To Scotland

 Hello,

Welcome back to The Arctic Rider blog.

We've had some very Arctic weather in the past few weeks here in the UK with lots of snow, ice, and wind. The weather has been a constant reminder of my mission to ride my motorbike across the Arctic Circle in every country possible, and has had me pining to get back on the bike and be riding in the remote wilderness at the top of our of planet. 

As I said in my blog a few months ago, the continued restrictions caused by the global pandemic are making it rather tricky to plan my next multi-country Arctic ride to Russia (with no-less than 13 border crossings). In the past 2 months since my December blog, while the world has been making progress with vaccines and restrictions, the steer I'm getting from the media and some well informed professional connections is that restrictions are unlikely to be fully lifted any time soon and that 2021 is going to be very tricky logistically. On top of that, I also have my family and home responsibilities to think of. If I were to have to quarantine in a hotel upon my return for 10 days, this is extra pressure on my ever supportive wife, and potential work limitations need to be factored in.

The disappointment of crashing my bike in Sweden in 2011

While I've faced disappointment with The Arctic Rider before, crashing my bike in Sweden in 2011 and having to postpone my Alaska trip at short notice after an insurance issue in 2018, I feel it would be unwise to commit to such a trip as heading to Russia while there is so much up in the air (and that's before I factor in the danger of such a trip). Therefore I'm now planning to complete my Arctic Ride Russia in 2022. For everyone who has donated so far I can only offer my apologies and appreciate your understanding for the delay in completing this challenge.

Scotland 4 corners challenge

For 2021 I'm going to carry on planning with what I can which, shared in my last blog, is to press on with another endurance challenge here in the UK. In 2016 I completed an 'Iron Butt challenge' riding my bike the length of the UK from Lands End to John O'Groats 875miles in less than 24 hours (I did it in 18 hours in fact). This summer I plan to ride between the 4 extreme points (North, South, East, West) of mainland Scotland (764miles) in less than 24 hours to raise money for Tiny Lives Trust.

Tiny Lives support sick and premature babies at the RVI hospital in my hometown of Newcastle. Both of my kids (Islay, 6 & Hugo, 3) were born prematurely and Tiny Lives, alongside the staff on ward 35, The Special Care Baby Unit, supported them. This is my way of saying thank you.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more details of my Scotland 4 corners challenge soon.

Ride safe.

Gordon