Why do anything?

Well, after previously completing a much longer ride (https://thebikerboyz.com) with some friends, and then ultimately, just me and Alex, I decided I really missed being on the road but wanted to get out there by myself.

I haven’t been to Africa in more than two decades, but I did make a trip back to Scandinavia in 2015 for a couple of weeks. On that trip, I rode from Helsinki to Nordkapp, via Sweden, and really enjoyed the people, the food (really miss the old witch in the woods and her fantastic Lohikeitto which she taught me herself), and the culture. Having done that, and given that it was the end of May, there were much warmer days and more than 20 hours of daylight throughout which will be definitely missed on this trip.

So, planning for this trip was going to require a massive amount of research to avoid torrential rains with flooding and snowy freezing weather by the time I ride through to the tippity top of Europe.

Planning a trip of more than 15,000 miles through more than 40 countries isn’t really as hard as it sounds if you’re willing to do the work. The biggest challenge, of course, was actually figuring out a way to get my motorcycle to the starting point… more on that later. I broke down the planning for this trip into the following categories:

1. Starting and ending point – where am I going? Questions like “How do I get my motorcycle there?”, “When are the best times of year to ride?”, “How do I plan for following, or avoiding, certain seasons?”, “What means of transportation do I need to make it from the start to the finish?” Truth be told, the overall distance doesn’t really matter (except for chain and tire wear). What matters most is the weather and if you can actually ride through. Basically, pick a place that I haven’t been to in a while, or haven’t ridden through, then pick another place where I can get to without wars, floods, earthquakes, or other natural obstacles prohibiting me from completing the trip, draw a line between them, and then let weather guide you.
2. Getting the bike to the starting point – how to find a great shipping partner? As Alex and I experienced on our last trip where we had to fly our motorcycles over the Darien Gap, we also had to fly them back from Buenos Aires (we never really wrote much about the way back because it was such an unpleasant experience we wanted to erase it from our memory). Since this trip was starting on one continent and ending on another, this had to be planned differently. See my post on “Shipping Your Motorcycle from Chicago to Cape Town” and make sure you have some wine and/or beer and some tissues to wipe away the tears of laughter/sadness.
3. Stops along the way – how far can you ride each day and where can you stay? This is by far the most frequently asked question – “what’s the average number of miles you ride each day?” As anyone who has ridden more than 10,000 miles on a single trip will tell you, it’s not really that much – on average. The average will generally be 250 miles a day over the entire trip. Why so little? Well, the map is not the terrain! Some days you’ll have wide open highways with the potential to ride 500 miles, and others you’ll be riding “twisties” all day that wear your and your bike out and you may only make it 125 miles. Other days you may want to do some adventuring and get off the road, which means you’ll lower the average significantly – and we won’t even talk about the weather….
4. Weather – what do I need to prepare for? Not only do I need different riding gear, but I also need to make sure that I’m not running into any snow in areas where it won’t be cleared for motorcycles to pass. I typically lump in available daylight time to travel into the weather category because ultimately, weather drives every decision you make on a motorcycle, but riding in the dark is just stupid on trips like these. This requires you to gather average rainfall and high and low temp data on every stop you planned. It’s also important to know if you are going to be riding into the sun each day or have the sun at your back, depending on the hemisphere you are riding in, the time of year, and your direction of travel. I know it sounds silly, but it’s best to be prepared and it really makes you feel more confident when you’re setting out for the day and you have all the gear you need on you so you don’t need to stop 10 minutes in because you don’t have sunglasses or the correct visor on.
5. Gear – what gear do I need to bring? This one is probably the most difficult. Why? Well, because you have to keep it very light, but also bring along stuff that keeps you entertained and comfortable. Being bored and uncomfortable will quickly make you forget that this is supposed to be fun, right? I need to work most days when I am travelling, so that also adds some items to the list. See my post “Gear – Packing Right and Packing Light” for more on this. Again, weather drives what you need to bring, so having the option of someone meeting you (or shipping it) during the trip as you switch from summer to winter gear is extremely helpful.

Although some might argue the great distance from home, the mandatory vaccinations, the lack of hospitals/healthcare coverage, the potential for unexpected weather, the hot, hot, hot and windy desert, the border crossings (immigration and customs) process, the sheer remoteness of parts of the road, the 3,000+ languages spoken, the food, fuel, and water insecurity, are enough to make it a challenge for most to not even attempt, I guess for me that just makes for a good story. The great story will come from the people I meet on the way, the beauty of Africa and Europe that most people will never get to see, and the food! You know I love food.