TOP TO BOTTOM BLOG :- April 2010

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LANDS END! (at last!)

Day 7.

We were up and out the house by 8.50am after yummy bacon sandwiches and all of us trying the Jersey milk on our corn flakes. Dan and Sam knocked off 50 miles early on and after purchasing fuel and adult magazines Chowns and Rich took us just outside Birmingham. Think Rich managed to scare Chowns and Sam quite badly with his white van driving through Birmigham losing the rest of us and taking 20 mins to arrive back with us. In the mean time Erica was being chatted up by her ex boss whilst we watched her play with her hair whilst talking. We stopped at Ali's Dads office with many rich rich people putting notes in and making us tea. Lunchtime saw a Rambo and Ali get a drive thru Macdonalds on the quads and a flying visit from our very own Phil Maiden. Erica and Myself did the last leg back- well done Erica for getting the first agressive horn beeping of the trip when she decided to just stop in the middle of the road. We went to Mudie Bond for photos and to thank them for the van and onto County Office where we recieved a great reception. Ann and Tor very kindly brought cakes and tea out whilst we told a concerned Mark Yarnold hgow fast we had been driving the bikes. The drinking stories may have also raised an eyebrow with Mr Rose- obviously all coke for me though!!!! Home sweet home now whilst we prepare for the next adventure down to AGM. With over £700 in the buckets from the first leg we are now aiming to get even more money. Well Done team- you have all been awesome and I can honestly say this has been the best bit of my YFC life!!! Sleep well! Anyone wishing to see us we are at Worcester Market for 9.15am tomoz or 9am from County.

Day 6

Myself and Rambo woke up in a room with Erica moaning about our snoring and the fact I was sleep talking about calving cows-Obviously getting withdrawal symptoms after 5 days away from my girls! Looks like the boys slept well with Dan and Rich spooning as Jackie Riles found them first thing in the morning. At breakfast Ali embarassed us all by sucking his thumb but we have now told him that its £1 in the bucket everytime he does it from now on but after putting credits down (£20 in bucket) he has redeemed himself. Off we went at 9.30am heading to Newcsatle with Rambo and Dan leading the team through the Tyne Tunnel which was utterly brilliant. A quick swap to Sam and Chowns saw us go through Middlesborough and also catch a short ferry ride where we managed to get money out of the ticket man. Quote of the day must be when Chowns was sat behind Erica prodding her and she turned around sharply saying 'If you do that again pervert I am going to knock you out'. Think that gave all the lads a good warning not to mess! Hartlepool saw a quick stop in bus stop to get out verification form stamped when A little old lady went bilistic at us saying she was waiting for her bus- First brow sweats from Ali!!!!!! We picked up sandwiches with Rich and Ali driving us out to the Yorkshire Moors with the rest of us with doors locked in case the Moors Murderer came along. We stopped for dinner where Ali may cause big rumours amongst ramblers that a bear is in the woods after he went for a Tom Tit behind a tree! They had a cracking stint on the bikes taking us through York where myself and Erica took the wheel. Erica as a first timer was nervous but fair play she did a great job and was on my tail to go faster most of the way. As we reached Bawtry Sam (Navigator) casued some mayhem when he fell asleep leaving Rambo to pull over in rapid time to map read and drive. We have arrived at Mr and Mrs Dickinson with 160 miles nailed in a day and 574 miles done altogether so over halfway. Fantastic farm with best local pub ever opening for two hours this evening for locals which allowed us a couple of beers before tea and some bucket shaking. With Chowns gorgling Erica and Dan injecting Insulin we look like having a good night in Bawtry. Roll on Worcester and the AGM!!!!!!! The Team

part 2:-

Down to Bawtry we went into the local pub we went with the farmers son- Tom Dickinson. The drinking games flowed and so it appeared Rich Woodward had absolutely no co-ordination whatsoever which had the lot of us in stitches and him seeing the bottom of his pint far to often. With no kebab shops, chinese was the take home food tonight with Ali munching his way through a whole portion of chicken balls before getting in the house. Poor Rambo spent 20 minutes walking around the house looking for his sleeping bag before finding Sam snuggled up in it. Sam had forgotton his and Erica told him it was a spare. Off to sleep in the caravan we went with Rich spooning with Chowns this time rather than Dan

