Lighthouse Spotting by Motorcycle for 2026

I write this as the sun beams across the room. New Year’s Day was 3 days ago, so it’s now 2026, and a few snowflakes shoot horizontally past the window in the 30mph/50kmh wind. It is -3C/26F outside, which according to the UK weather centre, ‘feels like’ -9C/16F degrees because of the wind chill. It’s clearly not a day for riding a moto, even an off-road moto, but it is a good time to think about the riding I’ll be doing in 2026.

To get the definitive stuff out of the way, I will be riding the Cannondale MX bikes, the electric trials bike, the Bultaco, and my trusty, 50 year old Yamaha. However, where I will ride, at what events and when is all up for imagination, creativity and planning. One thing is for certain, I will be riding the Bultaco at Race the Waves (RTW) on Bridlington Beach again, making it my 5th year. Just for your diary, the event this year is during the weekend 11th to the 13th of September.

At the start of every new year, people set personal, non-work related goals, objectives etc and write lists about the stuff they want to do/should do. Some people refer to this goal setting as ‘New Year’s Resolutions’, and whilst the list is aspirational, most of the stuff on the list never gets done, and some have even appeared on previous years lists, whether it’s; lose weight, get fitter, drink less alcohol, finish that project in the shed, buy less stuff, work less hours, do that ride of a lifetime, or fix that something that’s needed fixing for the last 10 years, even though it carries on doing the job well enough. People who write New Year’s resolutions actually feel momentarily better for at least writing what they should do, even if they’ve no intention of even starting it!

Apparently, only 10% of the total number of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually achieve them. So, history and data would indicate that our resolutions are mostly doomed from day 1 of the New Year. I guess I’m no different to anyone else, in that I can also categorically say that I have made resolutions and not achieved them sustainably, over the course of the year.

However, I’ve got a moto-related resolution that I’m going to put in print, and achieve. I feel better and stronger already after typing that last sentence😂. My wife bought me/us a book last year and whilst we’ve both flicked through it, we have achieved a few milestones already. 2026 will see an acceleration of the goal. Let me explain. 

The writer of The British Lighthouse Trail, Sarah Kerr, decided to visit and catalogue the 612 lighthouses on the British Isles, which was no quick or easy adventure. Whilst 612 lighthouses sounds a lot, there are well over 18,000 worldwide. The majority of the lighthouses in the book are unmanned nowadays and are automatic. Some are located in the most amazing, and sometimes inaccessible places on isolated rocks out in the sea, whilst others sit at the entrance to harbours. Some people wonder why we still need lighthouses in today’s technological world. Ask anyone who navigates at sea and he/she will tell you that even though the GPS shows the route, having a visual aid like a lighthouse provides quiet confirmation of a location and safety.

This resolution game is to visit the lighthouses in the book on my 1975 Yamaha, and tick them off, obviously. This means that I get a nice ride out in different locations and get to see some of the amazing lighthouses on the UK coastline. A couple of criteria to consider here as I aim to tick off as many as I can. Firstly, any lighthouses that I’ve previously seen before we got the book, don’t count. They need to be revisited. Secondly, whilst I’m using this goal to get out on the bike, there will be some lighthouses that I see when out with my wife, and these still count. In some instances, I may even put the Yamaha in the van to get some of the boring and long distance journey done, then finish it on the bike.

To test that this goal is achievable, I did a simulation a few months ago. I put the bike in the van, drove three hours to North Wales, and then rode 90 minutes to a lighthouse at Penmon Point on the Isle of Angelsey. It was a great ride to a great location, with views over to Puffin island, and as you’ll see from the image below, I got the photo of the bike with the lighthouse. Unfortunately, as this lighthouse sits in the sea, I couldn’t actually get to the front door.  Anyway, I was able to tick it off the visit in the book. Great fun!

So, whilst I’m not declaring any other goals, I’m definitely excited by this one, and as we know, just being excited about something provides some motivation to actually doing it. Success will be a post at the end of 2026 with a list of the lighthouses I rode to and some of the interesting stuff associated with the trip. I hope you are as excited about some of the things that you’re going to do this year! Have fun!

All photos courtesy of the Author.