The 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...

Hi Everyone! Thanks for tuning in. For those who didn't see my announcements on social media last week, I've finally made public my plans for my next charity motorbike challenge.... I'm going to ALASKA   in 2018 to take on the DALTON HIGHYWAY! I created a 2 minute promo video about my challenge which you can view below or on my YouTube channel . In summary, 'Arctic Ride Alaska' will see me fly across the Atlantic to Anchorage in Southern Alaska to then ride to Prudhoe Bay, the most northerly town in Alaska, deep inside the Arctic Circle. The route is via the deadly Dalton Highway, one of the worlds most dangerous road. The total mileage of the ride is 2,000 miles with about half of that on the notoriously dangers Dalton Highway. I will be required to do a substantial amount of off-road riding. What the experts say - "Every year motorcyclists are killed on the Dalton Highway. Almost half of the highway is paved or chip sealed. The other half ca...

Welcome from The Arctic Rider! Thank you for joining to read my latest blog. Its been 3 months / 14 weeks / 100 days since I last took to the keyboard to write a blog post... I need to get my act together right? Thanks to everyone who has continued to visit my website in the meantime (no less than 10,000 views last month) and support my charity motorbike project. While its been a long time since I have blogged I've still been working very hard on my next adventure which is going to be my biggest and most challenging yet! While I'm not quite able to tell you where and when I'm going, what I can tell you is that I'm currently in talks with a global motorcycle manufacturer about using one of their bikes for the next trip, and I'm also in talks with a major UK motorcycle magazine about doing a feature too.  Keep your eyes peeled for the announcement in the next few weeks on my Facebook page and on YouTube. Iron Butt badge - Available to members only Alongsi...