Everywhere Virtually

On this day last year I passed the practical exam of my motorcycle license. What a day, what a moment. It was hot and sunny and the highway was open to me. At that moment I knew that a BMW F800 GS was soon to be mine. I also knew that I would ride to Austria in the August of that year. What came next I was not to know.

I didn’t know that I would meet so many great people along the way. I didn’t know that I would meet some of the adventure motorcycling greats such as Austin and Gerald Vince, Lois Pryce, Walter Colebatch, Nick Plumb, Simon Pavey, Patsy Quick, Dave Lomax, Chris Colling, Paul Mules and many more. I would also meet the more mainstream adventure motorcyclist Charley Boorman. One meeting led to another and another. Opportunities arose where my photos and video were used at the first Touratech Travel Event. My bike was featured at the dirt bike show by Adventure Spec and from there I became involved with the Sibirsky Extreme Project.

11 months on and I have traveled across 26 countries and territories notching up 17000 miles worth of experience. I have crossed the Alps 4 times, conquered the mighty Rubicon, ridden in the rush hour traffic of Tirana, found great hospitality in Kosovo, talked history with feisty Greek border guards, attempted an impromptu power slide into Albania whilst fully loaded, took mud therapy in the depths of night whilst taking the 800 GS across a rutted field in Macedonia and tested my iron butt credentials by riding 22 hours from Vidin in Bulgaria to Linz in Austria.

It has by all accounts been quite a year. It passed by quietly today as I sat in front of my computer at work. I see the world differently now. I see it how I used to see it when I was younger, when my bicycle was my ticket to freedom and exploration. The only difference is that now I can go a lot further.

mmm quite a year…

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