It started around 6.30 when I got up and had a breakfast of eggs and toast. The plan was to ride round 5 battlefields as part of Grim’s Winter Challenge.
http://www.thegrimrider.com/index.php?p=1_94_Winter-Challenge-Ride . It was going to be cold so I wore EDZ thermal underwear with a thermal top and bottom bought in the MCN deal from Whites. Gloves were thick leather, (taking textiles for spare in case of rain) and a Buff winter neck warmer. This was topped off by my 2 piece Hein Gericke textile suit. I drove Lynne's car off the drive to get the Fazer out of the garage.
It didn't take long to get to the M5 even though I was riding like an old woman on the greasy roads with a new front tyre! Onto the M5 my hands could feel the cold so on went the heated grips. The Fazer easily caught up to the traffic flow and was running well. I filled up at 08.03 getting a timed receipt to document the start of my ride. My left ear had been giving me gyp so I moved the speaker in my helmet to hopefully cure the problem.
Leaving the motorway I poodled through the light traffic in Bridgewater and across the Somerset levels to Weston Zoyland. It was a bit grey and miserable but I was toasty warm listening to Pink Floyd in stereo, in my helmet. Arriving at the sat nav location there was a sign but no Memorial to the Battle of Sedgemoor. A couple of farm dogs rushed over barking but did not get too close as I ignored them. Pulling out the rally book the map showed it was down a track with grass in the middle and muddy holes in the tracks. 1st gear, constant speed, stay loose don’t tense up. It slid around a bit but eventually after around a mile I got there. To record that I had been there I duly took the required photo of the Fazer by the memorial with the ride flag on view.
I also took a picture of the sat nav to show the time.
08.39 and 31 miles covered. Due to the track I had wasted 15 minutes here.
Back down the track it was getting easier as I got used to the sliding around. Taking it easy through the houses until the tyres cleaned up I was soon across the Somerset Levels and on the M5 going north. Crossing the New Severn Bridge it was still a bit overcast with the odd glint of sun in the distance. I managed to gain 5 minutes on the Zumo 550 on the way to Monmouth. That was despite scaring to death a learner on the dual carriageway who assumed as she indicated that she had right of way. I accelerated through the closing gap. I was getting back into the groove again. “We’re only ordinary men” – Pink Floyd. Nobody was going to slow my progress. The road dried out and I was starting to relax into the ride. Corners were taken on the outside of the bend in the car tracks to miss the gravel changing sides and braking on the clean straights. The road dried out after Hereford and I managed to up the pace and as it got wet again I still maintained the pace on the damp road. At the Battle of Pilleth there is no memorial so a picture had to be taken of St Mary’s church
I took a picture of the plaque as well.
11.11 and 153 miles covered.
Back onto the main road I realised I had no sound so stopped to plug my helmet back into the Zumo 550! The twisties were starting to get very enjoyable but my hands were cold despite the thick leather gloves so I stopped and put the thinner textile gloves on. They let the heat of the grips through better and my hands soon warmed up. Stopping for fuel I had intended to have a hot cup of coffee but the bloody machine was broken so I had to settle for a breakfast bar. I’ve learnt in the past that big meals are bad for Long distance riders as they take a lot of energy to digest. Reaching the M6 Toll memories of my BBG3000 came flooding back. I passed the place where I had lost my oil cap and it crossed my mind that I might spot it. Some hope 5 months later. Back onto the A roads it was getting quite foggy. I couldn’t decide whether the reduced vision was down to fog, mist on my glasses, mist inside the visor or mist outside the visor though it was better with the visor cracked open though my nose did get cold!! I found the Battle of Bosworth Heritage Centre and duly took the two photos.
13.32 and 275 miles covered.
Back onto the A5 a good dual carriageway for a short stint before taking a slip road and minor roads to The Battle of Nazeby Memorial just 22 miles father on. After I took my photo’s I used the field to make myself feel more comfortable.
It’s a shame about the thumb in the top left corner!!!!!
14.19 and 297 miles covered
It didn’t take long to get to the M1 despite having to stop again to plug in my headset. The motorway wasn’t to busy and I was able again to make up time just by going with the flow. There were several sets of 50 mph road works which I always slow for as they all seem to have average speed cameras taking pics of my headlight. The M1 lead into the M25 which I followed to South Mimms Service before taking a slip road. In Barnet I drove past the Monument twice before stopping to read the road book and discovering it was the other side of the road and so big it couldn’t be missed.
Two more pics taken
15.51 and 380 miles covered
As I rode back to South Mimms to get my end receipt to rang Lynne. Told her I would be home at 18.30. She had been unable to find the Spot link so had no idea where I was. The reason I have the spot is so there is no need then to constantly stay in touch while I’m on a mission. Entering South Mimms I realised it was were I knocked my first attempt at a BBG3000 on the head after 2000 miles. Then it was a gigantic downer; this time it’s a mark of a successful ride but still it brought back memories of that night.
Filled up with fuel got a timed receipt.
16.08 and 383 miles covered
Finally got a coffee and one of those sticky Danish things with sultanas on watching the Zumo all the time until it said my arrival time would be 18.30.
It was just a short blast home round the M25 and down the M4. Both roads I know well so they don’t seem so long. It always seems longer when you are heading into the unknown to some place new. With the wind chill my feet and fronts of my hands got cold as the temperature dropped with the sunset. My chest and central core were starting to drop but at least the heated grips were putting some heat into me. Its at times like this I wish I had my heated waistcoat which I had left at home!!
I pulled on my drive at 18.30 having covered 557 miles on the speedo but 519 miles on the Garmin Quest. Bike speedos and trip logs are usually around up to 10% out.
Straight away I got my insulated clothes off as they would stop the warmth of the central heating getting in and leapt into the shower to defrost.
These are the stats as recorded on my Garmin quest
http://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=3990 and this is a link to my SPOT tracker
Note I only stopped for 1hr 30 minutes which included the half hour stop at South Mimms at the end. Without that I would probably have averaged 50 mph on the day which is my target on rallies.
The trick to long distance riding as I have said before is to be paranoid about stopping.
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