Define: Adventure Motorcycling

If you google photos of adventure motorcycling you will find a lot of photos of a BMW or a KTM, crossing a river or driving through a desert. They usually involve a lot of dust or water, a really expensive motorcycle, and a rider wearing several thousand dollars of riding suit. That is the “popular” image, that immediately pops into the heads of people; probably due to the popularity of “Long Way Round”….

My wife and I got the adventuring “bug” after watching “Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, so I can’t really blame people for immediately thinking of the image they conveyed in their show. We’ve bought the DVDs and have watched them repeatedly. We’ve added “Long Way Down” and “Race to Dakar“. I’ve been on the forums looking for hints that the next “Long Way” trip is going to happen. Rumor has it that it will start at the bottom of South America and end in North America somewhere. We are really hoping to be able to be there when they reach the end….

One thing that I have seen are a lot of comments about whether they are really adventuring. Some people think that since they have major sponsors, and back up teams, and follow up cars its not a REAL adventure. Conversely anyone that has been reading my blog could argue that what my wife and I are doing isn’t *real* adventuring. I suspect that “purists” believe that real motorcycle adventuring is riding your motorcycle, naked, into the deepest part of the jungle, or desert, with nothing but a bow and arrow, and 2 sticks to make fire with. To those people I would say:

Adventure is relative.

To have an adventure one doesn’t have to ride a motorcycle down a road that looks like a dried up creek bed, or camp in a desert, or ride through a foreign country. To have an adventure, you need to do something that makes you uncomfortable and stretches your personal limits. If your a multi-millionaire actor, maybe that means riding with a support crew. If your a “penniless” cabinetmaker, maybe that means riding a few hundred kilometers and camping on an island. Motorcycle adventuring isn’t about what you ride, or where; its about the adventure! If adventure means riding your motorcycle to get groceries, and you did it: I say good for you!

Eventually I do want to ride my motorcycle down a road that looks like a dried up creek bed, and camp in a desert, and ride in a foreign country, but I’m not there yet; and I have a long way to go. This blog is about my journey to that journey. Right now my adventures are small scale….

…….that doesn’t make them any less adventurous to me.