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Saddlesore 1000
I blame jiggery_pokery.

He it was who asked whether I'd ever considered doing an Iron Butt ride. At that point I hadn't even heard of the Iron Butt Association, so I had a look.

High-mileage endurance motorcycling sounded dull at best, dangerous at worst. To attain those sorts of distances in those sorts of times you need to be on motorways all the time, which is boring for the rider, costly in fuel and harsh on the machine, not to mention the ecological equivalent of pissing on a panda. Yet the idea kept niggling away at the back of my mind. Yes, I'd like to give it a go. Once. Just to see if I can.

The end result is that on June 20th I will be joining more than 200 other motorcyclists of the Royal British Legion Riders Branch for RBLR 1000: one thousand miles in 24 hours, known to the IBA as a 'Saddlesore 1000'.

Starting from Squires Cafe near Leeds, there's a northern route going into Scotland and a southerly route to Cornwall and back, either of which can be done clockwise or anticlockwise. I plan to head south - it would be exciting to travel round Scotland in a day, but I'm much more familiar with England and less likely to panic about getting lost.

The ride will raise money for the Poppy Appeal and raise awareness of the Riders Branch. Successful completion will also qualify riders as members of the Iron Butt Association.

Here's a handy button if you would like to sponsor me:



And while I'm begging, any Leeds-based chums feel like offering me a sofa?