The Gallop is over...

....long live the Gallop!

I'm sure it will live long in peoples memories, hopefully for all the right reasons.  The Cub Mag will be publishing a Gaffers Gallop Special in the next couple of weeks, and then there will be a report in Old Bike Mart, and probably further coverage in other bike/club mags, so keep your eyes peeled.

There have been numerous pictures and comments posted on the Facebook page "The Gaffers Gallop 2013" so go and have a browse while you wait for Gorgeous Biker Chick to get time to jot down a little summary on this here blog.

Meantime, THANK YOU SO MUCH to all supporters, followers, riders of the 150cc Terriers and their big cousin Cubs, those who turned out to see us (and probably missed us - sorry!), and official sponsors, the Gallop was so much more fun WITH YOU than without you.

Gaffers Gallop UPDATED route with overnight stops....

Little bit of an update on the route and overnight stops for the Gaffers Gallop 2013, plus news of a Gaffers Gallop Northern Isles Excursion - read on....

OFFICIAL route for Gaffers Gallop 2013 – compiled by GBC and Muckle Flugga Man (August 2013).

If anyone has any local knowledge of the roads and areas that we'll be using, please get in touch as we may need your help with getting through or around towns and cities, and if you spot that we've listed a place or a road that didn't exist in 1953, drop us a line to gbc AT thecubmag.com. If you should fancy tagging along for all or some of the way, again, just drop us a line to let us know when and where you plan to meet us.  If you're on FACEBOOK find us at www.facebook.com/groups/gaffersgallop and keep an eye on the bike building progress....or not....!

DAY 1 Sun 6th Oct – morning leg

ROCHE 11:40 > following as much of the old A30 as possible to Redruth > Penzance > LANDS END (lunch @ Land’s End Hotel)

Afternoon leg

Return to Roche on same route > A389 > Bodmin > A30 > Launceston > A388 > (unclassified) Lifton > Bridestowe > Meldon >B3260 > Oakhampton > Ramsley > A382 > Cheriton Bishop > Tedburn St Mary > Five Mile Hill > Tedburn Road into EXETER

Overnight stop Exeter M5 Travelodge. Photoshoot @ Imperial Hotel approx ETA 18:35

Turners mileage = 180

DAY 2 Mon 7th Oct – morning leg

EXETER > B3183 > Jack-in-the-Green > A30 > Honiton > A303 > South Petherton > A303 > Podimore > A37 (Fosse Way) > Shepton Mallet > Oakhill > A367 (Fosse Way) > Bath > A4 Chippenham > A350 > A429 > MALMESBURY (lunch @ Old Bell Hotel)

Afternoon leg

MALMESBURY > A429 > Cirencester >A429 > Stowe-on-the-Wold > A429 > Ettington > A429 >LEAMINGTON SPA

Overnight stop Regent Hotel Travelodge, Leamington Spa. Photoshoot @ Regent Hotel, approx. ETA 16:05

Turners mileage = 163

DAY 3 Tues 8th Oct – morning leg

Leamington Spa 08:00 > the following TBC Meriden > Triumph @ Hinckley > A47 > round Leicester > A46 > Six Hills > Bingham > A6097 > White Post > A614 > Ollerton > A614 > A1 > Blyth > A614 > Bawtry > A638 > Doncaster > A1 > Ferrybridge > old A1 > Wetherby > A168 > BOROUGHBRIDGE (lunch)

Afternoon leg

Boroughbridge > A168 >J49 A1(M) for 12 miles > J50 > A6055 > A1 > Catterick > Scotch Corner > A66 > Bowes > Brough > Appleby-in-Westmoreland (tea stop) > Penrith > A6 > High Hesket > CARLISLE

Overnight stop Carlisle Central Travelodge. Photoshoot @ Crown & Mitre Hotel, approx. ETA 18:00

Turners mileage = 246

DAY 4 Wed 9th Oct – morning leg

Carlisle 08:00 > old road along M6 > Gretna > B7076 > Ecclefechan > Lockerbie > Beattock > A702 > Crawford > A702 > A73 > Lanarak > A73 > Airdrie > A73 > Cumbernauld > A8011 > B816 > Castlecary >A803 > Longcroft > A872 > Denny > A872 > Stirling > Causewayhead Rd (A9) > B8033 > Dunblane > B8033 > A9 > Gleneagles > PERTH (lunch @ Salutation Hotel

Afternoon leg

Perth > A9 (old road where poss) > Dunkeld > Pitlochry > Dalwhinnie (tea stop) > Kingussie > INVERNESS

Overnight stop Inverness Fairways Travelodge. Photoshoot @ Caledonian Hotel, approx. ETA 18:30

Turners mileage = 263

DAY 5 Thur 10th Oct

Inverness 07:00 > A862 > Beauly > Dingwall > A9 > Alness > B9176 > A836 > Bonar Bridge > A949 > A9 > Golspie > Helmsdale > Berriedale Braes > A9 > A99 > Wick > A99 > John O’ Groats > WICK

Photoshoot @ JOG approx. 12pm, photoshoot @ Wick approx. ETA 12:50

Turners mileage = 158

Day 5 continued - 

Ferry from Scrabster (19:00) to Stromness (20:30)

Ferry from Kirkwall (23:45) to Lerwick (07:00 Friday 11^th Oct)

Day 6 Fri 11^th Oct

Ride north from Lerwick to Skaw, on the isle of Unst, and follow the tarmac until it runs out!  This is the official northerly end of the UK road network, thus completing the true “End to End”!  Join us….if you dare…….

