Silk and Siberia

[Noggin]

I’m gutted for him. He was so excited to do this but after so many knocks/problems, I can understand why he wants to step back.

Hopefully his plan B or C will still be fun for him and make up for not doing the main trip

[Cousin Jack]

That's a bit of a bummer. TC sèems to attract bad luck, he moved jobs only for the company to make him redundant about 12 months later. Hope he rescues something from all the prep he did for this trip.

[Whysub]

My sat nav went kaput in Macedonia in 2016. I had no maps and no back up sat nav. Not fun.

[Skub]

Update from TC.

Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions.
Long post, no apologies.
Since about 2017, Silk and Siberia has been my dream. I was inspired, in part, by a young woman named Kinga Tanajewska who rode her motorbike from Australia, where she had been working, to her home in Poland. When I was working in Kazakhstan I thought that would be rather a fun thing to do myself, and started reading up about the history, the historic places and the natural wonders of central Asia. I wanted to see it. I wanted to go there. But alas the job ended before my plans were ready to implement. So I figured, ride there from England, see the sights, ride home. More miles, but more opportunity to see things on a big loop. In a moment of madness, inspired by ace Russian motorcycle adventurer Anatoly Chernyavskiy, I put the Road of Bones in my itinerary, an extra 5,000 miles, but I figured since I’m retired and it would be the trip of a lifetime, why not take an opportunity I’d never get again?
2019 saw me buy the chosen bike, a 790 KTM Adventure. Unwilling to undertake this trip without shaking down the bike and myself, I took it down to Croatia over the summer, had a lovely holiday but had to abort the full trip when the satnav failed. OK I thought, I’ll use my phone maps. Except the charging system I’d rigged failed. Paper maps then. Ever tried to buy paper maps in southern Italy on a Sunday when you don’t speak any Italian? Even had I succeeded, finding prebooked accommodation would have been a nightmare, and I’m too old to enjoy sleeping in bus shelters. I found my way back home by a combination of dead reckoning, intermittent satnav and charging the phone at hotels along the way. I swore I’d never again allow navigation issues to affect my trips.
2020 and 21 as we now know were wiped off the travelling calendar as the world shut down for covid. In 2022 Mr Putin did an unpopular thing, making my planned route east through Ukraine non viable, and in any case many borders were still closed to tourists, vaccinated or not. I consoled myself by touring Britain for a couple of years and marked 2023 as the year of Silk and Siberia.
I’d been gradually making preparations, admin, route planning and the like. With Anatoly’s help I formulated a plan to open a bank account in Russia so I could avoid carrying large amounts of cash, and I modified my route to cut out the Road of Bones, entering Russia from Georgia and hopping back to Kazakhstan, aiming to always be within a day’s ride of a neutral border in case anything kicked off. I wasn’t worried about riding in Russia. Adventure touring shouldn’t be about politics, in my view, otherwise not many people would have visited the US or UK in the early 2000s after their little military adventures abroad. People are people wherever you go, 99.9% of them are good people and in my experience if you come as a guest you are welcomed.
But as the days ticked down to departure I found myself feeling constantly on edge with my stomach churning. I couldn’t sleep without drinking too much, I wasn’t eating right and I couldn’t concentrate on anything. My wife and kids were wonderful and supportive, but it was starting to dawn on me that aged 67, with high blood pressure and a metal hip, I was about to embark on a solo expedition that would challenge a young man, riding with company.
On 20 April I set off on the KTM and got 100 miles before it developed a misfire and started cutting out. The diagnostic kit I’d bought didn’t tell me anything helpful, so tail between my legs I got the bike transported home, torn between frustration that the problem had happened so early, and relief that I hadn’t been somewhere far more remote. Although the dealer managed to diagnose the *most likely* cause of the issue I’d begun to worry. KTM has a pretty good dealer network in Europe, but what if the problem recurred? What if there was another problem with no dealer support within 5,000 miles? You expect some hiccups along the way, you plan for what you can and you accept some problems will be bigger than others, but it was starting to get to me.
In something of a turmoil I decided to throw the book at the problem and bought a low mileage used Yamaha Tenere – a bike that had been a close run choice for the trip in the first place. And then the jitters and the nausea started again. I told myself everybody gets this before a big trip, that once I was on the way I’d feel fine and look forward to a huge adventure. It almost worked. Though it didn’t help when the laptop I was going to use for blogging and mapping died a day before I was due for the rescheduled departure, necessitating a trip to the PC shop to buy a replacement. Thank god it did, as I’d later discover.
So, away. After a long day motorway slogging across southern Belgium into Germany, I stopped in Saarlouis overnight, and the next day the satnav threw a fit. Different unit, different problems from the one in 2019. It would randomly freeze and eventually come back, directing me down little alleys, demanding multiple u-turns and tell me my destination was 200 kms further away than before. Over the next two days it put about two extra hours on each day’s riding. By the time I got to Hungary, following my eastbound route, my brain was fried.
I knew – I KNEW – I could buy another phone and use it as the main means of navigation, downloading offline maps. But I had been overtaken by a dark cloud. Every time I had tried to get this under way, something had happened. No problem was insurmountable, but they just kept coming. And not a single one was the sort of problem I’d planned for and prepared for. I’m neither religious nor superstitious but I couldn’t shake the feeling that somebody was telling me something, that if I went on I’d regret it.
So I stopped.
In my hotel room I managed to download a new set of maps from Garmin on the laptop I’d had to buy before departure, which I doubt the other slow machine would have managed, and a run out the following day suggested that had cured the problem. But by now, as much as I hated the idea of stopping, the thought of going ahead filled me with dread. The dream I had nurtured for six years had turned, if not into a nightmare, but a vision of reality that I probably should have accepted years ago. I’m no lightweight biker. I’ve done long tours alone, raced on tarmac and dirt. I’ve won trophies on the Isle of Man and got round over 100 mph. Been riding for 50 years, rebuilt more bikes than most people have owned. It galls me to accept that my head has had to overrule my heart, that I’m not 21 any more, and I hate that I let everything go so far before realising it. I feel like I’ve let myself down, and those kind souls who had faith in me. But I am gradually coming to peace with it.
Turning south from Hungary instead of down through eastern Europe and the Caucasus to the great unknown, I made the decision to have a gentle cruise home, catching up with friends along the way. And that’s where we are now. I’m not on an adventure, I’m on holiday. Feeling sheepish and regretful but much happier.
End of philosophy lesson, will post some happy pics soon. Enjoy the road my friends, wherever it takes you.

