The Arctic Rider

Hello, Welcome to the latest Arctic Rider blog. Its been 100 days since I last reached for my laptop to write a blog, although hopefully those how follow my Facebook and Twitter accounts will see I've been rather busy with all the follow up from my Arctic Ride Iceland. I've already had several articles posted about my ride with a few more to follow too. Suzuki news: NEWCASTLE TO THE ARCTIC CIRCLE ON A V-STROM 1000XT Biker and Bike: THE ARCTIC RIDER - THE ICELAND MOTORCYCLE TOUR Devitt Insurance blog:  THE ARCTIC RIDER’S EPIC TRIP TO ICELAND Traverse Magazine: SERVED OVER ICE (p84) Also, I've been working away editing the mass of footage I captured while on the Nordic island. So far I have put together a short video of the trip as well as Part 1 of the Arctic Ride Iceland series of videos. Part 2 of 3 is on its way very soon. So what's after Iceland? I've heard a lot of bikers who do year-long plus trips around the world come home with a sense of...

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...

Hi everyone. Welcome to the day 17 blog... my final day of Arctic Ride Iceland. Wow it’s been a blast. Where have the past 17 days gone? I started early (a theme of this trip) when I was awoken at 5am by the ships PA system wake up call. We were scheduled to arrive at 6.30am so I got up got, got myself freshened up, and headed onto deck to get some breakfast.  I begrudged paying £14.99 for an all-you-can each breakfast. I like to treat myself occasions on my trips but a croissant and a cup of tea was more than enough to start the fire burning for another long ride.  I got my kit packed away, left my cabin, by which time the car deck was open, so I went straight down and unstrapped the bike. I’d just finished tying my kit back onto the bike and it was time to get off the ferry. I zoomed down the ramp and back onto home soil. No sooner had I got excited to go, I sat and queued for 10minutes to get through passport control. That’s been the story off the trip.. rus...

Hi, Welcome to day 16’s blog. Not long until you no longer have to read my daily updates, haha.  I awoke this morning to a first for the trip. It’s the first time that I’ve been woken up by being cooked inside my own tent. It happened a few times on my Nordkapp run but regardless it’s not a fun way to wake up. Needless to say, the sun was out and it was hot.  I got the bike packed away and headed out of the campsite. I saw a superstore on my way in from the motorway last night so I headed there  to get some supplies. It was only when I arrived to an empty car park that I remembered it was Sunday, doh. Being on the road I’ve totally lost track of days and dates. Luckily I’d filled my tank last night so I jumped back into the autobahn and opened up the throttle.  I had an odd feeling when I first hit the road. I knew I ‘only’ had 250 miles to ride but I also had until 9pm to reach the ferry port, so I was time rich for a change. I was going to take ...

Hello there. Wow... somehow we’re on day 15 of this trip. I’m not sure where the time has gone.. it only seems a few days ago I was rushing down to Harwich to catch the ferry on day 1. Today started early again. The couchettes onboard the ship really arnt that comfy at all. I headed up on deck and got myself a cup of tea and a banana. I got freshened up, packed my kit away, and waiting for us to dock in Hirtshals (North of Denmark). We weren’t due in until 1230 and I was told that we’d be 30minites late getting a shore as some cargo needed to get off the ship first, urgh. I passed the time by chatting to a Swedish biker I’d meet as we were boarding in Iceland. We had a good chat about all things bikes, travelling, and work. It was really nice. There is something about the Scandinavian folk that really just seems to click with me  Finally we were allowed into the car deck to unload but it was another 30minites before I finally rolled off the ship. I made the wise choic...

Hello, Welcome to another edition of the Arctic Rider blog. Day 13 I awoke early to the sound of my alarm. I was determined not to sleep in as I had to be at the port by 8am to check in for my ship to Denmark. As I packed up the tent, I got chatting to a couple of other British bikers who’d been touring around Iceland for a few weeks and were on their way home. As it turns out one of them lives in Gosforth, about 5 miles from my house! After barely hearing another native British accent (apart from my ship buddy Jon) I bumped into a Geordie thousands of miles from home.  We chatted about how bad the weather had been and they told me how both their bikes had been blown off the road in the West Fjords  and they were rescued by some Icelandic truckers. Luckily they escaped major injuries but their bikes had taken a beating. I think I got lucky that I didn’t have a serious incident during my trip.  I got packed away and rode the few hundred metres from ...

Hello there!  Thanks for tuning into my Arctic Ride Iceland blog, riding my motorbike to the Arctic Circle to raise money for Tiny Lives Trust & Cerebra.  Day 12... wow. What a day! I started the day waking up inside a national park and a stones throw away from a glacier, where I’d camped last night. I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast so just grabbed an apple and started packing up my gear. I was on the road early knowing I had a long day ahead of me, with over 250 miles (a long way on these roads) to do to get me back to the port where I’d catch the ferry tomorrow morning.  The scenery along Iceland’s south coast (just like yesterday) was again truly stunning! You almost get immune to how beautiful it is as it’s constant. From one mountain range to the next, it’s just epic.  I stopped a few times to snap some photos, then I pulled into the ‘Iceberg Lagoon’ on recommendation of Olafur. Wow. This place was even more remarkable than the rest of ...