29th June 2008

I was on my computer at 7.30am on a Saturday this week.  There is a good reason for this – I am starting to sweat a bit about the trip and there is still so much to do – we have loose ends to tie up and equipment and sponsors to tie down.  Most of the important stuff has been done – Stenaline have booked our passage to Holland for us on 19th July, we have 6 nights accommodation FOC courtesy of Hilton Hotels in Berlin, Prague and Milan and a good discount in Vienna, (the Hilton!! – I once stayed in a posh hotel and it was very nice!), we’ve tested out our intercom equipment and it works, the Esure group have insured the bikes…the bikes… ah yes!!!!  How could I forget our latest big news?!!  At this very moment there is a beautiful, red Yamaha MT-03 stabled within a bus depot, (at a top secret location).  It’s cooling down after a 300 mile trip to Cromer and back with me! 

Anyway, one night after work, I had a brain wave.  I’ve been lying awake at night wondering where on earth I could keep a motor bike safely nearby so that I didn’t have to traipse over to my friend Andy’s each time I wanted to go out for a ride.  Andy, (who also helped us plan our route), has kindly been looking after Charley, (my practice bike), for months now.  He has patiently been wiping drips of oil of his paving stones with some special oil remover stuff too.  Anyway, after my brain wave I walked into the Nottingham City Transport Bus Depot one night and made a strange request.  Happily, they kindly agreed to keep the bike in a secure lock up bike room for me on the condition that I attended an ‘elf and safety talk, (“Here, put this yellow high vis jacket on whilst you are in the bus depot so you don’t get run over by a bus.” stuff).  I’m really grateful to them as it makes things a lot easier although I do struggle with getting the bike up the kerb into the room as it’s very heavy.  Fortunately, there’s always been a nice guy around to help me get the back wheel up the kerb as I’ve not yet mastered the art but will do quite soon. 

So, the bikes… On Monday, Tris and I caught a train down to the Yamaha headquarters in Weybridge, Surrey.  The day had arrived to pick up the bikes and we were really excited.  We wore our new Weise motorbike gear supplied by Weise and Fowlers in Bristol, (thank you), and Breast Quest 2008 t-shirts and we did some planning on the train on the way down.  I had efficiently printed out 2 maps for our journey back off the RAC route planner, (a quick route and a scenic route).  Please note Tris scoffed at this – he laughed that we only had to find the M25 and then hang on until we hit the M1, so hard could that be?  Men…  Got to love ‘em. 

We met the Marketing people, who gave us lots of good tips and advice for the trip and then we went out to find the beasts.  Tris has a beautiful Fazer in a darkish shiny blue and I have a beautiful red MT-03 which has a waspish shape and is very beautiful even if it does clash a little with my new pink jacket.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to lower the seat so I am at full stretch.  I’ll have to get used to this plus we need to practice with all our gear attached to back of the bikes as this will change the balance for us, (especially with all my shoes, hair straighteners for my unruly hair and bags of organic tea bags and fruit and nut mix on the back).

We got lost on the M25 as we weren’t sure if we were heading the right way around it and guess what?- we had to refer to my map print out, (think that says it all Tris   Anyway, it was a good but long trip back with a few hairy moments including coming across a burning car in a ditch and me falling off the bike in Tesco’s car park infront of all the shoppers whilst trying to manoeuvre the bike slowly round.  Don’t worry Yamaha, the bike is fine.  As I lay trapped by a hand underneath the bike marvelling at how flat and squashed the hand was, (before realising it was only my empty glove), a big man appeared out of nowhere and picked me and the bike up and said “Don’t worry love, it happens to us all.”.  Then Tris arrived and did some peering into my face, “Are you ok?”, he asked a few times looking a bit concerned.  I was ok again after some fruit and nut mix but glad to get home for a cup of tea.

On a more serious note, Tris phoned me after I had got back from Cromer.  I was babbling on about the fuel capacity of the bike and when I came up for air he told me he had just come across his first dead biker whilst on his journey home from work.  About the same time that I arrived safely home for a cup of tea from Cromer, he had come across a fatal accident.  Just awful.  I asked him if he was having a wobbly moment about the trip.   He said no but he was more aware of the dangers and hoped he would remember it for a long time to come.  I’ll admit I have my own fears about the trip, it’s going to push us both mentally and physically and I worry about the danger and the fact that the people we care about will also be worrying for us.  We are well aware of the dangers and will be very careful but we can’t give up the adventure now. 

