Dougie Lampkin - Beta has survived a hectic weekend of riding on both sides of the channel after taking on an epic two day tour with appearances in Plymouth and the South of France within a twenty-four hour period. The ex multi FIM Trial World Champion begun the long journey South from his home in Yorkshire on Friday morning, with his first destination being the Goodwood estate in West Sussex.

With his father Martin acting as chaffeur and companion, the well travelled Lampkin duo stopped off at the famous stately home to collect equipment that had been left there in storage since Dougie's appearance at the Festival of Speed earlier in the year and that would be needed this weekend. With the goods safely loaded, the sat nav was reprogrammed for Plymouth and more specifically the new George White Motorcycles site where Dougie would carry out demostrations throughout Saturday as part of a grand opening weekend of activity. With many hours already under their belt Martin and Dougie arrived in Cornwall late on Friday afternoon to set up the sections ready for the performances the following day.

Despite the best efforts of the British summer weather Lampkin still managed to put on a great display to open proceedings on Saturday morning before executing similar performances throughout the day as the sun began to shine. After a successful day of riding Dougie had little time to load his bike into the waiting van as his father once again took control of the steering wheel, with the channel tunnel being the next planned stop on this incredible and unfolding tour.

After a four hour dash to Folkstone, where they collected Jack Challoner on route, Martin and Dougie enjoyed a short rest on the train to Calais before embarking on another eight hours of driving through the night to the South of France ready for Sunday's International Invitation Urban Trial in the streets of Cahors. Team Lampkin arrived in the French town just seventy miles north of the city of Toulouse with just enough time to grab a shower and a quick hour's sleep ahead of the competition getting underway.

Despite his epic journey over the last two days Lampkin faired relatively well in this unique event that sees thousands of fans line the sections that are spread throughout the riverside town. Now operating under 'Open Free' rules, where the riders have to pass through different value gates as they navigate their own chosen path through each hazard, strangely for trials the winner is the rider with the highest score at the end of the day.

Up against a star studded field which included all the current best riders in the World, Lampkin took a respectable fifth place, although the veteran campaigner has only ridden under these new and alternative rules on a few previous occasions. With his weekend of riding over and done with, the bike was soon back in the van and on route to Calais. Martin and Dougie plan to be back in Plymouth by Monday lunchtime to collect their trailer full of equipment before then making the last leg of their tour back to Yorkshire later the same day.

From the comfort of the passenger seat in his trusty Renault Traffic van, Lampkin spoke about his leisurely few days. "I thought I had seen the back of these kind of trips a long time ago. Unfortunately it was impossible to fly from Plymouth to France in the time we had available, so there was no choice other than to drive through the night."

"Although it's been a tough trip its also been successful too. The demos at George White's were well received despite the initial rain and things went as good as could be expected in France taking everything into consideration."

"Lampkin concluded. "I am ceratinly looking forward to being back in my own bed tomorrow night."