[Bustaspoke]

Update from TC.

Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions.

I’m not on an adventure, I’m on holiday. Feeling sheepish and regretful but much happier.
End of philosophy lesson, will post some happy pics soon. Enjoy the road my friends, wherever it takes you.

^^^^ This ^^^^

[DefTrap]

Fair call. If all he has hurt is his pride then that's a good outcome. Riding to Hungary is more than most of us have done I imagine.

It's funny our reliance on GPS these days. I love GPS but it feels literally minutes ago that even shortish journeys were planned meticulously on maps and notes were scribbled and taped to your fuel tank. And when you got in trouble you just went, er, South?

[Bustaspoke]

It's funny our reliance on GPS these days. I love GPS but it feels literally minutes ago that even shortish journeys were planned meticulously on maps and notes were scribbled and taped to your fuel tank. And when you got in trouble you just went, er, South?

I still do!

[Cousin Jack]

I feel for TC. He seems to have packed a lot of motorcycling in so far, far more than I have. But I also understand his desire to have one big adventure before hanging up his boots. I still have that itch, I just havent been brave enough to scratch it yet.

BTW, my 'big adventure', should I ever manage it will be a LOT less ambitious than TCs.

[Noggin]

I really wanted to go with him and had even investigated whether I could sort a bike and finances etc. But this year was a year too early even before I broke my leg last feb and then I had an attack of sensible (I do so hate that) because even if I practice, I'd have little experience of off road and if I had an issue with my shoulder (which is pretty likely on that sort of tour) then it would fck up his tour as well.

I'm still gutted I couldn't, abutnd even more gutted for him that he's not doing it. It's the right thing to do given how he was feeling, but it's sad that it didn't happen

[mangocrazy]

I feel for TC. He seems to have packed a lot of motorcycling in so far, far more than I have. But I also understand his desire to have one big adventure before hanging up his boots. I still have that itch, I just havent been brave enough to scratch it yet.

BTW, my 'big adventure', should I ever manage it will be a LOT less ambitious than TCs.

