A northern hemisphere RTW, 91 days in 2013

Its not a very cunning plan, it involves riding west. A long way west. In a short amount of time.The rough route is :-
Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Seattle Washington. We have 10 days to cover nearly 4000miles to put the bikes on a RoRo.

Mike and I will then faff around for 3 weeks and wind our way to Vladivostok to meet the bikes. We may even be able to get new tyres there.

Everything is organised and paid for; the flights from Gatwick, the train to Gatwick and our hotel. The bikes are serviced and have a place on the RoRo from Liverpool to Halifax, Canada, and we have started the steps for the bikes to get on a RoRo from Seattle to Vladivostok.

Everything, including visas, are sorted.

The bikes have gone. Now we can sit and twiddle our thumbs for a few days.

We made the RoRo, despite the best efforts of my bike, it was back in Pitstop for some last minute repairs only hours before needing to be at the port. Mike's has been ready for weeks, and does not seem to shed bits or snap bolts like mine, yet.

Things often seem closer than they are, we got off the train at Gatwick and could see our hotel. It wasn't far so we walked. Aided by directions from a car park attendant we cut through some woods at the back of it, lugging our awkward bags.

Finally after trekking round the river to the road we found the airport/hotel shuttle bus parked out front.

And we expect too get all the way around the world ?

We are into the swing of it, get up at 06:00, on the road by 07:00. Do 200-250 miles before lunch and then another 100-200 afterwards. The 400 miles a day are ticking along nicely. Or at least they were until we received a RoRo update tonight.The ship has been delayed, initially that was good news. We could slow down However he next email brought the bad news that it won't sail until June 4th. This means that It is not due to arrive in Vladivostok until the June 15th. Ten days after we land there.

Following the bad news of the ferry delay we mulled over things while riding the next day then reviewed our options. We did some research and emailing and we have been able to find a shipper who will fly the bikes from Vancouver without (hopefully) breaking our budget.

Three years ago I bumped into Jim in Mexico, and then later crashed into him twice in the same day, somehow we have still remained friends. This time my bike was much better behaved and kept her panniers a decent distance from Jim's.

The bikes are all crated up and waiting to be flown to South Korea. We had an exciting and tiring two days sorting out the crates and paper work. Pacific Motorsports supplied the crates, by arrangement of Motorcycle Mojo Magazine . All we needed to do was strap them down and build the frame around them. Easier said than done so we paid for some help by Rusty the bike shop manager.

When we packed the bikes in Vancouver we expected to be off the road for a week, ride for a few days in South Korea then ship them to Vladivostok and be riding away again a few days later.

It has now been over a week bikeless, it looks to be another week more.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate paper work ?

Following our route change we planed was to ride across South Korea, but after our mistake with the Air Way Bill (both bikes on one to save money) the South Koreans would not allow them out of the crates at Incheon Airport, Seoul. Then the South Korean customs did not allow us to unpack the crates at Donghae Port because they were in bond, and insisted they stay crated until they arrived in Russia. This caused us issues because we needed to get a photograph of Mike's VIN number for the Russian customs clearance paperwork.

We've made good progress, and are now west of Lake Baikal.

In the meantime we have had more good natured fun with the Russian bikers. Our latest escapades began as we entered the town of Mogacha, 500 kilomtres from Chita. As we bounced down the road in search of lodgings and petrol a biker on a chopper flagged us down, asked what we needed, indicated where they could be found and then said "Clubhouse, follow".

I always said it would be Kazakhstan that was the most likely place my bike would break. But only 2 hours into it was a bit extreme.We negotiated the border crossing to Kazakhstan and left Russia without “registering” our visas, a confusing law that may or may have been necessary due to us travelling every day. The Russian customs guards thought about it, discussed it and then a truck driver pointed out the obvious to them “They are on motorbikes”.

It took us 3 days to get out of Semey, One day was for my recovery and the 3rd to register our visas. They have a strange system in some places like Kazakhstan . yes you have a visa to get in. but then you have to visit the migration police in 5 days to register. Day 1 is the day you enter. that was Saturday, and they only open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. But not if Monday is after a weekend holiday.

Kazakhstan, wonderful country, wonderful people. But it seemed to be determined to kill my bike.

After Almaty we headed south west, flanked to our left by the foothills of the Himalayas and the borders of Kyrgyzstan. The roads here are good, and at times the scenery is spectacular as the green lower slopes are split from the blue sky by the white peaks.

For most of the trip we haven't known where we were, where we were going and very often where we had been.

Five days from Volgograd to Calais, 3500 kilometres (2200 miles), then a short hop across the channel to stay with a friend (well his wife as he had gone Morris Dancing) before the final leg home.

74 days to ride around the world, I won't change the blog title as Mike isn't home yet.

I even managed to arrive home in time for Jean's birthday.

Mike returned to the UK last week, but instead of going home went straight to the Bridge Rats 10th Rat Pack rally at the Heath rugby club in Halifax.

In his one man determination to finally get a 'Furthest Traveled' award at a rally he rode Europe to the most western point at Cabo Da Roca which is slightly north of Lisbon, Portugal, before pointing his 'Peg' on its final lap home.