Getting Organised and Raising Money

With just a few weeks to go until we head off on our biking adventure around Great Britain, we are beginning to get properly organised. Our bikes are gradually being serviced, routes are being plotted, packing lists are being written. It’s all getting very real, and we are all starting to get a teeny bit excited (as well as rather anxious) about the trip.

Today Allister and I have been creating t-shirts for the trip – do you like them? We thought they would give us something to wear before, during and after as a memento as well as hopefully letting other people know what we’re up to.

GVH Ride TShirt

Allister Modelling the GVH Ride TShirt

But of course this trip is more than just a 2000+ mile ride to get us out on our bikes for a week in May. We are using it to raise much needed funds for two very important Cancer charities in Graham’s memory. So with just a month to go it is time to get those donations coming in.

We have set our target at an ambitious but achievable £2,500 which will be split equally between Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. Right now our total stands at just shy of £500 – an excellent start I think you will agree! But we do need your help to reach our goal. There are several ways you can assist us…

First, and most importantly, please head over to our online donation page and give as much as you can. Virgin Money Giving accept donations from just £1. Don’t worry what others have already given – we are delighted with every single donation however large or small. It all adds up. It’s all important.

If you would prefer to donate offline we would be delighted to accept whatever you can give that way. Please get in touch.

Each and every donation is split down the middle – half to Cancer Research UK and half to Macmillan Cancer Support (we are funding this trip ourselves, naturally, and so are not taking any money from the donations to support our motorcycle ride). We never know when we, or someone we love, might need the services of these charities – please help us do something now to help should that need ever arise.

Secondly, if you are or know of any businesses, media organisations or individuals who might be able to help us reach our target by donating to or promoting our ride, please get in touch. Drop us a line using our contact form or email zoe@splodzblogz.co.uk. Any and all help/suggestion/tip-offs are appreciated.

Finally, please tell your friends and family about what we are doing. The more people who know about this Memorial Ride the better! Use the buttons below to share our blog to your heart’s content and encourage people you know to donate in Graham’s memory to these incredibly important charities. 

We look forward to giving you updates on how close we’re getting to our target!

Thank you!

Why Macmillan Cancer Support?

Graham’s cancer diagnosis came too late. It had already taken over much of his body, and as a result he and the family were left with options that would simply only extend the prognosis rather than cure him. While we hoped and prayed for a miracle the doctors attempted to use radiotherapy and powerful drugs to suppress the spread of the disease, but was just a few weeks between diagnosis and that dreadful day that the cancer took Graham from us.

Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan Cancer Support provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care. They want to reach and improve the lives of every person who gets and is affected by cancer.

They are a source of support, helping with all the things that people affected by cancer want and need. It’s not only patients who live with cancer; they also help carers, families and communities. They guide people through the system, supporting them every step of the way. They fund nurses and other specialist health care professionals and build cancer care centres.

People need practical support at home, so they provide anything from some precious time off for a carer to a lift to hospital. People need emotional support, so they listen, advise and share information though their cancer support specialists, website and trained professionals. People need financial help to cope with the extra costs cancer can bring, so they give benefits advice, and grants for anything from heating bills to travel costs.

We have chosen to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support as a thank you for what they did for us while Graham was ill. They were able to offer support and advice for Graham and the rest of us. It was their literature that helped us understand what was happening. And they were available for us to talk to from the point of diagnosis and right through til he had gone, and since.

We want to help Macmillan Cancer Support make a difference those who are affected by cancer in Graham’s memory.

Half of all the money raised as a result of this Memorial Ride will go straight to Macmillan Cancer Support. Please help us make that total a great one by donating what you can.

Why Cancer Research UK?

The Graham Homes Memorial Ride has two purposes. First we want to do something in Graham’s memory, to give us an opportunity to remember him as a keen motorcyclist who was always up for a ride-out. Secondly, and no doubt most importantly, we want to do something practical to raise money to both aid research into the causes and potential cures for cancer, as well as help support those who are affected by the disease.

Cancer Research UK

Every two minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer, and this statistic is getting worse. Cancer Research UK aims to save lives by preventing, controlling and curing all cancers. They are leading the world in discovering and developing newer, kinder treatments and are getting closer to cures. As a result of their work they have helped double survival rates in just 40 years.

We have chosen to raise money for Cancer Research UK because their work saves lives and is critical to ensuring more people beat this devastating disease. Sadly by the time the doctors realised what was going on inside Graham’s body the stage IV kidney cancer had already spread to other parts of his body and it was too late. This is our opportunity to do something that might help Cancer Research UK help someone else just like Graham.

We want to help Cancer Research UK make a difference in Graham’s memory. 

We want to help fund the scientists, doctors and nurses across the UK who are working tirelessly to find new and better ways to beat cancer.

