Hi there...

 

Well it's all over!!  And Sadly not in the way we would have liked.

Managing to get over my bout of man-flu, I made it down to Jez's on Thursday night, battling through swarms of greenfly!!

Rode up to Cheshunt on Friday where we registered, got our planning books and headed to the room to plan our winning route(!)  Planned from 9pm til midnight then got some sleep.  Back on the bikes at 5.30am , and set off at 6am.

We set off at a good pace and after 20 hrs of riding in very hot conditions we racked up 11435 points by 1.30am on Sunday morning, leaving only just over 1,500 required on Sunday as a minimum to qualify.

Unfortunately due to spending most of the 20 hours getting to and riding round wales we only covered about 670 miles, leaving around 600 more to do from 5.30am on Sunday til finish at 5pm with a couple of bonus's still required.

We stopped at Burtonwood services on M62 east, for our mandatory 3 hour sleep break, but didn't really get much sleep.

Setting off on Sunday we headed to Old Trafford with a plan to ride full pelt to Falkirk, collect the final points needed and turning tail and heading straight back to Cheshunt for 5pm.  Unfortunately tiredness and the heat took it's toll on me and I soon found my riding was becoming strained and my concentration was shot. After I caught myself drifting lanes
a couple of times I pulled into the next services. After a quick chat with Jez we decided on a change of plan, and headed back down south. Another ten miles passed and I realised that my concentration was not going to improve. We pulled into the next services and decided to call a halt to my rally attempt. I knew that as the day got hotter and the roads got busier, I would be putting myself and others at risk if I had continued. 
We stopped for a Full English and a quick kip in the shade and then Jez escorted me back to Halifax before he then set off back to Cheshunt to pick up his laptop and some of my stuff.

I'm absolutely sure that Jez could have completed the required miles, and if our fuel and photo log books had been as good as we thought then he would have gained his first Brit Butt award.

I have to say I'm so grateful he stayed with me and got me home safe, as by that point I could hardly hold a conversation let alone ride a motorbike (I found myself having to look at the indicator controls in order to make them work properly over last 20 miles, clearly not a good sign).

I guess that is what makes Jez a great mate!

So having covered 740 miles and collecting 12340 points (27340 including fuel and sleep bonus) from 16 great locations, my rally ended.

Jez's ended at 16.20 when he got back to Cheshunt with 1050 miles under his belt.

Whilst I am gutted that I was the reason our rally ended, and really frustrated that I couldn't ride on Sunday, I still really had a great time and as an added bonus we managed to raise loads of cash for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service, from all you generous folk.

Hope you like the photos!

Many many thanks
Ian (No. 41) and Jez (No. 42)

 

(Update 21/05/10: We are now on Twitter @britbuttboys  Neither of us have ever Tweeted before so who knows how successful it will be, but log on (or join if you are not a tweeted as it's dead simple) and search for britbuttboys.  I will update at every stop (as long as we have a signal) and there will be updates on the pre and post rally.)

(Update 20/05/10: After a good nights sleep and plenty of good drugs(!) Ian is back on his feet and preparing the bike for the 1st leg of the weekend, a ride from Halifax to Maidstone, where he'll meet up with Jez.  Tomorrow will see them head over to Cheshunt, where the Rally will start on Saturday morning.  Bikes will have technical checks to make sure they are up to the job and the boys will be given their rally pack with all the prize locations so that they can plan their route (Jez's job!!).  There will be updates on how they did on this site so please log back in for further information.  Thanks again to all those that have donated, and if you haven't donated yet, please do!!)

(Update 19/05/10: DISASTER!!!  1 day, 9 hours to go before the rally starts and Ian is struck down by a nasty cold / Manflu.  This could put the whole project on hold and possibly throws months of planning and preparation out of the window! 

Will Ian 'rally round' in time for the start of the Brit Butt Rally on Saturday Morning?

Will Jez have to go it alone?

Will the night nurse kick in and do it's job?

Stay tuned for the latest updates - Live from Ian's sick bed!!!

