A Tweeting we will go.

Good morning all.

I know it's a little early to be blogging, but I have had such a busy start to the day that i had to share, that and a certain amount of caffeine and excitement helps.

The world runs on social media, and Red Bull, and as I don't have any of the latter I thought that hammering the former would help get this ball rolling.
It is clear that the mountain is not coming to Mohammed so it's time for a trip to the mountain.
The mountain being Twitter, alright the metaphor is a bit dodgy but bear with me.

Twitter has proved in the past that it is a sound way of building a groundswell of support for events, and I think that the event that Pat and I are planning is definitely worthy of some attention.

I began by going through the Twitter feed of my alter ego @Buff_baker and Tweeting to everyone on my list of followers and seeing what happened.
10 new followers in ten minutes was what happened, so, encouraged by this I have set up a JustCoz page www.justcoz.org/CALMRide.
This page will allow you to donate one Tweet a day so that we can reach all of your followers and let them know what we are up to.

Sponsorship.
This challenge will go precisely no where without sponsorship and donations.
Pat and I don't earn enough money to fuel the bikes (that we don't have yet) as far as Mildenhall, never mind Modena.
So what we need  is the support of companies and the general public to get us to Modena and back.
Here are a few of the things we need:

2 x Motorbikes (multi-sport enduro type bikes)
Helmets
Protective clothing
Boots
GPS
Camping gear
Bike luggage
Sun Glasses
Gloves
Fuel cards
Mobile phones/sim cards
A laptop for blogging on the move and downloading footage and stills
Digital cam corder
Bike mounted/helmet mounted cameras
First aid kits and training
Accommodation or campsites between Calais and Modena and back via Lyon and the Eastern border of France. (We'll take a barn to be honest)
Buffs (neck protectors)
Sunscreen
Insect repellant
Contingency funds for food etc on the trip.
Fundraising ideas and events planners to help spread the load.
Ferry/Channel Tunnel tickets
Travel insurance

The list is far from exhaustive but it will give you some idea of what we need to do to achieve this goal.
We want this trip to be filmed and made into a documentary on male suicide and the effect it has on families and communities in the UK. So if there are any documentary makers who want to get involved at this stage, please contact Pat and I at
 anicecalmride@gmail.com

Support in any form is welcome, so if you can provide any of the above, please let us know.
Pat and I plan to hold as many fundraising events as possible between now and the ride, so if you have any ideas or just want to get involved and help out, please get in touch.

All the very best.

Pat and Simon.