We also want to help them create positive changes in public policy, helping to keep cancer at the top of the health agenda and bring benefit to cancer patients.

Half of all the money raised as a result of this Memorial Ride will go straight to Cancer Research UK. Please help us make that total a great one by donating what you can.

Edward Passed His Test!

Yay! The newest motorcyclist in our team of riders has passed his motorcycle test and is now the proud owner of his first big bike!

Edward took his module 2 (practical riding test) on a stonking day earlier this week – you all know what sort of motorbike-unfriendly weather we’ve been having recently. We are all really pleased for him (and somewhat relieved too!), and can’t wait to go for our first ride out as a group of fully-licensed motorcyclists.

Edward and Veronica on the Yamaha Diversion

Here he is on his Yamaha Diversion (taken before he took his test when the bike was just a dream!) with wife Veronica. Now he just needs to get in loads of practice before we set off on 25th May.

Rider Profile: Zoe

Some of my happiest travelling memories are by bike. Some of my favourite stories to tell involve riding. I think any biker will tell you that.

I have always loved the idea of motorcycling. As a child I remember staring at the massive purple custom Harley at the bottom of the street in Devonport, and wishing I could spend my Saturday afternoons off roading with my friend on his little 50cc dirt bike. I am told that my mum was still riding her Honda 90 when she was very pregnant with me. Must be her fault, then.

I finally learnt to ride along with Allister, my husband, and we have shared a bike until very recently. First the little Moto-Roma Virage, then the Suzuki Bandit 600 S, then the SV650S. Being short and wanting to ride doesn’t always go together and I have often had very little confidence in my riding as a result. We had the SV lowered to help, but it was still a shared bike and so it was important Allister was comfortable on it too.

The Harley and it's shadow on Top Down 2009

Whenever we went away I would be the +1 – pillion with either Allister or Rick or Graham. I didn’t mind, I enjoyed being sat on the back, I found it very relaxing and I could take photos as we rode along. But when we were planning our last charity ride back in 2009 I realised it would make such a difference if I had my own bike. We thought about buying me an old runner for the trip, but first I approached a few local dealers to see if they could help me. And to my great surprise, Lincoln Harley-Davidson said yes. So I did that amazing trip on a brand new 100-miles-on-the-clock Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster 1200. Not only was I able to ride myself but I was doing it on something of a dream bike. It was so heavy, and I got so wet on the naked Harley, but able to put both feet on the ground my riding improved with every mile and I loved it. I will never forget that.

On the F650GS on Inch beach

For our trip to Ireland I hired a BMW F650GS from Celtic Rider in Dublin. I’ve always liked enduro style bikes – rugged and “go anywhere” – and I absolutely fell in love with the GS on that trip. It was nimble, practical, and with the low seat I could reach the ground just about ok. A couple of months after that trip Allister found and bought me my very own F650GS – factory lowered version with a low seat and some added extras like engine bars and a nice tall touring screen. My very own bike, and it’s totally perfect for me, I am comfortable and confident riding it. I still don’t ride much though, I need to rectify that.

Zoe's F650GS in Scotland 2012

I miss Graham a lot. Especially when it comes to biking. Ride outs are simply not the same without him, and this tour will definitely have one bike too few. It was Graham we relied on for maintenance. For routes. For bananas and cereal bars! This ride, while it won’t be the same, is my way of trying to do something positive with my grief. Raising money for Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support means we can at least do something to help protect and support someone else, another family, who may go through something like us.

Rider Profile: Paul

Paul writes:

My name is Paul Clark and I work at Hill & Clark Ltd, a property letting and management company in Boston. I am married with 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat!

I have always been interested in motorbikes since my very early teens, working in school holidays and at a weekly cleaning job to save up for my first Suzuki X1 50cc moped, moving onto a Suzuki GSX250 and then a GSX550EF. The GSX550 sold to pay for a garden wall to be built at our new house. With the arrival of children and responsibilities, biking was not an option to be seriously discussed with the good lady! That is until I heard of the idea of doing a sponsored bike ride in memory of Graham Homes.

Firstly I have always wanted to do the challenge of riding to the four furthest compass points of the UK mainland but even more so to do something in memory of Graham. Graham and I both played Euphonium in the Boston Salvation Army band where we sat next to each other for a number of years, we also sat next to each other in Songsters/choir and latterly worked together on a small building committee dealing with the rebuilding of the Boston Salvation Army hall on High Street, Boston. Graham actually repainted the crest which you see on the front of that building and the one inside as well. During my time with Graham we shared many jokes and laughs and he was not one to let anything get in the way if he wanted to do something. So the fact that I had no motorbike, no equipment and I hadn’t ridden for nearly 20 years was a minor issue to be solved – starting with a chat with the good lady!

