Posts filed under Group Riding

The Trail from Hell - Clinton Smout

Nothing beats heading out for a riding adventure with a group of friends, enjoying the ride and having someone watch your back while you watch theirs. But, there are some things that you should keep in mind when it comes to riding with a group including safety, preparation and buddy etiquette. Clinton Smout, who’s in Baja, Mexico riding sweep on a commercial group ride, talks about group riding but not before he tells us about the most difficult day on the ride so far, on what he calls The Trail from Hell.

Posted on March 30, 2023 and filed under Group Riding.

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Leaving The Motorcycles Behind - Tom Medema

Why would anyone ride a motorcycle to an exotic location in a faraway place and then just leave the bike behind? To date, there are about 175 riders who have done just that. They’ve ridden these motorcycles on epic motorcycle adventures in which they traverse sand, mud, tough ground, through streams and even over mountains to deliver the motorcycles to park rangers working in underfunded areas. The ceremonial hand-off of the new motorcycle from the adventure rider philanthropist to park ranger is an emotional affair that is so powerful that it draws some of these riders back, year after year. And the great thing about it is that you could be going next.

Posted on February 23, 2023 and filed under Group Riding, Charity, Adventure Bike, Adventure.

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Mud, Sweat and Tears - Not Everyone Makes it Through - Wayne Mitchell

What is it about the Darien Gap that draws people to it? Is it the bot flies, the venomous snakes, the bandits, the extremely rough terrain? There are options for getting around it, by boat or plane and you won’t risk your motorcycle or your life by choosing an alternate route, yet still there are those who are fascinated by the Darien Gap, those who want to conquer it. In 2017, Wayne Mitchell and a group of ex-military friends rode from snowy Alaska to the furthest point in Argentina, but when they reached the Gap, they didn’t go around it, they went through it. After just one day of pushing the limits in the jungle, one of their team was forced to turn back to Panama. What was supposed to have been the dry season in the Darien Gap proved to be a monumental challenge with torrential rains, deep mud and broken down motorcycles.

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Yukon Travel - Clinton Smout

Clinton Smout, a regular on our Rider Skills segments, just returned from a trip to the Yukon, where he was the sweep and support rider for a commercial trip organizer. While he was on the trip, Jim and Clinton connected to talk about the Yukon and his experience in the Dusk to Dawn event in Dawson. After Clinton arrived back in Ontario, he called us up to tell us more about his trip and to give us some tips for riding in the Yukon, an amazing motorcycle destination in Canada.

Posted on June 23, 2022 and filed under Yukon, Group Riding.

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Gibb River Road Adventure - Kimberly, Western Australia

In the North West of Australia, lays the Kimberly Wilderness area and that’s where the famous Gibb River Road is found. The Gibb River Road is part of the Savannah Way road trip which crosses north Australia and is well known as a four wheel drive route, rugged and scenic, remote and sparsely serviced, and for this group of riders it’s also excellent adventure motorcycle country. Mike Beaton, Nevin Wittber and Ben Wittber share a common interest of motorcycles and adventure riding. Over the years they’ve refined their ride into a sort of well oiled machine, everything from route planning on a phone app, to repair gear and parts, and the correct amount of fuel and water required. Each team member has responsibilities, and they are all on the same travel page meaning they know how to ride together, in fact they even have rules for when to fuel and when to stop, and before you think this is going too far, you have to realize - this works for them.

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This is Totally Absurd | Keith Futcher

It all started when Keith Futcher saw a glossy photo in a glossy magazine that ignited a desire to ride a motorcycle to the Sahara to see a sunrise. Except Keith didn’t own a motorcycle, neither did his brother or his friend, both of whom were planning to go with him. Furthermore, they had no riding experience, and certainly none off-road, in fact none of them even possessed a licence to ride a motorcycle. In addition to all that, Keith would be 70 and still they made a plan to ride into the African desert - it was the real deal. (Image: Jason P. Howe)

Posted on November 11, 2021 and filed under Africa, Group Riding, Sahara, Royal Enfield.

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Vladivostok to Bulgaria - Navigating a World of Language Incommunicado

They called their group ‘The Siberian Seven’, the brainchild of retired rancher Kym Osborne and his wife, Lenore from Australia. Looking to step up their motorcycle adventures the plan was to travel to foreign countries where they couldn’t understand or read the local languages. They shipped their bikes from Melbourne to Vladivostok and over the six months on their motorcycle adventure they saw many incredible vistas and experienced everything from mishaps, broken bones, false accusations to tragedy.

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How Trip Planning Can Make Shorter Adventures Better

After planning for years, Martin Smith and six other riders from the USA and the UK went on a short trip to tour the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Martin is a planner, and for him that’s a big part of the adventure. On this episode, he talks about the short trips he does, how he plans for them, how he budgets his time, and how he feels diligent planning can make for a better adventure .

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Motorcycle Group Travel - Lessons Learned From Things Gone Wrong

On this episode we talk about group riding, the things that can go wrong, do go wrong and the lessons learned with Dan Collins, who runs Fresh Tracks, a company that focuses on team building, Rene Cormier, founder and guide at Renedian Adventures and Barak Naggan, guide at MotoDiscovery Tours.

Posted on February 7, 2020 and filed under Group Riding.

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