The Will to (Horse) Power*

(thanks to Craig Bourne's heading in 'Philosophical Ridings: Motorcycles and the meaning of Life'. Oneworld books, Oxford, 2007)

Link straight to German trip 2008

Link straight to my trip to Slovakia 2009

Last summer (2007) was the summer of getting a motorcycle licence via a course at Camrider and buying a Suzuki Bandit 600 just at the end of the summer. First here's some good biking links and then the inevitable photographs. If you are upset by depictions of men in leather standing next to motorbikes, not quite knowing what to do with their, er, helmet, look away after the last link. My plan for summer 2008 is to bike across Germany, visit my relatives, and head over to the Czech republic (hopefully on something beefier and with more wind protection than the Bandit).

On the day I passed the test (I failed it first time round) I visited a friend who lent me the Long Way Round documentary. Love 'Ewan and Charlie' or hate them, its hard to ignore them and harder still not to be jealous.
Then there is BMW Motorrad:
The interesting International Journal of Motorcycle Studies
The lovable Ted Simon rode around the world when he was a journalist in his 40s on a Triumph and, amazingly, a second time at the age of 69 - on a BMW of course. There's an interesting book of the first trip called Jupiter's Travels. He also has an interesting website.
The useful Motorcycle News site, nearly as nice as the newspaper you can drop into your supermarket basket:
Here are the photographs

My son, Dante and I. I like the Arai Freeway he is wearing and wear it for trips around town but I don't feel protected enough for 'serious' trips.
In May 2008 I bought a Triumph Sprint ST to move me one step closer to my intrepid journey to Europe later in the Summer. Here it is parked next to my nice Bandit which I sold earlier this week. It was sad to see it being ridden off but the Sprint is a real bike.

For the log and pictures of my trip to Germany click here

In August 2009 I found myself buying the bike I had imagined that I would have to wait for my mother to die before affording. Luckily a cheque from a publisher coincided with the appearance on ebay of a locally placed 1200gs Adventure - with, crucially, a low seat. Here it is just after I arrived home with the other seat strapped to the back. I've decided not to appear in any more photographs dressed in biking gear as I look so dreadful: