Wolfruna Chapter took on an Iron Butt challenge for the Chloe Smail Foundation

A team of H.O.G. members tackled the epic End-to-End route, raising money for charity in memory of Chloe Smail

Words by Alexandria Mulhern

On 24 July, Emma Poole set out on her longest day’s ride yet: 1,009 miles from John o’ Groats to Land’s End. She led a team of five other bikes across the UK in 22 hours, departing at 1pm on Saturday and finishing at 11.38am on Sunday. They followed the Iron Butt UK challenge route and rode in support of the Chloe Smail Foundation, which is named in Chloe’s memory after her sad passing in 2022, and aims to improve children’s and young people’s mental health, resilience and wellbeing, and support them in making informed choices in life.

Emma chose to ride her 2024 Road Glide^® CVO™ ST which was the “perfect bike for the challenge, super comfy and the new headlight for the night riding was excellent”, she says. She was joined by Kev, Trevor, Gav, Dickie and Jimi from the Wolfruna Chapter – and two pillion guests, Deb and Diane, Chloe’s mum and aunty.

How it came about

Emma was inspired to do this particular journey by Deb, Chloe’s mum and the founder of the Chloe Smail Foundation. “Deb wanted to do something epic in her daughter’s memory to raise money and awareness”, she explains. The monumental journey from John o’ Groats to Land’s End in less than 24 hours was the perfect thing. The Director of the Wolfruna Chapter, Kevin Taplin, had first met Deb at Clo-Fest (a festival for the Chloe Smail Foundation) last year, where he learnt that Deb and Chloe had gone for a ride with the Riccione Chapter in Italy. Deb told him that she was keen to go on a Harley® again, and so the idea was born of doing a ride in Chloe’s honour, for charity, which could include some of the family.

Despite never having done such an intense journey, Emma undertook the challenge with enthusiasm. She didn’t run into any trouble organising the challenge, despite having to plan for more regular stops in the night for a warm drink to accommodate the drop in temperature. Her organisation was, in fact, adept: “I had two Sat Navs going so I was prepared just in case one failed and I knew where our planned stops would be to meet up with other H.O.G.^® Chapters,” she tells us.

When riding up to John o’ Groats, Harry and Cheryl from Wolfruna rode up with the team to wave them off from their start location. “I was excited to get some miles done, as I knew the longer we’d be riding for, the harder it would be,” reflects Emma. “Everything went as planned, there were no issues on the motorway or roads. However, night riding down the A69 was extremely dark and, being the ringleader, it was difficult at times to see the bikes behind me.”

The journey

Despite this, the journey was a success. “The best part of the journey was riding from Thurso down to Aviemore – the roads were amazing, twisty and scenic. The type of roads I love to ride!” says Emma. She also encountered some nice surprises on the road, particularly from H.O.G. members who came out and supported them, no matter what time of the day or night it was. Emma was particularly grateful to the Dunedin Chapter and Clyde Valley Chapter, who brought the team replenishments, and is especially thankful to the Geordie Chapter, who prepared care packages for the riders, brought flowers for Deb to lay at the bridge and provided an escort.

After stopping at Thurso, Aviemore, Perth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Newcastle, Tebay, Wolverhampton, Warwick, Oxford, Exeter and Angarrack for the last fuel stop, the team were welcomed into Land’s End with a round of beers in the sunshine, courtesy of Chloe’s dad, Daz. Emma says she was surprised at how good she felt when she finished – “I didn’t feel tired at all, and the weather was amazing.”

What’s next?

On reflection of her magnificent undertaking, Emma says that if she were to do it again, she would leave earlier in the day so she could get most of the riding done in the daylight. She doesn’t have any more Iron Butt challenges planned at the moment, but she is considering doing the four points of the UK – a 2,000-mile journey in 48 hours.

So far, the Wolfruna team have raised more than £1,500 for The Chloe Smail Foundation, which will go towards offering support, guidance and alternative and holistic education for children and young people from all backgrounds. If you would like to contribute, donations are open through this fundraising page.

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