Yeah, I'm thinking on similar lines, but it's a question of 'what goal do I set myself'? How far away from where you currently are is far enough? Ideally it should be the target of a long-held dream, but my current long term dream is simply to carry on for as long as I physically can. I'd be up for a European jaunt, but heading into Asia is probably a bridge too far. Istanbul has always fascinated me and aiming for that on a bike should be doable - I think... And as Istanbul is the bridge between Europe and Asia it means I would have 'kinda' been to Asia by bike...

[Mr. Dazzle]

Mate of mine did Istanbul -> UK on an organised tour. They ship your bike out, you fly and meet it. Only took about 2 weeks to get home.

Probably counts as cheating

[Count Steer]

I feel for TC. He seems to have packed a lot of motorcycling in so far, far more than I have. But I also understand his desire to have one big adventure before hanging up his boots. I still have that itch, I just havent been brave enough to scratch it yet.

BTW, my 'big adventure', should I ever manage it will be a LOT less ambitious than TCs.

Yeah, I'm thinking on similar lines, but it's a question of 'what goal do I set myself'? How far away from where you currently are is far enough? Ideally it should be the target of a long-held dream, but my current long term dream is simply to carry on for as long as I physically can. I'd be up for a European jaunt, but heading into Asia is probably a bridge too far. Istanbul has always fascinated me and aiming for that on a bike should be doable - I think... And as Istanbul is the bridge between Europe and Asia it means I would have 'kinda' been to Asia by bike...

A tour of Turkey could be Used to spend lots of time there and, for many reasons, the only bikers we saw were German. There's loads of accommodation, some great places to see and the food is Yambo will have up to date info but it's a (big) place I'd love to have had a bike trip or two around. Once you're over one of the bridges...that's Asia. Anyone fancy a trip to Isfahan? (Once you're over that side of Turkey it's not too far... ).

[mangocrazy]

Mate of mine did Istanbul -> UK on an organised tour. They ship your bike out, you fly and meet it. Only took about 2 weeks to get home.

Probably counts as cheating

I'm all in favour of making life easy for myself, but the point of doing it is really the journey as much as the destination. There's a wealth of fascinating and historical places to travel through if you have the time and the inclination.

[Dodgy69]

That would of been one hell of a trip. What I do recognise is the absolute reliance on satnav, the voice telling you which way. Without your fcuked.

You can't read any signs , you need a guide and that's satnav. These folk which have ridden around the world really need a medal.

[Demannu]

Sadly turned into Silk and suburbia!
Bit surprised that he hadn't checked his sat nag had all the pre requisite maps on it prior to departure

[Wossname]

I was quietly disappointed that he seemed to have decided against because his technology let him down. Many people have done off the wall trips like this with little tech to support them. But it sounds like his head wasn’t in the right place either, for that sort of adventure, and I understand and sympathise with that. Such a shame tho, and I suspect that even if he had sat nav he could depend on now, he would still decide against.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Takes all sorts.. personally I'd be more worried about Russia but he seems chill about that. Bollox to the twat nag.

[Noggin]

I was quietly disappointed that he seemed to have decided against because his technology let him down. Many people have done off the wall trips like this with little tech to support them. But it sounds like his head wasn’t in the right place either, for that sort of adventure, and I understand and sympathise with that. Such a shame tho, and I suspect that even if he had sat nav he could depend on now, he would still decide against.

It wasn't just the satnav. It was a combination of things sadly.

[mangocrazy]

Reading between the lines I get the impression that TC had been seeing all these things on the negative side of the ledger building up - Covid delays, Ukraine invasion, reliability issues with the bike, increasing awareness of advancing age, last-minute laptop failure and mentally he wasn't at all in the right space. Then when the satnav failed so dramatically, it was quite literally the straw that broke the camel's back. His conscious mind had been pushing to do the trip at all costs, while the unconscious mind was getting increasingly uneasy and ultimately panicky. When the satnav failed and the conscious mind finally accepted what the unconscious mind had been telling it for a long while, then the tension was resolved and TC was at peace.

Good for him. Enjoy your holiday and the mental peace it has brought, fella. There's no shame in making the obviously sensible decision - far from it. It basically shows wisdom has triumphed over 'want'.

[Bigyin]

For those who remember God from the old days at VD he now lives in Croatia and TC popped in to visit him on his way around yesterday ....onwards towards Italy now