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Crucifixion sculpture in Winchester
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Crucifixion sculpture in Winchester.
First Fleet sculpture in Portsmouth
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the First Fleet sculpture in Portsmouth.
Family of Man sculpture in Snape Maltings
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Family of Man sculpture in Snape Maltings.
Hand & Molecule sculpture in Ramsgate
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Hand & Molecule sculpture in Ramsgate.
Orbit sculpture in London
Heavens Gate sculpture in Horningsham
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Heavens Gate sculpture in Horningsham.
Alliance sculpture in Cardiff
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Alliance sculpture in Cardiff.
Spring sculpture in Leamington Spa
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Spring sculpture in Leamington Spa.
Quantum Leap sculpture in Shrewsbury
As part of the Grim Riders Sculpture Ride 2012 we paid a visit to the Quantum Leap sculpture in Shrewsbury.
Grim Riders Charity Ride 2012
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
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The Grim Riders charity ride of 2012 details have just been announced and is called the Sculpture Trail.
As with all the previous Grim Riders charity rides, the aim of the challenge is to visit as many of the 20 (up from 16 from the previous years) public sculptures around the UK between January and December 2012 and depending upon the number of sculptures you manage to get photographic evidence of visiting you get awarded a certificate:
Bronze Award - visit any 5 sculptures
Silver Award – visit any 10 sculptures
Gold Award – visit any 15 sculptures
Special Gold Award – visit 16 sculptures
All money raised by entering the charity ride go to as per-previous years goes to the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance which has currently raised over £4,881.
If your interested in further details, check out the links below.
Links:
Grim Riders MCC Website
Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
Grim Riders Castles Ride 2011
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
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This years Grim Riders charity ride in aid of the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance is based on visiting as many of the designated castles around the UK (and one in Ireland) as you can between January and December 2011.
Unfortunately due to one thing and other this year looks like the 1st year that non of us will have managed to visit all 15 castles and gain a Grim Riders gold certificate.
The current (as of November) number of castles visited is:
- Bob - 8 castles, bronze award
- Bonzo - 8 castles, bronze award
- Rig - 8 castles, bronze award
- Andy - 8 castles, bronze award
If you want to see any of the photos from when we have visited these castles, please check on the linkes below:
Laugharne Castle
Kenilworth Castle
Castell Dolbadarn
Carisbrooke Castle
Beeston Castle
Conisbrough Castle
Skenfrith Castle
You can also check out our Goggle Map that shows where the castles are and which ones we have visited and which ones we failed to visit.
Even though we didn't manage to visit all of the castles for this years Grim Rider charity ride we are all still looking forward to 2012 to find out what Grim has in-store for us for next years charity ride.
Links:
Grim Riders MCC Website
Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
Eleys Pie Shop
Another surprisingly warm Saturday in September and while we were seated around Bob’s kitchen table drinking tea and putting the world to rights Bob happened to mention that he fancied a pasty from Eleys Pie Shop in Ironbridge, this was like a red rag to a bull, the mention of food top a bunch of hungry bikers so we jumped, hobbled and tottered over to our bikes and headed north west in the pursuit of well-made pastry and meat and a can of coke.
The ride to Ironbridge to be fair isn’t very exciting as there are not many interesting routes but once we arrived at Ironbridge we parked up with a few other bikes at the end of its famous bridge which just so happened to be right opposite Eleys Pie Shop.
Instead of marvelling at the architecture or the beauty of the area or even learning something from one of the ten award-winning museums we sat down outside Eleys Pie Shop and ate pies, drank diet coke and enjoyed the sunshine. A perfect day!
A few more pointless photos can be seen on the website.
Stonehenge
On one of the warmest days of the year, instead of staying indoors and cool we decided to head south and have a wander around Wiltshire. Go figure!
We started the day by meeting up with Ray and Bonzo at George White Motorcycles in Swindon, this gave us the opportunity to use the fantastic A429 fosse way almost most of the way to Swindon.
Once we arrived it was about time for breakfast, so we headed inside to the 1st floor café inside George Whites showroom so an acceptable if unspectacular fry up.
Once breakfast had been consumed we decided to head south on the A338, A346, A360 and finally ended up at Stonehenge, but as we are cheap skates and didn’t want to pay the £7.50 to look at a bunch of rocks when headed back north towards Chippenham and after a wave good bye to Bonzo and Ray as they peeled left on the M4 we headed back towards Cirencester and the delights of the fosse way home.
As usual there are a number of photos on the website.
Grim Riders MCC Charity Ride 2010 - Results
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
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This years Grim Riders MCC Charity ride has now closed and the results have been published.
52 riders took part this year helping raise £1280 for the the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.
