Sibirsky Extreme Project DVD

Join prolific adventure motorcyclist and Siberia aficionado Walter Colebatch and his friends on a ride of discovery into Central Asia and the darkest depths of Siberia.

Sibirsky Extreme was the journey that pioneered new routes across Siberia, including the legendary BAM Road.

This journey also features the Tuva Track, Vilyuisky Trakt and the Road of Bones.

Full of interactions with locals, as well as stunning scenery. If you ever dreamt of exploring Siberia on two wheels, this is the DVD for you!

Enjoy the main feature and then feast on the fantastic extras that really give you a feel for life on the road (and off it) in some of the most remote parts of the World

Main Feature: 31min

Walter’s Extras (people, places, lots of river crossings, the ups, the downs and the girls!): 73min

NTSC Version For North American customers & PAL for Europe & the rest of the world

Click here to Buy PAL version or click here to but the NTSC version

It's tough being an adventure motorcyclist

Sibirsky Extreme 2010 is underway. I have known for some time that it was going ahead in July when I met Walter in the UK last month at the Horizons Unlimited event. His bike had been upgraded in many areas from his original suppliers.

It's tough being an adventure motorcyclist

Who is corrupting whom?

I had also learned that Sherri Jo Wilkins would be joining Walter on the road West from Magadan to Yakutsk on her KTM.

Sherri Jo Wilkins enjoying Russian hospitality

Ian at Gatley signs was producing T-shirts and stickers while I gave the Sibirsky Extreme website a spring clean and setup a Facebook fan group last week.

At the same time I am receiving text messages from Simon Johnston in Mongolia with content to update the blog. Simon’s main objective was Mongolia and perhaps lake Baikal. While he is the captain of his own destiny it could make for a nice meeting if both the Sibirsky Extreme project 2010 and awayfromhere.org could meet Bolot Bochkarev in Yakutsk. For those that do not know Bolot is a journalist and the main man when it comes to networking with adventurer’s of all kinds passing through Siberia.

I wish them all well and look forward to the coming weeks adventures.

Before I write another thing I would like to thank Grant & Susan Johnson and Chris Colling & Dave Lomax at adventure-Spec for making my attendance possible this year. Without them it would not have happened.

the 2010 10th anniversary event was much bigger than previous years. As I rode up the driveway to Lumb Farm I said to myself “Oh Wow”. They had pulled out all the stops. There were more vendors, more bikes, biggest tents, a video screen. It was all together an impressive event.

The campfire was blazing, the road kill cookout was in full swing but most importantly the people made the event special. Old faces, new faces, adventurers to be and adventurers with many years and locations under their belts.

In addition to the great setup the weather was perfect. It was consistently warm and sunny for the entire event. 28C and wall to wall sunshine. You could not have asked for better.

Attendees included Austin Vince and Lois Pryce, Jenny Furneaux, Simon Gandolfi, Walter Colebatch, Jenny Morgen, Peter & Kay Forward and many many more that can be found here

This year I was of course without my F800GS and arrived on my 1994 CB500. I guessed I would be the only attendee on a CB500 but by some strange quirk of the universe two guys arrived on loaded up CB500′s. Not only that but they plan to ride around the world over 80 months on these machines. I was heartened by their story and impressed at their low tech approach to luggage and increasing comfort. They were good guys, with a good sense of humour and I reckon they will go far and I personally will be looking forward to reading their story.

To find more photos of the event have a look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/everywherevirtually/sets/72157624238859917/with/4736800180/

Or click on the gallery above.

Some of you may know that despite riding the Balkan leg of the Sibirsky Extreme project I am also the creative brains behind the website and supporting media. The logo is a different matter. That honour goes to Matt Hill of Terra Circa. He also designed the Mondo Enduro logo and is a very talented graphic designer.

Well, I have some exciting news. Plans are afoot for the Sibirsky Extreme book and DVD. Walter who is the mastermind behind the whole project got in touch with me last week to start brainstorming some ideas for a book cover and to freshen up the website a little for 2010. By good fortune the first design off the bat was a good one.

Of course it cannot be denied that the quality of the photos is superb and the old adage of a picture paints a thousand words is very much true in this case.

To keep up to date with Sibirsky Extreme 2010 and the 2009 book and DVD release visit the website…www.sibirskyextreme.com

I have been rather remiss of late in updating this blog. I’ve been annoyed at myself because there has been a lot going on. A lot of good stuff going on… a lot of adventure motorcycling goodness

I recently attended the Horizons Unlimited UK summer meeting at Ripley in Derbyshire. This is an event that draws people from all over the world. That phrase is often used for events and it’s always a little hollow but on this occasion it was true. We had Canadians, Americans, Dutch, Germans, Greeks, French, Irish, Spanish, Australian. Then there were the bikes. Not shiny, immaculate machines but battle hardened adventure motorcycles that had travelled the world. Sometimes many times over.

