Bob's Bikes Charity Ride 2010
On the 28th august 2010, our small party set off from Hornsea on the east coast of Yorkshire and headed west. Here is our story.
Saturday 28th August
Hornsea to North Ferriby
After 9 months of planning, the day had finally arrived. At 4pm we were to depart from Hornsea, heading west, through Kingston upon Hull, and arrive at our first destination in North Ferriby at 7.30pm.
Well, we had a problem. 
The hire van had arrived and we loaded it up, fitted all the racks and then discovered the tax was to expire en route. So we unloaded it all again and prayed it was sorted before we left.
The new van arrived an hour later and the loading began again.
We all finally assembled at Hornsea and departed at 5pm, making swift progress through Hull and on to Hessle and finally arriving at our first camp at North Ferriby Riders for the Disabled at 8.30pm, only to find the toilet block locked. We swiftly set up camp and had a great meal of rice and chicken.
Sunday 29th August
North Ferriby to Sykehouse.
We departed North Ferriby at 9am and headed west along the A63 toward Welton and on to Brough where we immediately hit a slight headwind. Well, it was gale force! We were caught in torrential rain and by the time we got to Selby, we were all shattered and sat down for fish and chips. I had sat in the support van and phoned the next campsite, only to find that the pub had a new landlord and knew nothing about us or our ride. After a bit of a chat, he refused us camping as surprisingly the site filled up with full paying caravans. Another set-back on our journey! I quickly panicked and started ringing round to find another site that could accommodate us.
After a brief chat with Liam, we decided to ride on to Sykehouse, where the old George pub had a big field which we had used in previous rides, so off went Liam to find us a place to sleep.
We left Selby and headed south passing the support vehicle which nearly lost the cycle on the roof under a low bridge. That cheered the group up a bit! And then disaster again! Little under a mile out of Selby, the rear wheel of Colin’s bike gave way and the rim split. We decided to press on and take it steady till we could meet up with the support van again.
We swiftly passed through burn and crossed the M18 heading to our destination when we got lost. Using our Sat Nav, we found a route which took us off road and onto a bridleway where the bumps finally put paid to Colin’s wheel. We swapped bikes and Colin pressed on. We arrived at the entrance to a gun club. That was definitely the wrong way! We passed a yacht club and met a family who directed us toward Sykehouse and who very kindly put Colin’s bike in the back of their pick up and drove me to the old George so I could get the spare wheel on. Many thanks!
Meanwhile, Liam had got us the camping sorted and had booked the meal, and what a meal! It was the world’s biggest carvery! After a few beers, we settled down for the night, ready for the big push tomorrow.
Monday 30th August
Sykehouse to Hadfield
We set off at 9am and headed to Braithwaite to meet Bill Lowes and his neighbor Colin who runs the Threeways Cafe. This part of the ride passes the canals and is a great start for a day’s ride. We spent an hour at the cafe and headed to Doncaster via Bentley. The morning passed fairly uneventfully and we reached Spotborough Lock at 12pm, a great time for a rest and a cuppa.
We left Spotborough and headed west through old moor nature reserve, past Barnsley and on to our next stop at Worborough Riding School. After a brief stop, we pressed on into the Pennines and through Silkstone Common to Penistone and Oxspring.
We stopped in Penistone for a quick pit stop and replaced a brake cable on Lee's bike, while Angie went into the new Tesco store and got the nice manager to give us some roast chickens and sausages. Thank you Tesco!
We headed to Dunford Bridge where I had set a challenge. This is the start of the biggest climb over the Pennines, where we reach the highest point of the Trans Pennine Trail at Windle Edge. So the task was simple, first one up the hill wins a prize for their charity!
Lee reached the top first and his charity 'Cancer Research UK' won a mountain bike for his efforts.
We descended the Pennines and followed the Longdendale trail to Hadfield, where we set up camp in a campsite full of midgie flies, where I got eaten!
Tuesday 31st August
Hadfield to Lymm
We left early due to the insects and headed into Hadfield town centre, where at the Cafe Royston, everyone sat down for breakfast, while I sat blathering soothing cream over me to no avail. We passed through Padfield and onto Broadbottom where we met a fantastic group of people who filled up our water containers and lent us some cups and mugs for our epic journey. Again, many thanks for the generosity of strangers!
