Just finished riding the book Emilio Scotto wrote after his ten years journey around the world through more than 250 countries!

What a blast!

Gives to all of us travellers a story to dream about! And to never give up!

Thanks Emilio!

Don't forget to visit his web site!

One good riding while on a motorcycle tour is Ted Simon’s “Jupietr’s Travels”.

Starting in 1974, Ted rode 65.000 miles during four years on his 500cc Tiger Hundred Triumph. He went through many many adventures you will read in his lovely book but the one that stroke me is that in, what we “civilized” people consider as pretty uncivilized countries, Ted met the most fantastic people. I stay convinced that even twenty years later it stays the same (see the lastest long ride adventure of Boorman and McGregor).

As much as I hated the “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance” pseudo biker way of thinking mixed with crazy people’s philosophy, as much I like what Ted came out, as a philosophy, over his journey. It is real, based on a real period of his life, and has definitely has some impact on him. Would love to meet that guy one day.

Here are some sentences from his book I would like to write down:

• Does it rain because you carry your umbrella, or because you don’t? It’s a personal matter depending on how you remember it.
• There is nothing left for me to do but gather up my souvenirs and fly back to Nairobi. I wonder, would it have been like that if I had arrived on my motorcycle? I am sure it wouldn’t.
• Instant information is instant obsolete. Only the most banal ideas can successfully cross great distances et the speed of light. And anything that travels very far very fast is scarcely worth transporting, especially the tourist (TT’s note: that is why when you travel on your motorcycle alone or in a group you aren’t seen as a turist but more as a person trying tgo learn and blend in, in most regions).

There are many more interesting ideas and thoughts in Ted’s book but I suggest you discover them on your own.

Thanks Ted for being one of those who learn the world at a human speed, on two wheels.

Just finished reading the book about Ewan McGregors and Charley Boorman's ride around the world called "Long Way Round".

It is good to read about biker experiences and to see that we do all experiment the same sort of very special moments in countries without all the consumerism existing in our so called "rich countries". It is funny that the less people have the more they are willing to share! During my North Pole skydive, during the time spent in Siberia, during the run in desert, in all those places I met extraordinary people who like for Ewan and Charley helped me think and get out of our over stressed world.

Among the sentences of their book I really liked are:

• Ewan: "But, above all, there's something about riding a bike - the concentration and the single-mindedness of it, and the desire to get it right, taking a corner fast without losing control, doing it beautifully, getting into a groove and winning the battle between your head telling you to do one thing, the bike wanting to do another and your body in between - that I miss like hell if I don't get to ride it every day."


• Ewan: "However, riding a bike is not just about going flat-out fast. It is also about taking your time, steadily eating up th emiles, cruising the highways, letting the raod take you wherever it's going and not worrying about the destination, just enjoying the journey."


• Ewan: "...we are all the same: we all love our kids, we all need somewhere to sleep and some food. We all want the same things; the world isn't that big a place. ...if the likes of President ...had spent some time finding out what was happening outside their own countries, they would recognise what all people of all nationalities and religions have in comon, instead of focusing on th edifferences, and maybe the world wouldn't be in such a mess."

I have to say that reading this book just gave me one more good reason to do my job: go on meeting people, learn about them and make new friends.

We can’t complain about our job, definitely not but sometimes it is great to just go for a ride alone, for a private, personal, egoistical ride. Just one day of to add some more hundreds of kilometers on the clock!

Today was my day of! My day to take my beloved R1200RT on the twisty Provence roads, just the bike, me and the curves!

Not too warm, not too cold, a nice smiley sun, all the people either at work on laying like fat steaks on the beach, the perfect day to enjoy motorcycle riding!

It was one of those rides without any goal, just an idea of where I would like to go, what places I wanted to see, what type of scenery I was in mood for. The type of ride you keep the helmet visor open most of the time to enjoy the great variety of smells expelled by the trees, the warmed grass and bushes. The type of ride the music of the engine enhances, and you can feel the bike is happy too!

