While we have been riding around this little wind swept island somewhere in the North Altlantic a bunch of locals have been following our exploits from the sunny town of Trabuco in Northern Spain. So this is just to say "Hello Mum", and thanks for all the support from sunny Spain.

After an overnight stay in Edinburgh we set out for Perth. The Forth Road Bridge was a fabulous sight and to be joined by biker members of the Caledonian Harley Club just over the bridge was a real boost. A last-minute arrangement for members of the Perthshire Ladies’ Motorcycle Club to join us was much appreciated and we met them outside Perth.

St John’s shopping centre laid on a tremendous welcome. The pipers were wonderful. Our grateful thanks to centre manager Siobhan McConnell for arranging brilliant fundraising activities, including a 7m climbing wall, in aid of the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team. Fundraising is set to go on all weekend, so if you are anywhere near Perth, drop by St John’s shopping centre.

The journey stayed cold but dry, and the Scottish scenery very beautiful. The great hospitality continued at the Springburn centre in Glasgow where we were greeted by centre manager Tom Hannigan who presented us with a cheque for £1,750 from raffle ticket sales.

Our last stop north of the border was at the Piazza, Paisley which we left late in the afternoon, still flabbergasted by the rousing Scottish welcome and interest from the public in Full Throttle Fundraiser.

The bikes, courtesy of StreetBike in the Midlands, have served us proud. I’m not sure our bodies have held up quite so well though – we are all feeling drained, yet elated at the same time. We are now gearing up for the last leg and look forward to the homecoming on Sunday.

Bye for now.

It’s been a tough day today, the toughest yet. We started off this morning with an escort over the Humber Bridge on our way to the Prospect Centre in Hull. The centre has four days of fundraising lined up which is set to end in the Great Bike Day, with dozens, maybe even hundreds of bikers expected to arrive.

Our departure from Hull for Prince Bishops Centre in Durham was delayed and the journey was fraught. The weather was atrocious. Somehow we got split up and we feel terrible that people were kept waiting and we didn’t make the rendezvouz on schedule. We want to pass on our sincere thanks to everyone involved at Prince Bishops for their patience and fantastic fundraising efforts.

Events lined up at Prince Bishops included a motorcycle cavalcade provided by ACE Motorcycle Training, a motortrike tried out by centre manager, Richard Toynbee, a motorbike racing simulator and fundraisers from Great North Air Ambulance.

We are heading to Edinburgh now for an overnight stay and we are all looking forward to a good night’s rest. A convoy of bikers is set to pick us up from the Forth Road Bridge and ride with us to our next stop at Perth. More about that tomorrow.

Karl, James & Colin

It’s day five and our knees and thumbs hurt like crazy. After we left Buxton yesterday morning we had a 20 mile journey across the moors in a blizzard – it was not pleasant. Then it was a long cold hike to Crewe from Newcastle under Lyme and we have faced every kind of weather – but the worst part is the cold.

We arrived at the Mall in Eccles and met air ambulance crew. They have invited us to the Blackpool air ambulance base where some VIP treatment awaits us. This will be on our homeward journey back to the Midlands. Some generous donations have been made, including £30 from the landlady of our accommodation on the overnight stay. We also sold £25 worth of raffle tickets to a physical training instructor.
We were greeted at the Hildreds in Skegness by the mayor and were met by the Police on our way to Scunthorpe and escorted into town.

The press awaited our arrival, and some attractive ladies from Scunthorpe Speedway helped to create interest in our fundraising efforts. We have had some brilliant experiences and our colleagues have put on heartwarming welcomes. One of the highlights has been a trip for James and me organised by Peter Golightly, manager of the Foundry, Scunthorpe, to the viewing point of the Humber Bridge. Look out for more great photos on our picture gallery.

We have covered around 700 miles so far but the trips between centres seem to be getting longer now. It’s getting tough but we are driven on by the desire to raise as much as we can for air ambulances.