17 gained a Gold Award by visiting fifteen battlefields, with 6 exceptional riders visiting all sixteen battlefields on the list (including the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland) and achieving a Special Gold Award.
5 riders gained a Silver Award by visiting at least ten battlefields.
9 riders gained a Bronze Award after visiting at least five battlefields.
Our very own Bob and Bonzo were part of the 6 riders awarded the Special Gold Award whist Rig and Chinny were awarded Gold awards.
Dave Winter not only managed to visit all 15 battlefields but did so in one go in a total time of 45 hrs 34 mins, you can read all about his journey here.
During 2010 we had some great rides, found some fantastic roads, met some 'interesting' people and once again Bob visited a number of Battlefields twice, here's a Google Map of all battlefields we have visited in 2010.
If you want an excuse to get out on your bike next year and feel that you’re doing something to help a worthwhile cause, head over to the Grim Riders MCC website and sign up for next year’s challenge, it's going to be great fun!
Links:
Grim Riders MCC Website
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
RigsVille's 2010 motorcycle rides
Grim Riders MCC Charity Ride 2011
For the 3rd year running Grim Riders MCC have announced a reason for getting out on your bike while supporting a worthwhile cause.
The Castles Ride 2011 is the latest charity ride organised by Grim Riders MCC, the aim of this ride is simply to visit some of the castles of Britain that have been listed within a 2011.
The castles may be visited at any time of the year and in any order you wish for you to be eligible for an award you just need to provide proof of your visit by photographing your motorcycle and your rider number.
Bob at the battle of Naseby
It's a great excuse to get out on my bike, visit some places around the UK that I would never have normally been to, help raise money for charity (Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance) and a reason to spend a few weekends away with my mates on our bikes.
Links:
Grim Riders MCC Website
Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
Castles Ride 2011 Goggle Map
Battle of the Boyne, Ireland
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Friday, May 28, 2010
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We were going to leave about 6am but as we were up and ready at 4am due to the hot weather we left a little early around 5.30am to go up to Holyhead to catch our ferry.
First stop was to fill up as my light was flashing on the fuel gauge! Good start.
We pulled in at Balsall Common petrol station to fill up and then headed straight down the A452 to Stonebridge, on to the M6 where after 23 miles turned off on M54 and then onto the A5 towards Shrewsbury.
When you are around this way you have to make a slight detour down the A458 to Dinkys Diner and enjoy one of their breakfast’s (it’s the law) he he.
After our Dinkys breakfast we headed back onto the A5 through Oswestry, Llangollen and into Betws-y-coed in Snowdonia National Park. (Looks familiar?)
We continued along the A5 and stopped for a leg stretch alongside Llyn Ogwen Lake where there are some stunning views of the lake as it’s nestled between the mountain ranges of Carneddau and Glyderau.
We jump back on the bikes and head along the A5 and onto the A55 and then ride over the Britannia Bridge as we enter the isle of Anglesey. Once we arrive at Holyhead we fill up with fuel as its only 10am and the Ferry doesn’t leave till 1:50 pm, we went into the port and tried to see if we could get an earlier one, but that was the next one…..bollocks.
As we already had breakfast and Rig wasn’t with us hassling us for another we went into the ferry lounge and enjoyed a coke, ice cream and a chat with a few other bikers. It was eventually time to get on the ferry nice and we found a nice window seat and had a very smooth 3 hour crossing (Bonzos glad as last time he spent it in the toilet. lol)
We arrived at 5pm in Dublin and after a bit of a struggle to get the right road we got out of the port, we even had an Irish biker stop and sent us on the right route, very friendly these Irish.
After going through the Dublin Port Tunnel and paying our 3 euro toll we continued on the M1 and turned off onto the N51 and then left on Oldbridge Lane down to the park (not where it’s marked on the GPS web site it’s the first bridge and on the left).
We got our evidence photos done at the Battle of the Boyne and by now it’s 7pm and we have yet to find a hotel so I got out the trusted Garmin GPS and started to phone around a couple of hotels that it had listed but as it turns out Ireland has changed all their telephone codes (great!) so I thought I would use my iPhone to search the Internet for some hotels and that would not let me on-line!
We were obviously looking a little forlorn at this stage but then an Irish family come to our rescue and lent us their own phone (I love this place everyone wants to help)
We found what looked like a nice hotel in Navan called the Ardboyne Hotel that was just on the Dublin Road so I booked a us couple of rooms for the night, sorted!
We got back on the N51 and headed straight to the hotel and after 22 hot and sweaty miles we arrived only to be told by the receptionist that there was no room at the inn! It turns out they were mistaken after I explained that we had already booked and they did have 2 rooms for some strange English bikers.
