Silk and Siberia

[Noggin]

But with the decision made a weight came off my mind and I started to have fun. The road miles were taken with a light heart, I soaked in the sun and the glorious scenery I passed through, the crappy hotels were something I could laugh about and the joy of catching up with friends and family lifted my soul. Because that’s what travel at its best does for you. Maybe not hardcore adventuring but holiday riding, there’s nothing to beat it. So is it the end of adventuring for me? No, but it’s a lesson learned, that the truly hardcore stuff isn’t my forte and that I need to be aware of my own limitations and preferences. There are still adventures to be had, but I’ll be doing them my way and in my own time. In the meantime I’ll enjoy reading about the adventures of others with a mixture of envy and admiration, and dreaming about the distant horizons that I will visit in future.

This is the important bit to me. To do the sort of travel TC had planned alone is a serious challenge for someone very fit and young. I'm not fit or young (although my brain thinks I'm at least young!!) and I wouldn't even consider doing something like this alone!! But at least he enjoyed some of it!

But this is the “inter season” and the town is deader than a deceased thing on National Catatonia Day

Sadly, this is a fair description!!

[Taipan]

I'm pleased TC managed to pull something back and get some enjoyment from the trip, but the disappointment in his writings is not hidden. A lot of prep and planning that didn't come to fruition must be a bit soul destroying. There's a hint he'll revisit this I think?

[Cousin Jack]

I am another one fascinated by Siborsky Extreme, but I have zero off road experience and I am even older than TC . I woulld love to do the trip he planned, but I know I can never do it. At least he planned it, and no doubt did it in his head, which is one step up on me. Good on hmi for doing the hard work, and even more credit for recognising his own limitations and stepping away. Sometimes stepping away is the brave thing to do.

[Tomcat]

Ah well the epic trip that never was. Lessons were learned, as they say. What looked straightforward enough on paper (OK, on screen) turned out to be rather different IRL.

The best definition I've heard of adventure riding is "any ride that takes you out of your comfort zone"... well this one did. First the bike problems which left me unwilling to depart the safety net of the KTM dealer network, then the RAC turning out to be a complete shower of shit, then GPS issues that led to me going round in circles for 3 days. You can navigate between cities with paper maps but good luck finding hotels, gas stations etc. Yes I could have rigged up a mount for my phone and navigated using that and a mapping app but then you're down to a single point of failure, and a pretty critical one at that. If I'd been in the middle of bumfucknowhere I'd have done that because there wouldn't be any other choice, but still being in Europe I decided that was the last straw, turning round was straightforward (if disappointing on many levels) and probably the smart thing to do. Plus as much as I liked the Tenere and the astonishing range of the World Raid, it was top heavy AF and I didn't know if I'd ever be able to pick it up if it went over, which for me is a Big Thing.

So we headed south from Hungary, through Bosnia which turned out to be stunningly beautiful, through Sarajevo and Mostar to drop into God's place (remember him from VD?) in Croatia for a quick catch up and then via the one and only Noggin back to blighty.

In the end ironically I think it was the sheer distance that did for me. After a week on the road I'd covered maybe 1,000 miles, the weather was pretty shite and it was starting to sink in that before I got to the places I really wanted to see it was another 10,000 miles of bashing boring roads, enduring hostile weather, splashing money like there was no tomorrow and discovering why cheap hotels were cheap. For some people I guess that would be part of the adventure but it all just felt like a bit of a PITA.

So here we are, back home after a mini adventure of 3 weeks and 4,000 miles. I had some shit times but I had some good ones as well. I managed to raise a few quid for the Devon Blood Bikes thanks to some kind people, so it wasn't all wasted. Sold the Tenere and the KTM has been unfailingly reliable ever since, wouldn't you know it.

And in a couple of weeks I'm heading off to Ireland (as a substitute for Mongolia) to visit some rellies and have a leisurely look round the emerald isle. Next year is still on the drawing board but I'm toying with a couple of options - (1) ride south again heading for Turkey and Georgia but spend a bit of time riding round there, rather than just treating them as via points. If I feel brave it's now possible to get 2 weeks tourist evisas into Russia so possibly a little scoot round Stalingrad. Or (2) airfreight the bike out to Almaty and ride it back, cutting out an awful lot of "dead miles" - ironically this was my original plan from when I worked out there, but I never had the time to get a bike before coming home.

Anyhoo, we'll see.

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[Cousin Jack]

Ah, Bosnia and Sarajevo! I remember it from last year!

Bosnia made us wait for an hour at the border in a queue, then decided they didn't care, and waved us all through without even stopping.
Sarajevo was a great place, with a somewhat bloody past.

Hope you enjoy Ireland TC. Don't beat yourself up about calling time on the big adventure, you enjoyed your trip around Europe, what more can you ask.