Length of the Land is my small attempt to make a difference in the world … and ride my motorbike at the same time.

Background

 My name is Ben Price and I am a 31 year old video producer who had never driven anything legally in his life until Jan 09. About this time I decided enough was enough and I took a CBT course and got a Yamaha YBR 125 motorbike (56 plate with 1600 miles on the clock). To date (mid June 09) I have riden a further 1600 miles on this bike to various places but I wanted to do something more.

Originally I was going to take a small trip around Wales following the coast and then Offa’s Dyke, however this just didn’t seem grand enough. The (il)logical conclusion was a trip from one end of the country to another.

Surely its not that hard?

Now I know a number of my friends and colleges have said “well thats not that hard is it?”. Well that all depends on your point of view. Firstly of all the people that said that, none of them had actually done that journey. Secondly Im still classed as a Learner Rider. I have to display L plates, can only ride a max of a 125cc motorbike and cannot ride on any motorways or take pillion passengers. This means the trip will have to be done negotiating the lesser A and B roads. Thirdly its a bike. Riding a bike is GREAT fun, but its also far more tiring than driving (so Im told). So all in all I think this is quite a challenge for me.

So When is it?

The event starts on Friday 14th August at Lands End. I reckon I can cover about 300 to 350 miles per day on my bike and still leave time for resting, setting up camp etc, so by that reckoning my first stop will be near Shrewsbury and my second near Stirling.

As a video producer Im also keen to explore how this can be recorded and I am therefore making a small documentary on it. Filming a trip with just one person is always going to be difficult so I reserve judgement as to how it will actually pan out but its there anyway.

Who does it benefit?

Lastly and most importantly I am attempting to gain sponsorship for this ride in aid of UNICEF. UNICEF do fantastic and amazing work with some of the worlds poorest and underprivileged children and it is my honour to be able to help out in anyway I can. Please consider sponsoring me for this event.