This weekend things have started to move on the Andes Moto Extreme website development. Walter Colebatch got in touch about his latest project and through mutual support of each others projects I am now following on from my work on Sibirsky Extreme to now focus my efforts on the new website.

Sherri Jo Wilkins has also joined the team and will be the base camp manager, photographer and videographer. Other members of the team include:

Walter Colebatch – Team Captain
Lukas Matzinger – Technical Director
Barton Churchill – The Mountain Man

The plan is to take a troika of Husaberg FE 570s to South America and make a world motorcycle altitude record attempt of 20,500′ 6,250m!

You can follow the prep here (www.andesmotoextreme.com) ready for a kick off in March 2012.

I was fortunate enough to visit Provence recently. In particular the area close to Mallemort and the Luberon, made famous by the book on Provence by Peter Mayle and the subsequent film starring Russel Crowe, “A Good year”.

I had visited this same region back in 2007 and had flagged a few places I wanted to explore in greater detail on a return visit. One location in particular was the Gorges du Regalon. On a drive from Mallemort to Gordes, the hilltop town featured in the film I mentioned above, I spotted a little sign to a gorge.

I had heard no mention of any gorges as this area is all about wine, lavender, retired Brits dabbling in a spot of golf and generally taking it easy. Nevertheless there was this little sign and at the time I drove up the dusty white limestone track. There were signs saying “Payant” and suggesting I pay at the hut. But it was vacant and there was nothing to impede my progress. I parked up but the Gorge was not immediately within my sights and I was pressed for time. That was 2007.

Fast forward 4 years and I found myself at the same spot. As if time had stood still. The same empty shed with broken windows, signs still saying you needed to pay for parking but no evidence of tickets in other cars or an attendant.

The site has a car park on the left as you drive in, a secondary car park to the right and a private road leading to a farm. There are some signs but it’s not overtly clear where you have to go. I just looked at the gap in the rock face behind the trees and headed in the general direction of the gorge. It was then that I picked up the signs for the trail.

You steadily walk up what appears to be a dried out river bed and then emerge onto another dusty road which passes a derelict building on your left and also a chalky embankment. A few hundred metres on and the road curves to the left and up to a number of olive groves. I took a well worn shortcut to my right into a copse of trees and followed the trail directly to the gorge entrance. At this point an olive grove will be on your left.

There are signs informing you that it is private land but you may pass if you respect the boundaries of the olive grove. from this point the gorge is in full view and it will take you an hour and a half to go from one end to the other. I say an hour and a half as you may want to stop for photos and take in the atmosphere.

From the outset it is quite clear that this is a dynamic environment. There is a water depth measure at the start of the gorge which is high enough to indicate substantial amounts of water can flow through here in a storm. In addition to this you have a lot of loose rock and boulders descending from above. Some are the size of apples others the size of a large car. Even a small rockfall could prove fatal. It is wise to keep your eyes and ears open despite the place exuding a sense of calm and tranquillity.

Without describing every twist and turn it is easier to break the gorge down into three sections. The beginning is predominately rocky riverbed with an easily navigable path and quite a lot of foliage. There is some scrambling to be done but nothing too taxing for someone who is fit and healthy.

The middle section which starts pretty much after you enter the cave with two entry points narrows considerably and does require all hands and feet in order to clamber over rocks on the way up or shimmy down them on the return leg. While I tackled this in the dry I have seen photos of this section with standing water which could be of a depth from a few centimetres to a metre. There are advisories all over the place suggesting it would be unwise to tackle the gorge in a rainstorm or immediately after a prolonged period of bad weather.

The final section opens up considerably but because of the foliage and tree canopy cover it is easy to forget you are still in a gorge until you catch a glimpse of it above you through the trees. Shortly afterwards you come to a split in the trail. 0.5km away is L’agranier and to the right is Mérindol which is 6.1km away.

I took the fork to the left as I knew I didn’t have much time left before sunset and thus could not complete the full circular route. I walked up hill between the ravines for maybe half a kilometre but saw nothing of note and decided on this occasion to be satisfied with my traverse of the gorge. I returned back the same way I had come and was rewarded with the warm light of the setting sun.

View the rest of the photos at Flickr

I got the car loaded up and was ready to roll by 1am. The most incongruous item was an ironing board. Not just any ironing board but according to it’s owner a uniquely designed and sturdy board worth its weight in gold. I figured if I was quizzed at customs I could always claim I was heading for an extreme ironing competition.

