D Day

Location:	Wales
Mileage:	Zero

“Yeah but doesn’t everyone ride the Silk Road?” The chap at the NEC wasn’t wrong. Lots of people will offer to take you on The Silk Road. Except it isn’t The Silk Road its A Silk Road. From 200 BC merchants came from China travelling west all the way to Europe to trade, yes you guessed it, silk and the routes they  took varied greatly.

When Julia and I decided that GlobeBusters should tackle the Silk Road, in true GlobeBusters fashion, we looked for the most challenging and rewarding route. There were some key places that had to be included; Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand are all critical Silk Road Cities. From there onto the Silk Road hub of Kashgar where all the Silk left China. But we didn’t want to be tied by history. So let’s throw in Lhasa and the Potala Palace; Ride the Tibetan Plateau that the merchants avoided because it was too rough and while we are in the area we have got to ride to Everest Base Camp. Enough? No, let’s run the Afghan border and follow Marco Polo along the Pamir Highway as well. So we had a route, but have we overdone it? We needed to find out.

We rode off from the Touratech Travel Event last year and three months later rolled into Beijing, We had traversed mountain passes covered in snow, ridden the Tibetan Plateau so high you can’t catch your breath, endured crashes, collapsed bridges, closed roads and every hazard known to man. But we had done it and the feeling as we rode into Beijing and were turned away from Tiananmen Square by the Police (“No Motorcycles!”) was indescribable.

So we have a route, it can be done and we already had a queue of people who said they want to go. After releasing the DVD of the recce trip this number dwindled somewhat as they started to recognise the magnitude of the challenge. The riding is just one element. The remote accommodation with home stays letting you right into local life, the diet of yak and onions, or stir fry and the altitude that will sap your every last ounce of energy. You either view these as highs or admit the challenge is too great.

Now we have thirteen intrepid travellers. They have attended briefing meetings , completed Off Road Riding Training, Advance Rider Training, got fit(ter) and learned how to say thank you in seven languages. And they are ready to go. A varied group: Businessmen from Poland, Andorra and the USA, a Cumbrian Farmer and several people who look suspiciously like the bloke who lives next door. Normal people with a desire to challenge themselves and to ride the road less travelled.

So we are ready and in just a week’s time we will leave from the Ace Café, and then the news – “Kyrgyzstan on brink of civil war, says Medvedev” Ah that’s right on our route! Can every-one get an extra visa in 5 days, or is it over already?

Photos:  
1) Kevin, Julia, Mark and Jeff ready to leave GlobeBusters HQ
2) Kevin and Mark with Nick Plumb of Touratech UK -