The 4Corners4Cancer Blog
Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope that this helps you follow my progress along the route and I promise to keep you updated in between riding, and of course sleeping.Ride Report
It seems like a long time ago now since I and Graham Flett embarked on our journey around the UK raising both money and awareness for Myeloma UK and We are Macmillan.
Beginning in Lowestoft on Friday the 7th of May we made our way the the eastern most point of the Uk. This as it turned out was a great let down. To get to the eastern point you travel through an industrial estate before parking up and stepping down a couple of steps to find a kind of trig point on the ground pointing to various cities around the world. So after promptly leaving there we negotiated our way out of town past all the miserable faces to begin the run down to Lizard point. This run was fairly uneventful apart from Iron mans acrobatics during the slower spells. Also we passed Stonehenge but decided that a pile of well placed stoned did not warrant using up precious riding time. Our long run was completed over Dartmoor and through what must have been postman Pats village with close stone dykes, black cats and a wee red van dotting about.
The southern point brought us to The Lizard and the beautiful Henry’s campsite. Our arrival was welcomed with a pint of the local cider and a chat with Ron and Jo who own the site. Both are passionate about the local area and are keen to keep alive traditional building methods. This is obvious when chatting with Ron. His family have owned the site for some 500 years and are the second oldest family in the area.
Saturday found Graham missing out Lands end through to being a little tired. I however was keen to get over there as I would also be completing LEJOG as part of my run. LE was a friendly place and there I met a guy from Aberdeen who was about to embark on the journey too although he had no engine between his legs..... nutter! Following LE I headed north to meet with Graham in Bodmin. From there the next stop was Exeter. We stopped there due to drive train noises coming from my BMW and were advised not to carry on due to the risk of drive collapse, rider crashing and blood being spilt.... but hey I was never one to take safety advice so carry on we did. This day got us slowly to Northwich where we spent the weekend visiting The Thundersprint. The Thundersprint is a family run classis bike race held annually and it attracts a huge following of all ages. Here we were lucky enough to parade in the cavalcade laps around the town alongside some of the rarest and most beautiful classic bikes known to man.
Monday morning then saw us heading north a little bit confused after being led astray buy two biking couples who insisted that we joined them for a drink. No matter how many times we said no they forced it down our throats! And for any of you that know Graham and I you will surely believe this! On reaching Glasgow Graham headed north to return to work. I stopped there to inspect my bike and to rest before carrying on the next day up Loch Lomand side, across the Corran ferry and onto Ardnamurchan point. The road out to ardnamurchan is long, single tracked and interesting with a lot of wildlife to be seen and probably even more English. From there I carried on north to Inverness and to the news that my BMW was indeed bugered! The final drive had eaten it’s self to the point where the oil was completely silver. Luckily for me though my good friend Adam had delivered my KTM 990 superduke to Inverness in anticipation of the bad news.
So after a good nights sleep near Alness i was joined in the morning at Skiach services by bo bo the clown AKA Ivan Binks to complete the last leg of the journey. After a bad boy breakfast we headed off over the Struie road towards Bonar Bridge. This was cut short on a corner as the road ahead was closed leaving us no choice but to aim for the diversion road and hope for the best as at that point neither of us had planned for such a tight turn. From Bonar bridge we had single track most of the way to Lochinver. The road north from there to Durness was a scream and it was at this point that I really began to enjoy the Duke. By early afternoon we made the finish, Dunnet head and were greeted by my parents. Photos taken my parents headed off while Bo Bo and i carried on to JOG. It was starange reaching the end of the road and to be honest I found it hard to stop. Seeing as the weather was so nice we decided that it would be a shame to waste it so we carried on home to Elgin.... or not. Within a few miles I manage my old trick of running out of petrol! So there I was pushing my duke up the road for half a mile, in fancy dress! Not to worry though as shortly I could see Ivan arriving back with a petrol can..... or so I thought! Apparently???? The garage had no cans so instead he produced a 5 foot long strap and proceeded to tie it to his rucksack. So picture the scene...... one clown and captain slow towing each other up the road on two super sport bikes! To say we looked stupid would be an understatement! Not to worry though as it was all part of the adventure!
Facts:
Close on 1600 UK miles proceeded by as many in Europe the week before.
BMW averaged 42.7 mpg.
KTM averaged, I have no idea but it was a blast.
1 BMW back tyre squared off over 3000 miles.
1 KTM back tyre killed over 420 miles of Scottish madness!
1 iron man.
1 clown.
1 captain slow.
1 captain fast.
Top speed??? 60mph???
Top roads, Scottish.
Top weather, Scottish.
Lessons learned:
No matter how reliable German bikes are..... Take out break down insurance.
Dual carriageways are boring.
Cornish cider is a killer.
......Actually any drink the night before 400 miles is a killer.
A 2 season sleeping bag means you are going to freeze in a 2010 ‘spring’.
Army ration packs dated 2003 are actually ok.
BMW R1200GSA is an extremely capable and comfortable bike. Yes ok it did break down but that is just the way it goes. I DO NOT hold anyone responsible as I know it is just one of those things.
KTM 990 super duke is an animal and I love it for what it is. No use as a tourer but wonderful fun.
Overall though we all enjoyed the run. All along we had support and fun with every person we met. It allowed us to find some places that we would like to revisit and explore.
At time of writing we have £2760 raised total and we look forward to more coming in.
Looking forward to the summer MCMC have promised to donate a portion of their poker run which is wonderful.
So really would like to give a huge thank you to all of my supporters throughout my journey. It has been hard at times but also very rewarding and I just hope that every penny raised can help towards a better future for those we have been raising for.
Special thanks:
Tom Adamson motorcycles.
http://www.motorcycleworlddirect.com
Sound and vision Elgin and MCMC for their constant help esp. Adam Barnett who made the finish possible. OPS Group Ltd.
Graham Flett for his constant support throughout.
Bo Bo for joining me on the last leg and my parents for welcoming us at the finish. Thank you both.
Also to my international support from both Bermuda and Holland.
I miss you all! x.
Many thanks, Ewan McConachie.
Posted By: Ewan
august 07, 2010 09:44am
Time is moving on
Well the day is approaching fast with only 45 days to go. Time to start picking a tent and looking out the army rations.
Posted By: Ewan
march 22, 2010 07:56am
Update
It looks like i have started a trend as Graham has just parted with his hard earned cash to buy a new bike and as we all know it is not often that his wallet comes out.... he he. Also it is great to see the donations coming in and once again, i thank you all.
Posted By: Ewan
february 11, 2010 07:55pm
Perfect bike for the trip
Santa has come early, many thanks to Tom Adamson for finding me the perfect bike to complete my trip on.
Posted By: Ewan
january 13, 2010 11:10am
