So long and thanks for all the fish ...

Ted Simon says the hardest thing about an expedition is going. The rest is easy.

I would not have got to the going if it wasn't for the fantastic support, encouragement and forebearance of a lot of people.

First and foremost my wife Sue. She has put up with my incessant planning, kit buying, research and impatience for the two years since I signed up. She has never even hinted that I shouldn't go but has encouraged me to follow my path every step of the way. Thank you Susie and good luck with Ziggy while I am away.

Thanks to my boss Cecilia for agreeing to let me take a sabatical. I'm not sure you really thought I was going when I asked for the time off. But now I am!

John, Hazel and the Principals and staff of LST. I couldn't have picked a worse time to go on this trip, apart from all the other times I could have picked. Thanks for your good wishes. I hope I have left everything in good order and expect to see a gleaming new school or two when I get back. Best of luck for the Ofsteds, (I almost said "Break a Leg" there but given my Patagonia experience though that was tempting fate).

Mum and Dad. You planted the seeds of travel and adventure in all of us when we were little. I bet you never thought one of us would be riding half way round the world.

And thanks to everyone else who knows me, has listened to my tales of preparation and has had the politeness not to yawn. You will not escape the holiday snaps, I will be posting them here soon....

EWS School Projects

Year 7 & 8 at Elizabeth Woodville School are doing projects about the ride and the places along the way. Here we are at an assembly last week. My theme was "Life is what You make it!" which is one the four core values at Learning Schools Trust. Good luck with the projects everyone. I look forward to seeing them when I return.


Photograph Courtesy of Northampton Chronicle and Echo



Meet Snowy

Picture courtesy of Globebusters

Pete the Van Man explained to us during training that the van was white because it was for use in emergencies (like an Ambulance) not red for carrying things for us (like a Post Office Van).

So meet "Snowy" the support van. Pete and Kevin are getting it ready; spare tyres, fuel cans, replacement parts, tools and a ramp to put broken bikes in the back until we can fix them.

What I want to know is, if the van's called Snowy. Which one of you is Tintin and which is Cap'n Haddock?
 

Fourteen Days To Go ...

Two weeks today we are leaving the Ace Cafe to ride half way around the world. Just a few bits 'n' bobs to sort out at work and I'm ready. The bike is packed, the paperwork in place. Just need the calendar to tick round.

Fortunately I have a countdown app on my phone (T-Zero) that shows how long it is to the nearest second. (Picture taken on Sunday - one day closer ..)

Visa? That will do nicely...

Travelling to China overland means crossing a lot of borders. To get the necessary paperwork Globebusters suggested we use The Visa Machine (www.thevisamachine.com). They took care of all the paperwork and sent us back the finished article. Great service guys.

Last visa (Turkmenistan) arrived yesterday. Passport in the post and then we are good to go.

The Route - Detailed version

View Silk Road '13 Detail in a larger map

During the training I got the chance to mark up my maps with the detailed route. This Google Map is the closest I can get to the route - a couple of bits don't work because Google doesn't show a road between two points. I'm sure Kevin knows the way better than Google.

You do, don't you Kevin?

Training - Part 2 Part 2

Picture courtesy of Globebusters

While we were down in Wales we also had a final briefing. This included learning how to programme a GPS (again). Given the look of confusion on the faces of the gathered crew, what odds on us all geting to Beijing without getting lost?

Left to right from the front: Nigel, Stephan, Steve L. Mel, Prof. Sam, Deefor, Patrick, Ian. Chris 'n' Susie. Iain 'n' Toni.

Training - Part 2

With 35 days to go, the Silk Road team were in Ystradgynlais (that's in Wales if you hadn't guessed)for the second briefing and training session.

The Off Road Skills courses are run by Simon Pavey who is a motorcycling legend having competed in the Paris-Dakar Rally on 6 occasions, finishing 4 times. Simon and his team of instructors put you through your paces in the 4000 acres of Walters Arena. The forest, dirt tracks, fire roads, hills and steams are an off-road playground.

We were given the brand new BMW GS 1200's to ride with 0 miles on the clock when we started them up. What a bike! Traction control, ABS, lots of smooth power and awesome brakes. A worthy successor to the long line of big twin engine BMWs.

However good the bike is, if the rider is a duffer it isn't going to get far in these conditions. It was a really stretching couple of days during which I thought about putting the motto "All the Gear and No Idea" on the side of my panniers several times. By the end though I had regained my confidence riding in rough conditions and was keeping up with the pack. But when you see the experts riding these things you also realise how far you have to go. Luckily we seem to have a couple of really good riders on the expedition, so I am looking forward to learning from them as we go.

If you want to have a lot of fun on a great bike, I can think of no better place to start than at ORS - http://www.offroadskills.com/.

 

Training - Part 1

In a couple of weeks the Silk Road team are heading back down to Wales for a course at BMW's off-road school. It will be great, but what I really need is more on-road skills.



Kevin, Simon, Pete, Deefor.

So time for a brush up and some advanced technique. Two days in Royston with Sgt Paul Mostyn of the Met Police's motorcycle branch to put us through our paces.

We were introduced to the POWDERS check of the bikes and the IPSGA system for safe riding. It is hard work concentrating all the time but after a few hours my riding was much better. Smooth, in control and fewer dramas.

Then the ROSPA test. Simon (from Cambridgeshire's force) took us out for an hour long assessment. Despite a number of "why did I do that" moments, I managed a Silver pass while my fellow trainee got Gold. Well done Pete!

The course and test were organised by BMW Rider Training, part of the Globebusters set up. High quality as ever and a chance to catch up with Kevin and Julia on the last few bits of admin. Great to meet Pete as well. He is going to be Van Man on the Silk Road. Good to meet you Pete.

70 days to go!

10 weeks before we set off from the Ace Cafe and pretty much all the preparation is done. Kit purchased, vaccinations sorted, final installment paid. Just the visas to finish off and I'm ready to go.

Time to do a test pack then. Camping stuff and tools in the right hand pannier, papers and day-to-day stuff in the tank bag, clothes in the left pannier. I said clothes ... in .... the .... left.... pannier. With a lot of pushing it fits but it's very tight.

I can't face doing that every morning. Out it comes. Remove a couple of non-essentials, put a couple of things into the tank bag. Try again. Still tight.

Only one thing for it - more kit! Trip to BykeBitz in Yately to buy a Kriega tail pack that will fit behind my seat where the pillion seat used to be. Put the heated jacket and waterproof oversuit in there and the clothes bag now fits with some space to spare in the other pannier too.

Ready to roll. But I have already broken my rule: To fit it all in the two panniers. Perhaps I should ditch one of the non-essentials.

Time for you gentle reader to vote. Which do I leave behind ?

1. Spare inner tube and tyre irons
2. Jet boil stove and coffee making stuff
3. Heated jacket
4. None of the above - take it all. You can never have too much kit!