Passing through Hale, we left the road and headed down the steep boggy paths to hook up with the old train line into Stockport. Suddenly Paul pulled up, with a flat tyre and a 3 inch nail sticking out of the tread. Quite impressive! After a short stop, we headed down the old railway line and into Stockport, where we always get lost. And we did again! Even the local police didn't know which way to head!
We found our way out of Stockport and into Didsbury, where a diversion of the route took us into a park and abruptly stopped. The locals here were as good at directions as in Stockport, so we used our intuition and followed the river to the west. We headed through Altrincham and onto Lymm.
Due to another campsite not playing ball anymore, I had called on the Macdonald Lymm hotel as I used to work for them, to see what they could do for us. They very kindly let us camp in the Meeting room and we ordered dinner.
Colin had been looking forward to the hotel and had booked a room, so we all took turns in having a shower, which was bliss!
Wednesday 1st September
Lymm to Southport
Leaving the hotel at 9am, we headed into Warrington for our breakfast at Morrison’s. Elke's bike decided it didn’t like its tube, so another quick stop while we fixed a puncture and we were off again.
We quickly passed through the Cheshire lines of old railway routes and onto Runcorn and Widnes, passing under the bridge and onto Pickering pastures. Going down the steps at the pastures is an experience, before heading along the river Mersey and into Liverpool.
Passing through Speke and onto the Liverpool line which is an old railway line through the centre of Liverpool, we encountered a lot of riders including a little lad of about three, who kept shouting 'idiots' at us!
Arriving at Sainsbury's at knotty ash, Elke decided to get a ride off Bob and his digger,
highly amusing!
And on we pressed for Aintree.
After a quick stop at Aintree, we went to help a young lady who had fallen off her bike in front of us. Kev quickly went to pick her up. "Are you alright luv?" asked Kev. A swift and sharp Scouse reply came back..... "Alright??? Do I f***ing look alright!" before storming off with us in fits of laughter.
We left Liverpool via Wally’s steps, which Paul rode down, the nutter, and followed the canal through to Formby.
We passed through the Merseyside countryside and arrived in Southport at exactly 6pm with a group ride down the seafront and finishing at the marker point with a photo session and champagne.
That’s where the jubilation ended!
Just a day before the ride began, we were to stay at a hotel in the town centre, but the three we had pencilled in had been fully booked up or had been taken over and had no record of us coming, so I had to quickly book a campsite as close to the centre as possible. The closest one I could find said it was only 2 miles from the centre, so was happy, even though it cost me quite a bit!
How wrong the advert was! It was over five miles out of Southport and it took us nearly two hours to get there, so I was not a popular man by then. Well, we got there, put the tents up and went to the pub.
Thursday 2nd September
Rest day Southport.
After the previous four days riding, we all had a relaxing day off, having had to say goodbye and thank you to Colin and Paul who had completed their leg of the journey. We welcomed Bob into the ride as he joined us for the ride back east.
We went into town and spent the day seeing the delightful sights of Southport. The weather was fantastic and we spent the afternoon walking on the pier and eating ice cream, before heading back to the campsite late in the day. We rounded the evening off by going to the pub and taking part in a pub quiz, which we didn't win!
Friday 3rd September
Southport to Lymm
We departed Southport seafront marker at 10am and headed out to Liverpool. The weather was again impeccable and we made it to Aintree in no time. We passed through Liverpool with no incidents this time and onto Pickering pastures by lunch.
We continued east through Widnes and onto Warrington via the Sankey Canal and the Ferry Tavern. We left Warrington and headed for Lymm, where we met Liam and the support van at the ranger station next to the Lymm hotel, where we tucked into rice and chicken before settling into our boardroom campsite for the evening.
Saturday 4th September
Lymm to Penistone
We left Lymm early as we made the decision to pass our Hadfield campsite due to the insect infestation and press on over the Pennines to another campsite. We took a steady ride into Didsbury and surprisingly found our way nicely through Stockport. Passing alongside the waterfalls and country parks, we hit Broadbottom by lunch. We met up with the families who earlier had lent us some mugs and returned them, and thanked them once again for their hospitality, before heading down the hill toward Hadfield. During the day, we had passed and been passed by a group of cyclists doing the trans-Pennine trail who we met up with again and joined as a group all the way to the Longdendale trail when disaster struck again!
