The End to End Gazette

The End to End Challenge - Become an End to Ender! Travel from Land's End to John O'Groats and join and our exclusive End to End Club

Sunday 5th September 2010

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Award Category C runner up Patrick Jordan

Club

He was having difficulty sticking to the speed limits on his mega-fast Honda Fireblade so for his end-to-end and back journey, he opted for the “slowest thing in the shop”.
This turned out to be a big cruiser of a bike, a Yamaha Midnight Star 1300, which was a significantly heavier machine but one that would be well suited to the 2,000 mile round trip ahead.
From his home in Butleigh, Somerset he headed down to Fowey in Cornwall for the first nights stop and the start point of his journey. He was at Land’s End early on the morning of 4th August 2008 to collect his log book stamp. Then it was back to Somerset and beyond.
The big bike proved a challenge on some of the winding roads, and Patrick felt a sense of relief when he made it through unscathed each time.
The route through the Llanberis pass in Snowdonia was a hair-raising, but spectacular, one before arriving at the luxury of a Caernarfon hotel for well earned rest and relaxation.
Onwards to Scotland after that, Patrick pushed on in the wet weather that would plight him on the whole trip.
At Dundee, he was again forced to scatter wet clothing across every vantage point of the hotel room in a bid to get it dry for the next day.
The next day promised to be spectacular. Patrick rode on through the highlands before emerging on the rugged north-east coast to make a final run to John O’ Groats. Patrick was on a high, and said, about the day, “I rode for mile after mile through Britain’s most awesome and magical scenery. It was a really wonderful experience”.
After a brief stop for photographs, refreshments and chat with fellow travellers - some finishing and some just beginning their journeys - he was off again, this time heading south to Fort William.
A glorious view across the loch obscured by heavy rain met Patrick the next morning and even with full waterproofs on, he was soon soaked.
After the high of the day before, he was starting to feel a little down. Even the little personal amusement Patrick felt when he saw a sign for ‘Firkin point’ was short-lived and being stuck behind a caravan through Glencoe just increased the frustration. The rain hardly let up all the way to Birmingham and by the time he arrived, not only his riding gear but all the clothes in his rucksack were sopping wet. Thankfully a friend’s warm hospitality and radiators provided a delightful end to a gruelling day.
The next day saw the end of the challenge in sight, the heavy rain had abated to a drizzle and after a few hours down the M5 and A30, Patrick was at the reception of the Land’s End Hotel where he had been at the start of the trip just a few days before. He had his log stamped to show he had completed the journey and set off for Fowey for the last night of his trip and to reunite with his parents to celebrate.
Patrick, who is a voluntary senior instructor of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, used his journey to promote their road safety aims.

Updated: 26th July 2010