Vital Statistics

I've done some totting up, these are the stats of the trip:

Total distance 2387.9 miles
Total time on the road (including breaks) 79 hours 29 minutes
Total fuel used 96.63 litres over 2387.1 miles (full tank to full tank)
Total fuel cost £131.07

Average speed 30.04 mph
Average fuel consumption 112.3 mpg
Average fuel cost per mile 5.49 p

Donations so far - thank you everyone!

Thanks to all of you who have made a donation - Final Total is £1,683.14

Online:

Kym - an honest eBayer!
JCT Consultancy 
Howard S
Paul & Mary
Anita and Ian
Seth
Peek
Anonymous 1
Emma, Rich and Georgey
Brent
Anonymous 2
Jackie and Paul
Joe H
Kate B
Les
Anonymous 3
Carol C
R&C
Graham and Freddie
Ruth
Jack B
Don A

Directly:

Dick S from Transport & Highways
Dennis W from Transport & Highways
Bielawski's Sheffield Trimming Company
Elleri from the Learning Support Service
Verena from Birkendale
Jeff Hall Motorcycles
Greg from Jeff Hall's
Paul T from Transport & Highways
Anne and David
Sue N from Sheffield
Kate B coffee morning
Joyce B from Norwich
Jackie from the Learning Support Service
John M from Transport & Highways
Andy B from Transport & Highways
Nigel M from Transport & Highways
Ian S from Transport & Highways
Collection and donations from all at Carbrook
Hettie in Lincoln
Eleanor
A couple at Dunnet Head
Anne from the Learning Support Service
Biker from Cornwall at Ardnamurchan Point
Potential biker from York at Ardnamurchan Point
Derek and Suzy at Torbay Lodge, Dumfries
Another lady at Torbay Lodge
Margaret from the Learning Support Service
Kathryn and Peter at Pendragon House
Rosie from the Learning Support Service
Norwich ladies
Pete M from Transport & Highways
Dave B formerly from Transport & Highways
Nigel and Barbara
John and Irene
Maureen from the Learning Support Service
Linda from Aussie
Andy K from Transport & Highways
Tony and Sue
Aaron

Day 14 - Last day - Sunday 2nd

Started early to be able to get to Sheffield in time to watch Eagles in the Grand Final. Filled up at the Sweetbriar filling station on the Norwich Ring Road, where I used to serve petrol and wipe the windscreens in the 1960s. It has changed completely, but at least it is still there. Mist still clearing from the fields as I went through the Norfolk countryside, and not as hot as yesterday. Very little traffic at first but began to build up as I went through Kings Lynn. It was pleasing (in a nerdy kind of way) to be able to be doing 55 mph when the speedo got to 05555.5 miles.

I chose the B1225 to go through Lincolnshire beyond Horncastle, and so did large numbers of other bikers, mostly coming south - it's a great road for a run. Crossed the Humber Bridge to complete the set of large suspension bridges and worked my way to Sheffield via Goole to avoid the motorways. I arrived in time to get down to the Walkabout and watch Eagles get slaughtered in the rain in Warrington - oh dear.

Distance today 216.7 miles in 6 hrs 35 mins.

Final speedo reading 5716.1 - 2387.9 miles with no bike problems,
apart from the need to tighten the mirrors occasionally

They are sometimes called "fly screens" - this is why,
after more than 2000 miles as a fly swatter.

Total distance 2387.9. Total time travelling (including breaks) 79 hrs 29 mins. Average speed 30.04 mph.

It's back to work in the morning.

Day 13 - 1st October

Through wide East Anglian skies, with hardly any clouds in them, to the furthest east - Lowestoft Ness. I went on the A505 and A11 through Baldock, Royston and Newmarket, the route we used to take between Welwyn and Norwich. Things have changed a bit since we did it in Dad's Morris Minor - the A11 bypasses Newmarket, and the A505 does the same for Baldock and Royston. Both roads are now mostly dual carriageway, and the A505 has even acquired a tunnel and deep cuttings in the chalk through the Weston Hills. The old A11 through Newmarket has a new number but is still single carriageway, and has a lot less traffic than I remember.

I went through one of the contenders for best place name of the trip - the old favourite "Six Mile Bottom" - on my aching two thousand plus mile bottom. However, my personal choice is "Box's Shop" in Cornwall - who was Box, and why was his shop so special they named the village after it?

Lowestoft Ness is the most unprepossessing of the four points, you get to it along Gas Works Road - which doesn't promise much - and it is just behind the Birds Eye factory. There is a car park, a circular marker thing on the top of the sea wall, and a sign saying there is a £50 fine for any un-authorised vehicle on the sea wall - so my bike is pictured on the edge of the car park as close as you can legally get. When Jeremy Clarkson visited he parked on top of it, but then Top Gear and legality have never been comfortable bed fellows.

Furthest East, in a legal position (sorry about the lack of focus)

The disc in the middle of the dart board above

Travelled to my Mum's in Norwich through Corton, which is just to the north of Lowestoft, so I could recreate the first long(ish) ride I ever made on a bike. After O levels I worked as a waiter at Corton Beach Holiday Camp for the summer and would travel to Norwich and back on my day off on my Lambretta LD150 - my first proper bike/scooter, not counting the Bown 50 moped (made in Wales) which was the first motorised transport I ever owned. Things have changed quite a bit in the 40 odd years since, the camp is no longer there, I think the site may now be the Auzure Seas Holiday Village; and the railway we used to use to go into the bright lights of Lowestoft for an evening is long gone.

