'2nuts2manyCastles' Ride - September 2010
(Diabetes UK Challenge)
Madrider1961 on his Honda CG125 and Honey Monster on his Honda XL600V challenged to ride around Wales for 7 days visiting Welsh Castles. The event will take place from Friday 3 September 2010 to Fridya 10 September 2010.
How many castles, we don’t know, there are too many. An average of 7 Castles a day over 7 days might be realistically Nuts !!
Cadw the Welsh historic service for Wales says that there are 427 which is why Wales is sometimes called “The Land of Castles”.
Diabetes UK is a charity working for People with Diabetes. Honey Monster was Diagnosed with Diabetes in 2007, he had no idea he had the condition until he ended up in hospital. So Honey Monster and Madrider1961 not only wish to raise money for Diabetes UK but also raise awareness of Diabetes.
Ride Diary
3rd sept was the start day we actualy arrived at Holiday Inn Taunton on 2nd sept to have good nights sleep & do some filming before the ride ..... But this wasnt going to happen as Pakistan Cricket team was there also & all filming etc had been banned .( wouldnt even put there names on our sponsor forms lol ) .
Well morning of the 3rd We assembled in the carpark to start our ride the crew where
Madrider1961 riding Honda cg125cc // Honeymonster ( kev yates) riding Transalp 600cc //
Amanda Hansford support vechile driver // Ellen Rogers filming Oh & we carnt forget the masgot King Aurther the dog !!!!!.
Riding out of Taunton we got to the round about I went one way the others decided to go round it once just to check it out but once on the road we picked up the A38 north bound on route for Bristol .
 The ride its self ok it started in Taunton & will finish there at Hein gericke but the main part of the ride would be done in Wales reason well were going to visit as many welsh castle as we can in 7 days , Us nutty riders have wanted to do something like this together for ages n ride like this is well over due ..Weve put our target on 7 per day & one day doing 8 to round it off to 50 castles .
Well ok a ride like this bikes n support vechile we stay together at all times ok yes sometimes u do get separated it happens n sometimes u just got the wrong way that happens too all in the fun , But we would part company on two parts of the ride when we go over the M48 road bridge ( I ride on L-plates so have to take cycle path ok ) .
But on the other side we are in Wales n off to the 1st Castle Chepstow nice place wish we had more time but hey lots to see n many roads to get losted on so it was up to Mammoth Castle over to Abergaveny then sort of route towards Cardiff .
One main arranged stop was at the Fairy Castle Castle coch to meet up with the Welsh bikers & the Welsh Stig . Then after pics chats etc etc they escorted us into Cardiff to stay curtosy of Holiday Inn again ( Oh n no cricket team ) ..10 Castles visited
Day 2 ( 4th sept ) Well we rode down to South wales Superbikes who had donated some cash towards funding of the ride where we met Wolfhunter from Biker Fm .
But it was short stay as many miles to do so on that point we rode out .Day 2 took us Towards Swansea n coast down to mumbles n across toward pembrokeshire .it was at the end of day 2 we relised that we just maybe visiting more castles than we thought there every where ....lol,( 11 castles )
 Day 3 ( 5th sept ) took us inland a bit as the weather had changed from us sweating like pigs to cold N windy , but no rain YET !!!!! ( that was waiting in North wales for us .We had tent but yet to use it & we didnt think we would due to weather change so it was finding B/B's on route n we found some great places n biker freindly too ( list will follow on my links page ) .So we ended Day 3 around Aberystwyth .( 11 castles )
Day 4 ( 6th sept ) . We rode further north poping in land here n there but on route for Caernarfon wall castle city & then to Anglesey & Beaumaris Castle , Then Bangor ( We couldnt find Bangor castle n gave up on that one ...
We then headed inland with hoping of staying in Betws-y-coed for the night ok we new that weather can change quick but they way it did well it was not nice at all to put it politely ..
Kev also found short cut or was it the right road I dont know there was castle at the end of it N what a road up down 100 ft drops either side not room for a sheep to past us never mind the support vechile but we loved it , felt bit like those guys who went round the world ..
It was at Betws-y-coed we got our 1st n only oh we dont like bikers at some B/Bs .( out of the ones that did & who are biker freindly there is the Best Western at one end & wher we stayed wait for it A Chinese Restaraunt with accomadation & yes I can recommmend this very very much .( 12 Castles )
Day 5 ( 7th sept ) , We headed out nice n early on route for conway another walled castle city & one we must go back to at some date .then after it was off to visit a mate n member of Ride til u Rot society who im member of also ( Efion ) coffee n chat catching up n the rest of the crew getting new freind too .oh n Aurther >>>>
We were warned bout the local boys in blue not liking bikers but we never had any trouble at all actualy we were other than in Betws we were welcomed everywhere .
Kev had us going up n down more mountains n valleys but it was great fun N we decided to find some where to stay at Wrexham OR NOT ... yes we didnt bother with wrexham n found somewhere just out side instead .. not saying any more on that ....( 10 castles )
DAY 6 (8TH SEPT ) Traveling now down though the middle of Wales we found alot of old motte n bailey sites they stand out a bit the area is covered in them n some of the stone standing ones where just fantasic we even found one that a farm had been built in the walls nr the brecons .(11 castles ).
