Adventure riding got you down? Anyone confined to the pristine roads and mild off-road riding in their homeland is often looking to push the boundaries of adventure and themselves. For those who want to step it up a notch, hose down your Husqvarna and fasten up your Fox boots, South America will take you for one hell of a ride.
Colombia – Mountain Curves & Coffee Country – Route 40
Not the cocaine economy and Escobar entitled narco-state it once was. Colombia has some of the most pristine riding, stunning landscapes, and inviting riding in South America. To top it all off, Colombians are motorcycle crazy.
All roads lead out of Bogotá, and you can easily make your way through to nearby Salento in the wax-palm-lined Cocora Valley. The ride is roughly 300-kilometers on route 40, with peg-dragging roads that pass some of the worlds most sought-after coffee beans.
From Salento, take your ride just up the road to the cobblestone streets and café-lined square in neighboring Filandia. Real adventure bikers will first explore the countryside, then spend the night at the infamous Steel Horse Filandia. The front yard at Filandia is a regular mix of international license plates where riders from across the world are welcome.
To ride in Colombia, you can literally FedEx your motorcycle into Bogotá or hire from a company like Motolombia in Cali.
Don’t believe what you heard about Colombia. Ask anyone who’s ridden a motorcycle there, the response will be considerably more positive than you’d imagined.
Colombia is a vast mountainous region, make sure to check the season and altitude of where you plan to ride before assuming hot-hot-hot.
Brazil – Dirt Roads & Amazon Jungle – BR319
The most widely used adventure motorcycle in Brazil is the Honda Tornado, something similar to the Honda CRF250L, then the BMW GS line of bikes. Brazilians are equally as crazy about life on two wheels.
For a real adventure ride, make your way through the infamous BR319 road en route to Manaus in the Brazils Amazon region. The road runs through some of the most impressive stretches of the Amazon rainforest that can be accessed by motorists, with lurking Jaguars and lacking fuel stations. You’ll want to be well prepared for the 870-kilometer ride from Porto Velho up into the Amazons metropolitan hub.
The ride will offer up everything from dust in August, to complete road washouts in February and March. You can venture deeper into the rainforest depending on the season. The road is a bikers Pilgrimage for anyone with a longing sense of wilderness adventure.
A one or two-day ride could be six or seven in the wrong season. As for fuel, food, and water, pack what you need.
Flying or shipping a foreign motorcycle directly into Brazil is more red tape than you’ll want to deal with. Rent, or start in nearby Lima Peru, Montevideo Uruguay.
On the way, ride into the Pantanal. The worlds largest wetland. Picture a 20-kmph, self-guided motorbike safari with optional river cruise for you & the bike, incredible!
Chile – Patagonia Mountain Range – Carretera Austral
With the far north of Chile holding the majestic Atacama Desert, and the center offering up wonderful wine regions and horse-riding landscapes. The real riding though, is through the world-renowned Patagonia.
For anyone who’s a moto-camping aficionado, you and your ADV bike will fall in love with Patagonia. You can ride right into the Torres Del Paine National Park for a few days of getting in touch with your inner hiker. Then later slip away unnoticed into the endless rivers and remote regions around Coyhaique for some trout fishing right off the backside of your saddlebags.
From here, crank up those heated grips and ride further into the Tierra del Fuego region of the very south. Anyone looking to ramp up their road trip can cross the border into the most Southerly city in the world, Ushuaia Argentina.
The #1 motorcycle related activity in Ushuaia you ask?! Buy a sticker for your panniers.
A country that runs on longitude, the far north and far south are very different at any time of year. Pack cold weather & rain gear, any other riding will be a welcome bonus.
Chile has arguably the best paved roads in South America. If you’re looking for off-track riding, download Wikiloc
You can fly your motorcycle into Santiago or ship it to nearby Valparaiso pretty easily. For a short trip, look into someone like Compass Expeditions to hook you up.
