Lying in bed after a long walk around Singapore Christmas eve, I could hear Noof singing in the shower while I was browsing my phone trying to find any interesting ride around the world after my Indian Himalayas and Thailand adventures. I was thinking of the Silk Road on a motorcycle, so I used the keywords on google! First hit was globebusters, I went further through the website and read about Kevin & Julia Sanders, I went and googled them and wow, they both are a Guinness record holder in circumnavigating the world in 19 days! They are famous! I don’t think they would ever respond to my request. I have sent the email to ask about the London- Lhasa adventure as promoted on the website and I was shocked that I have received a reply by Kevin a day after, telling me it would actually end in Beijing. He asked some questions about my riding skills, since I am not living in Europe, he wouldn’t be asking me to travel all the way to UK to test my riding skills. So, he just asked me about what rides or trips I have done, and accepted me on board. I have done the Touratech course, both intro and advanced, prepared myself for the trip, tried to get sponsors on board but managed to get Qatar Charity to provide artificial limbs for children around the world and I was featuring my daily activities on all social media platform and channel of Aljazeera. Those 2 have put me on the spotlight on all around the media and this kind of gave me an ego like I am a real-world traveler!
I have done all preparation and sent my bike to UK then did lots of media interviews with newspapers and TV channels which increased my ego until the day has come when I am riding towards Crowne plaza hotel where I will be meeting with Kevin and all the riders who would do the silk road with me. I had my fully equipped bike with lots of stuff in and a taxi following me with more stuff. Everything I was wearing and fixed on the bike was brand new, the start of that day wasn’t that good as I have lost my way to the hotel. Took me 2 hours to find my way and as I have reached the barrier I could see lots of bikes parked and some guys chatting, I could imagine them looking at my bike arriving with my yellow head lights approaching, the barrier is opening, I can hear rocky film’s song playing in my head! Here’s the champ of the silk road arriving, the barrier is opening, and suddenly, I lost balance, and dropped my bike! The most embarrassing moment in my entire life, I have never ever dropped this bike on the road! It just happened there in front of everybody! And I remember Kevin wrote on guidance notes if he notices anybody not riding well enough, he would be evicted from the trip! This was so worrying! And guess what! Out of all riders standing there, only Kevin comes to pick the bike up and shake hands with me! I was exhausted, breathing heavily and sweating, because I have tried to lift the bike “as per the training I have done” and could not which have got me so embarrassed! Kevin has noticed how embarrassed I was that he told me to just keep the bike where it is, get settled, check in, unpack and then move the bike further in. I was so embarrassed that I have forgot my tank bag, helmet and satnav on the bike and went inside.
this is how i was fully loaded on the first day riding to Crowne plaza
I was so worried what would Kevin think, whether he would take on the tour with them or think I am not fit enough for this route. I was just sitting by the bike thinking of how my riding skills are compared to those bikes that are full of stickers who conquered the whole world. This moment the big ego inside of me started deflating and I went back to zero. I think I should thank God for this! Imagine if I have started the tour with that ego? I would think I am better than everybody else and then end up crashing somewhere in Europe. During that time I was on my bike, I see a skinny man approaching his bike with a smile, and with his French accent: don’t worry brother, I am just like you, last time I was on a bike when I was 17 years old, we are going to ride together and watch each other, I am Hubert, call me UB! We shook hands and walked back in. that moment I felt a bit relieved and got a bit of my smashed confidence, prepared for next day big ride, from Ace Café London.
the stuff i took with me in the room! i didnt have inner bags
i was too exhausted on day one, i did not sleep at all
First day was really interesting, all I remember that I didn’t sleep the night before, it was a big day to me, didn’t know whether I will finish this trip or not. Especially that I still have one visa pending, and my motorcycle title was forgotten by the freight company in Qatar. But thanks god Roddy managed to get it to me at the Ace café. We kicked off the ride in a group, I still did not understand the riding style of Kevin. I thought we would be going in a convoy all the way, until we reached the highway and I started seeing bikes spreading on different direction, I was still sticking on riding behind Kevin and Julia all the way until Riems! I still remember we were Kevin & Julia, Jaris, Martin and I. we stopped for coffee couple of times and then reached Riems. Next day I was the last who left because I thought I would be called for another convoy ride, then I started realizing that all is gone, except Antoine who was spending moments with his wife. I carried on, using the satnav, “I did not understand how route notes work either” so I was wondering why would we follow all these steps while I can just go to the ending point? And that what I did, I simply entered the address of the Maritim hotel in Ulm/Germany without bothering on the rest of the notes. Apparently, Kevin is making the riding day more challenging, interesting and passing through some attraction and great riding tracks. Which I all missed, because simply didn’t understand how notes works, or even how to enter coordinates of the waypoints he pointed on the notes. It took me a week until I started realizing how I manage my satnav, by that time the ride became more interactive and interesting, because I have started following all the waypoints, especially after getting lost trying to reach Dubrovnik because it took me to a longer route, that day I have dropped the bike again and luckily I was alone, and no one helped me pick it up, except that pretty Croatian girl who was driving a van with her child, she spotted me looking at her, and my face was saying: SOS! She was so fragile and tiny, said to me: I don’t think I can do much but I will help you! She did and we lifted the bike.
taken a selfie by the lake in Croatia, moments later i dropped the bike!
stopped for some photos with Trevor, from New Zealand
with Julia and a local man in Montnegro
how nervous did i look? that was the official day 1 in Ace Cafe London
moments before kicking off
Day by day I started realizing the unique riding style of Kevin and Julia and adoring the leadership style of Kevin, how he managed the daily 7 pm briefing, how he is always in one mood, never seen him upset or disliking any behavior, the amount of positive energy he injects in us by smiling and showing excitements always. Even when his mother passed away in Argentina, we didn’t see any of his sadness, he chose to isolate himself and left without seeing him, instead, Julia did a great job by just being normal and herself until she told us the sad news and started tearing up. It is always important to have such a spirit like Kevin and Julia to get it going, especially going through deadly roads, lack of comfort and sleep we need such a spirit.
It is a great way of riding when you feel you travel solo and at the same time you feel you are supported and a support van is located somewhere, half an hour after the last rider. A great way to give the rider independence and company the same time. You could bump into another rider when stopping for coffee, or you could agree to ride with another rider for a day or 2, ride early morning have multiple stops, have a late wake up and lazy start, all these are open options when riding with Kevin & Julia. As I always say Globebusters is Kevin & Julia, I would never ride with the same company if they are not leading it.
Alan, The van driver, when my bike broke down in Canada, dropped me in Calgary, great support by Alan
i think my bike went into the Van 3-4 times, this time was the last 20 KM of trans americas when reached Uruguay
bike was lifted into the Van when drive shaft was broken in Canada
Dom Davis, one of the support riders with Globebusters
one of the great things done by Globebusters was the official dinners we had once every few days. this was in Turkey during Ace to Ace 2017
Going live with Kevin on Aljazeera channel when we were in Cappaducia
one of the special moments after long riding days!