Ride for Josh

CVH 800 / 24 - in aid of The Manda Centre

800 miles · 24 hours · 12th June 2026

FOR JOSH

On 5th May 2025, I lost my friend Josh Taplin - funny, full of life, and never short of something to say. He was just 28 years old. Gone far too soon. The people who loved him are still coming to terms with that - and always will be.

I knew I had to do something to mark the anniversary of his death - not simply to raise money, but to honour him in a way that felt equal to who he was. His anniversary could have been just another painful day, a day to sit with the loss and let it wash over us. But that didn’t feel right for Josh. He was too full of life for that. I wanted to do something positive, something that celebrated him - and something that pushed me to my absolute limit.

The idea came to me quietly. I’m a motorcyclist and a proud member of the Clyde Valley Harley Owners Group - CVH - a club united by a passion for Harley-Davidsons and the open road. So naturally my mind went to the road. But not just any ride. Something extraordinary. Something that would demand everything of me. At this point, I was planning on doing it alone.

When I told my wife, she said I was “absolutely nuts”. She’d seen that look on my face before - the one she knows too well, the one that tells her the idea has already taken hold and there’s no talking me out of it. She was probably right. But she also knew there was no stopping me. A little while later she came back with: “You’re not doing it alone.”

And so the idea that had started as a quiet, solitary thought became something else entirely. The CVH 800 / 24 - our own take on Scotland’s legendary North Coast 500, starting and finishing at West Coast Harley-Davidson in Glasgow. Eight hundred miles. Twenty-four hours. The ride takes place on 12th June 2026, and every donation between now and then brings us closer to doing something truly meaningful in his memory.

THE CHALLENGE

800 miles · 24 hours · 7 riders

The North Coast 500 is widely regarded as one of the greatest road routes in the world - and one of the most unforgiving. Narrow single-track roads, loose gravel, mountain passes that demand total concentration, and the full, unpredictable force of the Scottish Highlands in every direction. And that’s before you factor in the wildlife - sheep with no regard for oncoming traffic and deer that appear from nowhere at the worst possible moment. Most riders take at least several days to complete it, sensibly stopping to sleep, eat, and let their nerves recover. Our version - the CVH 800 / 24 - takes Scotland’s legendary NC500 and adds the run from Glasgow and back, joining the route at Loch Carron and leaving it at Inverness, bringing the total to 800 miles. There will be no stopping for nerves.

We leave West Coast Harley-Davidson at around 6am on 12th June - midsummer in Scotland, with sunrise already nearly 90 minutes behind us and the longest days of the year on our side. Sunset won’t come until around 10pm, giving us the best part of sixteen hours of daylight. But the Highland roads don’t give up their miles easily, and the final stretch will be ridden in darkness - navigating remote single-track roads through the small hours, racing to be back in Glasgow before the clock runs out.

Every mile of this has to be earned.

WHY WE RIDE

Every rider understands the feeling - that moment on the road when everything else falls away. When you’re pushing hard, living on the edge, completely present in a way that everyday life rarely allows. We ride to feel alive. It’s raw, it’s real, and it binds us together in a way that’s almost impossible to articulate. The seven of us share that bond - a brotherhood forged on miles and mutual trust, and it runs deeper than most people will ever know.

The Manda Centre supports families facing a darkness that most of us will never have to enter - families for whom a loved one simply didn’t come home. We have the privilege of choice - to push ourselves, to feel the risk, and to come home. Not everyone does.

We ride for Josh. We ride to honour his memory by living as fully as we can. And we ride to raise money for a charity that stands beside families like his in their darkest hour.

BAND OF BROTHERS

It started casually enough. At a Chapter overnighter, I found myself in the beer garden in the afternoon, drink in hand, floating the idea to Davie and Jigger - our Head Road Captain and former Head Road Captain respectively. I laid out the idea. Jigger was honest - it sounded like a big ask, and at that point it wasn’t for him. Davie said nothing. He just listened.

Later that evening, I found myself back with Davie. It was late, the bar had thinned out, and neither of us was entirely sober. I pitched it to him properly this time - the route, the distance, the time limit - not to recruit him, but because I respected his experience and wanted his honest assessment. Davie listened. He didn’t say much. And then, before I had even finished making my case, he said: “I’ll do it.” I genuinely thought I had misheard him. “I’ll do it,” he said again. Just like that, the man I had come to for advice had volunteered himself before I had even asked the question. I hadn’t planned on asking Davie at all. Suddenly, two.

Now, if I’m honest, I had already had someone in mind for that second spot - someone I was certain would say yes, someone my wife would feel reassured knowing was riding alongside me. That someone was Ricky Munro - ex Royal Marine Commando, one of the most relentless mile eaters in our Chapter, and the kind of rider who moves towards a challenge rather than away from it. Davie had just beaten him to it. His reply, when the message finally went, was entirely in character: “Hell yeah, I’ll be there. Should be fun - a wee bit of planning but nothing too complicated.” Eight hundred miles of Highland roads in twenty-four hours. Nothing too complicated. Three.

Charlie was next - no conditions, no pause for thought: “100% - I’ve been dying to do something like this, and what better way than for charity and with good mates.” Four.

Then there was Jigger - ex RAF, and a man who holds the RAF in considerably higher regard than the Royal Marines. The same Jigger who had been so honest in the beer garden that afternoon. To his credit, when word reached him that Davie had committed, and that a Marine was involved, he didn’t take long to reconsider. I got a message shortly afterwards. He wanted to know what Davie had said. Then: “What did that big soft Marine say? He’s in?” A pause. Then: “Yeah, I’ll do it.” There was no way a Marine was doing something he wasn’t. That’s Jigger - straight talking, competitive, and when it comes down to it, always there. Five.

Connor - the youngest of the group, Jigger’s former apprentice and now his right hand man on the tools - signed up without a moment’s hesitation. Where Jigger goes, Connor follows. Six.

Jim had been in the mix from early on, but took his time before confirming. He had things to work out, commitments to consider. When he came back it was simple and to the point: “Count me in.” That’s the measure of the man. Seven.

What had begun as a casual conversation in a beer garden, born out of grief and a desire to do something meaningful, had become something I never anticipated - a band of brothers, united by the road, riding together for a friend most of them had never met. These are busy men, with lives, families and commitments of their own. Not one of them hesitated. Not one of them asked what was in it for them. They simply said yes - and in doing so, they turned a personal idea into something far greater than I could have achieved alone. I am humbled by their generosity, grateful beyond words for their support, and proud to call every one of them a friend. Whatever happens out on those Highland roads on 12th June, we ride together. For Josh.

THE MANDA CENTRE

The Manda Centre provides counselling, holistic therapies, peer support, and advocacy to individuals and families affected by loss, trauma, bereavement, and personal crisis - including those whose lives have been touched by murder, culpable homicide, suicide loss, road traffic deaths, and domestic abuse.

Established in 2016 in memory of Amanda Jane Duffy, the Centre is built on a single, unwavering principle: “We start by listening. We don’t make assumptions.”

PLEASE DONATE

Every pound raised goes directly to The Manda Centre and the vital, compassionate work they carry out every day - supporting people who, like those closest to Josh, are finding their way through unimaginable loss.

If this story has moved you, please consider donating. No amount is too small. And if you want to support seven riders out on the roads of the Scottish Highlands on 12th June, giving everything they have for a friend they ride in memory of - please share this page. It means the world to us.

You can also follow our journey, get updates from the road, and share the story on our Facebook page - search Ride for Josh or visit https://www.facebook.com/rideforjosh2026