Wherever you ride in whatever part of the planet, there has likely been thousands if not millions on that road before you. It’s easier, safer, and more memorable than even the best YouTube video or stories you’ve read. Stop dreaming, start riding, and for some of the best adventure motorcycle roads on the planet, South America has you covered.
Riding South Africa is safe, but you may have to pay the cops $2 for a “drink” if they pull you over for a random licence check, says Brisbane rider Jim Hulme (pictured). The 69-year-old has just returned from an eight-day bike 2900km motorcycle tour of the north-east of South Africa with friends and says he can allay people’s fears of travelling the magnificent country. Here is his story:
Safety and security
Think South Africa and you immediately think personal safety and security.
There are people on the roadside wherever you go, stealing goods or going places, so care is needed.
However, in the two weeks I was there, staying with friends in Cape Town for sightseeing and recovery from jet lag, and then friends in Pretoria followed by the bike tour, I did not experience any personal safety concerns.
South Africa is like Australia in many ways including climate, culture and friendliness, and most people speak English. Black South Africans were courteous and friendly and everyone was interested in Australia.
Five people with luggage on four BMWs and one Harley headed off on a route designed by my host.
Accommodation
He also arranged all the accomodation specifically avoiding the typical city tourist stops, to give us a better appreciation of the rural landscape.
The accommodation ranged from basic, similar to an old Aussie pub with creaky floors, to exquisite but inexpensive lodging.
As a foreigner, the food, drink and accomodation was incredibly cheap. The Rand was converting at about 10R = $A1 so a beer cost $2, a latte $2.40, “a policeman” $2 (read on!) and meals $7-14. I need to add that the meals were typically generous portion sizes.
While the accommodation was booked by my local host, the rates were cheap by Aussie standards.
However, I noticed that the same places quoted via Tripadviser were charging at double the prices so direct bookings would be the way to go and avoid letting the venue know you are Australian.
South Africa roads
The roads across the north-east are very good quality, but there are some toll roads and you need a swipe credit card or cash to get through those.
Even rural highways are good quality but sometimes peppered with serious sized potholes that need to be avoided.
The speed limit is mostly 120km/h even on many rural roads and high-speed touring is possible as the police seem to allow about 10km/h over the limit before they are interested.
There were some speed checks mostly on the tollways, but we also had two random licence checks where the police were mostly likely looking for theft or cross-border smuggling.
In one of these checks, a policeman asked my host to buy him a drink. We offered $1, but he said it would cost at least $5. After some negotiation he accepted $2.
Corruption exists in many levels of government it seems.
Stunning scenery
While the scenery out of Pretoria is flat and agricultural, most of the country is amazingly hilly and scenic.
We stopped at Castleburn Resort at the southern end of the fabulous Drakensberg Mountains and it was stunning with thatched roof buildings, immaculate lawns, lakes and a mountain backdrop.
Direct flights from Australia are available on Qantas from Sydney or on South African Airways from Perth. All international flights land at Johannesburg and there are many South African domestic flights available to connect to Cape Town including British Airways and South African Airways.
I didn’t have to rent a bike but an online search shows Samatours, a Pretoria-based tour business offers reasonable rates for self-guided tours. Fully guided tours on a BMW F 800 GS costs $A140 a day plus accessory charges at samatours.co.za for a seven-day-plus rental.
I highly recommend a ride in South Africa. Australia will seem over-regulated when you get back!
A Spanish woman who rode her Ducati Scrambler 15,000km through Africa has been honoured with the Spanish Geographical Society’s Journey of the Year 2018 award.
The Spanish non-government organisation provides humanitarian aid projects such as water supply and health care, initially in the Afar region of Ethiopia, but later extended to other African countries.
Alicia’s ride started in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and crossed Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho before finally arriving in Cape Town, South Africa.
The only hiccup along the way for the Ducati ambassador was two punctures.
Round the world
It’s not Alicia’s first big adventure.
In 2011, she set off on her BMW F 650 GS on what would become a round-the-world ride that included Australia in 2012.
She rode from Spain to Asia, then Australia, North America down through South America and back to Europe in 2014.
