Hi everyone,
Thanks for tuning in to my latest Arctic Rider blog!
Its now just 3 days to go until I take on the UK Iron Butt challenge.. riding from Lands End to John O'Groats in 24 hours.
While I've been planning this ride for around the last 18 months, I'm feeling a little unprepared. When I rode to the Arctic in 2014 that ride was pretty much my sole focus. Every day was Arctic Ride prep. Now 2 years later... my life having a toddler and a more demanding job has meant I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked planning and preparing. Luckily, while this trip is going to be a big challenge, I'm only going to be away from home for 4 days rather than 4 weeks.
This week I picked my bike up from its big service at M&S motorcycles in Newcastle. To get the bike ready the team did an oil and filter change, spark plug refresh, air filter change, and a general check of the bike. Also I got two brand new Bridgestone Battleaxe tyres put on for good measure.
This was an expensive job but I was lucky enough to have Suzuki cover this for me as sponsorship for the trip. They also also posted an article about my trip which you can view here: Lands End to John O'Groats in 24 hours
With the bike sorted, I spent this afternoon rummaging around my my garage looking for all of my gear ready for the trip. I managed to find all my usual kit; tent, sleeping bag, gas heater, camping seat, etc... however 2 very important items (knowing the British weather and this week's forecast) were missing. 1. My waterproof suit. 2. My spare gloves. To this day I've never found a pair of gloves that are fully waterproof so I always carry a spare pair... which is annoying.
So not long to go until my big ride, I'm a bit nervous but determined to complete the ride saefly within the 24 hours to make you all proud. Thank you all for your amazing support; reading my blogs, liking and re-tweeting post, and of course donating to Tiny Lives via my giving page
Keep an eye out on my facebook and twitter pages fro updates over the next few days!
Ride safe,
Gordon
Thanks for tuning in to my latest Arctic Rider blog!
Its now just 3 days to go until I take on the UK Iron Butt challenge.. riding from Lands End to John O'Groats in 24 hours.
While I've been planning this ride for around the last 18 months, I'm feeling a little unprepared. When I rode to the Arctic in 2014 that ride was pretty much my sole focus. Every day was Arctic Ride prep. Now 2 years later... my life having a toddler and a more demanding job has meant I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked planning and preparing. Luckily, while this trip is going to be a big challenge, I'm only going to be away from home for 4 days rather than 4 weeks.
This week I picked my bike up from its big service at M&S motorcycles in Newcastle. To get the bike ready the team did an oil and filter change, spark plug refresh, air filter change, and a general check of the bike. Also I got two brand new Bridgestone Battleaxe tyres put on for good measure.
This was an expensive job but I was lucky enough to have Suzuki cover this for me as sponsorship for the trip. They also also posted an article about my trip which you can view here: Lands End to John O'Groats in 24 hours
With the bike sorted, I spent this afternoon rummaging around my my garage looking for all of my gear ready for the trip. I managed to find all my usual kit; tent, sleeping bag, gas heater, camping seat, etc... however 2 very important items (knowing the British weather and this week's forecast) were missing. 1. My waterproof suit. 2. My spare gloves. To this day I've never found a pair of gloves that are fully waterproof so I always carry a spare pair... which is annoying.
So my plans for the next few days are as follows.
Sunday
- Meet my buddy Lars from Norway (who helped me so much when I was in Trondhiem in 2014) off the ferry at Newcastle where he is starting a biking holiday to Scotland.
- Head to J&S Newcastle and get some waterproofs and spare gloves (and hopefully not get sucked in by any new gear)
- Fuel up the bike, check my tyre pressure, oil my chain
- Pack the bike
Monday
- Drop little one off at Nursery, Say goodbye to the wife
- Hit the road around 0800 for the 500 mile ride to Lands End
- Meet up with my camera guys Andy and Andi.
Tuesday
- Take on the UK Iron Butt challenge
So not long to go until my big ride, I'm a bit nervous but determined to complete the ride saefly within the 24 hours to make you all proud. Thank you all for your amazing support; reading my blogs, liking and re-tweeting post, and of course donating to Tiny Lives via my giving page
Keep an eye out on my facebook and twitter pages fro updates over the next few days!
Ride safe,
Gordon