My name is Don Johnson, born and bred in the Rock and Roll town that is West Bromwich where 2 of my long time heroes Rob Plant and Phil Lynott were also born! About 12 months ago after several drinks with friends it was suggested that as we are approaching our "half century" birthdays, may be we should consider a road trip? I thought great, as a once keen biker of the big engined type, maybe we could travel Europe or even Route 66 in the USA! However it was nothing of the sort and soon it was made clear we were to invest in new bikes of the pedalling kind and get off our ass's with the goal being a 5 day trip cycling the 350 or so miles from West Bromwich to Lands End, Cornwall. It was at this point we decided it was another opportunity to raise money for good causes.

The original plan was that our group would be around 15 strong but life got in the way for most and now the peloton  will comprise of Andy "Jake" Burns, Rob "Legsy" Leadbeater, Paul "Chuck" Turton, Kev "Mash" Mashembo, Mark "Trippy" Tripconey and my good self. These cool guys are a mixture of old and new friends, Andy and Rob being my close friends from way way way back.... nursery school days in fact, so 46 years! I first met Paul at secondary school and we too have remained the best of friends ever since.... Well until he suggested this road trip! It's been a real hoot growing up with these guys as we have over the years remained a tight knit group. We have also been in many local bands from school years to present with Rob and myself being in local rock covers band Crazy Horses. It's through our gigs travelling down to Helston in Cornwall that we met Mash and Mark who are friends and band mates of Paul. This event is an annual gig that is now affectionately known as "Helstonbury"! This gig is also a charity event and over the 10 or so years has raised many thousands of pounds for charities. With all that said it is very fitting that as a group we continue to raise money for charities, and this ride is going to be called "Teds on tour" and in the interest of slowing the web down too much I WON'T explain.

Our pre ride party will take place on Sat 13th of Sept at Greets Green Sports and Social Club in West Bromwich where Our band Crazy Horses will have a pay per play evening where by our family and friends can request that we play some of their favourite rock songs and throw some money in the pot. There may be some special guest appearances by other local band members and friends who can join in, but again they will have to pay for the privilege! It will be a fun evening, so for any Crazy Horses friends you are more than welcome to come and join the party and support our charities.

The ride itself will start from Dartmouth Park in West Bromwich at around 8am on Monday the 15th of September, where we will have some photos taken by the cenotaph that was erected to remember our heroes who fought for our freedom in the Great Wars as well as other conflicts. This will be a very fitting and poignant starting point for our epic journey that should see us finishing the ride at Lands End on either Friday or Saturday. There will also be a charity night in the Blue Anchor in Helston on the Saturday the 20th where we will celebrate the "end of the road" with a night of music that will hopefully raise more money for our chosen charities. 

This will be no easy ride out as most of us have only recently taken to the saddle again after nearly 30 years so please support our efforts and make all the pain worth while! Please view the rest of the groups blogs and get an insight of what we are doing and why. I am riding for Breast Cancer UK as it affected my life with my own mum and my partners mum having breast cancer.  

Over the last few years illness has started to take its toll on family and friends and the memories of our dear departed loved ones are magical ones that will be with us always. So what better way to remember the special people that have impacted our lives is there than trying to give something back to the fantastic groups and organisations that looked after them in their hour of need?  Many thanks to anyone who has actually taken the time to read my blog, and even more thanks if you have very generously donated your hard earned cash to any of our group. 

Don 

Update.

Well we finished the ride and arrived at Lands End as planned on Friday the 19th at 4:30pm. All 6 of us completed all 360.40 miles and it all went pretty well with only Kev (Mash) and myself picking up knee injuries. I think it was a combination of adrenalin, the team of riders, Janie and Jolly who provided the support vehicle and organisation, will power and the support and donations of family and friends that helped us see this through. It was a very emotional conclusion to the ride at Lands End as there was a fair bit of doubt as to whether or not the ride would actually take place!  So thanks to everyone involved in the ride, the support, the fundraiser nights and everyone who supported and encouraged us to complete the ride. It's been both a pleasure and an honour to be a part of the whole thing.

Don

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