RBLR1000 – Report by Adrian Cresswell

It all started a few months ago when I registered to take part in the above event over the weekend of the 19-20 Jun. I had read the reports and experiences of others who had done this event the year before and I thought I want some of that and while doing it can help raise monies towards the Poppy Appeal, well after all, I am a Royal British Legion Riders Branch (RBLR) member, it made sense to me. Soon as the maps were posted, I downloaded the Northern route, put it in Autoroute, and then set about finding my intermediate stops, which all were for fuel not that I needed it that often, but thought, may as well make the stops productive and top up, stretch the legs, move around and get a quick snack etc. Yes, I had been researching through the Iron Butt Association UK, what one needs to do when undertaking long distance riding. I factored in a 10 minute stop at each garage, hopefully this would allow time to fill, record the info in the log and do the other things mentioned above, oh and when needing a toilet….. This meant all things considered, and just to be on the safe side, I reduced all the speeds in the Autoroute calculations, the journey should take 20 hours 43 minutes, this would give me a window of flexibility of 3 hours 17 minutes, bargain.

I had mentioned the event to the members of Goldwings North West (of which I am a member) back in Nov 09 and several members said they would do it, and it was decided we would do it has a group and also I would be the leader (that was not my choice!!!!!) This meant there would be four bikes, three with pillions, one solo and one trike with pillion.

Fri 18 Jun; Mike (son in law and my pillion) and I, set off from my house at 1630hrs to meet up with Jimmy at Birch services for our onward journey to Squires café. All goes well and Jimmy is there waiting for us when we arrive, quick exchange of pleasantries and then off. Finally we arrive and join up with the rest of the group parked up at Squires. All the usual goes on, a bit of banter, shaking hands, hugs etc. Soon we are all ready to register and attend the “O” group led by Paddy. Once we are all done at Squires Jimmy, Dave & Toni (trike), Mike and I set off to the hotel just down the road to book in for the night. Upon arrival, I need to upgrade our room to a triple because I said Jimmy could stay with Mike and I, the guy behind the counter does this at the extra cost of £4, I was gutted. Key issued and off to sort our lives out and then later go for some food. I won’t bore you all with the details of the hotel, but it was somewhat a bit of a joke and it reminded us all of Fawlty Towers! While we were chilling watching the football, Jimmy said “I haven’t done that before”, “done what?” I replied. “Queue jumped”, I paused for a minute and thought what does he mean, there had been no one waiting at the reception desk when we came in etc, “what do you mean Jimmy?” was my reply, “when we were on the M62 and riding through all the standing traffic”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I checked with Jimmy and asked if he had never ever done filtering before and he said no. “So you just sit there and wait?” “Yes” said Jimmy, how bizarre I thought. Fed and watered, disgusted at England’s performance and we are off to bed so we can get a good nights sleep and ready for the big day tomorrow.

Sat 19 Jun; 0400hrs and my alarm goes off, up I get and go and attend to my personal grooming. Then, I put the kettle on (even though it doesn’t fit), Mike goes and gets sorted; Jimmy gets up and does the same. I make a brew for everyone, we pack our belongings get kitted up and vacate the room. Meet Dave and Toni in reception, hand the key back and out to our trusted steeds, pack the panniers etc and then set off back to Squires. We arrived there at 0510hrs, rode round the back and wait to meet the others coming from Castleford. My mate, Ray Walton, spots us and comes over to say hello and asks how I am doing etc and wishes me luck on my first 1000 mile ride. Once we are all together we take some pictures and it is now I realise, that I have left the charged up batteries in the charger at home and have to use the partly charged ones in the camera case, doh.

We decide to move round towards the start line to get ready for our anticipated 0600hrs start, we got round the corner and the next thing one of the Marshal’s asks for my log sheet writes down my bikes mileage, 0532hrs and then signs it. It is at this point I realise that we now have to leave….. Not an issue, just ahead of scheduled start time. All of the group are duly officially signed off and then we go for it, waving and tooting our horns as we leave. Well I think to myself this is it only 999.9 miles to go.

Soon we are on the M62 and heading to Birch, the only issue I had was the SatNag was telling me to do U turns and go the other way. It’s a good job I know the area and where I should be heading. The only thought I had, was the thing was trying to take us anti clockwise, why I don’t know, when I checked the check points they were all in the correct order for a clockwise run. I made it restart and it then decided that we were now going the correct way. Maybe it knew of the chaos we were to ride in to at Birch some 45 minutes later. Bikes everywhere, on every fuel pump, waiting on the service road, bikers queuing out the kiosk door, grid lock and panic, LOL.

Finally we got sorted and were on our way again some 45 minutes later. Ted one of the group had informed me the night before that he had to eat one proper meal a day (medical condition) and that if we stopped at Ecclefechan, “Fechaning stop where” I said, Ecclefechan said Ted, it is a transport café just off the A74M up past Gretna, it will be straight in, 20 minutes, full English, brew etc. Sounded a fair one, so we agreed that would be it. First we stopped for a fuel top up, just after Carlisle on the A74 and then on for breakfast. We all trooped in, placed our orders and 1 hour later all set off again. I was not happy at this point because we were now 1 hour and 35 minutes behind time. Anyway onwards and upwards to our next stop at Dumbarton. Roll in, start to fill up etc, move off the pumps, go and pay complete log books, people have a stretch, get coffees, smoke etc. Time goes by and then we get ready for the off, Ted looks down at my bike and spot’s a pool of oil, not a big one, but nevertheless, oil. Noooooo I say, it could have been there when I parked up (I was hoping that was the case) but didn’t know. I said I will check when we get to Fort Billy when we fuel there, I will make sure that there is nothing under the bike when I park up.

