rider when he was 21, he was seriously injured and lives with his mum and dad. He knows all there is to know about David Bowie, his hero. But even with this background in bikes, Mo, Judy and Graham thoroughly looked after us. The biking community is so special. (I’m trying very hard to think up new words, keep using, amazing, great, super, trouble is I mean it, it was amazing, great, super!)

Matt and mum I miss you even more today.

Weymouth to Brighton.  It’s our final leg, I can’t quite believe it, I always knew we would make it, but never dreamt it would be quite the way it was, the people that met us made this ride the best thing I’ve ever done in my life (apart from having Matt of course). Met yet more riders in the car park in Weymouth to join our last day. Off we went Warbird and John with us, you’re brilliant, you stayed with us so long.

We were told to go to Dockgate 20 in Southampton a Harley Davidson dealership, as there were several riders waiting for us. This wasn’t in our plans, but we thought we’d better go. Never had any idea it would take so long to get there, the traffic was terrible. On our arrival I felt that the riders there were not very friendly and asked Richard to go in and ask for Darren, which he did. Don’t know what happened but they didn’t know anything about us, crossed wires. We now had to make our way back, which in turn made us so very, very late. I’m really quite cross, but hey if that’s the worst.

When we got home had a text from Mort saying that Darren had tragically died in a motorbike accident. Richard, Tom and I would like to send our condolences to the family.

In Arundel at Mc Donalds, Dean and the SERV bikes were waiting to escort us back to Brighton. I don’t think they minded too much that we were late; they’d had a couple of Big Macs to keep them going. Please do as much as you can for SERV they transport blood, paperwork, organs etc. in the middle of the night from hospital to hospital. It’s all done voluntary, they don’t get a penny.

Into Brighton, Madeira Drive and it’s all over. Tom’s wife and family were there to meet him, they’d travelled all the way from Shrewsbury. Richard’s son and partner were waiting for us, they’re bikers too. Mike and Kim Tebbitt from HDRCGB and their crowd who couldn’t be with us at the start, and some Bury Hill Bikers Club members who I didn’t know and didn’t realise they were there for me so I’m so sorry I was rude and didn’t come and say ‘thank you’ for supporting me.

We rode home via Cooden where Rick and Trish were having a camping weekend; they opened a bottle of bubbly for us in celebration. We had a tiny sip. The last few photos were taken. I’m already starting to feel a bit down. But I’ve got Matt and mum to see so I’ll be all right.

Home to Hurst Green, Lesley had tied balloons to my restaurant door, Lynda had put flags down the drive and Matt and Jo had made a ‘Welcome Home’ sign. I really do want to cry now.

It’s a funny feeling coming home, you want to come home, but you also want to carry on the ride. I loved it so much. Before I went I told myself it was going to be tough and I just had to do it and get on with it. But I needn’t have worried, it wasn’t tough, it was just the best thing ever. And do you know what made it? THE PEOPLE. Thank every single one of you for giving me the time of my life. 

I haven’t said much about Richard and Tom, words can’t say and they know how I feel. But they are writing about their own thoughts on the trip. Scary or what!

Loads of Love

Sally X