The Arctic Rider

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...

HELLO! Thank you for reading the latest edition of The Arctic Rider blog.  For those new to the blog, this summer I'll be riding ~5,000 miles in 2 weeks to across Canada and Alaska including 800 miles on the notorious Ice-road 'The Dalton Highway', deep inside the Arctic Circle... all to raise money for 2 charities, Tiny Lives Trust and Cerebra. The first big news of this update is that.. I FINALLY HAVE A BIKE... pretty fundamental to a doing a charity motorbike ride right? After months of negotiations, I'm very happy to share that Suzuki Bikes UK have agreed to give me their brand new V-Strom 1000 XT to do the trip on. Its all gone a bit Ewan & Charley and it doesn't feel real that one of the biggest bike companies on the planet as agreed to give me a bike to do the trip on. The team at Suzuki have been really supportive of my challenges ever since my Arctic Ride 2014 and have really stepped up to support me in the biggest way possible. I feel ve...

Hello and welcome to The Arctic Rider blog, I'm very pleased to announce the launch of The Arctic Rider Motorbike Raffle, supporting Tiny Lives Trust and my Arctic Ride Alaska fundraising. We have 13 great motorbike related prizes worth over  £800!!  Check out the prizes below and buy a ticket. All money raised goes to Tiny Lives Trust and is part of my Arctic Ride Alaska fundraising. Prizes Shark Spartan helmet (in choice of black or white) - RRP £299.99 Frank Thomas Stealth Textile Jacket (XL-46) - RRP £139.99 RST Tour Master II Jacket (XL-46) - RRP £119.99 DFDS Seaways UK-France return crosssing for Car/Bike up-to 9 people VisorCat Wash/wipe system - RRP £34.99 Book - Into Africa: Africa by Motorcycle - Every Day an Adventure - RRP £13.99 - 4 available Arctic Ride 2014 DVD - RRP £10 - 4 available Each ticket costs £2.50 To buy a ticket for this raffle please make a donation at least £2.50 to  The Just Giving...

Greetings and Happy New Year to you all! How is it 2018 already? The years seems to be flying by... Its mad to think its coming up 4 years since I did my Arctic Ride to Nordkapp! The world needs to slow down a bit. 2018 means it's finally time for me to say "This year I'd heading to Alaska to take on The Dalton Highway"... How easy it rolls off the tongue... anxiety levels are starting to raise and the realization of what I have committed to do is starting to sink in. Its one of the things I live for but doing these rides, solo, takes a lot of fortitude and self belief. I must say the thought of leaving my wife and 2 young kids for a few weeks isn't the easiest either. Huge thanks to my wife Kirsty for supporting my dreams, this charity project, and for the weeks of stress she'll go through looking after the little nippers while I'm away. I'm very pleased to say that plans for Alaska are starting to progress although with only 148 days until my d...

Ahoy there! Welcome to The Arctic Rider blog! Last month I launched my Great Arctic Motorbike Challenge . If I'm going to achieve this mammoth challenge I need to get back to focusing on my next challenge, Arctic Ride Alaska: Riding the Dalton. So where are we at with the ride planning for Alaska, which is now only 8 months away. Well I still don't have a lot confirmed but I'm holding out to see what options become available. Lets break it down. THE BIKE - This holds the key to the whole ride at the moment. I'm still in discussions with a major motorcycle manufacturer to provide me a bike for the ride. If it all comes together it would be a dream come true. As you can imagine though, this is a very complicated process and there is still a lot to sort out. If this doesn't come together, I'll arrange to hire a bike from Anchorage. THE DATE- I still don't know exactly the dates I will be heading to Alaska due to the bike situation. The plan is still ...

Greetings! Thanks for checking out The Arctic Rider blog. Whilst I'm planning for my Alaska challenge next year (June 2018) I've also been letting my mind wonder into the future of The Arctic Rider post-Alaska... and, well, I think I've managed the build a monster that is going to keep me busy (and penniless) for a long time.. Introducing... THE GREAT ARCTIC MOTORBIKE CHALLENGE The Great Arctic Motorbike Challenge is a personal ambition to cross The Arctic Circle in every country possible by motorbike . I've set no time limit for this challenge. The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey). I'm currently sitting at 1 of 8. Lots of work to do... This is how I plan to complete it and become the undisputed Arctic Rider . ...

Greetings from the Arctic Rider, On this blog, for once, I'll be steering away from my motorbike exploits and talking about some other fundraising I have been doing. Don't worry, I'll soon be updating you all on where I am at with planning for my Arctic Ride Alaska next year :) Last week I completed my second Great North Run. For those of you that don't know, The Great North Run is an annual half-marathon held in the North East of England. The 13.1 mile course starts in Newcastle upon Tyne and finishes on the East Coast at South Shields. The run is known worldwide and this year had over 57,000 participants, including yours truly. The Great North Run course Now I'm not really a big runner but in recent years I've started running a lot more because: a) Its cheaper than the gym (more money for motorbike parts) b) You need less time to pop out for a run (having two young children this really makes a difference + more time to ride my motorbike) c) Its j...

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...

Hi there, Thanks for checking in to my latest Arctic Ride Alaska blog update. I'm still very much in the research and planning stage of my ride but the current plan is to complete the ride in Summer 2018. I still haven't confirmed what bike I'll use or the exact dates but I'm working very hard to get the bike and dates nailed down. I'm also working hard to secure some more corporate sponsors of the ride to raise as much money as possible for Tiny Lives and Cerebra . If you are interested in discussing cooperate sponsorship, please get in touch via this blog or my social media. While the 2,000 mile Arctic Ride Alaska isn't as long as my 6,000 mile trip to Arctic Norway in 2014, its certainly more dangerous for several factors, including; the even more unpredictable weather , the wildlife , and the road itself ... The Dalton Highway has the distinction of (among other things) having the longest stretch of serviceless road in North America ....more to come...

Hello! Welcome the latest Arctic Rider blog. Plans for my Arctic Ride Alaska in 2018 are steaming ahead. I've been doing a lot of work to try and make this ride as big of a success as my Arctic Ride to Norway in 2014 and my Iron Butt challenge last year. However the main contributor isn't the work I put in but the people who are supporting me through re-tweets, like, and views on YouTube, and ultimately donations to the charities. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far! The past few weeks have been busy and I've had some similar questions coming from colleagues, friends, and family about my trip and progress, so I thought I'd address this update with the questions I've been asked. What bike are you using? Kawasaki KLX650 I'd love to have done this ride on my trusty Suzuki which took me to Arctic Norway and back, and on my Iron Butt ride but it simply isn't workable for 2 reasons. Firstly the cost of shipping my bike to and from A...

Hello! Its been a few weeks since I announced that I will be heading to Alaska in 2018 to take on the notorious Dalton Highway to raise funds for Cerebra and Tiny Lives. I've been working flat out on lots of different items including; a sponsorship prospectus, project plan, contacting airlines to try and get sponsorship for my travel across the Atlantic, as well as designing a new logo for the ride (see below). The new Arctic Ride Alaska logo Arctic Ride Alaska is going to be by far my most difficult charity challenge yet for a few reasons. First of all I'm going to be on the other side of the planet, very far away from my support network and a full 9 hours behind UK time. This means I'll only have a short window to report back to my sponsors, media, and most importantly my wife and children.  Secondly I'm not going to be riding my own bike. The cost of transporting my bike to Alaska and back was going to be more than I paid for the thing, and a sports to...