Alicia became the first Spanish woman to circumnavigate the world on a BMW.
She has continued her travels through the Americas and Asia.
Other awards she has won include:
Illustrious Visitor of the City of Tarija, Bolivia;
The 2016 Penguin Honorific Award for “The Legend Continues”; and
In 2017, she took third prize at the I Madrid Motorbike Film Festival for “Adventure in India and Nepal” (below)
The Australian leg of the Women’s Riders World Relay 2019 has the most riders of any nation taking part, says Aussie relay ambassador Christi Hartwig (pictured above).
She says even though registrations have not officially opened for the relay which will pass through Australia in August/September, they already have 3500 Australian members.
The Women Riders World Relay is the idea of UK office manager and keen rider Hayley Bell, 27, to alert the motorcycle industry to the growing number of female riders.
“Women Riders World Relay is an opportunity to celebrate female motorcyclists and gain worldwide recognition, as well as to raise awareness of the fastest-growing segment of the motorsport industry,” she says.
It started at John O’Groats, Scotland, on February 27, 2019, and will be relaying a baton from woman to woman and from country to country over the next 12 months. More than 14,000 women have so far registered.
The women have since ridden through Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Portugal and Spain.
The baton arrives in Perth from Indonesia on August 25 and should receive a warm and enthusiastic welcome from Aussie women, says Christi.
“I have built a team to assist me, creating a route throughout Australia,” Christi says.
“I’m pleased it’s generating positive feedback. The women are excited, they want to ride!”
Christi last year became a moderator, team manager and tasker for the relay and is now the Ambassador for Australia.
“I’d like to unite, inspire and encourage female riders throughout Australia,” she says.
Relay with purpose
Hayley says she started the relay to show the motorcycles industry the female market that is “so blindly overlooked”.
“I’m tired of going into motorcycle stores and seeing four variations of pink leather jackets that look as though they have been thrown together as a half-arsed attempt after they have spent months creating fantastically designed men’s suits,” she says.
“I’m not preaching feminism, nor am I subjecting myself or our group to being labelled as ‘anti-man’.
Australian relay itinerary
Day 1: 25 August 2019, Perth to Norseman 772km;
Day 2: 26 August, Norseman – Nullarbor RH, 905km;
Day 3: 27 August, Nullarbor RH – Port Augusta,764km;
Day 4: 28 August, Port Augusta – Adelaide – Mildura, 702km;
Day 5: 29 August, Mildura – Bendigo – Melbourne, 553km;
Over 15 months, Heather travelled 42,000km through 19 countries.
The book is still on the Amazon best-seller list and includes an endorsement from Ted Simon author of Jupiter’s Travels which inspired Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor and Cheryl Strayed author of Wild.
Second book
Her second book, Timeless On The Silk Road: An Odyssey From London to Hanoi, is an extension of the African tour on the same Yamaha dirt bike.
After her African trek, Heather was diagnosed with HIV in London at the age of 30 and given five years to live. It was 1995 when death from AIDS is inevitable.
Instead of giving up, Heather rides along the fabled Silk Roads of antiquity to Australia, thinking it would be her last adventure.
From Chapter 15: A Moment of Madness, Uzbekistan to Tajikistan, while Heather was travelling with three Frenchmen from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan.
Together, the four of us walked into the Tajik border post, a small tin shack where it was standing room only. In the cramped confines, the heat was oppressive; none of the Frenchmen wore deodorant. A middle-aged man in a sweat-stained grey military uniform, the buttons straining across his round belly, sat behind the desk. Two other younger men in the same grey fatigues stood beside him. The only other item of furniture was a tall wooden cabinet. Behind the official was an open window, which framed a spindly tree. A small bird sat on a branch tilting its head inquisitively.
‘Passeports,’ he demanded, the sweat beading on his brow framed by a stock of thick greasy black hair.
‘You no cross. Pay one hundred dollar!’ he boomed.
‘We are transiting to Kyrgyzstan,’ Fabrice replied while Patrick and Frédéric vocalised their objection in French with a few phaws.
