The Arctic Rider

Hello! Welcome back to The Arctic Rider blog! 5 weeks today I'll be setting off once again for the Arctic Circle on my motorbike to raise money for charity. I wanted to do a quick blog to share my route with you all. Its been chopping and changing due to different flights, not knowing what bike I was going to be riding, and where I needed to start from but now that it is all sorted I can share with you my plans. Now I'm going to be honest, this route looks tough... very tough for a number of reasons. Firstly, the mileage. I've got around 5,800 miles to ride in 18 days... but 2 of those days the bike and I will be flying, so its actually 16 days.. meaning I have to average 360 miles per day.. I've also included 2x contingency days into my plans, so its actually more like 400 miles per day   with a few 500+ mile days thrown in there for good measure. Now I might have completed the UK end to end Iron Butt which was an 875 mile day but that just about killed me. ...

Hello! Welcome to the The Arctic Rider blog. This summer I'm heading to Canada and Alaska to take on the mighty Dalton Highway to raise money for Tiny Lives Trust and Cerebra, 2 great charities. Since my last blog, there have been some major developments. Firstly, I've booked my flights! So I now have an official start date. I fly to Calgary from London on the 27th June meaning my departure date from Newcastle will be 26th June. That gives me just 45 days until liftoff! Wow its getting close. Secondly, and the really big news is that I now have the bike! I must say it felt like this day would never come and I feel so privileged to have the backing of Suzuki for my ride. I feel even more lucky that they have given me a brand new VStrom 1000 XT to do the ride on. What started as a hopeful, pie-in-the-sky email, has ended up with the bike sitting in my garage.. I think I'm still in shock. 'Morning Gordon' at Newcastle station Now it wasn't the mo...

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 ...