I drove through the night because on previous trips on the bike, I would always be delayed by heavy traffic at Birmingham and London. This time around I also needed to be mindful of fuel economy as diesel is now £1.36 a litre in most places and £1.48 at the motorway services. It is also easier to drive at 60 mph at night. Gone are the pressures of the day where brash sales execs are tailgating or hurrying you along, instead you have courteous truckers with their left, right, left indicator signaling to thank you when you let them change lanes or flash them to move back into your lane.

My trusty old C-class that I picked up for a grand also imbibes you with a sense of zen like calm, unhurried and statesman like. That youthful desire to put your foot down disappears and the 3 pointed star at the end of the bonnet reminds you that you are driving a Mercedes Benz.

I managed to get past the toll on the Dartford bridge before the morning charges kicked in. 6am I believe it starts and I crossed it 05:54. It is only a few quid but if felt like a small victory. By 7am I was nearly at the port. A sea mist had rolled it and was in a battle for supremacy with the warm morning sunshine. I used to live in Kent and have fond memories of the “Garden of England”. It was if I had never left.

This Dutch adventurer caught my eye. I couldn’t get a clear view of the bike but it appeared to be sub 125cc. I have more respect for bikers like this because they may be on a limited budget and have a bike that exposes them to more of the elements which in turn requires more determination.

In stark contrast as I am doing the pipe and slippers soft git method of travel I figured I might as well go the whole hog and become a VIP.

Becoming a VIP only cost £9 which mean’t any old ragamuffin, like myself could get in there. The last time I was on this ship it was 3am and I was soaked to the bone. I lay on a bench seat and shivered my way across the English Channel . Plus Jamais (Never again) as the French would say . VIP also gave me wifi access for the two hour crossing so it was a good deal.

The sea was like a milk pond and the air mild.

Once across the channel the plan was to head East. First to Holland and then Belgium. By now I was flagging somewhat and needed to have a power nap somewhere. I would find some rest in Flanders fields.

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.

All great adventure motorcyclists have periods when their bikes are off the road, their bikes are incapacitated or they’re incapacitated. In my case the recession clipped my wings adventure motorcycling wings for a while. I’m far from being unlucky though because I happen to be residing in one of Europe’s best countries for motorcycling in general. Austria.

While the CB500 won’t win prizes for comfort it is a handy tool for short jaunts into scenery as seen above which is 35 minutes from my base. In the meantime I ponder which route to take next. I’ve pondered this in past posts. I start to wonder if I will just retire to road riding then something happens that reinvigorates my passion for adventure motorcycling.

On a recent flight back from Greece my plane flew over the Balkans. I know this region well now after last years ride through Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and FYROM. I have studied Google Earth, Google Maps and paper maps. I have observed the land from sea level and from high mountain passes. So when flying above I was delighted to see places and features I recognised.

In the photo above you have lake Ohrid in the foreground and lake Prespa over the ridge in the centre of the photo. Ridge is probably too tame a word. Mountain is more like it.. Myself, Walter and Marcin navigated the snow up there back in march 2009. With those lakes as reference I knew Albania was below and I snapped away at interesting features. Aircraft windows facing into sunlight with their inherent reflections, ice crystals and scratches are never the best medium to photograph through but it was enough for my research purposes.

This is Parku Kombëtar dajt resevoir in Albania

What caught my eye though was a region of mountains that straddled southern Albania and Northern Greece. On last years Sibex ride when I exited the Albanian border into Greece I was too far to the East to see the most dramatic portion of this range of mountains but I certainly saw them from 35,000ft. They are the mountains of the Pindus range in the Northern Epirus region. What I had photographed here is the Vikos Gorge which according to the Guinness Book of Records is the deepest gorge in the world in proportion to its width!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikos-Aoos_National_Park

The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos) (Greek: Πίνδος) mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2637 m (Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece". The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian borders in Northern Epirus, entering the Epirus periphery and Macedonia region in northern Greece down to the north of the Peloponnese. (source:Wikipedia)

Returning to my original thoughts of having a “little pause in adventuring” and watching other adventures take place it is important to remember that even being still and not riding is part of future adventures. the byline on my website is “The adventure begins in your head” and certainly on that sunny Monday morning over Greece and the Balkans the seed for another adventure was sewn.

Wherever you are at in your adventure planning take strength from the fact that one day it will happen and savour the planning, the browsing of flickr, panoramio and trawling over countless maps. It’s all part of the journey and makes limbo almost fun.