Angie was struggling and a puncture had slowed her down, so we stopped to change the rear tube. At the same time, Bob was having trouble selecting gears. Turning out to be a broken rear derailleur, I had to ride quickly to the support van and take some parts off the spare bike to fix both bikes. As I was pedaling along at some pace, I managed to break my chain... within 5 minutes, 3 bikes had broken and we needed to get over the Pennines before the weather closed in.
Reaching the support van, we quickly sorted all the bikes and we pressed up the hill to cross the highest point of our journey, before descending the mountain via the road to Dunford Bridge at 43 mph!
We quickly made it to Penistone where Liam set off in search of a camp site. The riders went off for fish and chips and we went for supplies in Tesco's.
Arriving at the campsite, we set up the tents and ate our tea before settling down once again.
Sunday 5th September
We left Penistone and headed east, crossing Silkstone Common where Lee came over the radio. "Stu", "I’m in a bush". Another comedy moment!
Passing the riding school at Worborough, we soon arrived at Spotborough Lock and met up with Paul. We spent an hour at Spotborough before pressing on north toward Doncaster. We pulled into Morrisons in Doncaster and I thought a packet of biscuits would go down a treat. Unfortunately the bag split, sending custard creams all over the aisle. Looking a little sheepish, I quickly picked another and left Lee to clean up.
We passed through Bentley and many small villages. We were running a bit late, so we sent Liam on to the Threeways Cafe at Braithwaite, where we had left a collection tin for the charity fund. The visitors to the cafe had raised an amazing £15 in the six days we were away. Another thank you needed there!
Passing Braithwaite and the canals again, we arrived at the old George at Sykehouse just in time for yet another massive carvery which has to be seen to be believed. Well recommended! After a few beers, we settled down for our final camp of the trip.
Monday 6th September
Sykehouse to Hornsea
We awoke early to glorious weather and looking forward to the journey ahead. This day was to be our longest at over 70 miles. We found time to have a bit of a laugh at Burn airfield before pressing on to Selby, which we made by 11am.
After a brief wander round the town's market where a lot of chocolate was bought and enjoyed, we pressed on east, knowing that the wind would be in our favour today.
We were wrong!
While we had been away, the wind had changed direction and now we were now heading into gale force winds yet again! So on we went, into the wind. Cursing and tired, we finally made it to Blacktoft where we could shelter in the village hall. Luckily for us, the village hall had been used the night before so we had a good laugh dressing up in some outfits and playing the instruments on site. We stayed in the village hall for an hour before braving the winds once again.
We struggled on until Elloughton where I finally had my first puncture. A quick break and on we rolled toward Ferriby. By now, we had reached the River Humber and the wind was howling toward us, just to keep us awake! Passing under the humber bridge, we decided we would head toward The Deep in the centre of Hull instead of travelling through the city centre in rush hour while shattered.
We took an off road route, following the river’s edge where the wind got up and the waves were crashing over the riders’ heads. Tiredness was kicking in but we had to press on. We arrived at The Deep and Angie and Kev's friend had come to meet us, so spirits were immediately lifted. They agreed to escort us through to Sutton on their bikes, turning north through Witham we met up with Elke's friend, Roger, who was supposed to have joined us but had to pull out late to his dismay. As we passed Dansom Lane, we met with my friend John and then quickly followed by my dad and mechanic Lee, who were now to ride as a group to Hornsea.
We headed north east to Hornsea, through Hull and Sutton and back into the countryside. We had by now covered over 400 miles and were on the final leg of the journey. We pressed on and very soon we had arrived on the outskirts of Hornsea. Bob got a puncture!
After a quick stop, we all rolled into Hornsea as a team. We passed the old railway station where our families were waiting, cheering us to the finish. The six trans-Pennine riders were welcomed to the finish marker by a barrage of flashes of cameras and families and friends.
Lee rode his bike down the sand and to the sea, dipping his wheels, to finish the ride in style.
All that was left was a quick photo shoot and congratulatory hugs and handshakes.
Job done! We had raised nearly £3000 for six different charities and had conquered the trans-Pennine trail twice!
Riders
Kevin, Angie, Elke, Lee, Paul, Colin, Bob and Stu
Support vehicle
Liam
Thanks go to :-
Northgate Vehicle Hire, Hull
Riders for the Disabled, North Ferriby
The old George, Sykehouse
Threeways cafe, Braithwaite
Macdonald Lymm Hotel
Riverside campsite, Southport
The families of Broadbottom
Tesco, Penistone