We set off with Steve and Lynne taking the lead. Stunning scenery and ride for the next 91 miles. I have never been on the A82 before so was well impressed. The only issue I had was that one rider seemed to be going in to and through the corners with some hesitation, wasn’t sure why but it was starting to hold us back. I had made a mental calculation along the route that we were at least some 2 hours behind schedule. I was going to have to have a word with everyone when we got to Fort Billy to raise their awareness of the fact we only had a window of 3 hours 17 minutes to start with and we were now down to just 1 hour 17 minutes. To make things worse I was getting frustrated with not getting round the corners with some gusto, so in the end I overtook said rider, this then meant that they either kept up or dropped off, I hoped he would opt for the former and he did quicken his pace.

Once everyone had done what they needed to do at the garage in Fort William, and I had made sure where I had parked that there was no oil on the floor, I then took the opportunity to brief everyone on the situation we now found ourselves in, i.e. behind time. I explained that I really wanted to complete the challenge and be certified (maybe that should have happened a long time ago some will say) and if this was to happen we needed to ensure that we managed the stops more effectively, all agreed that they all wanted the same as me. I looked down under my bike, no oil, I got down on the floor and looked under the engine, nothing, bone dry, I was pleased; it had been a case of parking in the wrong place previously.

Ted took the lead to Inverness and set off with a good pace, maybe we could catch up a little time? I took up my place at the rear. We reached and passed Inverness and I then took the lead up to Wick, I checked the time and we were 2 hours and 15 minutes behind time, still losing time, what had we to do, to at least stay on the pace? We stopped at a garage on the A9 at Evelix, this was a good stop, a splash and dash and then off again for the final 64 miles to Wick. I know a lot of riders have complained about the wind we all encountered, and yes it was strong, but even with a very large bike, I’m not talking about engine size but sheer surface area, I personally didn’t find it to bad, had a couple of scares where I was almost blown into the other side of the road. Finally we made Wick, we all fuelled up, it was then I met a fellow winger who had inadvertently filled up with Diesel and was about to siphon it all out. At this point we all had begun to feel the cold and started to put on extra clothes, I put on my fleece and Shemagh and then made my way to the main store to use the toilets. Back to bike, quick snack and drink and I was ready for the off.

We left Wick and again I led the group down the A9. I had an urge, you know the one, when you get out of town and on to the faster roads, it had to be done, I went for a blast for about 5 minutes, it felt good. I then remembered that there was just Mike and I, there were more of us, I backed off and trundled along, finally the group caught me up, I went for it again and this time, Ted with Chris (his pillion) and Steve with Lynne came with me. We had a good blast together but then we had to slow down we could no longer raise the others on the CB. Eventually the group was one again and we continued on our merry way.

Next port of call Aviemore. We decided that we would have a break after we filled up (while I was waiting to get on the pump, I was asked if a penguin could sit on the back of me and have his picture taken, I agreed) and look at what we needed to do next. At this point more layers were put on by everyone and a quick snack etc. I looked at where we where, what time were available to us etc, we had only got 1 hour of a window left. I got the group together and said we now only had 1 hour to play with, to help speed our progress up on our way back down we could miss out two more fuel stops, which would save time, but the consequence of doing that would mean more time in the saddle, not too big an issue on a Wing. It was agreed; we mounted up and were soon underway again.

Edinburgh came; we stopped, fuelled and got back on the road. Next stop, Berwick 57 miles for our last compulsory stop. We got on the throttles and made good time; I radioed ahead and said we need to keep this a splash and dash stop, if we were to make it back in time. Yes’s, came back through my headset. Into the garage we went, fuel in, logs done, back on the bikes and away, now if we had done that from the start we would have had more time available to us, never mind, it’s easy with hindsight. Back out on to the A1 and we then start to give it big licks, 165 miles to go, according to the SatNag we should arrive back at 0502hrs that will be close.

As we are riding back I keep checking the SatNag to see what our ETA is, it varies between 0500-0505hrs, we are still on provided no hiccups. I check the miles left, just 20, now I am starting to feel the pressure of the days ride, my neck is starting ache, I think that is down to the fact I have only had my lid off three times all day, even with the extra layers on, my legs are now starting to feel cold. Jimmy pipes up on the radio, “how far left, my fuel warning light is on?”, “20 miles” I tell him,” ”You are good for about 40 miles, don’t worry”. Next the turn off appears we take it and then we are rolling back into Squires to cheers and applause, I look at the time, 0502hrs, we had done it.

Excellent team effort, we left as a team and we came back a team. I would like to thank all those that sponsored us and supported us, thanks to everyone that organised it and to all those that took part, a job well done.

Would I do it again? You bet I would, but there would be a few things I would do differently.