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 2018, so if you would still like to donate then please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/thearcticrider.

Huge thanks also to some amazing companies who have helped me along the way:

• Suzuki Bikes UK who loaned me their latest Suzuki V-Strom 1000 XT adventure bike to do the ride on and tackle the crazy unpaved roads
• Devitt Insurance who insured the bike across Europe and shared my journey all over social media.
• Traverse Magazine who have been covering the Arctic Rider cause.
• Puddle Ducks North East who supported me with donations to Tiny Lives with their water safety week.

Regular readers and follows of my adventures won't need reminding that last year I had a kind of epiphany where I dreamed up The Great Arctic Motorbike Challenge. This is my person mission to cross The Arctic Circle in every country possible by motorbike. And of course each of these rides will be in the name of raising awareness for great charities.

As you can see from the above chart,  I've now completed 2 of the 8 countries by riding to Arctic Iceland. That leaves me 6 more, some more complicated than others. Also, I still have some very unfinished business with the Arctic Alaska challenge after the unforeseen events earlier this year which saw me cancel and re-plan at short notice and bring forward the Arctic Ride Iceland ride.

So whats next for The Arctic Rider? Well in the next few days I'll announce the total raised for the two charities as part of Arctic Ride Iceland, and the total for all my rides so far. Then I need to (sadly) give Suzuki back my trusty steed! However I'll be reunited with it at this year's Motorcycle Live show in Birmingham (UK) in November at the Suzuki stand.

The rest of my summer is then filled with media related work. I've got a few magazine articles to write over the summer for some publications about Iceland, The V-Strom 1000 XT, and planning motorbike adventures. I also need to consume all of the videos I took on my ride and turn them into a few YouTube episodes for all those who want to see for there own eyes what you've been reading on those blogs.

Finally, I need to start planning the next trip. At this stage I'm really not sure what I will tackle next or when. These trips are funded 100% by me so saving up for it, getting time off work, and getting my long suffering wife to agree to my departure all need to be considered.. but watch this space.

Thank you so much for reading, sharing, commenting, buying raffle tickets, and donating. You have all made such an impact on children around the UK supported by Tiny Lives Trust and Cerebra. I owe you all a beer and some stories!

Keep it real and, of course, ride safe.

Gordon