The Arctic Rider

Welcome to the latest Arctic Rider blog, Today was the day I was meant to be hitting the road bound for Arctic Russia on my latest charity motorbike challenge. Like with almost everyone , my plans have been impacted by the Coronavoirus pandemic which swept across the world in a matter of weeks.  Not long after picking up my new Vstrom 650XT, the bike to take me thousands of miles across Europe and into Russia on tarmac and gravel, it started to become clear that my trip might be in doubt. First it was Russia suspending its Visa programme. Then, in the blink of an eye, the whole of Europe was in lockdown and the realistic prospect of doing my trip in 2020 was finished.  Like most, I've spend the past few months trying to come to terms with what this whole situation means for me as a person, and for The Arctic Rider project. While I've had knock-backs before, crashing in Sweden in 2011, cancelling my Alaska trips with just weeks to go before departure in 2018, this time it diff...

Greetings, Welcome to the latest installment of The Arctic Rider blog. I want to start by saying a huge thanks to each and every one of you who reads this blog. Its always difficult to know if people will be interested in my ramblings about my motorbike trips to The Arctic, but, thanks to my google analytics, I can see there are still plenty of folk interested. Furthermore, to my amazement, I've had over 290,000 unique view of the blog since I started in 2011... seriously thanks for all the support! Now onto matters present, the route I'll be taking as I look to conquer another Arctic country crossing. Firstly, I must stress that Russia is literally the biggest country in the world and 11% of the world's total area, so picking where I was going to cross the Arctic Circle has taken a bit of time. With the help of the ever supportive Mrs Arctic Ride, we did A LOT of research to work out where its possible to cross the Arctic Circle by motorbike. The result of our r...

Hi all, Welcome back to The Arctic Rider blog. Its a been a super long time since I've posted on here, over a year in fact since back in November 2018! For those of you who follow my social media pages (search 'The Arctic Rider' on most platforms and you'll find me), you'll notice I'm still riding around the North of England, and spent time cutting my Iceland trip into a 4 part YouTube series ( click here  if you've not had the pleasure yet). I've also been doing a lot of running and trying to keep my 'Dad-bod' away, as well as hanging with my clan (aka Wife and Kids). Even though I've not been as active blogging, I am in the build up to my next trip. Not a day goes by, I mean that literally, when I'm not thinking about my next Arctic adventure. I'm actually obsessed. I've been doing my best to save money for a new bike too, as discussed in my last blog, have a more appropriate steed for some of the roads I'll face regar...

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 ...