I was greeted in Norwich by balloons and a welcome banner, and some more donations form the Norwich ladies - thanks.

A boy and his bike (note how grubby the waistcoat is now)

Distance today 156.0 miles in 5 hours. Total distance so far 2,171.2 miles.

Day 12 - 30th September

Heading towards the end of the trip across middle England - mostly a very busy place. I spent a lot of today travelling in platoons (technical term) of traffic, which is not much fun. It was also very hot wearing all my motorcycle gear. I had unzipped the top few inches of the jacket which produced an interesting effect. The jacket, a cheap one, has an elasticated waist and cuffs which are useful to keep you warm and dry, not so good at keeping cool. However, when the top of the zip is open the jacket blows up a bit with the air pressure, until it overcomes the elastication which lets the air out and it collapses. This repeats as you go along producing an effect a bit like bellows blowing air around inside your jacket - not unpleasant but a bit disconcerting the first time.

The scenery was mostly rolling middle England - rounded hills, patchwork fields, thatched roofs, tractors and the occasional smell of manure - the sort of place where Jeremy Clarkson would feel comfortable. The best bit was probably between Devizes and Marlborough, I just missed going past Avebury, but I did see Silbury Hill. Also found out that Wiltshire CC are very fond of mini-roundabouts, but that they don't stop Devizes being congested.

Distance today 195.2 miles in 6 hr 44 min, total distance 2015.2

Looking towards Avebury from the A4

Silbury Hill - had to wait a fair time to take a picture without a vehicle in it

Passed the 2000 mile mark at a convenient lay-by just outside Aylesbury

Day 11 - 29th September

Down to furthest South at Lizard Point on a day which started with low cloud around Truro, but cleared to bright sunshine by the time I got to the Lizard. Much more commercialised, and busy, than North and West, but not too bad - though I didn't want to stay once I had taken my pictures. Started back east by going over the Fowey to Boddinick ferry, then over Dartmoor. Very little mobile phone signal today, including here at the B&B, so my location is a bit out of date.

Furthest South - Lizard Point

Man, bike and Lizard Point Lighthouse - and wife of man taking picture
(a BMW owner who has done the 1000 miles in 24 hours)

Lots of bends, steep hills and dappled green tunnels today, with some of them on A roads. When you are up high in Cornwall it's like being on top of the world with views stretching down to the sea on either side - it's certainly like that on Dartmoor. On top the road winds out in front of you for miles, but the bends, grazing sheep and ponies, and 40 mph limit kept speed down. However, in the east the single track 1 in 4 up and (particularly) down, winding between high banks, was harassing. I was glad to emerge onto the A38, though that got mad as I approached Exeter at about 5pm. To get to the B&B I turned off at a particularly complicated intersection and then emerged almost immediately onto narrow Devon country lanes and stone cottages - the contrast was marked.

A dappled green tunnel near Fowey

Fowey from the Boddinick ferry

Dartmoor is pretty rugged

Bike in a Dartmoor landscape

Day 10 - 28th September

The Indian summer continues, but I am continuing to wear my over-trousers. They aren't very fetching but as the bike and I function as a large fly swatter for several hours a day I would rather look untidy than scrape lots of fly debris off my ordinary trousers - cleaning my helmet is bad enough.

Went across the original Severn Road Bridge - it is now on the M48, the M4 uses the new Severn River Crossing which is a cable-stayed bridge. The original bridge is a suspension bridge, and for a while was the longest in the world. It was a revolutionary design, using a much lighter deck than the Forth Bridge, achieving its stiffness from an aerodynamic box girder construction and inclined rather than vertical hangers. It was a dramatic ride with long hazy views of the estuary and the tide swirling out. I hadn't realised that my route to Weston-Super-Mare also took me underneath the spectacular Clifton suspension bridge, designed by Brunel but built after his death.

Like yesterday the roads were busy at first, but quietened down as I got further along. I diverted off the A roads to go through the Exmoor national park with steep 2nd gear hills and tight bends. Good views of great scenery, but most memorable were the bits of road where the hedges had grown into mature trees which met overhead, so it was like riding through a dappled green tunnel.

Looking down to Minehead

Exmoor

Later on I saw a couple of trikes, the first was black being ridden by an older gentleman dressed in black, no helmet, grey beard and hair tied back in a pony tail. He was followed by his companion, also of a certain age. Her trike was bright pink as were her leathers and she had long white/blonde hair. We passed too quickly for me to see if it was Billy Connelly and Pamela Stephenson - I suspect it wasn't.

I managed to drop the bike twice today. First was while loading up, the pavement I was parked on sloped more than I realised. The second was when pulling over to let someone pass on an Exmoor hill - the front wheel slid sideways on some loose surface as I stopped. In both cases the pannier with my dirty clothes in prevented any serious damage, though the second time my foot was also acting as a shock absorber - also no serious damage.

Arrived in Wadebridge to find a note on the door asking me to ring a mobile number - I was then directed to where my key was hidden so I could let myself in and make myself comfortable. Later on I was able to put my bike in their garage next to their restored 1927 Austin 7 - which has a less powerful engine than my bike.

194.3 miles today in 5 hours 30 minutes. Total distance 1636.8 miles.