From the start of the year my intention had been to do a “first” in the UK ride.

My whole year had been towards that aim. Each ride had taught me more.

Early on it had led to changing my riding kit for textiles and a flip front helmet.

(thanks Taff, realised after Monte Carlo). As the year went on it was improving

what I carried with me and even how I carried it. As the distances got longer it

was more about managing me mentally and physically. The plan for the route

was to avoid as many road works and busy traffic as possible. The route would

be all dual carriageways and motorway with fuel stops just off the road. Finally

I settled on a route of Gordano, Plymouth, Gordano, Hythe, M6 Toll, Stirling,

M6 Toll, Hythe, Gordano, each day!!! There would be very little spare time to

sleep or stop. I had complete my BBG1500 in 22 ½ so expect to have 1 ½ hrs

rest between the two legs and use that 1 ½ hrs the 2^nd night when I tired.

Bike Preparation

New tyre before last attempt as a rear is good for 5000 plus.

Check and top up oil

Tape LHS bar end as it always comes loose on a ride.

Remove rear footrests, one had been rattling looser and looser

Tape route and average speeds on tank

Put the route into the garmin and check it is still correct.

New batteries in Spot and carry spares.

Self

As I was leaving at midnight I got my 8hrs sleep in before I left

For the previous week I stayed off the alcohol and tried to eat ultra healthy

I had porridge before I left as it’s a good way to store energy

I was wearing edz underwear, thermal socks, hien gericke suit (with lining), leather gloves, boots and flip front helmet

Top box

Assorted Tools

Mini Compressor that works off the cigarette lighter with gummy worms for puncture repairs.

Pens/pencils

Spare glasses

Spare Oil

Chain lube

Spare socks

Spare textile gloves

Tape

Small tissues and hand gel in case I get caught short in the wilds

Headache tablets

Plasters

germolene

Nuts, raisins, dried fruit

Bottle of water

Spare earplugs

On self

Mobile phone and wallet in waterproof pocket of jacket

2 pens

1^st Lap

I got to Gordano around 11pm and found that I knew Mike, one of the

attendants, so they were completely happy to sign my start witness form. When

they asked I told them of Davo and only admitted to doing a BBG1500. Mike

thought I was nuts. As I was ready to go I filled up and left at 11.41pm

The sat nav said I would get back at 21.55 so I apparently had 1½ hour to spare

but I knew I would gain time it overnight and north of the Lake District. It was

overcast but bright as I joined the M5 to see a sign that it was closed J23 to J24.

That’s a good start I thought to myself by at least I know my way around

Bridgewater and the traffic would be light. As I left the motorway I noticed it

was only closed southbound so would be open coming back up. As I rejoined

the M5 the sat nav said my end time would be 23.05 so it had cost me 10

minutes.

Passing Exeter and up the hill on the A38 past Haldon Race Course one lane

was coned off. This is a lovely bendy road through the trees and made up for the

past 1^st hour on the motorway. Passing Chudliegh I thought back to when I built

some houses there some years ago. The A38 was much more interesting than

the M5 with sharper turns.

Off the M5 over a roundabout and I was in Sainsbury’s filling up. This would

only be a splash and dash with the bike on the side stand as I would have to stop

again at Gordano for a corner receipt. Passing Bridgewater this time on the M5

a small rabbit ran into the road and stopped; a quick counter steer and I was

around him. I thought of Davo Jone’s family and why I was there.

At Gordano I put the bike on the centre stand, put the hose in the tank, flipped

up my helmet and grabbed a drink and a handful of fruit and nuts while I waited

for Mike to turn on the pump. I filled the tank to the brim as I expected to do

200 miles on the next leg and knew it would be possible if it was full to the brim.

It was 02.52 and I had covered 220 miles. Most would consider that a day out

but most of them were still in bed!!!! The M4 has no mysteries for me I had

been riding it for years onto the M25 I yawned a few times and as the sun rose

that feeling quickly went away. I managed to get the sat nav back to 22.50. As I

approached my planned stop at Folkestone Tesco I realised that the new

Channel Gateway was at J11 in Hythe just 3 miles shorter. I had never used the

Tesco before and wasn’t even sure it was 24hrs!!! I quickly worked out over

and over again what difference it would make as I went there on the way up and

on the way back it would take 4x3miles off my total each day. I again used the

centre stand, eat nuts, fill to brim technique. The time was 06.27 and 420 miles

done. My usual stopped time is 4 minutes.

Back up the M20 onto the M25 it was early morning and traffic was building as

I approached the free for bikes Dartford tunnel. My last stop was still bothering

me due to the miles lost. I worked it out over and over again. I also knew that

as I went M4 M25 and not A329M M3 route that lost a few miles as well. I

decided to forget about it for now and just make sure the sat nav was 30 miles over at the end.

