Final Schedule

As a result of my booking efforts, my trip now looks like this:

Day No.	Date	start	stop	total miles at end of day	Daily miles
1	28/04/2015	Humber Bridge	Hunstanton	185	185
2	29/04/2015	Hunstanton	Waldringfield	366	181
3	30/04/2015	Waldringfield	Thurrock	629	263
4	01/05/2015	Thurrock	Eastbourne	858	229
5	02/05/2015	Eastbourne	Isle of Wight, Ningwood	1037	179
	03/05/2015	Isle of Wight, Ningwood	Paignton	1246	209
6	04/05/2015	Paignton	Falmouth	1469	223
8	05/05/2015	Falmouth	Elmscott	1709	240
	06/05/2015	Elmscott	Newport	1931	222
9	07/05/2015	Newport	Tenby	2126	195
10	08/05/2015	Tenby	Borth	2324	198
12	09/05/2015	Borth	Anglesey	2537	216
13	10/05/2015	Anglesey	Preston	2763	224
14	11/05/2015	Preston	Cockermouth	2997	234
15	12/05/2015	Cockermouth	Newton Stewart	3190	193
	13/05/2015	Newton Stewart	Ayre	3358	168
16	14/05/2015	Ayre	Inveraray	3589	231
17	15/05/2015	Inveraray	Oban	3810	221
18	16/05/2015	Oban	Applecross	4041	231
19	17/05/2015	Applecross	Tongue	4298	257
20	18/05/2015	Tongue	Inverness	4507	209
21	19/05/2015	Inverness	Aberdeen	4691	184
22	20/05/2015	Aberdeen	Eyemouth	4923	232
23	21/05/2015	Eyemouth	Middlesbrough	5091	168
24	22/05/2015	Middlesbrough	Humber Bridge	5279	188
					Average daily mileage
					211.16

Details Details

The last couple of days have been taken up with a lot of computer time, booking accommodation and rescheduling the trip to fit in with relocated overnight stops. Because my schedule covers the may bank holidays, it turns out that a number of the Youth hostes I had hoped to use are full, so I have spend a good deal of time using Tripadvisor and other booking sites to find B+Bs and budget hotels. Most are now booked. I had hped to avoid camping, but there is one place where I simply cant find a bed. Aplecross is arguably one of the most magnificent places on the west Coast of Scotland. As well as being a beautiful little village in its own right

 It has the most delightful roads in and out, one along the coast to the North, the other inland over the highest pass in the UK, both single track, so the riding is superb.

For this reason I was not willing to give up my planned night in Applecross so have booked a great little camping pod on the local campsite.

www.applecross.uk.com/campsite/

I stayed in one of these with my brother last year and they are lovely, the only problem is that I now have to carry a sleeping bag and pillow.

Provisional Schedule

Ok we now have a provisional schedule. its still not booked and therefore may need to change, but it should get sorted in the next few days. The start and finish point is as near home in Barnsley as I can get to the sea, getting there and back will add another 60 miles or so to days 1 and 24

Day No.	Date	start	stop	total miles at end of day	Daily miles
1	28/04/2015	Humber Bridge	Hunstanton	185	185
2	29/04/2015	Hunstanton	Waldringfield	366	181
3	30/04/2015	Waldringfield	Thurrock	630	264
4	01/05/2015	Thurrock	Eastbourne	864	234
5	02/05/2015	Eastbourne	Isle of Wight Totland	1045	181
6	03/05/2015	Isle of Wight Totland	Paignton	1243	198
7	04/05/2015	Paignton	Falmouth	1467	224
8	05/05/2015	Falmouth	Elmscott	1706	239
9	06/05/2015	Elmscott	Newport	1928	222
10	07/05/2015	Newport	Manorbier	2129	201
11	08/05/2015	Manorbier	Borth	2321	192
12	09/05/2015	Borth	Anglesey	2537	216
13	10/05/2015	Anglesey	Preston	2761	224
14	11/05/2015	Preston	Cockermouth	2995	234
15	12/05/2015	Cockermouth	Newton Stewart	3188	193
16	13/05/2015	Newton Stewart	Irvine/Kilmarnock	3388	200
17	14/05/2015	Irvine/Kilmarnock	Inveraray	3585	197
18	15/05/2015	Inveraray	Oban	3806	221
19	16/05/2015	Oban	Applecross	4039	233
20	17/05/2015	Applecross	Durness Smoo	4269	230
21	18/05/2015	Durness Smoo	Inverness	4504	235
22	19/05/2015	Inverness	Aberdeen	4688	184
23	20/05/2015	Aberdeen	Berwick	4929	241
24	21/05/2015	Berwick	Middlesbrough	5089	160
25	22/05/2015	Middlesbrough	Humber Bridge	5277	188
					Average daily mileage
					211.08

A long time coming

It's taken a lot longer than I originally speculated, but now we have a real projected date for the ride. All being well, and there are some uncertainties, May 2015 will me the time to watch.

A little older and wiser, the bike and I are  basically the same as we were. The route has been planned using the splendid Garmin BaseCamp software, and it turns out to be over 5000 miles. 

Most of the overnight stops will be at Youth Hostels, a bit unusual, but I was very impressed with the prices and locations of hostels run by both YHA, in England and Wales and SYHA , in Scotland. The one or two nights not near a hostel will be with friends or in budget hotels. 

I'm writing this on my iPhone so it's a bit limited, once I get to the computer I plan to upload some stuff about the route and where I will be staying .

I plan to be more active here in the building up to the ride, and also to post as I progress, hopefully with some good coastal photos.

This is the bike that will take me tound the UK. it is a 2003 model BMW R1150RT. a supremely comfortable touring bike with plenty of storage space. While its not the fastest bike in its class, my objective is not speed, but the opportunity to see the wonderful coast of the UK.