Day 5
We set off at 10.30am from Muirpark farm with Dave and Steph leading the way. The weather was miserable and by the time we reached Edingburgh Dave looked like he had wet himself. With nowhere to change he balanced inside the back door of the van in middle of the city. He had his towel wrapped around him trying to change the old y fronts and jeans- Funny times!!!!!The drive in the big city was chaos with all 4 vehichles going different directions at one point and Tom W nearly being flattened by a bus At the fuel station, Rambo offered to pay for the fuel this time so off he trotted into pay followed by a lovely lady. I instantly followed, picked up some adult material and put it on the desk ready for Rambo to pay. I then walked out leaving rambo to walk past this girl with his adult material. We picked Andrew Chowns up from train station and headed off for Morpeth, Northumberland. An excellant afternoon stint from Harry and Tom W saw us arrive at South Acton farm for half 6. We even had our famous Pete Rose meet up for a drive on the bike before getting soaked in the rain. We have the new team here now with Erica, Ali, Dan, Sam, Rich and Andy here for the next leg with me and Rambo. Had a shout out on Radio 1 earlier which pleased everyone and now all having lovely homecooked lasagne at Lord and Lady Riles Farm. With all the local YFC here we are going for a quiet drink tonight after they have generously sponsored us £50. Think we have a club exchange the look forward to tomoz. To Bawtry tomoz through Newcastle and Doncaster. Love the team

part 2:
What a reception we had at Lord Willys and Lady Jackie gorgeous farm. After we all got fed the famous five finally 'buggered' off back to the shire so we could start the next chapter. Only joking guys we are missing you. There were 3 car loads of us that headed off down to the local pub and none of us were allowed to drive. I have never insisted on buying a round so much and got knocked back so many times- Northumberland YFC you truly are the best hosts!!!!!!!!I think we may have met the perfect successor to Lionel as National President in Willy Riles as a most famous ambassador to YFC. Back the the Farmhouse we went and after telling a room full of people how fit he thought Emma (the bosses daughter) Dan Bradley finally realised that one of the boys buying all our drinks was going out with her- Well Done Dan!!! To drown his sorrows he decided to ring a few ladies in his phone book and do some classic Bradley flirting in front of all the YFC lot. Myself and Rambo grabbed the beds. Good night everyone -

Day4:-

Day 4 Part 2
After Harry had nearly driven into the Insignia we went in and introduced ourselves to the hosts. They were the nicest people you could wish to meet feeding us lovely pork burgers gave us a great start to the night. The only problem was it meant none of us were in a position to talk to any girls in stirling especially Dave with the burps a perticular problem. After a really good night out with Phil trying his charm on the local women only to be knocked back we arrived to our home for the night. Harry being slightly drunk fell asleep in the kitchen so we sneaked out and turn the lights off only for our hosts to find him there first thing in the morning. The bedroom was cozy with 6 in there and after half a night of sleeping in bed with me- Phil had enough and got on the floor, ideal for me- Double bed to myself!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3 part two
.. Firstly thanks to Louise for last night! Cracking pub crawl around the local pubs of inverness with Harry unsuccessfully asking the Bar Maids out as a bet to raise more sponsor money! After Tom w putting Celine Dion on in a pub full of Sscotts he proceeded to get pissed with our help of vodka shots in his pint. We opened the windows in Daves room to ensure another cold nights sleep,

Tom Goodwin, Well I think its fair to say that the people in John O'Groats are well and truly fed up of being asked for money after one guy put 5p in the bucket. The day began at 7.15am ready to jump in the shower and get a good start to the day- half an hour later I was cursing Mr Talbot for still hogging the bathroom; the kind of behavior you expect from the women!

