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Its on like donkey kong

Hello!

Welcome to the latest Arctic Rider blog. For those new to the blog or who need a refresh, this summer I'm taking on my next solo charity motorbike challenge. I will be me riding over 5,000 miles in two weeks across Canada and Alaska to reach The Arctic Circle in North America and take on the menacing Dalton Highway (800 miles of gravel, mud, mosquitoes, mountain ranges, and angry truckers). All this to raise money for two charities close to my heart in Tiny Lives Trust and Cerebra.

In my last blog I was trilled to announce that I have the backing of one of the world's biggest motorcycle manufactures Suzuki who are giving me their latest and greatest Adventure bike the V-Strom 1000 XT to do the ride on. It still feels like a dream that this has happened and I am so grateful to James and the Suzuki GB team for their amazing support and faith in me.

V Strom 1000 XT will be my trusty steed for the trip

I've not been able to do as much updating on the blog and social media recently, and only a few weeks ago I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to do the trip this summer. The main reason I support Tiny Lives Trust through this charity project is because both of my children were born prematurely and have had ongoing problem. My youngest, Hugo, has been in and out of hospital this year and was in only few weeks ago, which is what had thrown my trip into doubt. While I'm committed to the great charities I support, family always comes first.

Hugo chilling on the ward at The Great North Children's Hospital
After some long conversations with my (long suffering biker-widow) wife Kirsty, we agreed that the right thing to do was to press ahead with my trip to Canada and Alaska, and raise even more money to help other families and premature babies in the North East of England like Hugo and his big sister Islay. Due to this though I've decided to push back my departure date a few weeks from early June to late June to give me time to get ready.

I must say The Arctic Rider project would be nothing without the support from Kirsty. This time she'll be holding at fort at home for 3 weeks with a pre-schooler and a baby, while I'm fighting bears and mosquitoes in Northern North America. Those who've been following since my early trips will remember I left a 6-month pregnant Kirsty while I sent off for Nordkapp in 2014.. what a lass!

My long-suffering and supportive wife Kirsty and I at my departure for Arctic Ride 2014
So now I have the bike all sorted so I'm pretty much ready to set off, right? ... WRONG I still have a long list of activities to complete pre-departure including:

  • Collect the bike from Suzuki GB HQ in Milton Keynes
  • Test the bike out on a pre-trip trip to Scotland
  • Arrange and complete off road training (Moto Scotland my previous partner had to cease training in December which meant my February course was cancelled).
  • Book my flights to Canada
  • Book the bike freight to Canada
  • Canadian Visa
  • US Visa
  • Arrange insurance and breakdown cover for Canada and USA
  • Arrange adventure travel insurance
  • Buy new sleeping bag
  • Draw charity raffle (tickets here)
As you can see I still have a lot to do.. 67 days to go... I better pull my finger out!

Thanks for reading and remember you can donate to my ride, with all money going direct to the charities at my Virgin Money Giving site.

Look out for my next updates.

Ride safe,

Gordon


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