Sometimes another biker who took the same decision waves at you and funny enough the only RT’s I drove by where red ones too! Excellent!
A nice ride with a delicious mix of pine forests and little villages, followed by dry plateaus (right in the middle of a military tank shooting range), and then the Verdon canyon with its impressive cliffs. It is always the same blast to see how great the roads are inland far away from the main roads destroyed by trucks and tons of cars. It seems that those small twisty roads have been designed just for us bikers, and what a pleasure to see the “Dangerous curves ahead for 20km” sign!

A little break on the way home for some food and some quiet time reading a good book (“The Long way round” from McGregor and Boorman, a really good biker and travel book I recommend for your evenings on the beach, swimming pool or little French village square when you attend a Motorcycle tour). At the end of the ride the clock just got 250 more kms, not even noticing the time fly!

A perfect biker’s day!

Among the books one should take to relax during a motorcycle tour there is the one written by Sonny Barger, one of the Hell’s Angels founding members.

You can have your own view about the Hell’s Angels but that book gives you a different point of view, one from the inside, and well it opens your mind.

You can even feel somehow “shaken” by that story and get somehow attracted to the Hell’s Angels from their original philosophy, and to the current one as long as it still exists (I hope so).

Now if you register to the web site you will find at the end of the book your dream about freedom and friendship may get a bit of “lead in the wings” as you will get sucked into the perfect marketing spiral around Sonny nowadays (a bit far from the Hell’s Angels lifestyle and mindset), but why shouldn’t he make good money with his life story and image?

An interesting book to enjoy as a biker but also as a non biker when you want to have an idea about the way motorcycle riders gather together and why, being it the Hell’s Angels or other groups.

For all those of use who like long rides and travels there is one adventure most of us heard about : Charley Boorman and Erwan Mc Gregor’s Long Way Round ™.

After having noticed one can circle the world with a motorcycle they decided in April 2004 to get from London to New-York across Europe, Asia and Norther America! Quite a nice trip!

During the 115 days long journey their best friends were two BMW R1150GS ADVENTURE they did prepare themselves. Don’t expect to see two movie stars playing the heroes! They are real bikers and did that ride as such! Which makes any special moment a great human one. And for having had the chance to listen to Charley during the 2005 BMW Biker Meeting I have to say he is a cool guy! and I liked the fact that his best souvenir from the ride was: arriving home and being again with his family!

UK based people could enjoy the TV show in 7 or 8 episodes documenting their fantastic adventure. For those who couldn’t the video (DVD) is available as well as the book!

While attending a Motorcycle Tour this is a very nice reading while relaxing on the beach or in the sun enjoying a nice drink.

As BMW bikers living in Europe we have to attend the BMW Biker Meeting, which takes place for some years now in the Bavarian town of Garmisch Partenkirschen (you need a warm potato in the mouth to be able to speak out that name properly). Getting up there is a first good reason as the roads all around are gorgeous and get you close to the Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Germany).

Of course if you aren’t that interested in BMWs you may find it a bit boring up there, even though this year a whole group of Ducati fans was there and enjoyed the meeting as much as the Beemer guys! It really gives you the feeling the whole quiet German alpine town got invaded by bikers! They are every where! As a biker it makes you feel well! That is how the world should be! Bikes every where and people happy to see you! BMWs every where! From the oldest to the youngest! Any third party related to BMW presents accessories, equipment or tours, you can even get a good shave or fresh hair cut up there!

Among the cool stuff to do once you have bought your traditional Biker Meeting Tee-shirt or cap is to (get a beer of course) enjoy the off-road track, get the power of your bike measured, go for a test ride or join the BIG (more than 1.000 bikes in 2005) bike ride on Saturday afternoon!

It is obvious that a three day meeting needs also food and beverages! Hey it is in Bavaria! Place for excellent beer! And food! In the main tent (they manage to get approx. 10.000 people or more in there…standing ;) ) every night a big party takes place and now for two years the Blechblos'n group just makes the Saturday night a blast!

