So why am I doing this. And what exactly is this?

This is the Longest Day Up.

If you're reading this blog for the first time, welcome and thank you for visiting. The blog hopefully details how and why I agreed to take part in the 2023 LDU, getting the bike from it's somewhat neglected state to a fully fledged distance trampin' machine and with a bit of luck, the successful journey on June the 21st. If you're interested in reading the whole sordid affair then you need to scroll to the bottom of the main page and read each entry from the bottom up because Google/Blogger has decided to be awkward. The first post is aptly titled As with many decisions it started with a beer... I hope you find them interesting.

A decade ago it was the Longest Day Down but, the times they are a-changin' as Bob told us so a while ago it turned into Lands End to John 'O Groats. What's not changed is the fundamentals of starting at one end of Britain at first light on June the 21st and trying to get to the other end before the next sunrise on motorbikes that are (financially) a mere hairs breath from the scrap heap. Oh, and no motorways.

The first run of the Longest Day Challenge was organised almost by accident by one of the staff (JM) of the once mighty Performance Bikes Magazine, in part as a recognition of a now former forum member who sadly succumbed to cancer. The principle idea being:

Tales of endurance, ingenuity, wit, cheating and daring will allow those that take part to dine out on stories that begin with the line "When I rode from John O'Groats to Lands End on a shitheap..." forever. Money to be raised for Cancer Research.

Tell me that's not a worthy cause and I'll poke you in the ear with a sharp stick. Anyway, this year we're going from South to the grim North and voluntarily I'll be one of the participants/victims. In the nine years that it's been run JM and the riders have managed to raise just shy of a third of a million pounds for Cancer research. Tell me that's not amazing and the sharp stick will be aiming for the other ear!

So that's the what, the why is a little more complicated. Or simple, if you'd prefer which is where I got a bit squiffy and agreed to do something that I might later (at times) regret.

The more nuanced answer is that cancer is something that has for many years been on the fringes of my life, like for many of us it's been an unpleasant spectre hovering on the horizon even if I wasn't really aware of it. As an child I had a friend of the family who was clearly significantly different from most other adults in such a fun and mischievous way. Once she moved out of Kent I rarely saw her, but on the occasions I did it was brilliant, and I was always happy to be open to her as a teenager. As a student I kept in contact with her over the communal phone when she was in and out of hospital whilst struggling with Leukaemia but had little idea what she was really going through and what hospice care really meant.

As an adult I've sadly heard of old university, school or work friends and acquaintances who have succumbed to the evil fate of cancer. I'm only 43 but too many people I know have been affect by it. In the last few years a very good man who was one of my brothers friends and has shown such great kindness to my family is having his own battle with prostate cancer. A friend who I've know for over twenty years is trying to hold his young family together whilst his wife is fighting against an incredibly aggressive form of cancer. Another good friend, who I met through talking and racing motorbikes, his wife has just a few months ago succumbed to cancer too.

None of this is fair nor even handed, and it'll affect more of us than we'll ever know. There are currently 3 million people living with cancer in the UK, 1100 of us a day are diagnosed with the disease. Research into it has really helped, especially with early screening (Gentlemen, have you had a good testicle fondle or doctor led prostate prod recently? Ladies, I know it's atrocious but when was your last cervical smear or boob fondle?)

So anyway, that's sort of the the moral why. The other why is I've cycled John O' Groats to Lands end on a bicycle and it was brilliant. It was also a very much team effort and was done in tribute to my brother who was killed in Afghanistan. This is something different and much more of a short, sharp shock type challenge. Although getting the motorbike ready will be a slow burn of stress, the ride itself will be thoroughly unpleasant but hopefully over in 24 hours of pain.

Bearing in mind I genuinely don't like riding a bike for much more than an hour or so, nor is navigation my forte, but for Mavis, for Owen, for Kerry, for Wendy and for many others, twenty odd hours of pain/being cold/hungry/tired/desperate for a wee isn't much in comparison...

My sponsorship page is: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/spikesldu 

The blog you're reading is at: https://spikesldu.blogspot.com

If you could spread both far and wide I'd appreciate it. Thank you :)