Marathon ride around the coast of Britain

University student, and keen motorcyclist Richard Gibbs, has ridden his way into the record books,

Richard, an events undergraduate at UCS in Ipswich, got on his Triumph Scrambler 900 and rode around the country this summer, in Operation Coast Road.

Richard, from Hollesley, is about to start his second year at UCS studying events management and business management.

His aim in Operation Coast Road was to travel round Britain “going as far as you could, allowing for road access,” and to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity.

His actual mileage covered was 3,122.

He said: “It was more than we had planned, and allowing for road closures and that sort of thing.

“My support team went ahead and set up camp, with the van supplied by Trucks R Us.

“I am very pleased to have finished it,” he said. “I don’t think I would do it again. It was pretty tough.

“I got a bit of a sore behind, but otherwise it was not too bad really.

“I was setting off at 8am in the morning and not getting to the camp site until 10pm. It was pretty non stop.

“So I was pleased they were ready for me.”

The only mishap was one morning, at the campsite, when the alarm on the bike was set off - and they had trouble turning it off, eventually having to bypass the security system. “It was very difficult to find a way to turn if off,” he said.

Guinness, understandably, doesn’t want to encourage bikers to race on the roads when going for records.

The Poker Run concept is an alternative.

His round Britain tour has been accepted by Guinness Book of Records and was done as a Poker Run, - with cards drawn at each stopover to produce two hands of cards.

Richard’s hand was beaten by the hand drawn by the members of the public along the route. The winning hand was pair of 8s while Richard had drawn a pair of deuces (2s) in his poker hand.

Richard’s journey began at Ipswich Waterfront, by the UCS building.

The first stop-over was near Lyme Regis, Dorset, then it was to North Devon. The next leg took him to the Lake District, then there were two legs in Scotland - including Fort William.

Back down the east coast his next stopover was at Whitby in Yorkshire.

Then it was the long ride back home to Suffolk.

Richard’s target is to raise £3,000 for Help for Heroes.

So far more than £723 has been pledged to the website plus donations in a bucket along the way.

Donations can be made to: www.bemycharity.com/operationcoastroad