For those who like the cool camping life there are many spots around the Biker Meeting place where you can put your tent, but make sure you arrive early. For the other ones Garmisch Partenkirschen has many nice hotels, but considering all the bikes we saw each year parked in front of them, make sure you book a long time in advance.

Have a look at the BMW site for more details on the 2006 Biker Meeting page under "Fascination"! We may meet you there!

Ok not really a best ride souvenir but a lovely pair of photos taken during the BMW Biker Meetings:


Experts will for sure identify the model and the age of the beauty!
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This next one -->
illustrates perfectly the "boys and their toys" saying :)

Don't take that opportunity to say that beemers have wood stiff suspensions :)



For those who don't like BMWs or think we should show other brands: no problem at all just email us your pics and their caption and we will post them ni the "My bike" section!

This "souvenir" goes back 5 years or so.

At that time I was riding a nice Blue Honda CBR1100XX Superblackbird. On that sunny Sunday I decided to go for a ride up in the Vercors (it is located in the South East of France close to Grenoble (use the following coordinates on GoogleEarth: 45°11'24.34"N,5°43'11.84" E).

Riding the XX on the twisty mountain roads was always exciting and a nice "fight" as the 164 Hp came with some weight! After 2 hours sporty riding I started to feel my style (yeah as if I had one/have one) starting to get worse by the second! It was time for a break!

I found a nice bield, slightly higher than the road. Stopped the bike, removed the leather jacket, the helmet, the boots and socks and laid down in the grassy field, in the sun looking at my bike!

It was quiet, the sun was warm and I just felt at the top of the world! Happy! Like in a great moment of Zen!

What made that moment even better was to see the few cars' drivers passing by looking at me with envy!
Those little moments of life just makes it perfect!

During a north pole expedition we had the "chance" to be locked in a hotel in Siberia (no worries was after the communist era) thanks to a very bad weather, perfectly uncompatible with a plane flying to the ice cap!

This gave us the opportunity to see that it is perfectly possible to ride a bike (well it was more a trike) by minus 40 degrees celcius!

The most interesting moment, aside the inventive way to get ropes around truck tires on that 250 or 125cc trike, was the "warm up"! I don't think Valentino Rossi and Co ever tried that!

As by those polar temperatures oil freezes in less than five minutes you have to find a way to get it warm. Well seems from that man's experience that a blow torch is the best way (just look at the gas tank 5 cms away from the flame ;)

The pictures tells it all! A bike made for the winners, the ultimate weapon when it comes to off road racing!

As you may notice I was not sponsored for that run through the Morroco desert! But it was a hell of ride!

Well honnestly this was a "sort off" Peugeot 102 that a guy uses every day in the desert! Don't ask me wheer he gets the gas or what use he can make of that beauty in the middle of now where!

It was there and I couldn't resiste to get on that super powerful beast!! Ahhh memories!

PS: the dressing code and very well shaved face are all part of the Marathon des Sables style ;)

Not that easy to select what could be qualified as the best ride momories! I mean we all have many! Each time we get on our bike for a ride it is a great time!

Well for me I would say that it was when I took my lady and my BMW R1150GS Adventure to Corsica!



We enjoyed so much the little twisty roads, the kindness of the people that it gave us the final kick to create Unicorn Adventures Ltd! (see www.unicornadventures.com). Corsica is definitely the place any biker should at least go once!

There are so many different roads, so many different sceneries (sea side, middle mountain, peaks, forests, rivers etc...), so many tiny secret places and of course great people! Describing the twisty roads up to Bavella, the very small ones around the cap Corse would take pages!

One cannot forget to talk about the pigs and cows in the middle of the road, a new surprise awaits you in each curve! The cool time under the trees when you climb up to the Corte from the west coast, the burning time you will spend analysing and perfecting your style on the smooth road alond the Agriates Desert, and those tiny roads aside rivers with their natural swimming pools perfect for a rest!



Corsica definitely stays as one of my best souvenirs!