The Arctic Rider

Hi everyone, Welcome to Day 8 of my Arctic Ride blog! I can't believe I've been on the road 1 week and I'm still not turning around yet! Most bikes trips last for a few days so it's weird to still be travelling North. I started my day departing my cosy cabin in Nesna on the West coast before riding another stunning mountain pass through to Mo I Rana to meet Hallvard. One thing I have noticed as I travel further North is that the roads are getting harder and harder to ride. As they get smaller, the surface becomes poorer, and more gravel enters the scene. A few times this morning I felt the back end start to go on the gravel so I had to ease up and adjust my position. I headed to Mo I Rana to meet my friends and guides Hallvard, Roy, and Aud who rode with me yesterday. We started the day by having a coffee and a bite at a cafe that Hallvard said I would like the name of... Bimbo's... Maybe it means something different in Norwegian. I knew I was going to be heading in...

Hello and welcome to the blog for day 7. Day 7 was another action packed day (you get a lot of those on the road) with a lot of miles to get through. After getting a decent nights kip at Lars' place and a hearty breakfast (Danish bread and eggs) I set off from Trondiem for Northern Norway. In the morning I went through Hell! No, literally I drove through the town of Hell just north of Trondheim. I did have a minor hiccup with my kit in the morning though as my camelback leaked as I hadn't tightened the cap properly so I got a wet arse and Brain, my mascot, got soaked too! Luckily after an hours riding the sun came out and dried me off. Also the roads cleared of traffic about 10am so I really started to eat up the miles before stopping for lunch in a picturesque little town. Even though the sun was out, as I get further and further North it's still cold especially with the wind chill when riding the bike. After doing close to 150 miles I t...

Hello all! Wow I can't believe Day 6 is done and I'm getting further and further North. I'm now in line with Iceland and getting closer to the Arctic and the most North I've even been. It's national holiday in Norway today and I started my day packing the tent and then looking for a petrol station. The first one I came to was shut, and with only half a tank I thought 'the woman at the campsite has lied to me about petrol stations being open on national holidays' luckily my negativity was turned on its head like an egg timer when, 50yards down the road, there was a petrol station that was open as a can of irn bru in a Scotsman's hand (it was open and empty). I filled up and hit the road for Trondhiem. Like yesterday, the road was amazing and I saw the snow peaked mountains I would be passing through. Dispite the slow speed limits, I was making good progress through the pass when suddenly the traffic came to a stop. As all bikers do, I jumped to the front ...

Hi everyone, Welcome to Day 5 of the blog! I can't believe I've been on the road the best sort of a week and I'm 1800moles from home and in Norway! You might think I'll make it to Nordkapp in no time tvthis rate but the motorways are no more and it's strict 52mph sped limits and twistys all the way to Nordkapp from here. With my wife Kirsty swanning off (having a well deserved holiday) I'm on blog duty again so don't expect as much humour. I live writing ten really and hope you enjoy reading. She has been so supportive and understanding as have been social media guru while I'm offline and riding! What a star!! Today had everything, the best road I've ever ridden (E16 / 15) snowed mountain passes, waterfalls, road so close to rapids I got water on my face, glorious sunshine, gravel (I know Paul Mcanlly - I was bricking it) prop planes landing over my head, empty roads, and a full days riding with a friend. I had planned to take the E6 route to Otta bu...

Greetings! Welcome to day 4 of Arctic Ride 2014. Today I've ridden another 360 odd miles from near Malmo in Sweden to Norways capital Oslo. I started the day on a bit of a downer. I has a sh..ocking nights sleep and got a bit of bad feedback about my trip. After being pissed off and feeling sorry for myself I had a look on facebook and twitter and saw all the support and well wishes. And I pretty much decided.. Stuff the 1 negative person.. I'm doing this for a reason and I'm going to ride my bike to the Arctic. I set off fully loaded up the motorway. Today's as progress was hampered slightly but not being on the autobahn and the notorious Scandinavian police find. The weather was sunny but cool ad windy so I stopped after 120 miles rather than 160 to warm up. It was here Brian and I grabbed a sandwich and saw a woman drive up to a petrol pump on a lawnmower, fill up, and leave :s not what i usually see at the pumps in whitely bay. Usually The most entertaining scene is...

Ahoy there blog readers! It's Gordon here and Welcome to day 3 of my trip. I hope you have been enjoying the blog pots by my wife Kirsty and I. It's seems Kirsty's posts are getting better reviews for her humour so I'll try and keep up. It was another glorious day across Europe an after being awoken by a crow (who needs an alarm clock) I paid up for the campsite, got showered and hit the road. I knew I had a few miles to cover (460 ish) but luckily I had the autobahn on my side so I made good progress. I passed Bremen and Hamburg before continuing North past Flensburg (where I first met Lirsty) and then into Denmark. I stopped just past the town of Middlefart (teehee) and had a bite of lunch (pitta bread, cheese triangle, and vacuum packed booked sausage) - for those who maybe don't quite think I'm roughing it this time, I'll have you know there was a Burger King at that services so I did pretty well to resist knowing my love of burgers. I carried on east th...