An evil smirk spread across the guard’s face that dropped as a series of folded bristly jowls onto his collar. ‘You pay. No cross.’
Fabrice stood his ground. Hands on hips. ‘We have permission to transit. We have a Russian visa.’ As if anything to do with Russia was still held in high esteem in this backwater of the former Soviet Union.
I kicked his foot and leaned close to whisper: ‘We must pretend we don’t understand.’
At this point, a vehicle pulled up outside in a cloud of dust. The Tajik border official and his two off-siders pushed Fabrice aside as they headed towards the door. We filed out behind them. The vehicle was a four-wheel drive with UNHCR emblazoned across its side. A huge man unfolded from the vehicle. He stretched to well over six foot and was enormous both in height and body width. Not obese, but his sheer size demanded instant respect. Proclaiming his support for refugees, he wore a black T-shirt printed with the words in white, ‘Einstein was a refugee’.
‘Where you from?’ he asked. We pointed to our motorcycles parked opposite saying France and Australia. ‘Long journey,’ he said nodding to me when I said I’d ridden through Africa. ‘I was in Rwanda. Very bad what happened there,’ he added and told us he was from Bosnia and stationed at Osh in Kyrgyzstan.
Since Soviet independence, Tajikistan had been gripped by civil war from infighting amongst its various clan groups, but foreigners were allowed to transit the stretch between Bekobod and Kulundu, a distance of about fifty kilometres. But we were not at this ‘official crossing’ for foreigners. Instead, we’d ridden over a narrow bridge to cross the Syr Darya and across a semi-arid plain; it was as if a finger of the Karakum desert had followed me all the way from Turkmenistan. I’d read that nearly 50,000 Tajik villagers had died from the fighting between the clan groups, leaving more than half a million refugees. Russia had stepped in, and around 25,000 of its troops were stationed in Tajikistan, effectively making it a Russian protectorate. This peacekeeping force also made it safe to transit into Kyrgyzstan as long as we kept away from the Afghan border where there were still skirmishes between the faction groups.
It made little sense as to why Stalin, back in the 1920s, had so unreasonably carved up the borders where three Central Asian nations met: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. I could only assume it was to ensure the countries remained linked like the entwined fingers of lovers so they would forever retain a close and loyal bond.
‘Is there problem?’ the UN official asked the Tajik border guards.
‘Nyet. Nyet problem,’ the man in charge replied meekly.
‘It’s alright guys. You can cross.’ The Bosnian climbed back into his vehicle and with a wave, was gone just as suddenly as he had appeared. We all watched speechless as the vehicle disappeared in a trail of dust.
‘You pay,’ the lead official boomed from behind us. Then the three officials marched back to the tin shack. We followed.
‘Can you stamp our passports please,’ I asked in demure politeness pointing to our passports stacked on the desk.
‘No. You must pay five dollar.’
‘Okay,’ I said. At least the Bosnian’s arrival had saved us each US$95. The Frenchmen nodded, and we filed out of the hut to retrieve the money from our money belts so their prying eyes would not see our booty, especially Frédéric. He had told me he carried US$5000 in cash strapped to his belly. Fabrice and Patrick, I imagined, carried the same. ‘Aren’t you worried you’ll get robbed?’ I asked in disbelief when he’d told me. ‘This never leaves me,’ Frédéric had said patting his round stomach, his money belt hidden under his T-shirt with it all held in place by a wide kidney belt. It not only protected his kidneys and vulnerable insides should he crash, but also gave no indication that he carried a small fortune in a country where the annual salary was US$600.
Knowing you are going to die does strange things to your way of thinking, namely in the risks that you’d otherwise never consider taking. In the weeks that followed my HIV diagnosis, I rode around London with no regard for speed limits, road rules and consideration of other road users. Perhaps those vodka-infused days in Turkmenistan where I’d nearly come to grief several times while riding inebriated were also part of this disregard for my own safety. This wasn’t a conscious decision. It was just what happened. I was beyond thinking I might get hurt or I might die. What happened next at that Tajik border post, I can only think, had something to do with this unconscious death wish that occasionally took control of my behaviour.