Around the M25 there were road works and heavy traffic in the rush hour but I

was still maintaining my predicted end time around 22.50. The traffic cleared

after short run of road works at the start of the M1. Onto the M6 and M6 toll

past all the jams I could see on adjoining roads in Birmingham. Fuel up in toll

road services. It was a long way into the services and they were close to the toll

plaza so not ideal but necessary as again it was a corner receipt to show I had

gone up the west not the east coast. My toll ticket was timed at 08.46 I had

covered 633 miles.

It was busy on the 1^st part of the M6 north but it seemed to clear after

Manchester. My problem now was to keep the speed down on the empty roads.

It’s so easy for the mind to wander and the speed to creep up. I saw the

inevitable white van on a bridge over the M74, there is always one there, maybe

it’s a cardboard cut out!!

Zooming in on the Zumo J I spotted that the way into Tebay north bound was

tedious so decided to missed it and fill at Carlisle where I knew the filling

station was next to the road. The odd bit of drizzle was welcomed as it cleaned

my visor.

My next stop at Hamilton is just short of Glasgow and next to the motorway but

the downside is a roundabout with traffic lights to get turned round and return

south. Heading south I had completed 900 miles in 12 ½ hours. It was looking

like I would get a good rest at the end of the day. There was sun shining through

the clouds on hills, a wonderful sight. I gained more time on the sat nav in

Scotland (22.29 arrival time) but the last part of the M1 and M25 in the road

works were slow due to the rush hour . It was around 5pm when I crossed the

Dartford Bridge always a fabulous view even though it consists of mainly

industrial areas.

Back to the Channel Gateway at Hythe I went through the eat and tank to the

brim routine even grabbing a cup of hot mocca. It was 18.54 as I left Hythe and

I knew it was less than a 3 hour ride so was looking forward to a rest. I had

thought I would need to rest as it got dark but that didn’t turn out to be the case.

On the way to Gordano I regained loads of time on sat nav filling up at 21.42

with 1535 miles on the sat nav. It was drizzling slightly giving me another

opportunity to clean my visor. I ate a sandwich and had a hot chocolate while

the staff filled in my end form. I then went round to the service area set my

phone alarm and dozed in a soft chair until 23.15. I didn’t feel I had slept due to

piped music though time went quick with ear plugs in and I didn’t see or hear

the couple next door leaving so must have managed to get some Zzzzzzzzzzz’s..

2^nd lap

The staff again signed my start form though I don’t think they realised what I

was about to do. I started 2330 earlier than 1^st start to get the full 24hours. The

second had to start when I got my receipt or 24hrs after the 1^st days start. The

Sat nav said I would get back around 2200 so I decided to concentrate on

keeping that from slipping past 2300 overnight

I always knew the 2^nd lap was always going to be the hardest but felt it was

good to do the same lap as it was easier to see how I was against the clock with

less worries. The drizzle had stopped but started again as I joined M5 until I left

it to go through Bridgewater again. Past the edge of Dartmoor on the A38 there

was fog on high ground causing me to slow in the patches. I knew this time

would be the cruncher to the whole ride and that I had 2 hours to spare to sleep

and rest. I put an extra stop in at Brent Knoll for a coffee and 5 minutes rest.

Gordano again and feeling a bit of Déjà vu.. Mike said “You back again…” and

when I told him where I was going “You must be nuts”.

I got as far as Leigh Delamere services on the M4 and stopped for 15 minutes

sat in a soft chair. It was a 30 minute stop with dithering trying to find a chair

etc. It’s easy for time to fester away. I stopped again on M25 where I led on

concrete barrier on the exit slip road back to the motorway it was 5 minutes with

my eyes closed. The sat nav was now saying the end would be 2300. I felt good

as I had made it through my worse time of 03.00 to sunrise for a second time

and was now feeling wide awake. It did mean though that I only had 30 minutes

to spare over the next 18hrs as I left Hythe at 06.27. My legs were aching but I

had perfected standing on the footrests in the road works to get a stretch. The

top of my right leg was particularly painful until I realised it was the loose

change in my coat pocket and moved it!!!! I also had a painful ache in one side

of neck and backache LHS but that was only when filling up. It was fine on the

bike.

I was staring to get complacent when I missed the M25 turn off the M20. I beat

the tank swore at myself as I pressed recalculate on the Zumo. It sent me to the

next junction for a u turn and return. I wasted 10 minutes and 7 miles to take off

at the end. I always know it is doggy doing recalculate as the Zumo tends to

recalculate the whole route and can do weird things. The end time looked about

right but rather than trust it I reloaded the route again being careful not to push

the “go to the start of the route” option.

