Made it to Yarmouth in a good time.
Very overcast though. Shame.

Calculations...

Well that was actually a lot better than I thought.

Also a lot less painful than I thought too...

The whole trip (which I gave a hopeful guess of 4hrs) actually only took me 3hrs and 10 minutes. That included a stop for petrol and a stop for a rest and a drink. So by those calculations I may be able to cover the distance needed in 6 and a half hours on a good day.

I'm sure there will bad days... Mountain days will probably be bad ones.

Anyway back to the figures. I managed 70 miles before needing to fill up, she was going flat out and she did have fuel left in the tank, so I will leave it as 70 miles as a working figure. When I did fill up though, to be honest it was slightly embarrassing.

£2.75... and that was almost overflowing...

So £5.50 will get me 140 miles, I have to do 220 per day. So I figure that the last 80 miles will be about £3. So in essence I am looking at £8.50 per day in fuel. Although to be fair fuel will no doubt be cheaper on the continent, but that's the figure I will stick with at the moment.

So in total for the entire trip I am looking at a ball park figure of £119 for fuel. Not bad for a 3000 mile journey... I knew there was a reason for choosing this bike!

The speed was a lot better than I thought too, I think the speedo may be showing a slower figure than I am actually going, because although people overtook me, there were quite a few to just sit behind at a distance, and they didn't overtake when they had the chance.
At one point I overtook someone else! I was a Tesco lorry, and I did have to use a slipstream manoeuvre, but i'll take them any way I can get them!

Now I have to start testing some other kit. Next in line will be the cameras...

The First Test...

Right, its time to test things out...

I will have to average 220 miles per day, so I need to get some miles under my belt in order to see if everything is working as it should.

So basically I am going to ride from my house to Great Yarmouth and back this weekend. Its a 55 mile trip there, and a 55 mile trip back. That will give me a 110 mile round trip that I will time. All I need to do is double the results and I should be in business.

It will also mean I can calculate fuel bills and fill ups etc...

Hopefully I can get it done in about 4 hours including stops, which should equate to a leisurely 8 hours riding a day...

Hopefully.

Not a great start...

So anyway, there I was in the early hours of this morning.
I was late of work by 4 or so hours, but nevermind, one shift left to go.
Its about 04:30 in the morning and i'm riding my Triumph Motorcycle back home. The sun is rising, its getting light and there is a beautiful mist covering the fields. I come off a major roundabout, accelerate to about 70mph and ride down a dual carriageway heading towards home and bed.
Its a beautiful morning and there is nothing on the roads, its just me, my bike, the odd bunny by the side of the road and a few pigeons enjoying the mornings calm.
Apart from one pigeon. Who decided that life simply wasn't worth living and promptly flew in my chest and right shoulder.
If you have ever wondered what its like to hit a pigeon at 70mph, then stop wondering. It hurts, very much so, and thats all there is to it...
I should have taken the C90 to work, the speed of the impact would have been negligible.

Anyone got an ice pack?...

In the beginning....

Hmm....

Only eleven weeks and four days to go.

Ferry booked? - Don't be silly.

Bike tested? - Well i've been to the garage and back.

Anything packed or thought about? - Five pairs of boxers should do it.

Accommodation booked? - I'll worry about that when I get there.

Travelling alone? - I'm not too sure I know anyone stupid enough to go with me...

Advertising? - I've done that bit! Emails sent, People Facebooked, Group and now Blog created!

So, i've bought the bike, booked the time off work and i've had my first donation! All's well so far!

So why am I really doing it? Why am I deciding to ride from Suffolk to Gibraltar on a 20 year old 85cc step through motorcycle with a top speed of 45mph?
Well firstly, I was looking at the Help for Heroes website, and there was an article on there about people doing silly things to raise money. So I was looking at the ideas so far, and thought to myself... I could be a lot sillier than that. Secondly I love my bikes, i've had 30 so far in my life and I like riding abroad. So why not combine the two?
Everything to do with the trip is being paid for out of my own back pocket. Every single penny raised will go to Help for Heroes. I guess the motivation for people to sponsor me is to see if I can actually make it. Its a tall order, i'm guessing its about 11hrs riding a day, every day for 14 days. It will be over 3000 miles in total and include crossing the Pyrenees Mountains twice. On a bike that has little more power than a food mixer.

Still, he who dares wins...