Setting off on the 1st of October 2012, from the Cenotaph in London, Bruce Smart AKA Teapotone started the journey that would fulfil a promise he made to his mum, just before she passed. Like so many, he had been glued to the exploits of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they travelled the world in their "Long Way Round" series.
Technology surrounds us these days and is now widespread even in the motorcycling world. Love it or loathe it, tech is here to stay and we bikers are able to take advantage of an array of software-controlled devices from riding aids on motorbikes to communication and navigation. How much we use is down to personal preference and requirements.
Personally, I am more on the analogue side of the fence. It is probably an age thing, a slight reluctance/inability to grasp how all the endless menus and permutations of the modern technology embedded in our devices and machines actually improve our day-to-day lives.
One of the issues I struggle with is that devices now offer so many options that I don’t actually need or want that they seem overly complicated to use and also overpriced as a result.
As most of my friends, family, and followers know, I am not great at off-road. Don't get me wrong I have done some over the years, my first bike being a Honda C50 field bike, which my brother and I used to use on a relative's farm, and later a CG125 that got very muddy on occasion, on the forest trails in North Yorkshire UK, but I never got into motocross or trail riding as a youngster. In later years I bought a BMW F650 and did a few gravel rides in Spain before selling it.
Every year bike show season comes around and we start to daydream about new bikes or pieces of kit however, in the last 2 years, we have missed out due to the global pandemic. The last show I went to before everything hit the fan was EICMA 2019, it was my first visit to Milan, and the show and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so when the opportunity came around again I jumped at it.
What better way to spend a sunny Sunday morning than messing about on dirt bikes!
It's been a good few years since I have been off road in any capacity, the last time being on our old BMW F650, riding some tracks in the valley near my home. This would be different though, a two and a half hour training session with a flat track twist.
Alan Whelan set off on his African adventure in search of the perfect cup of tea. Does such a thing exist and if so what makes it perfect? Is it the tea itself, the ceremony, the location, or the people you share it with?
The following paragraphs were written for a local magazine in June 2006 and are an account of my first ever track day, held at Ricardo Tormos Circuit on the outskirts of Valencia on the Costa Blanca.
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