History:

Gary (runs organiser) arrives at the club night in great excitement. "I've got an idea. How about we visit England, Wales & Scotland in one day without using motorways or dual carriageways - and here are the plans". We all look at them in interest. So was born the clubs' great adventure for 2003.

Much discussion and plans ensued and eventually we agreed to do the run over a 24 hour period, visiting "Newtown" in each of the three countries. Of course, we would need a stop and the Woodland House Hotel near Galashiels was selected as a very nice place to stay.

We were doing this for charity (the Pendlebury Childrens Hospital) so sponsors were needed. We didn't need to worry; everyone rallied round and even Asda chipped in with money and food for the journey.

The day dawned bright and clear.[ I had a special passenger, Clyde, who was part of the VFR club and was part of another charity (every time he went out, his rider gave money to charity).]

The plan was to meet up at Asda in Newtown (England), ride down to Newtown (Wales) and then cross country to Newtown (Scotland) where we would stay the night and then potter back to Asda for the finish 24 hours later.

The first part went well. We all met up at Asda - even had the press there to give us a good send off. We were waved off by Gary son, Andrew. The first problem started as we left the car park. Steve forgot how wide his panniers were - and down he went. Still no damage (apart from pride) and we were off.

The first part was uneventful. We continued on into Wales and our first stop. Success.. Even Clyde got into the act.

We stopped off at a cafe for lunch still on schedule. My new leather trousers were too tight so I had to remove the protection from the knees. Unfortunately, I was spotted..... Never mind, all in a good cause.

We carried on, back into England were we had the first real mishap. Paul's bike, an old CX500, gave up on the first fast stretch of road. Big ends we think. Still, no time to work it out. A good Samaritan lent Paul some garden space ("I'll be back tomorrow to pick it up") and Paul was ushered onto the back of Steve C.'s bike to continue the journey. This, of course made us late so we had to pick up the pace - until we hit Worksop. Every single traffic light was against us and to cap it all, Gary led us the wrong way for a while.

But, once we got North of York, we were able to make progress. We stopped for tea at a very nice pub. We all decided to have a quick sandwich - until Steve D ordered a full dinner. So, Gary & Paul just had to do the same. The rest of us left waiting around.

But we were soon on our way and into Scotland over the A68. What a wonderful switchback of a road. By this time, we had a little bit of drizzle and a lot of flies. So, everytime we tried to wipe the visors, we just got bugs smeared over the viewing area.  No fun and lots of little stops.

We got to Newtown in the dark and decided to continue on to the hotel and take pictures the next morning. Graham was a superstar and led us straight there - not bad considering he'd never been to the place. We arrived at 10:54 - 2 minutes behind schedule.

The hotel was superb. We had quick change and then into he bar for 'just the one'. [We do want to know what Gary & Steve were so pleased about.]

Next morning, pack the bikes up, good breakfast and off on schedule. Not a chance. The hotel was classic - as you can see.. This included a full Scottish breakfast which, unfortunately, took a while to arrive [Clyde, of course, had to join in ]

Packing took a while and we had to have a few photos while we were doing it.. Paul decided to walk - but we persuaded him to come with us..

Back to Newtown St Boswell for the last pictures. And then zoom back down the nice Scottish roads to England. I can recommend the A7 at 8:00 on a Sunday morning if anyone fancies a nice ride.

Another slight delay while Steve removes the remains of a kamikaze pigeon which decided to nest in his crash helmet at high speed. [The blood is on the right -that pink monstrosity is Steve's Mohican].

Then, back to Asda for the homecoming ceremony. Led by Gary, of course. . And so, back to where we started,.

In all, we raised over £1700 for the charity - had a great time and made new friends.