They bore the scars and stickers of many places around the globe and it was a delight to see. These bikes take on an almost mythical aura and are more than the sum of their parts. They tell a story of themselves and of their owners.

The welcome at Lumb farm was fantastic. I had ridden the 50 or so miles to Ripley straight after work in Manchester. Not long after leaving home I spotted another 800GS in front of me and assumed he was also off to the meeting. As it transpired he wasn’t and lived locally. nevertheless I made a new friend and had made a promise to share a brew in the future and talk bikes

I pressed on and arrived at Lumb Farm by 8pm. I had a very friendly welcome. I was given a map of the campsite, a bottle of water and some stickers. This was great because I’d been at thsi place the previous year for another event and the welcome was non existent. In fact it was bordering on rude. So I was setup for a great weekend.

I met Chris & Dave from Adventure-Spec. Despite me bringing a tent it would transpire that I would crash on the floor of their marquee shop. Although after one night of my snoring Dave decided to upgrade to the hotel “Volkswagon Van”.

The weekend was packed full of talks from adventurers that included Austin Vince, Sam Manicom, Ted Simon, Nick Sanders and many others. There was a roaring camp fire that was burning the whole weekend. A road kill cook out, workshops on how to change a tyre out in the wilds, yoga and many more events too numerous to mention.

It was a great event and not dominated by BMW GS’s wannabe travellers (I say that as a BMW GS owner myself). The people who attended were the real deal and hadn’t just bought into the image of adventure motorcycling. Most of these folks made their own luggage for Gods sake. They are hardcore!

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…

Lake Garda to Ancona

We started off the day by being fleeced by an Italian grandmother. The previous night she wooed us with a €30 per person per night rate. Come the morning it had jumped to €34 euro. Not much you say but we are on a tight budget and 8 euros is 8 litres of fuel.

We packed swiftly and got out of town. Riding along Lake Garda in brilliant sunshine we took the opportunity to do some filming with the helmet cams. We are the kings of ram mounts and industrial velcro.

We pressed on towards Verona. Verona is an old favourite of mine but time was really against us and we needed to be in Ancona by 6pm so there was no time for sightseeing. Every stop, every adjustment of the camera adds minutes to the journey and it’s fair to say that its a good idea to add two hours onto the journey time each day.

By mid afternoon we had a Sibirsky Extreme highlight. We crossed the Rubicon. Figuratively and literally.

Not long after our foray across the mighty and raging Rubicon we reached the peoples free Republic of San Marino. This mountain top town and small country is a feast for the eyes. We rode up the twisting mountain roads in the warmth of mellow yellow sunshine.

Despite making good time through the day our little foray into San Marino cost us half an hour and with haste we made our way back down. This was right about the time the Garmin gremlins set to work and we were chasing our tales as the routefinder sent us around in circles. This is a recurring theme of the trip with the Garmins. If mine is working Walter’s isn’t and visa versa.

By 6pm we made it to Ancona after some determined riding. In no time at all we had sorted our ferry tickets and headed into Ancona town to get some Internet access. We found an internet cafe that was pretty dodgy. The guy wanted my passport as security in case we ran off. he said it was to satisft the police and related to terrorism. I thought if there was a terrorist in the room it certainly wasn’t me and was more likely to be the guy wanting my passport for a €2 internet connection. He was having none of it and wouldn’t give me access without it. So I did give him a passport… just not my current one. I gave him my out of date Irish passport that expired 3 years ago ;O). You can’t kid a kidder. Despite giving him a dud I still watched him and my old passport like a hawk.

An hour went by and I made sure to clear the cache from the computer I was using. I will also be sure to change my passwords just in case the guy was using a key logger. I’m a suspicious bugger.

After a swift jaunt to the kebab shop we headed back to the port to catch a ship to Split. So in the last few days we’ve making like a shepherd and getting ‘the flock’ outta here and there. But of course as we approach Croatia we need to make like a banana and ‘Split’… boom boom, tsh!

Well with only 3 days to go until lift off I sit here with a mild sense of alarm. I haven’t made copies of my documents, money essential for the trip is owed to me, my co-riders bike broke down and is in the garage being investigated, my luggage is all over the place, I have yet to pack everything I need, sort out how I will store all the film footage and work out how I will charge my conventional camera. There are a myriad of others things I need to do right now but can’t remember. Like approaching near earth asteroids, it’s the ones you can’t see that are gonna get you. Of those that I did remember I put on a list… but where did I put the list?

I show no signs of stress externally but believe me it’s all going on inside. Think of a duck. Calm on the suface, paddling like a maniac underneath the water

I think I’ll go surfing to relax…

A chance meeting at the Touratech Travel Event 2008 led to me getting the opportunity to build a website for the Sibirsky Extreme project. This undertaking to ride from Touratech HQ in south Wales to uncharted territory in Siberia will have adventure motorcycling legend Chris Scott along for the ride quite literally on his Yamaha XT  660 Z Tenere. A bike which ran a very close second to F800GS I have now.

Check out the ever developing site here: www.sibirskyextreme.com