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Winter is officially here. Frozen fingers and frosty seats were my first clues, so I knew it was time to look for my winter inner gloves and long johns at the back of the cupboard. Time to mentally prepare myself for miserable mornings, wet rides, and treacherous journeys on slippery roads.




I’m not a fair weather rider who tucks the bike away at the back of the garage, hidden under a quilted cover until the daffodils are in bloom again.
I have ridden practically every day since getting my first bike, a Yamaha FS1E, over three years ago. And it is only during the next few months that I ever think it would be nice to be in a car. Especially when I’m pushing my way through sleet on the A2, with a numb body and little visibility, and I look across at someone in a t-shirt in a car singing along to the radio with the heating on maximum. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t managed to find a set of waterproofs yet that don’t leak at the crotch.



My jacket (which I have had since the fizzy days) lost its weather protection a long time ago and winter gloves never turn out to be as good you are led to believe they are. Add to that all this business about global warming and climate change, summers getting hotter and winters getting colder, and I get the feeling this might be the hardest few months of my motorcycle career.



Well at least I’ve got Charley and Ewan’s new series to help me through it! I am, if you hadn’t guessed, being sarcastic. Don’t get me wrong, I have massive respect for anyone embarking on an adventure such as theirs, going round the world or down the world is a fantastic achievement, and bringing motorcycles into the mainstream public eye can only be a good thing. But watching the first episode alone angered me.


Having such vast amounts of money and sponsorship thrown into a trip spoils the whole point in the first place. They had brand new BMW’s, support vehicles, custom made suits and helmets and so much equipment they had to leave some of it behind. If you ask me, all that ‘stuff’ and those huge, capable bikes makes it all, well, easy?!



In many respects I am insanely jealous of them, having all that shiny new gear and spending three months riding down Africa is my idea of heaven; but in my opinion all the corporate backing undermines their achievement somewhat. I know that you need some pretty decent equipment to handle the difficulties they encountered, but I can’t help thinking that there must be a more challenging, interesting and overall more fulfilling way of doing the same trip. I would like to get to the end and be able to say ‘I did that, no one else, just me. Not BMW, not Arai, not Belstaff, not Touratech, me!’



So, this is me, Boy Biker, officially pledging to retrace Charley and Ewan’s wheel tracks across the length and breadth of the world, on a small budget, used bike, and whatever equipment I can lay my hands. More Mondo Enduro than Long Way Round/Down (if you haven’t seen Mondo Enduro, watch it, it’s the original round the world motorbike trip: shoestring budget and no sponsorship – they even took the Suzuki stickers off of their DR350’s because they wouldn’t give the bikes to them!). I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised if Mondo Enduro inspired Boorman & McGregor. If you continue watching this space, hopefully my future trips will in turn provide some of you with inspiration.

two wheel passion
www.theridersdigest.co.uk

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