The Big Bike Ride is a Charity Ride to promote the awareness of Bowel Cancer.   The first ride was two years ago from John O'Groats to Lands End.  The second ride was this year which was Round Britain. 

Owen and I decided to participate in the bike ride this year because biking around the coast of Britain was always something we talked about doing - when we retired? - and because Owen had bowel cancer five years ago and was very fortunate in that it was diagnosed early.  Owen was lucky in that it was discovered, cut out and there was no need for radiotherapy or chemotherapy.  Thanks to Derek Pearce (Thames Valley Wings) who had also had bowel cancer for advising Owen to see his doctor when he had mentioned that he had blood in his stools.  Owen was also aware of the symptoms and what not to do because David James (Surrey Wings) did not go to see his doctor soon enough and unfortunately died of bowel cancer in December 2003.
 
The Big Bike Ride started off in Birmingham at the Motorcycle Museum with a photo shoot.  A very interesting place to visit but there was no time to look at the bikes.  Somewhere for Thames Valley to go on a ride-out.  It was then motorway to Leeds where we stopped at a shopping centre promoting Bowel Cancer Awareness and collecting for the charity.  We then rode across country exploring the spectacular Yorkshire countryside to Whitby where there was a lot of publicity for the charity and we tasted the best fish and chips ever.  (There is a ride-out to Whitby from the Treffen this year.) We then followed the coastal route to Newcastle and on to Edinburgh, stopping off in Newcastle and Edinburgh, again collecting for the charity.   A good ride along winding roads and a beautiful evening as we looked across the North Sea which brought back memories of the ride-outs from Kelso to Lindisfarne (1999) and Anwick (2003).We stayed at Edinburgh University which is the biggest provider of accommodation in Edinburgh and were impressed by the standard of the accommodation..  Unfortunately, we did not have time to explore Edinburgh, but having been there before, we had seen the sights and we can always visit again when we are at the Treffen in Kelso next year. 

The only problem we had with riding in a group was that although the GoldWings were very good at understanding the idea of group riding, other riders in the group had no idea.   From Leeds to Whitby Big Al from Surrey Wings was tail-end Charlie but he managed to lose the main part of the group and using his sat nav ended up in Whitby 30 minutes ahead.  Owen was tail-end Charlie from Newcastle to Edinburgh but just after half a mile, we lost the group at a set of lights so four of us were riding on our own (including Big Al) and arrived at Edinburgh before the rest of the group.  There was also a rider on a 125cc bike who had difficulty going up the hills so maybe it was a good thing we weren't travelling with him!

The second day we rode from Edinburgh to Glasgow then down to Carlisle but did not ride the whole of the coastal route as planned due to lack of time.  We then travelled down the motorway from Carlisle to Birkenhead when it poured with rain.  From Birkenhead, we rode along the coastline of North Wales to Conwy.  We had hoped to call in at the Wingding at Bangor but time did not permit.  Conwy was a lovely town looking over the estuary with a lot of interesting things to see - Conwy Castle which is well photographed, Telford's Bridge and the smallest house in Britain.  Again we stopped off en route at Glasgow, Carlisle and Birkenhead collecting for the charity.
 
The third day was from Conwy to Arundel.  However, we did not reach Arundel due to the valve breaking on Owen's tyre just outside of Aberystwyth. Owen's mobile (Vodafone) did not work so he swapped it with Big Al (Orange) as we waited for the AA.  As it was Saturday, after midday, in Wales there were no garages open.  The  AA man could not fix it so we were then trailered back to Wokingham, travelling on some of the roads we had been on before when we went on the ride-out to Brecon at last year's Treffen.  (Owen has now replaced his old valves with life-time valves.)  We were not too disappointed at missing out on this part of the ride-out as Owen's parents used to live near Aberystwth and my parents live near Arundel which was where we were supposed to be travelling to, so we had biked on a large number of the roads in this area. 

The fourth day was from Arundel to Ace Cafe in London.  We decided to join the ride at Boxhill, this time on the Valk.  Thanks to Mal from Littlehampton (a Capital member who is a policeman) for taking us across London so that we could see all the tourist sights.  As we approached Piccadilly Circus we came across a group of Ferraris. - the cameras were for them, not us.    We finished off at Ace Cafe where there was another photo shoot and further promotion of the charity..  The end of a quick tour of Britain, visiting England, Scotland and Wales.

 Thank you to Thames Valley Region for sponsoring
£500.00 towards this charity. 

Patsy and Owen