Round UK ride
Three bikers have returned from a gruelling 2,500 mile journey around Britain's coast raising money for Macmillan.
Motorbike riders Ed Rowley, Dominic Geldard and James Unler, all 27, learnt to ride their metal steeds at the Kickstart bike training centre on Three Colts Lane in Bethnal Green.They departed on their two week journey from the centre on July 1st and reappeared on Sunday 15th July dusty and a touch saddle sore!
They drove out through London and Kent, round the south coast of Britain and up into Wales, stopping off at Ed's parents in Anglesey before heading for meetings with Macmillan nurses at two hospices in Liverpool and Blackburn, Lancashire.
Ed, who runs his own advertising company in the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane said
" When we talked to people as we were driving through towns, they would ask us what we were doing and put their hands in their pockets straight away. It was marvelous to get such a reaction – we collected panniers full of tenners!"
And what was the temptation to travel on two wheels around the country rather than four?
"Just twist the throttle and you're gone" said Dominic, from Rotherhithe. "It's hard to describe the smell, the sounds and feel of being on the rode to someone who's never ridden a bike".
"I really can not remember which of us first suggested it, but we were talking one night about my experience of caring for my mum before she passed away in 2001, having been diagnosed with cancer in 2000," says Ed. "The experience made us consider how we might give something back and help others in some way."
The ride has raised nearly £3,000!