Charity Motorcycle Ride Smashes £120,000 Total
The Longest Day Challenge sees riders heading from Land's End to John O’Groats on bikes costing no more than £600!
The Longest Day Challenge charity motorcycle ride has raised more than £120,000 for Cancer Research UK, on the 13th running of the event. The result means that since its foundation, the ride has raised more than £600,000 for the charity.
The Longest Day Challenge sees riders convening at Land's End, for a bleary 4am start on the longest day of the year (June 21). From there, the entrants head to their first of five pit stops in Cirencester, with further ‘comfort breaks’ taking place at Clay Cross, Preston, Gourock ferry terminal, and Inverness. The riders will then (hopefully) reconvene on their £600 steeds at John O’Groats. BikeTrac supplies all the entrants with trackers, meaning the team can keep tabs on everyone’s progress.
This year saw a 49-rider entry in the event, including road and short circuit racer Jenny Tinmouth, Isle of Man TT race director Gary Thompson, and the TT racer and advanced riding instructor, Dave Hewson. Of the 49 entrants, one didn’t make the start, and four sadly retired during the ride.
“The success of the Longest Day Challenge is something I don’t think I'll ever understand.” Said event organiser, John McAvoy, when speaking to Visordown. “It all started as a daft idea between me and a few members of the old Performance Bikes magazine forum - now known as pb-evo.com, and it’s just seemingly stuck a chord with people who maybe have always harboured an ambition to do the Lands End to John O’Groats thing. Sadly, you don’t have to look too far for people who have been affected by cancer in one way or another, so I guess put those two things together and you get this … I don't claim to know or understand why so many people want to do it, and why so many people are so generous with their donations, but I’m glad they are and do!”
Alongside those taking part in the ride, there is a 100-strong support team staffing pit stops and making sure all the riders are safe, well, and fed. Without them, the event would not be possible.
“As for the £100,000 raised this year, you don't need me to tell you that is a huge amount of money to go to the people at Cancer Research in a very short space of time, so you can imagine how appreciative they are. The things they can do with that money are way beyond my level of intelligence, but I am 100 per cent certain that it really is making a big difference to them and the work they do. Years ago, when the ride raised £15,000 - £20,000, we, and Cancer Research UK, were doing cartwheels at the amount, but now it’s just on a totally different level that just leaves us all genuinely speechless and utterly humbled. As one person put it, what a difference a day makes.”
Donations can still be made on the Longest Day Challenge page, and if you’d like to take part next year, head to the event’s Facebook page.
You can donate to the Longest Day Challenge here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/unite/longest-day-up-2025
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
