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CLOSE TO THE EDGE ON 4,000 MILE CHARITY MOTORCYCLE RIDE

30/07/2010

How far would you go to raise money for a good cause? BMW R 1200 GS rider Jonathan Skinner from Yorkshire in the United Kingdom is planning to ride all the way around the entire coastline of Great Britain to raise vital funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Jonathan has chosen to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust because a family member died from Cystic Fibrosis, one of the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited diseases. Therefore, on 1 August 27-year-old Jonathan will start up his GS and embark on a 4,000 miles (6,500 km) challenge that will see him ride 400 miles a day for two weeks, camping overnight at stops along the route.

“I wanted to do something to raise money and I love motorbikes so this seemed like the perfect challenge,” said Jonathan. “I was inspired by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman who motorcycled round the world for their Long Way Round adventure. Although I’m not covering as much ground as them it’s still going to be a tough challenge, and has only been completed by a handful of riders.”

Jonathan will be riding a standard R 1200 GS bought from his local BMW dealer in Yorkshire and will wear a BMW Rally 2 suit, as worn by McGregor and Boorman in their own GS-riding adventures. Everything that he needs for the trip will be packed into his panniers, such as camping stove, pots, clothes, laptop and HD camcorder for documenting his trip and uploading to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and his website. His tent and sleeping bags will be strapped to the back of the GS and anything he can’t carry will, quite simply, be left at home.

Apart from the charitable aims of the trip, Jonathan is relishing the challenge and uncertainty of his forthcoming adventure, and can’t wait to start his engine on 1 August and head north from Harrogate in the direction of Fife, in Scotland, for his first overnight stop.

“I’m really looking forwards to this journey,” said the Computer Aided Design (CAD) Engineer, who is taking two weeks holiday from his day job with a catering company to do this mammoth motorcycle ride. “I love this motorcycle and will be able to run all the electrical equipment I need to document the trip via the bike’s charging point. Some friends will accompany me on the initial stage, but after that I’m on my own, apart from my Dad, who will hopefully meet up with me a few times en route with some food supplies.”
 
Having already raised nearly £6,000 for the CF Trust, Jonathan is hoping that people all around the coastline of Great Britain will dig deep and donate via his www.closetotheedgetour.co.uk website, as all money raised will help fund research into treating and curing CF.