After 12 hours at the hotel, we saw the first vehicle go by which was a school bus- probably a long day for the bus driver. By 9am we had the bikes out in the fresh sea air and after a good luck phone call from Pete Rose, Phil Maiden had styled his hair ready for the professional photos at the start line. Dave T helped me get in to sallopets after I got in a tangle and we were off with Rambo and myself starting.

The bikes went well averaging 45mph for the first stretch to Wick where we filled up with bikes doing 30mpg. As we went to collect some money in Tesco Phil realised he had left the collection bucket in the hotel room- What a prat! Steph did the 30 mile round trip to collect it. As we set off Rambo managed the first collision going in the back of my bike at slow speed- well done Rambo 1 Hour into the challenge.

Dave and Tom W were next on the bikes but unfortunately Dave did not know the controls very well and put hazards on (The signal for support vehicles to stop). We stopped in a panic concerned at what may go wrong and I ran to Dave. He said 'What's wrong you buggers' and I replied What's wrong with you as you have hazards on. "Oh bugger I did not realise that" and proceeded to believe we were stopping because Tom W had run out of stamina only 5 mins down the road. Very funny and another classic from Dave!

We made great time with Steph and Harry driving the rest through gorgeous weather and scenery next to the sea into Inverness. Loaded the bikes up about 3.30pm and now at Stephs cousins farmhouse near Inverness having a quiet beer. We have some great footage from the trip so far.

On the road to Stirling at 9am tomoz morning with Phil having his first go on the quad.

Follow the Facebook progress to read all the good wishes.

Day 2 15th April

Tom Goodwin Woke up to Dave T moaning about how cold he had been through the night, then he realised the window was open. He then got out his dubbing polish and old man's Y-fronts which he used to put them on. Set out around 9 finding fuel at Morrisons for 119 ppl. Steph got us lost around Glasgow for an hour before heading up to Loch Lomond, biggest surface water lake in UK. The scenery was stunning with blue skys all day. We then saw Nessy (which I kept calling Nelly!!) at Loch Ness, Largest capacity lake in the UK. Phil took over driving until his fear of bridges became apparent 5 mins later and had to swap with Steph. We did plenty of tractor spotting along the way with Tom W getting far to excited! We finally arrived in John O Groats around 6.30pm with 642 miles on the clock! Haven't seen a red sky from the volcano yet! Had a look around and then enjoyed a 3 course meal at hotel. It is very quiet here with one shop and one pub!! Everyone is very excited about tomorrow but the nerves are starting to kick in! aiming to leave about 9.30am, fingers crossed for sunshine!

Monday 14th April The Van drive to JOG

We woke up bright and early ready to meet at County Office for 9am. We were keen to leave our doting mothers who were trying to fill our van space with picnics and chopping boards.   At 9.20 we thought Dave and Steph were driving straight there or over slept.  They finally arrived though and after a photo shoot which Harry enjoyed far too much we set off for Glasgow at 10.15AM.

By the first roundabout we had already lost the car but after waiting in a bus stop the Vauxhall Insignia finally caught up our 3 litre Sprinter van. We stopped at Moorland Farm Shop services and had a lovely Steak and Ale pie- perfect start to the adventure.  We even met a fellow Young Farmer and Dave's chat up line was to give her one.....a pen!

Swapped drivers with another 170 miles to Glasgow and enjoyed the scenery with Lake District on the left and Yorkshire Dales on the right in gorgeous sunshine.  Hary was very over excited by snow in the hills and promptly took photos.  Then the fuel light came on and had to top up with some very expensive fuel at 128ppl.  Going through Glasgow was interesting with Rambo and Dave recieving the guided tour from Steph and Harry following the wrong car.

We reached our destination for the night in Houston at 5.30pm.  A dairy farmer instantly greeted us in the small village making me feel very at home.  He proceeded to ask us how much we made in Worcestershire- Home from Home.

Now enjoying a quiet beer planning to go to the local pub for a quiet night and good sleep ready for the second leg up to John O'Groats tomoz.

Thanks for all the good luck messages.

The team