I felt bad about Tris and the biker today so I asked my nursing colleagues where I could get hold of a couple of St Christophers, (I’m not particularly religious but I thought we could do with some help from the Patron Saint of Travel).  An Irish Nurse told me I needed to visit “a wee holy place” and I was wondering where I might find one in an inner city area until we realised there is just such a place – a Friary where we know some Monks!  So, off I went and explained my problem to Father Quinton of St Augustines and he kindly gave me 2 Saint Christophers.  I offered to pay for them but he refused and he even asked The Father to bless the Saint Christophers and the 2 travellers in their journey around Europe.  I felt better afterwards but I couldn’t help noticing that the picture shows St Christopher carrying Christ safely across water.  I just hope it works for motorbikes on land too!  Hmmm, I wonder if I could take a trip to a Buddhist Temple to see if I can get hold of a couple of Buddhas for extra help?

Well, we’re nearly there now.  Please get sponsoring us so that when we are dirty, smelly, dog tired, wet through to the skin from the rain and picking the flies out of our teeth, we can remind ourselves why we are doing this! 

Hey, it’s not all Hilton Hotels you know!… It’s 21 days of wearing the same hot, sweaty, non-washable, motorbike trousers, jacket and smelly boots!

1st June 2008

This time last year I’d just had reconstructive operation after having had a lumpectomy for breast cancer.  A year later, I’m still here and I’m on a countdown to a very exciting trip around Europe on a very big motorbike to fundraise for cancer charities.  How life changes eh?!…

The trip, Breast Quest 2008, has experienced more than a few wobbly moments along the way.  It’s been about compromise and adapting to change and adversity.  We’ve sometimes had to find new opportunities in unexpected places when seemingly golden opportunities and promises have amounted to nothing.  Team Breast Quest has lost and gained key members along the way too.  I guess it’s only natural as people’s priorities change.  However, we’re finally on track, it’s really going to happen and we’re just 6 weeks away from departure day!  There will be just the 2 of us now – Tristan Poyser, Photographer, and myself.  Ali can’t make it due to personal reasons.

At our latest meeting we discussed plans, shared out tasks and ate some good organic chocolate.  There were 6 of us: Tris, Rach, (my other sister in law and great friend who is experienced in marketing), my brothers, (Tom and Roger), and my other great friend, Odette, who is a copywriter.  Later, Rach created a spreadsheet where we can all see our tasks and deadlines coloured in red and a big green column signalling our departure date, July 19th.  It’s super organised but very scary to look at!  We can all see this spreadsheet online and update it to share our progress, (or lack of it), with the other team members. 

So far we have pretty much covered costs except for a few expenses such as ferry crossings.  We have a lot left to organise, namely; hotel discount, ferry crossings (urgent!), trying on kit for size and logos attached, getting some top boxes for gear, communication equipment, insurance (very important!), pulling in more sponsorship and publicising the trip.  The Nottingham Advanced Motorcyclists are helping us get the go ahead for us to leave the Market Square on July 19th with some 20 of their members on bikes and a police escort.  The police escort bit made me giggle nervously because I hate observers watching me drive and I hate drawing attention to myself, (should have thought about that earlier maybe).  So, on July 19th there will be a huge group of the buggers plus some policemen who have all passed their advanced driving tests thinking how crap my driving is!

Tris and I rode over to CMC bikes at Chesterfield recently to try out the bikes that Yamaha are loaning us for the trip.  We took the scenic route up to Chesterfield on Charley, (that’s the nickname I have for my training bike because it looks a bit like a Chinese Harley).  Charley, (which is really a Siamoto Geko for anyone interested), has an eagle’s head and a bit of bling on the front.  He also makes a deep throttley noise and has a small notice on the tank saying: ‘Warning, do not drive after drinking wine’ as if drinking vodka or gin would be ok.  