Hey all, Kirsty here. Just in case you don't know me (and if you don't..shame on u.. tee he he), I'm the wife of Gordon, arctic rider. He doesn't have wifi and spending most of his days on the back of his bike to complete his challenge of riding 6,000 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne to Nordkapp in the arctic circle (and back.. hopefully.. ) So he will be trying to write some blogs and social media updates and I will be helping with others. We speak to each other each night and he updates me on what goes on so that I can share it all with you lovely readers. :) So day two saw Gordon travelling from Dover, UK, across the channel to the continent through France, Belgium, Netherlands and finally to Germany. He had a very early start getting the first ferry across to Dunkirk and had got a link with a production company in Dover who were going to help him with some filming but unfortunately the guy's car helping him broke down, (hope its sorted now) and he literally ...

Hi everyone, So I'm finally on my way to the Arctic. I had a great send of this morning from St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley bay with my friends family and Cerebra there. I waved goodbye to my pregnant wife Kirsty and hit the Tarmac for Dover. I was escorted through Tynside by a police biker and several other bikes and was joined the whole way to Dovet by my friends Ant and Christine. The weather on the ride down was truly awful however my new boots did the trick and kept my feet dry. On the 360 miles ride I encoured rain that would have been out of place in the Noah film. Luckily my bike acted like the arc and kept me safe from the wave after wave of rain that kept coming. After 9 hours on the road due to much needed stops and heavy traffic I arrived in Dover greeted by sunshine and some welcoming camping neighbours. I was also able to use the campsites offices Wi-Fi to get this blog out so big thanks to the camping centre here! I must say a massive thanks to everyone who came...

Good day folks, Welcome to the latest instalment of the Arctic Ride 2014 blog! It's now only 6 days until I set off my mammoth charity ride to the Arctic Circle. Donations have been coming in thick and fast so thank you to everyone who has donated so far! I'm getting so close to my £2,500 target that I might actually break it before I depart next Saturday. If you want to donate visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/arcticride2014  Now one would think that the weekend before a 6,000 mile ride to the Arctic Circle you would use it for trip prep or get ting the last few item arranged... Well not me! I decided to do a test day and ride my bike 410 miles in 12 hours so I could meet up with the best and worst of the UKs (and beyond) moto vloggers in Nortingham at the annual monkey meet. On a beautiful May morning I set off just after 6.30 am and headed to Teeside to meet up with my mate Paul before the 160 mile ride to Nottingham. A few hours later we arrived in Nottingham and met up with ...

Hi everyone, I'm coming into the home straight for Arctic Ride prep and with only 9 days to go, its all coming together. I want to take the opportunity to say a massive thanks to all my sponsors, those who have donated, all my supporters on social media and beyond, and a special core of people, many of whom I didn't know this time last year, who have been instrumental in making all the preparations for my ride a success. I'm now over 85% of the way towards my target of £2,500 for Cerebra . The guys at MotorcycleHut.co.uk  have come on board to support my ride and have kindly offered with all donations to my Arctic Ride fund, you will get 20% off at MotorcycleHut.co.uk All you have to is donate any amount to Cerebra via my giving page , and you will get the offer code through to you. And if you have already donated and want to buy from motorcyclehut - then get in touch with me and I'll get the code to you... simples! Finally this week, I've b...

Hi everyone and welcome to the Arctic Ride 2014 blog. If you are new to the blog please check out the other pages on the site on the navigation bar including 'What is Arctic Ride 2014', 'The Charity - Cerebra', and 'The Route'. Its with great sadness that I start this week's blog with the news of the passing of Mick Anderson, NEMCRC Chairman, and great supporter of Arctic Ride 2014. NEMCRC are a sponsor of my trip and I've got to know Mick well over the past 12 months and he has been nothing but kind and generous to me. My thoughts go out to his family. Back to the trip and the work never ends. I've had another busy week doing interviews, buying kit, and getting my head around going. My wife Kirsty has been busying me buying practical items like insect repellent, sun tag cream, and fold down plastic cups. I have been buying items like a Suzuki lanyard, business cards, and an Arctic Ride mug... I think I need to start being more sensible...

3 weeks to go.. 3 weeks until I sit on my motorbike for 22 days straight... 3 weeks until I give up my warm house, comfy bed, oven, and chilled food... 3 weeks until I live the dream I've been having for the past 14 months. It's really starting to hit home that I've actually got to go and do this. I sat in my garden this morning, sipping away on a chamomile and honey tea, watching my cat eat some grass which she would throw back up when back in the house. I turned to my wife Kirsty and uttered the words "Sh*t, I've actually got to go and do this now". Kirsty responded with her usual upbeat response of 'You can do it' and 'You've done plenty of long rides before'. But this time is feels different. In the last few weeks I've been feeling the weight of expectation on my shoulders slowly increasing like a worlds strongest man contestant trying to squat a skip that is being filled with liquid concrete. "I'm goin...