But it was also a desire to seek approval, seek forgiveness from my father. The offer of a gift that would please him. A parting gift that was so significant that it may even go so far as to nullify the perceived shame I’d brought on my family. These were my distorted thoughts on that day.
When I’d walked into the hut, a grey Russian army cap lay on the desk. I’d picked it up, saying, ‘I give you ten dollar.’ The official sitting at the desk snatched it from me and threw it behind the cabinet. When he’d gone outside as the UN vehicle pulled up, I’d quickly retrieved it and stuffed it under my kidney belt and zipped up my jacket.
We paid our five dollars and with our passports stamped, were about to file out the hut, when the border official in charge pulled out his revolver and pointed it at Fabrice’s head. I held my breath thinking he’d thought Fabrice had stolen the cap. Patrick and Frédéric stood motionless beside me. Fabrice turned white. The two other guards smiled as if they shared a private joke. The Tajik with the gun flashed a demented grin, his finger on the trigger. Then he turned and fired the gun through the open window at a small bird sitting on the branch. It looked like the same bird as before. Unbelievably, it did not fly away. Like us, I expect, it was too shocked to move. The Tajik fired off another four shots, deafening us all in the tin shack, and still, the bird did not move. Only when it was quiet, and the Tajik had returned the gun to its holster, did the bird fly away. Without a word, we slowly filed out of the hut then ran towards our bikes.
Just as I was about to hoist my leg over the TT, the Tajik in charge stormed out of the hut, pointing to his head, his two assistants closely behind. I knew exactly what he meant, but the Frenchmen looked at him dumbfounded. I rushed back inside the hut, the Tajiks following close behind, but I reached the doorway first and knelt down near the cabinet and pulled the cap from under my kidney belt dropping it on the floor. The Tajik in charge grabbed my arm lifting me off the ground and shoved me against the wall.
‘Your cap. There it is. Remember, you threw it behind the cabinet.’
‘Duzd, Duzd,’ he repeated his face contorted in anger as he squeezed my arm. I assumed this was Tajik for thief.
‘Fuck off, you bastards!’ I screamed pulling my arm away and pushing past the three men like a deranged woman. ‘Go! Go!’ I yelled at the Frenchmen who sat astride their idling motorcycles.
The TT fired first kick. Pumped with adrenalin, I dropped the clutch and opened the throttle. The bike launched itself and me to freedom leaving the three Tajiks standing in a cloud of dust. I fully expected a bullet to lodge into my back, but no shot was fired, and yet again I’d escaped a respectable death. As I followed the Frenchmen, I realised I risked pulling them down with me. For their own safety, it was time I moved on.
Elspeth Beard is much-admired among many adventurers. At a time when few women travelled or rode motorbikes, Elspeth achieved an impressive feat- when she was just 23 years old she embarked on a solo motorbike journey around the world and became the first ever British woman to do so.
Let’s have a look at this formidable traveller and her two-year journey that took her from New York City back to the United Kingdom, with 35,000 miles (56,000km) in between!
The Beginnings of A Life-Long Love
The first time Elspeth rode a bike was when she was sixteen, a short journey on the back of her friend’s Husqvarna. This was enough to catch the motorcycling bug. Her first bike was a Yamaha YB100, a run-around just to help her to get from A to B around London. Around a year later, she upgraded to a 250cc Honda and then a second-hand 600cc BMW R60/6 …
Elspeth talks about the immense sense of freedom she felt with her BMW and began to travel further and further afield as her confidence grew. She started with trips to Scotland and Ireland, and then went onto bigger adventures like a two-month trip around Europe and a road trip from LA to Detroit. Elspeth had an incredible appetite for exploration.
Around the World in 915 Days (Roughly!)
Sure enough, as soon as she finished her degree in architecture in 1982, Elspeth began preparing to embark on her historic two-year solo journey around the world.
