The Cause

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I'm doing it for the

British Heart Foundation

I now know that the man who inspired me to do this ride, my old friend and colleague Finlay Mackenzie, died last year of heart disease.

Finlay Mackenzie

 Many years ago my own brother, Keith, died at the age of just 38 of undiagnosed heart problems, and I have had numerous friends and colleagues over the years who have had heart attacks - some survived, others were not so lucky.

Keith Coleran

I'm sure we all know someone who has been affected by heart problems, whether it be a heart attack, or more chronic heart disease. 
That is why I have chosen the British Heart Foundation as my charity for this cycling challenge. It is in memory of Finlay, Keith, and everyone I have known who has suffered from heart problems.

'Our vision couldn’t be much more ambitious - a world where people no longer die prematurely from heart disease.' - British Heart Foundation.

I have set a modest target of just £500 - please help me reach, or better still, pass that target. Please give as much as you can.

You can donate in person to me, I have sponsor forms, or online at:

Sandown to Stornoway Fundraising Page

I have chosen Virgin Money Giving as, unlike some other well known online charity giving sites, they do not make any profit for themselves out of what you donate. They do charge 2% administration costs to the charity, where others charge 10%, so more (almost all of what you give will go to the British Heart Foundation). And, if you Gift aid your donation they will get even more without costing you any extra. So, even with the 2% admin charge the BHF will get substantially more than what it will cost you.

All money that I raise will go to BHF, absolutely nothing will come out of it for my expenses.

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The Itinerary

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Below is my planned itinerary for the ride. Nothing is set in stone at this stage, but the towns mentioned will most probably be my overnight stops. The mileages are approximate as I will be deviating from my route from time to time to visit places of interest.

So far I have had a couple of generous offers of free overnight accommodation along my intended route. That, combined with a few nights b&b with my wife Joanna, and some nights in hostels, it may be that it will not be worth carrying the extra weight of my tent after all. It just wouldn't be worth it just for a couple of nights. We will see.

I have still not heard anything from Finlay's family, two weeks after sending the letter. Maybe the letter has not got to them, or maybe they are not interested in my venture. I will leave it a little longer and then try Parkhurst Prison to find out a bit more.
 

The Itinerary

Day	From	To	Miles	Total
Day 1	Sandown	Salisbury	64	64
Day 2	Salisbury	Malmesbury	62	126
Day 3	Malmesbury	Ledbury	68	190
Day 4	Ledbury	Shrewsbury	72	262
Day 5	Shrewsbury	Heswall	63	325
Day 6	Heswall	Garstang	83	408
Day 7	Garstang	Windermere	49	457
Day 8	Windermere	Carlisle	52	509
Day 9	Carlisle	Sanquhar	68	577
Day 10	Sanquhar (Ferry leaves Ardrossan 1515 – arrives Arran 1600)	Lochranza (Arran)	74	651
Day 11	Lochranza (Ferry leaves Lochranza 0815 - arrives Claonaig 0930)	Oban	63	714
Day 12	Oban (Ferry leaves Oban 0830 – arrives S. Uist 1340)	South Uist	25	739
Day 13	South Uist	Berneray	50	789
Day 14	Berneray (Ferry leaves Berneray 0715 – arrives Harris 0815)	Stornoway	51	840
Day 15	Stornoway (Ferry leaves Stornoway 0700 – arrives Ullapool 0945)	Inverness	58	898
Day 16 - 17	Inverness	Lancaster	By train

I am thinking maybe it would be a good idea to leave an extra day at the end and book the return train journey for Thursday 27th September. That would give me a little leeway in case of any problems along the way i.e. cancelled ferries - it has been known!

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The Bike....and kit.

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There is no doubt in my mind about which bike to use when I am planning a long, self-supported trip. My trusty old Dawes Ultra Galaxy is a tried and tested workhorse that is well up to the job.

I've had this bike for over ten years now, having bought it from Spa Cycles in Harrogate. At 14kg it is not the lightest of bikes, (my newest bike, a Focus Izalco Pro 1 weighs in at 7.4kg!), but a touring bike is not built for speed. Its steel alloy frame and bomb-proof wheels will carry any load with great stability and comfort.

On the flat it rolls along beautifully, eating the miles with little effort, whilst going downhill fully laden it is as steady as a rock. Start to climb, and the weight lets you know it is there! But the weight on a touring bike is fairly academic as a lot depends on what luggage you choose to carry on it. And, with a triple chainring combined with a huge 'granny gear' on the back, almost anything is rideable.