 Thank you to our kind supporters –

Mitas Tyres, RS Bike Paints, ACME Stainless, Ken Shemwell (brake linings), MacSigns, Sheepskinseats.net, Andy @ Classic & Performance Oils, Classic British Motorcycles, Scott’s Dad, Barry the Frame Doctor, Greystone Enterprises, Jean-Marie Guivarc’h (artist), Old Bell Hotel (Malmesbury), Stu (Official Photographer), Scott (painter of GBC’s Terrier), Salutation Hotel (Perth), Saftek clutch relining service, Speedhut Speedos, Meriden Off Road, Improving Classic Motorcycles, Old Bike Mart & The Cub Mag.

If you'd like to come and meet us somewhere along the way, please do, and if you fancy turning up at one of our evening stops to buy us a moral boosting glass of water, even better!  

Gaffers Gallop 2013 - The Route!

Well, here it is.  This is the latest route plan for the journey compiled after many hours switching between Google Maps for the present day road numbers and the 1950s AA Members Annual Handbook and of course, the Cub Bible for the details of where Turner and his crew actually went.  If anyone has any local knowledge of the roads and areas that we'll be using, please get in touch as we may need your help with getting through or around towns and cities, and if you spot that we've listed a place or a road that didn't exist in 1953, drop us a line to gbc AT thecubmag.com.  If you should fancy tagging along for all or some of the way, again, just drop us a line to let us know when and where you plan to meet us.

DAY 1 Sun 6^th Oct – morning leg

ROCHE 11:40 > following as much of the old A30 as possible to Redruth > Penzance > LANDS END (lunch @ Land’s End Hotel)

Afternoon leg

Return to Roche on same route > A389 > Bodmin > A30 > Launceston > A388 > (unclassified) Lifton > Bridestowe > Meldon >B3260 > Oakhampton > Ramsley > A382 > Cheriton Bishop > Tedburn St Mary > Five Mile Hill > Tedburn Road into EXETER

Overnight stop TBC. Photoshoot @ Imperial Hotel approx ETA 18:35

Turners mileage = 180

DAY 2 Mon 7^th Oct – morning leg

EXETER > B3183 > Jack-in-the-Green > A30 > Honiton > A303 > South Petherton > A303 > Podimore > A37 (Fosse Way) > Shepton Mallet > Oakhill > A367 (Fosse Way) > Bath > A4 Chippenham > A350 > A429 > MALMESBURY (lunch @ Old Bell Hotel)

Afternoon leg

MALMESBURY > A429 > Cirencester >A429 > Stowe-on-the-Wold > A429 > Ettington > A429 >LEAMINGTON SPA

Overnight stop TBC. Photoshoot @ Regent Hotel, approx. ETA 16:05

Turners mileage = 163

DAY 3 Tues 8^th Oct – morning leg

Leamington Spa 08:00 > the following TBC Meriden > Triumph @ Hinkley > A47 > round Leicester > A46 > Six Hills > Bingham > A6097 > White Post > A614 > Ollerton > A614 > A1 > Blyth > A614 > Bawtry > A638 > Doncaster > A1 > Ferrybridge > old A1 > Wetherby > A168 > BOROUGHBRIDGE (lunch)

Afternoon leg

Boroughbridge > A168 >J49 A1(M) for 12 miles > J50 > A6055 > A1 > Catterick > Scotch Corner > A66 > Bowes > Brough > Appleby-in-Westmoreland (tea stop) > Penrith > A6 > High Hesket > CARLISLE

Overnight stop TBC. Photoshoot @ Crown & Mitre Hotel, approx. ETA 18:00

Turners mileage = 246

DAY 4 Wed 9^th Oct – morning leg

Carlisle 08:00 > old road along M6 > Gretna > B7076 > Ecclefechan > Lockerbie > Beattock > A702 > Crawford > A702 > A73 > Lanarak > A73 > Airdrie > A73 > Cumbernauld > A8011 > B816 > Castlecary >A803 > Longcroft > A872 > Denny > A872 > Stirling > Causewayhead Rd (A9) > B8033 > Dunblane > B8033 > A9 > Gleneagles > PERTH (lunch @ Salutation Hotel

Afternoon leg

Perth > A9 (old road where poss) > Dunkeld > Pitlochry > Dalwhinnie (tea stop) > Kingussie > INVERNESS

Overnight stop TBC. Photoshoot @ Caledonian Hotel, approx. ETA 18:30

Turners mileage = 263

DAY 5 Thur 10^th Oct

Inverness 07:00 > A862 > Beauly > Dingwall > A9 > Alness > B9176 > A836 > Bonar Bridge > A949 > A9 > Golspie > Helmsdale > Berriedale Braes > A9 > A99 > Wick > A99 > John O’ Groats > WICK

Photoshoot @ JOG approx. 12pm, photoshoot @ Wick approx. ETA 12:50

Turners mileage = 158

Day 6 Fri 11th Oct

Cubbie Towers - SLEEPING!

