Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Royal Enfield rider goes off-road for a cause

Graham Lampkin and his Royal Enfield Troglobike.
Graham Lampkin and his vintage Royal Enfield take to the off-road again May 22, 2016 to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

He needs your help.

We followed the UK resident on his fund-raising ride across England and Scotland — as much as possible off paved roads — in 2014.

That might have been easy compared to this year's self-imposed challenge. Lampkin and companions will take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander, Spain, ride trails in the rugged Picos Mountains and then go over the Pyrenees and through France, off road where possible, or on the smallest road where not.

"Lampy," as he calls himself, will ride a 500cc Royal Enfield he built and named "Troglobike." The frame started as a Royal Enfield Crusader, but modifications have been many.

He's calling this year's ride "Lampy Goes to L and Back."

"The 'L' bit is the concept of passing through places with names beginning with L — such as Lourdes, Limoges, Le Mans and Le Havre," Lampkin wrote me. "I’m allowing three weeks for the trip and plan to arrive (back) in Spain on June 24, 2016."

Bike and rider are ready but you can help, with suggestions for unsurfaced roads in Northern Spain over the Pyrenees and through France — and with donations to his Just Giving donation page.

Lampy and his colleagues pay their own expenses; all money donated goes to the cause.

Here's his pitch:

"If every biker (not just classic and off-road) and anyone else interested in motorbikes give the price of a pint (or more) we would raise enough to really help the researchers make a difference. Nearly all of us know someone close to us who have had cancer — it causes terrible anxiety as well as being life threatening. This is our opportunity to help reduce cancer."

I gave, and I don't give to many fund-raising requests. Graham's commitment to Royal Enfield and obvious joy in the undertaking impress me.

Have route suggestion or want to help sponsor the ride? Contact information for Lampkin is on his ride website.

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