Skip to main content

3 weeks to go....

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 going to ride my bike 6,000 miles in 3 weeks to the Arctic Circle and back"... How easy it rolls of the tongue. I can't remember how many times I've said it over the past weeks to journalists, people on Twitter/Facebook, friends and work colleagues. But as the newspaper articles are printed and plonked on my desk at work,as I hear my interviews go out on radio, and as my twitter feed is filling up with online articles, suddenly I'm not just doing this for me, I'm not just doing this for the charity, but I'm doing it for every person who gives me a pat on the back or sends me a message of good luck.

Sweden, 2011
As some of you may know, back in 2011 I attempted and failed at this journey. I still managed to raise £1,700 for charity, but didn't meet my riding objective. I still remember that feeling, sitting next to the side of the road in Sweden with my bike un-rideable due to my crash waiting for the recovery truck. I felt like crap and at the mercy of my machine. It wasn't my physical condition that caused my stop, it wasn't the mental state, it was the fact that lost in a fight with a Jockey wheel lying in the road. And that's whats making me slightly anxious.

I know I'm up to the fight physically, I know I can handle the loneliness of the road but the unknown of the bike letting me down keeps running through my mind. What if I drop the bike? What if run of petrol? What if a reindeer hot wires the bike and steels it in the night? All questions I can't answer.

That all seems a bit down beat so to clarify.. I CAN'T WAIT TO SET OFF! I know its going to be the ride of a lifetime.

It has been a busy old 2 weeks since I last blogged. I've been doing lots of work behind the scenes getting things ready including buying equipment, interviewing people for my film, and following up with some of my sponsors for the final push.

Also I've been getting some press coverage too. I've had some articles in some of the papers here in the North East and some online stuff too. Devitt Insurance Ltd named me one of the Musts to follow on Twitter for bikers and MoreBikes.co.uk wrote a great article about my trip. Great stuff.

Also, I'm very pleased to announce that there is a Baby Arctic Rider on the way due in September! Kirsty and I are both very chuffed to be having a little girl and Kirsty continues to be super supportive about my trip.

A new addition to the Arctic Ride clan
Thanks for reading and please keep spreading the word about my trip.

And if you haven't already PLEASE DONATE!!!!!


Its safe and secure!

Ride safe!

Gordon


Popular posts from this blog

Suzuki GSX650F review

Hello there, And welcome to another edition of the Arctic Ride blog! My trip might be a distant memory (last year in fact) but there is still plenty to come from me both for Arctic Ride 2014 post trip (like this blog) and future adventures. I'm pleased to announce that earlier this week my blog reached 45,000 views which I am both pleased and humbled about. So with this blog I wanted to share my thoughts on the bike I rode on my ride to the Arctic this year, the Suzuki GSX650F. I've had many people ask me to review the bike and, well, here it is. My GSX 650F and I at the Arctic Circle in Norway As a background in my 9 years of riding I've ridden a smallish cross section of bikes, but I feel it has been enough for me to put some context behind my views on the GSX650F. An example of some of the bikes I have ridden include my first bike, Suzuki Marauder 125, a Yamaha Virago 535, Kawasaki ER5, SV650S, BMW LT 1200, Harley Davidson Street Glide 1800, and a Kawasaki ...

Why is the Dalton so dangerous?

Welcome to The Arctic Rider blog, Its now less than a year until I start my quest to conquer The Dalton Highway in Alaska, one of the worlds' most dangerous roads. The new 'Arctic Ride Alaska' poster I've still got a lot of planing to do and I've been working away in the background to get a lot of things firmed up, but I probably won't know the key parts of the trip, such as the exact dates I'll be going and the bike I'll be riding, until the Autumn. Anything I know before then I'll be staring with all you loyal readers of my blog. In this blog, I'll be covering why The Dalton Highway is so dangerous , and why I'm hoping you will share some of your very hard earned Pounds (and other currencies for non-UK readers) in exchange for the danger and suffering I'll be putting myself in next year. Firstly though, I must say a huge thanks to an unnamed Devitt Insurance employee who very kindly donated their employee-of-the month priz...

Looking back: Arctic Ride Iceland

Hello, Thanks for tuning into another edition of the Arctic Rider blog. Wow, so its been a week and a half since I returned from my epic trip to Arctic Iceland. The dust has settled and I'm back at work.. it almost feels as thought it never happened, a long and distant memory but luckily I have lots of photos to remind me it was real :) Day 12 - Southern Iceland The weather in Iceland completely battered me and I feel lucky to have got through this ride in one piece, having met other bikers who been blown off their bikes in the wind, dropped them on gravel roads, and been soaked to the skin by the rain. The battle against the elements was 100% worth it though to raise so much money for two amazing charities in Tiny Lives Trust and Cerebra. At the time of writing, Team Arctic Ride has raised OVER £5,000 for this ride. I'm honoured and humbled to have had such amazing support from so many dedicated supporters! I will be closing my donation page at midnight 31st July...