Salutation Hotel, Perth, backs the Gaffers Gallop!!!

On Wednesday 9th Oct, the Gaffers Gallop Gang will be sitting down to lunch in the OLDEST HOTEL IN SCOTLAND - aka the Salutation Hotel in Perth.  This is where Edward Turner lunched exactly 60 years earlier, so it will be fantastic to park the Terriers in the little courtyard and sit where the Great Man Sat to enjoy a hearty lunch in order to prepare and sustain ourselves for the next leg of the journey, which will be Perth to Inverness....263 miles in total on that day....

www.strathmorehotels.com/Salutation+Hotel/Home

Ken & MacSigns come on board.....

And it's another big thank you to two more kind supporters of the Gaffers Gallop - Brake Man Ken, who supplied some brake linings for two of the bikes and MacSigns in Edinburgh who have offered to personalise some hi-viz gear for us riders of slow little old motorcycles.  Pop over to their site www.mac-sign.co.uk for details of the work they can do - house signs, banners, vehicle signs and more!

More support for the Gaffers Gallop!!!

On the 7th day of October 1953, Edward Turner and Co, lunched at the Old Bell Hotel in Malmesbury.  No idea what they had to eat but I don't think we need to go quite that far in the authenticity stakes!  Well the good news is that the hotel (which is the oldest hotel in England) will be our lunch stop too, on the exact same date, sixty years on.

www.oldbellhotel.co.uk

Just to update you on the route, we will be starting from Roche, near Bodmin on the 6th Oct at 11:40hrs and riding to Land's End, where hopefully there will be a spot of lunch waiting for us, and then we'll head up to Exeter for an overnight stop.  

Day 2 will take us from Exeter to lunch at the Old Bell, and then on to Leamington Spa (Turner arrived there at 16:05, I wonder how exact we can be in our timings!).  

Day 3 will be the second longest leg (246miles), from Leamington Spa (depart 08:00) to Appleby for afternoon tea, and then on to Carlisle by 18:00 for an overnight stop.

Day 4 and the miles will be stacking up, along with the saddle sores, and it will be Carlisle (08:00) to Perth for lunch, and then to Inverness for the overnight stop - apparently arriving there at 18:30.

Day 5 will see us (hopefully) depart Inverness bright and early, ride to John O Groats for some photos (12:00), and then complete the run by returning to Wick.

As mentioned in Old Bike Mart, we are still welcoming any Terrier and Cub owners who wish to come and do the whole route, or even just part of the trip.  If you ride any other bike, you can still come along and wish us well, wave flags, throw money and chocolate at us, hand us oil as we ride past.....oh, talking of oil....

Andy, supplier of Millers Oils, has kindly agreed to sponsor the 5 bikes doing the whole trip of 1008 miles.  He has plans to try a few experiments with different engine and gear box oils for the different bikes, in order to be able to suggest and provide a good choice of oil to the Tiger Cub or Terrier owner in the future.  He was shocked when I said I run Cubbie on 10/40 cheap oil from the supermarket.....

Someone who also deserves a special thank you for their continued support of the Gallop is Barry the Frame Doctor.  He has helped fix up Terry's frame and now he's been lumbered with a similar fix to Yorkie's frame.  Thank you Barry, your help is much appreciated, and don't worry, we won't tell anyone else your phone number!

So, after I set up the countdown clock to remind us all just how long it is until the Gallop, Muckle Flugga Man started to panic, ran to the shed and started cutting threads on his saddle springs, he fitted his new Mitas tyres to his shiny new rims from Greystones, marvelled at the shiny new head nuts that they sent too, and generally got a few more little jobs done to Yorkie.  I, on the other hand, took all of Terry's boxes of bits outside and tried to work out what I've got and what I need.  The list of 'need' isn't as bad as I thought, but one little task that's puzzling me is how I'm going to fix the tank badges on as there ain't no brackets and it's been painted up all lovely now.  Maybe I'll hand paint TRIUMPH on, instead?

Cracking shade of green, eh Grommit?  

2nd Best In Show!!!

Would you believe it!!  The Scottish Cub Fest won the award for 2nd Best Club Stand at the Lanark bike show!!  Big thanks have to go to Mrs BC for letting us use the garden fence panels, Muckle Flugga Man for helping me carry them and set them up, Scott Connell for bringing a great selection of bikes and making bike stands, and Stu for coming all the way from Doncaster to help on the stand and look after Edward Turner Bear.  Oh, and we mustn't forget all the people who voted for us - thank you very muchly.  Pic and further comment on the show to follow later - as per usual these days, my main computer is rubbish and although I have a Wifi signal on the netbook and the Awesome Fone, and Mrs BC has a connection on her computer, my pooter just doesn't seem to want to play.  If you go on Facebook and look up Gee-Bee Chick you can see some pics there.