Day 7 ( 9th sept ) .This was the last day as we wanted to do 50 but so far we were upto 75 cool & one last day to hit some more , We were due to stay with members n friends of Welsh bikers in Cardiff that night so we took easy day riding n managed another 10 to round the whole ride upto 85 castles n 7 days .1400 miles . of hard riding but lots of fun doing it too .N yes I would do it again ...
10sept was chill -out day we had done what we set out to do & the support driver Amanda & ellen the film lady lol wanted to see some Roman stuff to so why not ..We were due back at Hein gericke Taunton 18.30hrs .
 So we left my pals paul&debs place at around 9am on route for Caefeon which is a well preseverved roman city & what a sight anyone wanting to see Roman stuff well worth the visit ...We stayed there till around 2pm then slowly started the in-bound journey to finish the ride , once again parting company at M48 bridge n me waiting on the other side thinking were are they ,,, urmm yes they had missed me n were 10miles down the road ..
We rode in on time 18.30hrs to be met by members of Rblr Taunton / M.A.G taunton some local riders diabetes uk . help for heros . Triumph Taunton & Jim hein gericke Taunton .
After coffee pics n chatting etc etc we were still along way from home & what most didnt relise on the 12th sept we were going to take part in Martin Jennings run also ,, yes NUTS the pair of us ..
In summery to this I would like to thank Honeymonster / Amanda / Ellen & Aurther for making the whole ride work .I would Also like to thank All the sponsors because with-out them these rides wouldnt happen .
2011 will see madrider1961 taking a break but I will be back in 2012
THANK YOU
Kevin (aka Honeymonster) and Stuart (aka Madrider 1961)
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Friday/Saturday and Sunday the 10/11/12 June 2010 saw me hold the 1st Madrider Rally at a venue near Saltash.
Well, the weather was hot and sunny and we had around 20 tents arrive. Ok, not what I had expected but we had a great time anyway.
But, due to the fact that the venue did not make enough out of us bikers, although it was trade that they would not have had, they pulled the plug on the Rally and made it clear that they did not want any other rallies. They requested we turn the music off on Friday at 2300 hours and shut us down at 2330 on the Saturday. It seems they treated us as they did to the other rallies in the past and guess what? They only stayed two years also.
I would like to thank all the bands and all that attended and also my support crew. To find out more inforation on the bands that played please click on the 'Bands' link under the grey site map banner on the left.
The Madrider Rally has moved so watch this space. Oh, and we have a 'biker friendly' venue too.
Friday Night's Entertainment
The first band up on stage on Friday night is Seeyellow, consisting of Dan who bashes out rhythms on his acoustic guitar and does most of the vocals, while Chris plays clever electric guitar things that makes it sound better. Dave and Ian bring everything together on drums and bass respectively and together Seeyellow create a laid back, rhythmic punk rock tunes. More infornation on the band can be found by visiting their website.
 Next up on stage are The Diggurz - Steve is on vocals and guitar, Freddy plays the fiddle and Phil plays the tea chest bass. Playing old timey American fiddle music, with a spattering of celtic tunes for good measure, The Diggurz will be sure to have you tapping your feet and singing along to their catchy tunes. This is definately 'foot stomping' stuff.
More information on The Diggurz can be found on theirmyspace page.
 Last up on stage are The Ostracods. Playing their own brand of music, Jay 'Animal' Jackson is on drums, Mark 'The Beat' Eggins is on Bass and Jon 'Cowboy' Gardiner is on Guitar and vocals. They say they are basically 'two teachers and a techie' who enjoy writing, playing and apparently bribing friends to come and watch them play. With tunes like 'Young Punks', 'Funky Monkey' and 'Kings of Loose Behaviour', we are sure to be entertained by The Ostracods. For more information on The Ostracods, visit their myspace page.
Saturday Night's Entertainment
 Starting off the entertaining on Saturday afternoon are The Waterboarders, a three piece band, playing old and new surf music in the style of Dick Dale, Surfari's and Swiv-o-matics. Apparentlly their music is up tempo, lively and very very cool! More information on The Waterboarders can be found by visiting their website.
 Making a return visit are Raw Urge, playing a mixture of mainly rock covers and our own tracks. Raw Urge are Neil on guitar and vocals, Alan on lead guitar and backing vocals, Annette on bass guitar and Paul on drums and backing vocals. You will be 'rocking' to the sounds of Raw Urge. More information on Raw Urge can be found on their Facebook page.
Kitty and the Lost Boys head for the stage next. Kitty and the Lost Boys are: Kitty on lead vocals and bass guitar, Jess on lead guitar, Blind Johnny on rhythm guitar, and Sam on drums. With the band having such varied influences, this creates a sound that combines the raw energy of rock 'n' roll and the attitude of punk, with pop songs that get stuck in your head and that you find yourself singing in the shower. For more information on the band, check out their myspace page.
 Last up on stage are Inside Job, who are Dean on guitar and vocals, Greg on bass guitar and vocals and Dave on drums. Playing raw punk with a twist of blues.
More information on the band can be found via the Facebook page or their website.
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