To my amazement I was given permission to get a bike and the necessary equipment to keep me safe and get me round the British Isles. After much looking and trawling of Ebay I purchased a 59 plate BMW F800GS (see photo), well looked after but located in London. So having got myself fully equipped from Sports Bike Shop in Boston (thanks chaps for your two hours of help, couldn’t have done it without you!) my wife delivered me to London to ride it home. The first time of riding a bike in nearly 20 years being a 130+ mile trip back up the A1, starting off in busy London traffic on a Saturday morning in equipment getting its first outing on a bike I’d never ridden before. Anxious, would be an understatement but I arrived home ok with all those bikers “do’s and don’ts” flooding back into memory.

Paul's BMW F800GS

I am pleased to be doing this challenge in memory of a dear friend and for deserving cancer charities to try and help others who face similar problems as Graham. We are all paying our own way so that all the monies sponsored and pledged will go to the charities. Please, PLEASE sponsor us so that we can meet and hopefully break our target – plus it will help me out no end, this sponsored trip was my justification with the wife of getting the bike!!!

Thanks for looking and reading this.

Rider Profile: Rick

Rick feels he was very fortunate to be a very good friend of Graham They spent a lot of time together and if he was still here they would have gone over this trip in their minds and on paper many many times to get all the fine detail sorted. He and many others are really missing Graham, who would have enjoyed all the preparation and the camaraderie that is taking place.

Graham and Rick outside Dublin, August 2011

Rick has had a bike licence for over 50 years but didn’t start riding a real bike until 2003. He bought a BMW R80RT about six months before Graham bought his. They spent many happy hours together riding around the Wolds or into Norfolk. The good thing about this was that most of it was unplanned and it just took a phone call and then they were off. Rick still has (just) the RT having failed to convince his wife that he really needed another bike as well…! He is really looking forward to the trip – when we go he will be in his 70th year – he says he’ll slow down and wait for the youngsters to catch up!

The two BMW RT80s

Arriving at Hardside Top, July 2010

Rick has been retired now for around ten years but is still very involved with the Salvation Army at Boston.

Please support in any way possible in memory of a super bloke.

Pillion Profile: Veronica

Veronica, married to Edward and sister-in-law to Allister, will be a pillion for the trip.

Veronica

Although she hasn’t quite caught the ‘riding bug’ she enjoys going on the back of a motorbike and values the social aspect that motorbike riders share in a way car drivers never can. Veronica is a secondary school teacher and, like Edward, only really got into the biking scene in 2012.

Although not directly related, she has always seen Graham as part of her family and feels this is an ideal opportunity to show others how fab he was as well as raising money for 2 great causes.

Accommodation Booked!

It might not seem like much, but the fact that we have now booked our accommodation for each night of our week long motorcycle trip means two things to us – 1) we now know where we’ll be riding from and to each day and 2) there is no backing out, we’ve spent lots of our own money on this thing!

We have decided to take Great Britain in a clockwise direction. Each day will be something between 250 and 300 (maybe more) miles of tarmac depending on the exact route.

Here are the approximate locations for each night…

  • Saturday 25th – Reading (via East – Lowestoft)
  • Sunday 26th – Helston (via South – Lizard Point)
  • Monday 27th – Stoke
  • Tuesday 28th – Glasgow
  • Wednesday 29th – Fort William (via West – Ardnamurchan Point)
  • Thursday 30th – Inverness (via North – Dunnet Head)
  • Friday 31st – Ashington
  • Saturday 1st June – Home

The next step then is to work out some nice meandering routes (and some more direct ones!) between towns and cities so we’re not stopping to check the map every half an hour.

Checking the Map, Wales 2008

There is no doubt that Graham would have loved all this. When we did our Top Down trip in 2009 to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Boston Salvation Army it was Graham that researched and arranged all our accommodation. It was also Graham who took our routes for each day and turned them into cute little laminated cue cards that would fit in our tank bags. We do miss him.

If you would like to donate towards our fundraising total the best way to do so is through our online fundraising page – we are using Virgin Money Giving this time around as they make it very easy for us to split the money equally between Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. Donations can be made by debit/credit card or through PayPal, and you can donate anything from just £1. Click on the button below and you’ll find us.

Make a donation using Virgin Money Giving

Rider Profile: Edward

Edward has been a close family friend to the Homes’ for as long as he can remember and is now married into the extended family.

Edward

He only started riding last year, doing his CBT and buying a Yamaha 125cc YBR in early summer 2012. Having passed his theory, Edward is planning on completing his motorbike test in February 2013 so he can join the others on the trip as rider instead of a pillion.  No pressure!  When he is at work enjoys playing badminton and is a supporter of the Red Devils (Manchester United).

His passion for learning to ride was encouraged by Graham and it is with the proud memory of knowing him that Edward wants to be a part of this adventure.