Everywhere Virtually

I continue to ride on through the winter. 2008 / 2009 is a cold winter as predicted long ago due to the end of the La Nina phase. Undaunted I press on. The black ice was a challenge and I have been taking it steady. My car driving brethren blast around in blissful ignorance of the precariousness of their contact with Terra Firma . With mobile in hand, head in glove box, tunes to the max who cares if it’s -10c.

The naysayers who predicted I would only ride in summer are strangely quiet. So too are the other crowd that said I would never get my hands dirty. A lot of people really don’t know me that well.

So yes it has been an interesting year already. I met Nick Sanders at the Manchester Bike Show last weekend. To be honest I thought that he was a little leftfield for me and I’m not interested in Sports bikes. That said you can’t help be in admiration of someone who has ridden around the world on a Yamaha R1 with slick tyres on.

His book, ‘Parallel Worlds’ was retailing for £10 (€10) at the show and unlike some other adventure motorcycling books it lets the photos do the talking. And they do. I was pleasantly surprised.

Prepping for Sibirsky Extreme is at full steam ahead. As a guest and effectively ghost rider on the trip I am behind the scenes and am currently tending to the website: www.sibirskyextreme.com

I will join the team for the European leg down through Western Europe, The Balkans, Greece and ultimately Turkey. Family and friends are worried and fear the unknown. Having already ridden in Eastern Europe and the Greek Islands I would say they have nothing to worry about. Riding a scooter in shorts and t-shirt wearing kickers in 1993 I would have said was much riskier than the kit I wear today. in 2009 my equipment is akin to that of a Roman Centurian. Body armour, leg armour, kevlar knuckle protectors, kidney protection, spine protectors and the list goes on. Combined with defensive riding life is good on two wheels.

Once my part in Sibirsky Extreme is over I will return to the UK and recharge my batteries before heading off to the Pyrenees for a weekend of Mountain Madness. Horizons Unlimited Mountain Madness

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