Starting in New York, she travelled across the USA to Canada. Her next stops were New Zealand and Australia, where she encountered a road block – she’d ran out of money. After working in Sydney for seven months, she shipped her bike to Singapore and rode through Malaysia and Thailand. She had to turn back to Malaysia after failing to gain entry in what is now Myanmar, and instead she caught a boat to India. From Chennai she travelled to Nepal, then around India to Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Europe and back to London.
That’s an incredible 23 countries and 35,000 miles over the course of two-and-a-half years!
However, her achievements went unnoticed – very few women travelled at that time and rather bafflingly, it was almost seen as a blip in her life rather than an achievement.
Immortalising the Elspeth story
Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then and Elspeth’s remarkable achievements are now celebrated. She enjoys the accolade of the first British woman to ride solo around the world on a motorbike, not to mention the fact she’s an award-winning architect!
It’s no wonder her story has now been immortalised in her memoirs, Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World, and she has joined the ranks of the likes of Che Guevara and Steve McQueen to become an ambassador for iconic British brands like Belstaff, who are famed for their motorcycle jackets.
We’re sure this isn’t the last time we’ll hear about this incredibly inspirational woman and we look forward to hearing about the feats that Elspeth will no doubt continue to amaze us with!
What better way to see the scenic Adriatic country of Croatia but with a local couple who have more than 20 years of motorcycle experience!
Robert and Andrea Vrabec of Moto Tours Croatia have planned a 2400km ride through their home country which, as the map shows, is dominated by a rugged coastline, multitudes of islands and craggy mountain ranges.
Unforgettable Croatia
“The nature, the sea and the cities we will go through, with their history and culture, will make this trip unforgettable,” Robert says.
“Some parts of the routes we ride are truly spectacular and majestic“.
“The cities we will visit like Rovinj, Zadar, Dubrovnik count among the most beautiful tourist destinations, while islands like Cres, Mali Lošinj, Hvar will leave you breathless.”
They promise that their customers will truly “feel Croatia”.
Their tours range in price from €2990 for a rider and €2290 for a passenger for the eight-day Feel Croatia Small tour to €4290 and €2790 for the 14-day Croatian Island tour.
Price also depends on the type of motorcycle hired. Robert says they only use high-high-performance KTM and BMW motorcycles.
Tours run from May to October, but not the hottest months of July and August.
Riding passion
“It is difficult to explain even to ourselves, from where we draw such will and passion to go along the same road, same curve, to sit in that same coffee bar,” he says.
“There are no special words to describe it; just that sense of freedom, contact with nature; that smile on our faces when we meet those wonderful people who share the same and true passion for motorbikes, nature, travel, adventure.”
Robert and Andrea have worked in real estate, so they know the best places to stay and eat in no less than four-star comfort.
“After an exhausting ride, dinner will be served,” says Robert.
“For this we will also choose the places whose food and wine offer follows the customs of their geographic location.”
Moto Tours Croatia plan only small groups so they can devote their attention to each guest.
“Whenever we travel, we always find a new curve and pass the old ones with a smile,” Robert says.
“We plan our trips with a lot of attention to details and we also know that mileage is not the only purpose of travel. Therefore, the journeys we plan for you will always have additional content, depending on whether we are on the sea side where we will sail to a hidden cave, or we are on a hill where we will try zip-lining, or we will simply enjoy a glass of Croatian wine and watch the sunset.”
“These tours are ideal for romantics who love the sea, scenic coastal roads and impressive sunsets, as well as for gastronomes and fine wine devotees,” he says.
Moto Tours Croatia also organise tours through the mountains in neighbouring countries such as Slovenia, Italy and Austria. They can even arrange a unique, customised tour to your requirements.
Guided tours include:
Late-model BMW and KTM motorcycles with lockable hard luggage and tank bags plus a third party liability insurance and comprehensive vehicle insurance;
Experienced motorcycle guide;
Support van for luggage and 1 or 2 passengers;
All accommodation in mostly four-star hotels and apartments;
All buffet breakfasts;
All dinners, mostly in traditional local restaurants (except on rest days);
All ferry rides and tolls (according to tour program);
All fuel during the tour;
All entrance fees for national parks and museums (according to tour program);
Airport transfers on arrival day or one day before and on departure day;
All maps with marked routes for the region being toured;
Extensive tour booklet; and
GPS with all the routes uploaded.