My trusty Dawes Ultra Galaxy on a previous trip to Scotland

The set-up that you can see in the photo above is more or less what I will carry on this ride. I often see touring cyclists loaded up like they are going on a two week Caribbean cruise.

Look at this fella!

Put huge panniers front and back on the bike and the chances are you will fill them! Restrict yourself to two medium panniers on the back, along with two small ones on the front, and you can carry everything that you need - and the journey will be a lot more enjoyable. Sometimes I substitute the front panniers for a bar-bag. So what if it does cool down and I need another sweatshirt? You're never far from a charity shop in the UK, and if you don't pay much for it you can always either throw it away, or give it to another charity shop up the road.

My tent is a Vango Force Ten Helium Ultralight 100. Weighing in at only 1.1kg it is one of the lightest two skin tents on the market. OK, there is not much room in there, but all I use it for is sleeping. I don't stay in one place for more that a night so it is up early, quickly pack everything away, and on the road. I usually have either a cold breakfast before setting off or, if I want something hot, a cafe is usually not very far up the road. Same in the evenings, if wild camping get a hot meal before finding a place, on a site get a meal at the nearest pub. A light Thermorest self-inflating sleep mat and a Snugpac Lite sleeping bag complete my overnight arrangements.

If the forecast is for cold nights I may take my down jacket rather that a thicker sleeping bag. It is much lighter and has a much smaller pack size. It's also more versatile - a sleeping bag booster in the tent, and a warm jacket for going to the pub. Two lots of cycling clothes, wear one - wash one, and some lightweight evening wear. I find Rowan clothing the most versatile for the evening stuff, being light, warm, and quick drying, as well as packing down small without creasing too much. I pack everything in Dribags to ensure I have dry clothing to put on after a day's ride. A big Dribag for dirty clothes ensures the clean stuff doesn't end up smelling as bad as the dirty!

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The Plan

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As it was to be a ride that was inspired by a joke with my old friend and colleague Finlay Mackenzie, I thought it would be a good idea to try and look Finlay up and tell him of my plan. Was he still living on the Isle of Wight? Or had he moved off the Island, maybe even back to Stornoway? Wherever he was, I was sure he would be interested, and amused that I was finally going to do the ride.

It didn't take long searching the internet to find an announcement in the Isle of Wight County Press, the local newspaper, that sadly Finlay had passed away in April last year. He had apparantly stayed at Parkhurst Prison for the whole of his career (brave man!). He was slightly younger than me at just sixty years old. Not knowing the circumstances of his untimely death, and not knowing the whereabouts of any members of his family, I contacted the funeral directors on the Isle of Wight and asked them if I sent them a letter for his family, would they forward it on to them. Thankfully they agreed to my request, so off the letter went. 

In the letter I explained how I knew Finlay, and the story of how the idea for this ride came about. I asked if they wanted me to do the ride in memory of Finlay, maybe raising money for an appropriate charity. As yet I have not had a reply, but it is only a week since I sent the letter so, hopefully, I will hear from them in the near future - I will keep you posted on that.

I aim to do the ride in about sixteen days, averaging about sixty miles a day. It's not high mileage for an experienced cyclist, but I am not looking at this as a race, but more of a leisurely ride stopping off and seeing things along the way. Most of it will be ridden solo without any back-up, but my wife, Joanna, will be joining me at some stage along the way (in the car), for a few nights B&B. I will be taking my lightweight one-man tent to camp some nights, whilst using hostels or cheap hotels on others.

After getting the train from Preston to Southampton, and the hour-long ferry trip to Cowes, I will stay on the Isle of Wight overnight before starting the ride.

Sandown is on the south-east coast of the Island so, starting the ride from there I will ride the 26 miles around the south of the island's beautiful coastal road to the ferry terminal at Yarmouth. A half-hour ferry trip to Lymington and I will be off up through the New Forest to Salisbury. Then after skirting Salisbury Plain and through the Cotswolds, it's westwards to Ross-on-Wye and the Wye Valley into Shropshire. North then up to the Dee Estuary, briefly visiting Wales along the way. Then maybe a night staying with my sister on the Wirrall.

Across the Mersey on the ferry, and then up to Garstang for a night at home, followed by familiar roads up through the Lake District and the border crossing at Gretna. Once in Scotland a diagonal line up through Dumfries and Galloway and into Ayrshire before taking the ferry from Ardrossan to Arran. Probably stay a night at the Youth Hostel at Lochranza, then the ferry across to the mainland at Claonaig at the head of the Kintyre peninsula. More Scottish mainland riding will get me to Oban and the Calmac ferry across to the Outer Hebrides. Barra will be the first port of call for a leisurely day exploring this small island.

