PLEASE NOTE - I'm touring Sri Lanka until 30th July 09. I will not have access to emails, but a text message to 07973 429631 should get through if it's urgent.
TT Races 2010
From now on, my Isle of Man TT Races trip will be CAMPING ONLY. It's tried and tested. It works. I have 25 bike tickets and 5 pillion tickets booked for 2010.
ICELAND REVISITED - lets go back Again!
I'm putting together 2 more tours for next year, 2010. Exact dates to be agreed with groups for June & July - get in touch. Same trip as the one described below - or can be modified to suit group wishes. Kawsaki KLR 650s and a few Yamaha XT660 are reserved for our use. Riding Iceland has now merged with Biking Viking, so a wider range of bikes can now be used. I work with them to provide these trips, so see their websites for more photos and what to expect.
EXTRA BEST of THREE tour, due to demand. 11-13 September 2009
That was perhaps the best trip of its kind ever. Great people, great weather, stunning location, great pub, and Taylors Landlord as well. A rare combination unique to Britain.
Iceland (18th to 22nd June 2009) - short trip report
What can I say? Excellent. What a superlative adventure. I can honestly say that this was one of the best biking trips I have EVER been on, EVER. "One of the best?" No - on reflection, probably THE best short bike trip I've ever done. It helped that the group were handpicked. All were friends or past customers, and most knew their way around a trail bike. Everyone was warned that it could be tough - and IT WAS :)
I don't know which picture to use to sell it best. They're all good! I'll keep changing the photo. Click it to enlarge & display properly.
The Iceland tour will need to be written up in full gory detail, but I'll summarise here for now. We visited the Blue Lagoon after landing in Keflavic, for relaxation after several G&Ts on the aeroplane. We were taken on a mini-bus tour through the lava fields, before having a BBQ and setting up camp on the outskirts of Reykjavik. All in bright sunshine until 2.00am and beyond.
As planned, we rode up through the barren interior of Iceland ("Arctic Desert") on unpaved roads, after doing the tourist bit at Geysir & Gulfoss. Bye-bye bus tourists - we're all alone now. After a few little distractions trying to get some spare fuel (the XT's won't make it on one tankful across the interior) and a puncture, we made camp at Hveravellir, and lounged away the bright night in hot, sulphurous, steaming pools, drinking Brennivin with crazy naked Icelanders. A very strange evening indeed. 2.00am - bright sun in a huge blue sky, a hard frost under foot, we camped out again.
Again, bang on plan, we rode to the most Northerly point from there, to Sigulfjordur, which sits just a smidgeon beneath the Arctic Circle. We struck camp on the village green (nothing like a village green actually), and then partied for Iceland, along with the locals and weekend visitors who turned up to celebrate the longest day of the year, and the demise of the herring industry. These folks know how to play hard, when the mood takes them.
With a thick head, and a mouthfull of car wash, we rose early, swiftly packed the tents away, heading off by the crack of midday on Sunday, for our long trek back south. After a hundred km or so, of rather tedious road work, we hit the trails again.
This is where the adventure really got started. At the beginning of an easy unsurfaced road, we bought fuel and enquired whether the road ahead was "open". A grey-haired old lady looked up from her knitting, and informed us it was indeed open, and it was "easy going". Ha! Sure enough, it started off easy, but soon became a proper trail, along a river bed, with football sized boulders and rock steps. Not a problem for the experienced trail riding boys, but the road riders were now starting to struggle a bit.
We ploughed on. It got better & better. Miles from anywhere, we crossed a remote gravel airstrip. Then one of the guys chucked his bike over a steep edge. For a laugh. Rob was first on scene, and reported suspected broken shoulder, broken ribs and even a collapsed lung???? Not pretty. He put a brave face on, and gritted his teeth, but you could tell that Geordiegasman was now in great pain.
Time to put the rescue machine to work. We're 80 miles from the nearest road, so once again, "self-rescue" is in order. Rather extravagantly, we'd decided to go for 4x4 support on this trip, and now it seemed like a Really Good Idea.
Karen drove the truck, Rob (passenger / photographer until now) rode Clive's bike out, and Clive, better known as Geordie Gasman, set off on the most uncomfortable, bumpy, bone jarring ride to hospital he's ever had.
Progress was slow, the trail was quite tricky in parts, and then.......
We came to The River. OMG. Someone had to wade across first to ascertain how deep it was. Me. I pushed / powered the first bike through. Waist deep was the route I chose, although subsequent bikes found slightly shallower ways across. NOW, we had an adventure.
I was a long job. We eventually reached paved road at Husafell, but then had to go another 60-100km to Borgames and then Arkames to get Geordie Gasman to hospital. He was initially x-rayed and treated by midnight, then moved to a different clinic, and back at our motel by 02:30am. Black clouds outside, and hailstones battering the Velux windows. We didn't camp that night. Whimps that we are.
First X-rays suggested nothing much was broken, just a dislocated shoulder. We called Clive "The Great Pretender". He phoned me somewhat gleefully on Tuesday, to say later X-Rays confirmed he had suffered an unusual fracture of the Scapula.
A rainy ride back to Reykjavik Monday morning, then out by Icelandair in late afternoon. A Top Trip. Fantastic. Even Geordie Gasman thought so.
Right - who's next? Are you up for it? (some trail riding experience preferred, although we can arrange a pre-trip assessment, and some coaching if needed)
Read more here and see pictures and reports of other trips.
Tour News - EXTRA TOURS for August & September
The Dordogne & Picos tour in September isn't happening due to insufficient interest. It never sells as well as the others. Not sure why - great routes, great scenery, but good half board hotels throughout, and an expensive return ferry from Spain makes it quite a pricey trip. I must admit, although very pleasant, it's not my favourite trip, and maybe my own indifference shows through on this one. Apart from 1 long day, this tour is too "easy" for me. Too smooth, and not enough adventure elements for my liking.
So why flog a dead horse that rarely makes me a penny, and sometimes struggles to even break even?
Certain tours are always oversubscribed. One of these is my "Best of Three" long weekend ride in the UK, and I know Iceland is going to grow & grow, to become my flagship tour. So, I'll put my efforts into these instead.
Extra tours for 2009
Iceland
Friday 28th August to Tuesday 1st September - LOOKS LIKE THIS WILL BE THE WEEKEND WE DO THIS. TAKING RESERVATIONS NOW. Doh! a key member can't make this.. try 3rd to 7th September instead.
Or Friday 4th September to Tuesday 8th September.
This works fine as a 4 day trip.
(give or take one or two days – by agreement with group)
It's rough, it's tough, and it's camping. With 4x4 back up, current price estimate is £749, depending on exactly what we do, and the group size. It can be made easier, kept just the same as my last trip, or hopefully, one of these days, stretched a bit and made harder to include the Sprengisandur. This is an extended route, diagonally across the interior, with prolonged off road riding, and several river crossings to make.
Best of Three (UK) - AN OLD FAVOURITE
Friday 11th September to Sunday 13th September
3 day weekend, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Ideally back at Ravenglass (Lake District), priced as before.
YES - already taking bookings. Priced as before, same as April / May Best of three trips. Room sreserved, several folks signed up already.
Get in touch. I'm off to Sri Lanka now. Part holiday, part exploratory Bike Tour.
Sri Lanka will make a great Bike Tours future destination.
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