Please keep giving...

Cheers,

The Brit Butt Boys.

(Update 04/05/10: We completed our trial run to Applecross, setting off from Halifax at 7.30am on Saturday and returning by 7.30pm on Sunday, covering around 900 miles.  Jez then continued onto Kent making his journey more like 1150 miles.  Things we have learnt so far:

1. The scenery in the Scottish Highlands is breathtaking.

2. It snows in May in Scotland!

3. B-roads are a no-no if you want to cover 1200 miles in 36 hours.

4. Spicy Pizza and Magners does not make for a good pre endurance ride meal.

5. Deer don't rush to get off the road, even when a noisy motorbike is heading towards them.

6. Check your communication equipment before the morning you are due to set off! (Ours didn't work!)

7. The sheepskin worked a treat, so no numb bum for Ian!

8. Don't get tempted by the local whisky when you stop for your sleep break!  (Don't worry, the rally will be an alcohol free zone)

9. Get some proper sleep in the week leading up to the Rally.

10. Be amazed at the generosity of the people we know, and those we don't.  Special Thanks to Dave T. for donating £100 through the sale of a bike exhaust.  We don't even know him!

 

I will upload some more pics to show the trial run.  Thanks again to all those that have contributed.

 

WE HAVE INCREASED OUR TARGET AS THERE IS STILL OVER TWO WEEKS TO GO AND WE'VE ALREADY HIT £500!!!

 

(Update: Trial run taking place this weekend.  Yorkshire to Northern Scottish Highlands via Isle of Skye and back in 36 hours.  A mere 800-900 miles.  Will update progress and add some pictures after the weekend.  Thank you for all the donations so far, we're well on the way to smashing our target.)

Thanks for taking the time to visit the JustGiving page for Ian and Jez's Brit Butt Rally 2010 charity motorbike ride.

The Brit Butt Rally will take place over the weekend of the 21st - 23rd May 2010. The event is always oversubscribed and luckily both of us managed to secure our place on this years event.

This Rally is regarded as the most extreme motorcyle road rally in the UK with competitors selecting their own route from a rally book of around 60 different locations. Each location, or bonus is worth a set number of points. To be a finisher in the rally you need to gain a minimum number of points and cover a minimum mileage (in 2008 you needed 25000 points and 1110 miles, last year 27000 points and 1230 miles). In 2008 only 29 of the 46 starters qualified as finishers, and last year 27 of the 49 starters finished.

These miles need to be completed with 36 hours of setting off.   There is a compulsory 4 hour sleep break that must be taken between Midnight on the Saturday and 6am on the Sunday morning.

(Just a warning, if we happen to be near your house at midnight, you may well be getting a knock on the door from two tired and homeless bikers looking for somewhere to get their heads down for a few hours!)

This rally is a real challenge of both endurance and biking ability.  Both of us have previous experience of some fairly long rides, but nothing of this scale, especially with the added complication of the associated rules of the rally to remember.

We decided that whilst we were doing the rally anyway, we may as well try and raise a bit of cash for a worthwhile charity.  To make things simple we agreed to give the money raised to the same charity, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service, which is a vital, life-saving organisition that can only exist through charitiable funding.

We have agreed to do the Rally as a team and are both aiming to finish, but if we don't manage to finish it won't be through lack of trying.  Therefore we would ask that if you do donate, you agree that the donation is paid regardless of whether we finish or not.

Because of the nature of the event, we think it is important that if we reach a point where we are just too tired to continue, then we stop before we lose the ability to ride safely.  If this should happen, then it would be nice to know that the money has still been raised.

So without any further ramblings, please follow the instructions on this page and give what you can.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

If you want any further information on the Iron Butt association or the Brit Butt Rally, please follow the links below;

http://www.ironbuttuk.org/index.html

http://www.britbuttrally.com

Many thanks,

Ian Wallace and Jeremy Thompson.

(Not sure we'll still be smiling at 6pm on Sunday 23rd May!)