I have just completed my first marathon ride, the RBLR 1000. Paddy 
has already posted the statistics & hopefully I shall qualify for 
entry into the august body of the IBA UK. Before I commence my report 
I would like to thank Paddy for his excellent organization , he and 
his team worked tirelessly to make the event the exceptionally  
smooth running success it undoubtedly was. Paddy take a bow.



A quiet night ensued and most of us retired to rest before what was 
to be for most of us our first endurance ride. after a light 
breakfast of a bacon and egg sandwich (my first mistake) Nos & I went 
to the start and I was off at 8.01a.m. followed shortly by Nos. we 
ran into light drizzle around Weatherby which kept with us off & on 
until just outside Newcastle upon Tyne we then ran on unhindered to 
Berwick on Tweed where we had to make our first scheduled fuel stop 
and obtain dated timed receipts. we then ran on to Dreghorn Link 
services Edinburgh for our second stop. so far so good. I don't think 
any of us had really taken in the scale of what we were attempting I 
know I certainly didn't. In edinburgh we picked up a father & son 
team who's Sat Nav had died on them, one on a Wing like Jed's and a 
very nicely restored GSX 100. So now being on point as I had the only 
Sat Nav between us had to worry about the 135/40 mile short range of 
the Rune compared to my 235/40 mile range on my F800 ST and keeping 
the two tagger's on in sight behind.



I did not realize how mentally draining this was going to prove to 
be. we then headed off for Inverness which was a very scenic run 
without incident and proving how inaccurate the low fuel warning was 
on the Rune, it actually had more fuel than it said it had left in 
the tank, but Nos still had 5 litres in reserve in his kit bag. the 
Rune arrived on fumes at a petrol station and we went on to find a 
cafe that one of the other riders had told us about nearby only to 
find that it stopped serving hot food at 4 p.m. and it was 4.15 so we 
set off for Tesco at Wick airport our next check in.



We then rode the A9 between Inverness and Wick which is one of the 
most beautiful roads for sea scape scenery I have ever ridden on, not 
only do you have stunning scenery, but there is 85 miles of twisties 
with some hairpins thrown in for good measure. The road does not have 
to be ridden fast to be technically challenging, I found myself in 
the groove at 60 mph and just wanting to ride it smoothly not to 
brake on the bends and judge entry and exit speeds on the throttle 
getting the bike down on into low angles of lean, something that the 
F800 does superbly and with good manners. Both me and  bike loving 
every moment. I used what I had learned in Switzerland and boy did 
the bike deliver! We arrived at Wick around 6.15 p.m. and found the 
Tesco fuel/checkpoint without difficulty, filled up, did our log 
sheets and went into Tescos for a much needed pee break and the 
dreamed of hot meal & drink, only to find .... you guessed it .... 
hot food & drink had stopped being served!



If the journey up to Wick from Inverness had put a smile on my face, 
the prospect of the return put a positive grin on my face. we had 
noted a 24 hour fueling stop near Inverness which would be a place to 
fill up the Rune in preparation to doing the next leg to Fort 
William. This stop was to nearly prove to be my undoing. The four of 
us pulled in at around 8.45 p.m. and filled up and asked if there was 
hot food available ( the diet of Flapjacks & Water or Lucozade Sport 
was by now beginning to pale) to which we had the usual negative 
answer. That was when fatigue and 'the wall' hit me like a pussy, I 
told Nos that I would have to stop and have a sleep for an hour and 
the dummy nearly got spat out. The big ex marine  gave me a good 
talking to. After a 30 minute rest and recognizing how much riding 
point had taken out of me said he would take over. I found out that 
following was a damned sight easier than leading (Hats off to you 
Jed) So I tucked in behind the Rune and enjoyed the ride that took us 
down the side of Loch Ness (no monster sightings unless a Ducati 
counts) and  the Caledonian Canal only taking the lead when we were 
nearly in Fort William to our next fueling/checkpoint.



It was leaving Fort william that we got split up in the dark by a 
temporary road-works. we were not to see each other again until the 
finish line Nos disappeared into the distance whilst I got stuck at 
the traffic lights and after I went through the lights the two guys 
behind dropped further & further back. I was not to learn until later 
the rider on the 1100 Goldwing had blown a headlight bulb and his son 
lead him on the GSX thou the rest of the way with the Wing on 
sidelights only (how scary must Glen Coe have been?) It was in Glen 
Coe that I had my first up close encounter with two Red Deer. about 5 
miles before meeting them, I had seen a sign waring of stray sheep. 
Knowing how stupid sheep are, I slowed my pace a little & kept my 
eyes well out in front for the glowing eyes. I then saw  two white 
orbs glowing in the dark about 4 feet off the ground & thought 
'There's a sheep on the bank' then I thought 'There is no bank and 
sheep's eyes glow green' As I got nearer, the headlight picked up a 
huge stag disdainfully looking straight at me and I thought 'please 
stay where you are' which thankfully he did cos if you hit one of 
them on a bike it can seriously ruin your day.



I then went through the rest of the glen without incident to 
Crianlarich. As I came into the town, the Sat Nav said 'Turn right in 
200 yards on to the A82' I missed the turn and went straight on as by 
now I was having to draw on previously unknown reserves of energy and 
determination. The Sat Nav Recalculated and told me to follow the A85 
to Stirlng. This actually did me a favour. Although it was a longer 
route, it was not as tortuous as the A82 to Loch Lomond, the A85 
bringing me out on the M84 which linked up directly with the M73 & 
M74 southbound that actually put me about 30 min ahead on time. It 
was her I hooked up with a rider on a Glide who was to win the prize 
for the furthest travelled to participate. (He had ridden from his 
home in Inverness to Squires Cafe to start done the northern route 
passing his front door! Top man!) we stopped a a service area about 
50 miles south of Glasgow and had a 40 minute rest and it was here I 
finally got something hot down me, 2 bowls of Leek & Potato soup. It 
had been on the counter for god knows how many hours, but it was pure 
nectar. we filled up to get proof of the length of stop & then 
started on the penultimate leg to Birch Services.



This proved to be the easiest leg of the journey and we made it by 
about 4.30 a.m. we filled up and obtained our receipts at this last 
fueling/checkpoint and decided we would have a cup of coffee from 
the  fresh coffee machine in the fueling area only to find that the 
hot drink/food gremlins had struck again! The machine was out of 
order! (AAAARRRRGH!) we then left and rode the 50 odd minutes to the 
finishing point. as I approached at 5.29 a.m. one of the marshals was 
directing me into the check in and the others were clapping I thought 
'what are they clapping for, who are they clapping?' Then the 
realization hit me, it was me they were clapping. I must admit I had 
a big lump in my throat and it was hard to keep the tears from 
flowing as the enormity of what I had achieved started to sink in. I 
had completed my first ever marathon ride along with a lot of other 
riders who must have felt the same way as I was feeling.



Would I do it again? you betcha, The American IBA announced that they 
would be fielding a ride of over 450 participants early in May and 
announced that they had set a new world record on the 17th of May 
which put the W/R beyond us. This was very disingenuous of them as 
they knew that this had been a long time in the planning. Still 
there's always next year.



The only thing that I would have wished for was for my Dad to have 
been alive to see it. This one is dedicated to you Dad.



Niel