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Two stroke challenge for Alzheimer's covers 859 miles

Motor Bikers UK visit Mayor 26-06-18 (Photo John Bugeja) on a charity fund raising in aid of Alzhemeir

Riding his 1959 Montesa Brio, Bryan Clark, led a group of five bikers on their two stroke classic motorbikes from Santander to Gibraltar to raise money for The Alzheimer’s Society.

Arriving on the Rock they were greeted by Mayor Kaiane Aldorino Lopez at City Hall.

Both Mr Clark and his wife Jenny, who was riding a KE 175, lost a parent to Alzheimer’s and the aim of the challenge was to make sure dementia remains a national priority by raising fund and awareness.

Joining Mr and Mrs Clark on the 859 mile journey was Steve Tuchner on a 1976 B120 Suzuki, Tony Wheeler on a 1974 F7 Kawasaki and Chris Porter in the support vehicle carrying spare parts.

The group live in Cornwall, their nearest town is Bodmin and the starting point of the challenge. Here the Mayor of Bodmin, Sarah Kinsman, along with the team mascot Baloo the Leonberger waved off them as they put the bikes on a trailer and drove down to Santander.

“Landing at Santander we then drove just out about six kilometres out where we took the bikes off the trailer and started the journey, so we are six kilometres short. However, we did ride to Bodmin so we made up for it there,” said Mr Clark.

The challenge took eight days to cover the 859 miles, “because of the speed of the motorbikes we had to pick roads, which back in England we would call B roads, as you do not want to be on a dual carriageway with lorries going past you,” he said.

“We did not go direct, we could have done it in about 600 miles if we had faster motorcycles,” he added.

The group on average were on their bikes for six hours a day. However, one day they were on it for seven hours as they had reached a point in the road where the police told them they could go no further so they had to back track.

On their first day they reached the summit of the Piedraluengas and then rode onto Cervera de Pisuerga. The next day they made their way to Penafiel with a pitstop for lunch at Astudillo followed by Avila the day after.

On day four of their challenge they rode over the mountains to Losar de Vera. Marking half way the next day they rode to Navalvillar de Pela, followed by riding through the Sierra de Hornachuelos, the day after.

On their second to last day they made their way to Ronda, before arriving in Gibraltar last Tuesday.

Mr Clark’s bike received a lot of attention along the way, “the Brio being Spanish had so much attention, we were stopped a lot, even by police taking photographs. Actually even at the border here one guy called over to another guy ‘look at this old bike’,” he said.

“They were all asking, ‘where you going?’, I would tell them Santander to Gibraltar judging by their reaction I don’t think anyone could believe we were going to do it,” he added.

So far the group have raised over £3,000, but, they are hoping to raise £3,500. For more information go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JennyClark7/1?utm_source=messenger&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=fundraiser&utm_term=socialshare&utm_content=fundriasingpage

Pics by Johnny Bugeja

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