Over the water once more, this time to South Uist and North Uist, probably making use of the idyllically situated crofters cottage hostel at Berneray. The final leg will take me over to Harris and the last few miles up to Stornoway on Lewis.

All that will remain for me to do then will be to get the ferry across to Ullapool, then the sixty or so miles to Inverness for the long train journey back home.

None of the route is set in stone, allowing me to explore some places I have never been, and to linger at times in places that interest me - or divert from some places that don't appeal! I will publish more detailed information of each section of the route over the next few weeks as the planning progresses. I have got my maps, (Phillips Navigator Truckers Britain Atlas), which will be cut into bits for the journey. I prefer paper maps to electronic gadgets on a bike - much more fun, and to me the simplicity of traditional maps goes more hand in hand with the simplicity of a bicycle. And maybe the simplicity of me too!

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The idea

Her Majesty's Prison Parkhurst, Isle of Wight
A strange place to start a blog about a bike ride? Read on.

On a warm sunny morning in July 1975, I found myself behind the locked gates of Parkhurst top security prison on the sunny Isle of Wight. It may have been sunny and warm on the outside, but there I was in a gloomy and intimidating B Wing, amongst the country's most notorious and dangerous men - murderers, rapists, terrorists, gangsters. Hard men serving incredibly long sentences who had nothing to lose were eyeing me up like a lump of fresh meat just thrown to the lions! To say I was a little nervous would be a huge understatement!

Was I glad I wasn’t one of them! It was my first day at work after finishing my training course at the Prison Service College at Leyhill, Gloucestershire. I stood there, a fresh faced young officer in brand new uniform and shiny shoes embarking on an interesting and challenging thirty year career. Looking around me I wondered if I had done the right thing. What had I let myself in for? I had chosen to be posted to Parkhurst so had nobody else but myself to blame for ending up in the dumping ground of the British penal system, the end of the road as far as jails go in this country.

I was soon introduced to other, more experienced officers on the wing, all of whom made me very welcome and helped me to relax and settle in. These were men who I depended on so much over the coming months and years in some very difficult situations – we were all in this together and relied on one another for our safety and for keeping the prisoners where they should be – in prison. I met some great and interesting men, but one of them, Finlay Mackenzie, stands out in my memory for putting an idea in my head on that very first day.

Finlay was a young Scotsman, slightly younger than me, who had joined the Prison Service some time before me. Asking where I was from, I told him Lancashire. “Och! That’s just across the water laddie!” was his reply, “I’m from the Isle of Lewis”.
I innocently enquired, “Where’s the Isle of Lewis then?”.  He quickly came back with “About as far away from this blooming island as you can get!” (In place of ‘blooming’ please insert what you can imagine a young Scot would say in such a conversation!)

We had a laugh about it and I said I bet that would make a good bike ride, from the Isle of Lewis, all the way down to the Isle of Wight. I told him, jokingly, that I would do it one day. Finlay thought I was mad to even suggest such a thing. It became a long-standing joke between us and Finlay was always asking me, often over a drink or three in the Officers Club, when I was going to do that ride.

All that was thirty seven years ago. I left Parkhurst and the Isle of Wight behind in 1987 to come back ‘up north’ and totally lost touch with Finlay.

I retired in 2005 after serving my thirty years and have enjoyed, more than ever, cycling around Britain and France. It wasn’t until recently that I thought, now that I have turned sixty, it is about time I did what every lifelong cyclist does and ride the End to End – Land’s End to John o’ Groats (Lejog). I started the planning for that ride last year, originally hoping to do it in September. Several things made it impossible for me to do it then so it was postponed until this year. But then I started to have second thoughts. More than five thousand people cycle Lejog every year, do I really want to follow in the wheeltracks of so many? I have always been an independent sort of cyclist and prefer to plan my own rides. 

That is when the ride that Finlay and I joked about so long ago came back to the surface.

I turned it upside down for logistical reasons (and to hopefully have a tail wind all the way!) and, at last, the 'Isle of Wight to Isle of Lewis Ride’, the ‘Sandown to Stornoway Ride’ would become a reality! The distance will be about the same as Lejog but it will be a route of my own making - inspired by Finlay Mackenzie. Provisional date for starting the ride - Wednesday 12th September 2012.

Next Post - 'The Plan' will follow soon