Then to make it worse I turned off M6 toll early having to pay automatically

then returning to the toll for my fuel stop. I was running on fumes due to extra

distance having gone wrong twice. I would have to stop doing that as the end

time was now 23.15 only 15 minutes to spare. I knew I could gain in Scotland

and down the M4 at night so wasn’t overly stressed but knew I would have to be

more careful. I then had to pay the full toll a few miles later at the Toll Plaza.

The traffic was better this time up the M6 past Manchester but I seemed to be

getting nowhere. Time was dragging. To overcome that feeling I concentrated

on working out times to arrive at points 10/20 miles away. Yes the old trick of

biting at small slices of the cake

There was drizzle on hills allowing me to clean my visor again. Around the

Lake District there seemed to be a lot of police cars. Two passed me together

then a third pulled in front off them both before they all stopped on the hard

shoulder. I can only assume they were practicing their stop techniques. I always

feel that the public highway is the wrong place to practice as if you or I want to

practice our high speed control and cornering we have to do a track day or go to

Germany!!

Arriving again at Stirling I felt it was all down hill now and time was still ok. I

knew I had no spare time so concentrated at services and junctions so as not to

take any more wrong turns. It’s easy to go the wrong way where services are

only on one side of the road and accessed by roundabout.

I started to get tired as I headed south again. I found myself getting a bit close to

the rear of cars. Then a car tried to pull into my space in the outside lane as he

obviously hadn’t seen me.  The decision was made to use up my last spare hour

(My predicted arrival time was 22.30) resting 15minutes at each of last 3 stops .

I would keep 15 minutes in case road works were bad on the M25. I knew I

could gain time on the M4 if needed but worried that I would become tired as it

got dark. Hopefully adrenalin would keep me alert as I neared the finish and my

goal. Also I recognised that in my quest to save time I had stopped eating and

drinking. So I took my 15 minutes for Coffee at Tebay removing my helmet and

walking around which perked me up no end. I’m amazed how little can turn

around the tiredness. A drink, some nuts or even just get off the bike for 5

minutes all seem to work at different times.

Onto the M6 toll and my next scheduled 15 minute stop. I didn’t feel tired so

topped up the oil and lubed the chain for the last time. As I joined the M6

something made me look down to see the oil cap missing and the clutch plates

going round through the hole and oil was splashing out. I had not put the cap

back on at the services and it was impossible to return and still get back to

Gordano on time. My only option was to tape up the filler hole for now and

used all the tape I had. I wasn’t going to be beaten now.

As I took off again the chain clanked as though it was moving on the sprocket.

At Hythe there was oil under the bike when I refuelled. I checked the oil and it

was where it should be so assumed it was just a bit leaking via the taped up

filler though it wasn’t getting on the footrest or my boots. After all I done 200

miles since I taped it up and the oil light wasn’t on. The tape was soft with the

engine heat but holding up well. A wooden plug was considered and I looked to

buy some more tape but couldn’t find any. I looked at the chain which was

knackered but I had ridden before through a whole national rally with a

knackered chain so knew it would hold up. I took it easy when accelerating and

slowing to give it a good chance of lasting the last 200 miles.

Once I got on the M4 the time flew by as I knew exactly how long and how far

it is between junctions, I waved to Pete as I passed Newbury and Taff as I

passed Chippenham. The oil light flickered at some point so I dropped to 60

mph and it goes out before slowly accelerating again. I’ve done that many times

before and I had no more tape if I topped it up!!

I got to Gordano around 11pm as the staff was changing shifts so I had all 4 of

them wanting to sign my end form. My end receipt for a Prawn Sandwich and

coffee was timed at 22.54. In the 48hrs I had survived on 2 packets of

sandwiches, two bottles of water, mocha, coffee, chocolate and a large box of

assorted nuts and dried fruit.  The second leg had taken longer but my moving

average was identical.

2hrs 53mins of stops total on the second day

I sent texts to Pete, Roger and my wife Lynne. I had not spoken to her as the

blue tooth went on the blink at the start and I had no time to fix it. It’s where the

Spot comes into it’s own. When the phone rang I expected it to be Lynne but it

turned out to be a call from Pete. He told me Baz did a BBG1500 on Monday

but he had knocked the Tuesday 2^nd leg on the head. Tough luck Baz and many

thanks…. Not sure what I would have done if I had missed it by 24hrs.

Then after half hour it was off home to bed. Lynne had not even left her car off

the drive so I could get the Fazer in the garage. Then came my hardest task off

the whole weekend, reversing her car out of the drive to get the Fazer in.

The new back tyre was a bit worn after my two goes at a BBG3000

My chain was knackered

You can see where it’s stretched and not sitting in the sprocket

Oil was dripping off the bottom of the engine

I had lost 7lbs in 48 hrs

But I was extremely happy

The paperwork has now been sent.

I would like to thank everyone for the kind words when it has not gone right

and all your support over this year.

I feel this is a fitting tribute to Davo Jones and a personal goal achieved.