Karl and James

This is a short two minute video clip of the team preparing to leave and departing from the Spring Gardens Shopping Centre after spending the night in Buxton. It's eight o'clock in the morning, just begining to snow, and the road ahead leads over the snow covered Staffordshire moorlands to next stop - Newcastle Under Lyme. 

Monday morning was an exciting start to the week.  We were stuck in traffic, trying to get out of Stourbridge, when one of the friendly local constabulary offered to guide us through the traffic to the main road, complete with flashing lights and sirens.  This caused a degree of amusement for the local kids on their way to school, but did save us loads of time.

We made our way to our first port of call, Burton Place Shopping Centre in Burton on Trent.  After making our way through heavy traffic we finally arrived at around 10.45 to a great reception from Glen Fowler, his team and the local fire and bike safe officers.  It was fantastic also to meet Nigel Clough and several of his team players who had given up their practice time to come and greet us.  

The next stop was Buxton, and we were met a few miles outside by two lovely ladies from B Division, Derbyshire Constabulary.  They very kindly escorted us to the Spring Gardens Shopping Centre where we were met by Town Crier, Bill Weston MBE, and unexpectedly presented with a cheque for £1,000 from the Derbyshire branch of the Institute of Quarrying,

Sunday was a slow start from The Podium in Bath, where we had been made extremely welcome the day before.  With the amount of snow on the hillsides, we did wonder if it would be possible to ride to Bristol.  We set off at 11.30.  The ride was very cold but the roads were not too bad.  We headed for the centre of Bristol, where the sat-nav sent us round in circles, and decided to park up outside Bristol Magistrates' Court. 

From there the leader of the Bristol Harley Davidson Chapter guided us to Clifton Down Shopping Centre where we had a very warm welcome from the rest of the Chapter and centre staff.  There was a wonderful array of Harley Davidsons, which everybody drooled over, and they made a wonderful showpiece in front of the shopping centre.  We were escorted out of Bristol by the Chapter to the M5 and then made our way to Stourbridge for the next part of the event.

What a brilliant day. An early start to get to the County Air Ambulance helicopter base at Strensham just off the M5. We met up with pilot Mike Kent and paramedics Vicki Brown and Dave Lee before being joined by bikers from the Forest of Dean Motorcycle Club who rode with us to Cheltenham. Thank you for the escort guys, it was fantastic.
After a welcome event at Beechwood shopping centre, Dave Mayhew, Keith Christian and Jason Dennis rode with us all the way to Trowbridge and we were really grateful for their support.

The sun shone all the way and we were greeted at The Shires shopping centre by the Oxford White Horse region of the Honda Goldwing Club and centre staff.
Everyone was really friendly and shoppers stopped for a chat.

Raffle tickets were selling like hot cakes and there was plenty of support for Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Fundraiser Lesley and paramedic Bruce represented the charity.
Bikers who had heard about the ride turned up to wish us well and there was fantastic support from  the Mid Wilts Branch of MAG (Motorcycle Action Group), Wiltshire BikeSafe and Trowbridge retailer GM Stevens.

Jason Dennis, who works for the County Air Ambulance Trust, Dave Mayhew, Keith Christian and Goldwing members accompanied us on the next stage to The Podium shopping centre in Bath.

Another great welcome where the fundraising continued for air ambulance, this time Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

At the end of the day we were shattered. Our thumbs hurt, our knees were shot and we were a bit saddle sore.

We’ll keep you all updated when time permits. Look forward to seeing you on our travels.

Karl, James and Colin

It’s a week today until I start my journey now.

Next Friday I get to pick up a Suzuki GSXR 600 from StreetBike in Halesowen which I will be using throughout the Full Throttle Fundraiser – my thanks again to all at StreetBike for their help, I promise to be careful with your bike!

We will be returning to Scunthorpe halfway through our travels on Wednesday 9th April.
The police have kindly offered to give us an escort from the Morrisons roundabout into The Foundry Shopping Centre. If any local bikers wish to join us for the ride into town you’re more than welcome, we will be meeting up with the Police at 1.45pm next to the roundabout. We look forward to seeing you all soon!

James