Dave Barnett sorted out the test bikes for us at CMC bikes, he even polished them for us before we set off.  Tris tried out a Fazer and I tried an MT-03, just in case you know about these things.  Someone asked me about the spec of the bike later that day and I told them what I could remember – that it had a big ‘twirly thing’ to describe what I thought was it’s engine, (it wasn’t), and was a lovely dark aquamarine colour which somewhat gave the game away that I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about and am only interested in girly stuff like the colour.  My feet barely reached the ground on the MT-03 but Dave said the seat could be modified to make it lower for me.  We’ll have to go down to Surrey soon to pick the bikes up from Yamaha for some photos and to thank them properly.

Anyway, I was pretty excited and nervous too as the last time I rode such a powerful bike was on the day of my test, December 18th 2007 when I rode a Honda 500cc.  To give you some idea of the power, (this bit is mostly for girls), the MT-03 is a 660cc and Charley is a 250cc.  Tris set off in front and I suddenly realised how different it has been training on Charley because the MT-03 flew off down the road like a greased weasel dropping.  It cornered much easier in comparison to Charley too.  It was fantastic and I did a bit of whooping into my helmet as we flew along roads and up and down hills.  Finally we drew up on the side of the road, grinning at each other and Tris asked if I was ready to head back.  “No!”, I said, “I’m ready to head off right now on Breast Quest 2008!  Let’s go!  Woo hooooo!”  14 months ago, I had never considered learning to ride a motorbike, now I fly along roads whooping into my helmet like an idiot. 

Now, I have to set the record straight.  For anyone who thinks we are off on our jollies, leisurely riding around Europe, wining and dining as we go and raising a bit of cash for charity.  This is not the case.  There will be bad weather and on a bike you do get wet, very wet.  We have a tight schedule so we won’t ever be beaching it as we will be covering over 3,000 miles on the bikes.  It’s much more challenging than driving a car as you need to be focused 100% of the time.  I particularly notice this when I hop into my car after being on the bike because I spend the first five minutes marvelling at how easily it drives and wondering if I should be doing more.  In the early days whilst learning to ride a big bike, I used to feel 99.9% fear and about 0.1% exhilaration but this has slowly changed.  I have had the majority of my lessons in grim conditions including snow, sleet, hail, driving rain and heavy winds and believe me nothing is waterproof.  I have been wet through to the skin and colder than I’ve ever experienced and seriously thought about giving up altogether.  I’ve given up Sundays and evenings weekdays to learn to ride and organise Breast Quest whilst trying to get to grips with a stressful new job.  I’ve spent sleepless nights worrying that the trip would not happen.  It has to be said; I’ve done a crap job of cutting stress out of my life which was my aim!

Whilst I’m setting the record straight, I’d also like to say that this trip would not have been possible without Tris’ help.  He has given up his time freely to help document the trip with photos, manage the website as well as organising and publicising the trip, and helping to find sponsors.  He has also auctioned off a studio session to raise cash for Breast Cancer Care.  I know there was a time when he wondered if it would actually ever happen but he still turned up for team meetings.  He is self employed, (a one man band), and is giving up 3 weeks of business to ride 3,000 miles round Europe with a slightly nutty, ex cancer bird who has only just learnt to ride a bike.  I’d like to thank him and also say a big ‘thank you’ to his girlfriend for her patience and for supporting us.  She will be spending her summer holidays without Tris.  Enough said.

Sometimes I wake at night and feel butterflies in the pit of my stomach when I think about the trip.  I run through what we have left to do and recent achievements like Tris getting Canon to agree the loan of camera equipment and a video recorder.  I’m feeling more confident that things are coming together.  This Sunday, I had a bike lesson where I felt I had turned a corner.  Finally, I felt 95% exhilaration and 5% fear whilst riding, (although this varied according to conditions!).  I felt it was fitting that on the day when I started to feel confident about my riding skills, ‘Race for Life’ had just finished on Victoria Embankment and as I rode back to my car after the lesson there were pink balloons tied to lampposts and runners dressed in pink, some in pink tutus on their way home.  I congratulated them in my helmet as I drove past.