Not included in the price: Airfares, dinners on rest days, most lunches, drinks, personal spending and tips.
As we sweat in an Aussie summer, Lithuanian motorcycle adventurer Karolis Mieliauskas will be riding 1000km across Siberia in temperatures down to -60C to research active meditation.
Aptly named The Coldest Ride, Karolis says the journey on a single-cylinder Yamaha Tenere across the Road of Bones will be a research exercise into what he calls “active meditation”.
Basically, it’s a way of forcing the mind to meditate by subjecting the body to harsh conditions; in this case, the cold.
But for others it is an enlightening experience. Some even refer to an out-of-body experience when the mind takes control of the pain and discomfort, divorcing the rider from their body.
“The Coldest Rideis an exploration of the connection between the body and how the mind plays with the coldin these situations,” Karolis says.
“In tough conditions such as these, I have a number of devices to show me where are my theoretical limits and going beyond them is something I think that we should all do.”
He uses the example of swimming in icy water. He says the mind tells us it will hurt and we will get sick, but it doesn’t and the body copes.
“Each time in moments like these, therealisation that not everything the mind believes is necessarily true,” he says.
“I hope that The Coldest Ridewill push all of us to challenge our own perceptions of things, whatever they may be.”
Epic ride
This is not his first or most epic ride in the cold.
In July 2016, he rode 11,000km from Vilnius to Vladivostok in 12 days and in March 2017 he rode 785km across the ice of Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, with our support, camping gear or a satphone.
Active mediation
“I basically call endurance riding ‘active meditation’ because from early morning to late evening on these trips, I am just riding a motorcycle which is not designed for trips as long as these,” he says.
“As a result, this makes the journey physically uncomfortable.
“However it is a form of self-discipline.”
He says the most interesting part of these trips is when he asks myself “who am I?”
“By continually asking this question and again rejecting all possible answers, I finally experience the truth,” he says.
Karolis begins his ride in Yakutsk on February 4, 2019, and hopes to reach Oymyakon around February 10.
The ride will be filmed and featured on the BBC Travel Show later in 2019.
Have you ever had a similar experience when riding in harsh conditions? Leave your comments below.
If it wasn’t for the ride-sharing and mountain and wriggly route options on our TomTom Rider 550 GPS we might never have discovered a hidden gem of a mountain road.
Riding partner and map expert Peter “Worldmapman” Davis recently reviewed the TomTom Rider 550 for us and has been using it now for some time.
Usually one of our riding group decides where to go and then leads the pack. It’s usually me and I’ve almost run out of routes in the South East Queensland area.
I think I know every twisting, winding scenic roads in this region. But I was wrong.
TomTom decides
This time we decided to put the TomTom unit to the test and let it decide a route for us.
Since it was hot, we thought a ride up to Toowoomba at the top of the Great Dividing Range would give us a respite from the heat.
So we put that in as one waypoint, plus Hampton and Flagstone Creek.
You can select the waypoints by typing in a place name or simply pressing a point on the screen to drop a waypoint “flag”.
We then selected a return journey with maximum mountain and winding roads options. There are two levels of each and we chose the top levels.
That increased an out-and-back journey on the highway from about 160km to about 250km.
Because we were riding cruisers, we chose the “avoid dirt roads” option. You can also choose to avoid toll roads, highways and even roadworks in the settings menu.
Sharing a gem
Route selected, we shared it among ourselves either with other TomTom GPS units or via their MyDrive app platform on their phones.
Sharing a route like this is great because it means you don’t have to bother about corner-man systems as riders can’t get lost.
You can plan your route on the GPS unit, or on the TomTom MyDrive app on your phone or your computer. Each allows you to share with other TomTom users via Bluetooth, email or message.