We managed to get a nice large room and after having a nice shower and getting changed it was off to the bar for some slim line Guinness.
This is where it gets interesting there where a load of girls on a Hen night and the bride called Jacinta and she had all the gear on(!) with a badge which said Hen and me being a dumb git said what’s it for!! (plonker) after a laugh we got chatting to all the girls and had a good laugh.
The Hen party girls had some ‘Scratch a Dare’ game cards and one of them said they had to propose marriage to a stranger and there no one more stranger than Bonzo, one of the girls said she was already engaged and if it does not work out she will come looking for him.
After quite a few drinks the girls were off to a night club and asked if we wanted to go with them but as we had a early start we had to decline…..bugger would have been a good night…. Bonzo said we should have been here for the week…. he he.
We had a bar snack and more beer and then we toddled off to bed at what time I don’t know too much slim line Guinness!
I woke up at 2:30am (nutcase) and was dressed with bags packed by 4am and give Bonzo a ring and it turned out he was also awake (another sad git, he he) so down to the hotel reception to pay the bill for the room and the bar bill (who drunk all that - it must be him?????) and the bar is still full of people still drinking (lucky buggers)
We left the hotel about 5:30am and headed along the nice and very quiet Dublin road into Dublin (we are the only prats up on a Sunday morning!) and it was still warm and misty.
We arrived at the port very early (you would have thought we would have learnt) and wander in the ferry lounge.
The ferry left Dublin at 8:10am and we arrived back in Holyhead at 11.45am completing another smooth crossing, Bonzo’s was very glad.
We set off from Holyhead and back along the same road (A50 & A5) back home. We stopped for a rest and drink just before Betws-y-Coed and fill up with fuel and head home.
Me and Bonzo split up at Oswestry and he took the A483 down the middle of Wales to Builth Wells and across to Llantrisant and home to Cardiff and I have fast run along the M54 to M6 and home in time for tea.
Cost:-
Ferry crossing: £40 return each (Cheap or what?)
Hotel: 85 Euros (should have been 100 per night but we did not have breakfast)
Fuel: £64.07 (just mine)
Food and beer??? Who knows, could be into the thousands
Miles Covered:
Me: 436 miles
Bonzo: 598 miles
Bob
Loads of pictures can be found here.
1st Battlefields Ride
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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This years Grim Riders MCC challenge is called the Battlefields Ride and involves visiting as many of the 15 (plus 1 optional battlefield in Ireland) UK battlefields that are listed, I’ve created a little Google Map where you can see the location of the Battlefields including the ones we have visited (GREEN) and the ones we are yet to visit (BLUE)
Today marked to start of this years challenge rides for us even though technically the challenge started on the 1st of January, we had decided to attempt to visit 3 battlefield sites in one day starting at Bosworth in Leicestershire then heading north to Winceby in Lincolnshire before finally head south to Naseby in Northamptonshire.
As with all our bike rides the most important detail is where were we going to have breakfast? we were very fortunate that Bosworth Battlefield has a great cafe and serve a fantastic breakfast so after getting our challenge photos at the sign for Bosworth we headed inside cafe for our breakfast.
After breakfast our next Battlefield was Winceby so we headed north east along the fantastic A6006 through Melton Mowbrey and onto the B676/A151 to Bourne where we then took the A15 past Sleaford and then the A513 to Horncastle where it was just a 5 mile jump to the site of the Battle of Winceby
Unfortunately there's no cafe to welcome you here just an information sign the battle in a lay-by so we got our photos taken in the freezing cold and quickly jumped back onto our bikes and headed south.
Due to the weather getting much colder we decided that we would rather use the main roads to get to Naseby so with Sat Nav's reset we blitzed down the A16 past Boston, Spalding and Stamford and then picked the A43 around Corby and Kettering until we eventually found the correct site of the Battle of Naseby. Unfortunately the monument is situated at the top of a field so we had to make do with photos of our bikes from the road with the monument in the distance.
By now it was VERY cold so we jumped onto the A14 and M6 and headed home as fast as we could. It was a great day out, we covered over 250 miles but it was blooming cold
More pictures can be found here.
1st ride of 2010
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Monday, May 10, 2010
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For me personally the day started at 9:00am sitting outside Huggy's Speedshop in Atherstone as Flo was booked in for her MOT test which she flew through and then it was a quick run over to Bob’s to meet up with Bob, Chinny and Bonzo for a cup of tea before making the epic 15 mile journey to the Touchdown Cafe at Welsbourne for one of their impressive breakfasts.
After munching our breakfast we decided to head south into the Cotswolds and ended up at our usual tea and cake stop in Bourton-on-the-Water where it like the mad hatter tea party and in case your wondering, Bonzo was Alice!
Pictures can be found here.