When we headed off on the Brisbane Valley Highway TomTom almost immediately took us off the highway on to back roads.
This led us the long way round to Esk before heading up the only sealed road to Hampton.
In fact, it even bypassed some of Esk.
Peter says a good tip in selecting waypoints on this sort of route is to never select a town’s CBD or the name of a town.
Always select a waypoint on a road past the town. That will actually throw in a nice little deviation and avoid sending you down every suburban street.
In fact, you should even start your journey out of town or it may take you on a wild goose chase around the suburbs first.
The great thing about the TomTom Rider 550 is that you can change your mind along the way.
If you decide to go into town for a coffee or toilet stop, just head on in and the unit recalculates the route very quickly.
In fact, it is the fastest of any unit Peter has used in his extensive mapping career.
You can also add more waypoints, or change the winding road option from super wriggly to less wiggly or to the fastest or most direct route if you are getting tired and want to head home.
All it takes is a touch of a button on the screen.
If you decide to bypass a waypoint, the unit will try to recalculate you back to it, so it’s a good idea to delete the waypoint by going to your list of stops and deleting it.
Gem discovered
We largely followed the directions, but also chose to ignore them a little and explore.
But we are glad we did not ignore its advice when we came down the Range on Flagstone Creek Rd.
It pointed left on to Blanchview Rd which we have done before and enjoyed, so we followed.
But shortly after TomTom took us right on to Silver Pinch Rd which looks almost like someone’s driveway. We’ve ignored this road in the past … but not today.
Just as well as it is a real rider’s gem.
It traverses several narrow ridges past Table Top Mountain, overlooking beautiful fertile farmland with jaw-dropping views on either side.
The road really does wriggle along and it seems it has only recently been paved along its entirety until it becomes Topps Rd and ends at the T junction with the Back Flagstone Creek Rd.
What a rollercoaster of a road it is with plenty of elevation, looping corners, esses and switchbacks.
We enjoyed it so much we stopped along the way for photos and doubled back a bit to ride some sections again.
Consequently we ended up running a little behind our schedule return time.
So at Laidley we simply decided to switch to the shortest destination and head home.
When we got home, we shared photos and maps with each other via MyDrive so we can do it again another time … maybe in a reverse direction.
You can do that by simply shuffling the order of the waypoints. Just drag and drop the last stop to the top and make the rest of the changes accordingly.
The cafe had been ideal situated on the twisting hot mix just south of Kenilworth, but the property owner wouldn’t extend the lease.
So leasee and bike fan Peter Cusack moved to Carters Ridge, just off Skyring Rd.
His cafe sells great coffee, wholesome food, fruit and veg and has a stack of bike magazines for the patrons.
On the Mary Valley Country tourist map, it’s almost dead centre in the region, so it’s an even better spot to base yourself to explore.
And there’s plenty of great roads to ride, no matter whether you like fast, open bends, tight hairpins, hot mix, scenic back roads, formed gravel or Conondale National Park forestry trails. The area simply has everything to suit every rider’s taste and bike style.
Peter shoved the tourist map in front of me and began introducing me to roads I’d passed, but never ventured down.
On the Harley, they were a barrel of fun, challenging, bumpy, twisting and scenic.
Two great roads I’d never tried before are Moy Pocket Rd and Cooroy Belli Rd. I’ll certainly be back to do them again, although Peter warns that Moy Pocket Rd is busy with cement trucks on weekdays.
He recently did a big trip with his wife on their Triumph Tiger 1050 which suits 99% of the region’s roads.
Today, I’m on the Street Glide Special, which looks commanding and handles the winding roads surprisingly well, but would be a handful on the gravel.
Here is a list of some of the lesser-known, but superb tarmac roads in the region which the Harley handled well so they should suit just about any motorcycle: Moy Pocket Rd, Skyring Rd, Blad Knob Rd, Hovard Rd, Obi Obi Rd (up only, down section is still gravel), Reesville Rd, Postmans Track/Aherns Rd, Bellthorpe Range Rd, Eastern Mary River Rd and Lawnville Rd.