Your Mileage May Vary

Adventure

Category: Overland (Page 4 of 10)

‘Put aside your fears and just go’ » Every person should read Elspeth Beard’s travel memoir

2019.11.24 /

In 1982, at the age of 23, halfway through her architecture studies, Elspeth Beard left her family and friends in London and set off on a 35,000-mile solo adventure around the world on her 1974 BMW R60/6. She returned 2 years later to become the first British woman to ride around the world.

Nicola Moyne »

‘I first rode a motorbike when I was sixteen; a friend was taking his Husqvarna down to Salisbury Plain and asked me along. I can’t say I was instantly hooked but in 1979 I bought a second hand 1974 BMW R60/6 with about 30,000 miles on the clock. It gave me an immense sense of freedom and over the next couple of years I gradually travelled further afield. My first trip was a tour of Scotland, then Ireland, finally progressing to a two-month trip around Europe in the summer of 1980.

‘The following summer I persuaded my brother, who had been picking apples in New Zealand, to meet me in Los Angeles where we bought an old BMW R75/5 and rode together across to Detroit. All these trips gradually built up my confidence, so when I got back, I bought a Haynes manual and set about stripping down parts of the engine to get my bike ready for a bigger trip across the globe. It was already eight years old and had done 45,000 miles so I replaced all the cables, bought a new battery, changed all the oils and put new tires on. I also took the cylinder heads off to fit an extra base gasket in order to lower the compression. I didn’t really know what I was doing but I had been told by a friendly mechanic at the BMW shop that this would be a good idea!

[…]

‘Travel helps us to understand other cultures and not just rely on what the media tells us. It’s easy to be afraid of things you don’t understand – that’s why it’s really important that people go and find out for themselves. Those two years on the road completely changed my life and made me the person I am today. They gave me the confidence to take on anything life throws at me without any fear. The truth is, you will always be able to come up with reasons why the time isn’t right. Put aside your fears and just go.’

Read the whole article at Marie Claire »

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/travel/elspeth-beard-660605

More » Ultimate Motorcycling

 

 

 

TransAmerica Trail » An overland drive across America

2019.11.19 /

The Trans America Trail is a roughly 8,000 km / 5,000 mile vechicular route that crosses the United States using a minimum of paved roads. It is meant to be for leisure, travelled by dual-sport motorcycles, off-road vehicle, or touring bicycle.

M. R. O’Connor »

He has sold thousands of self-made paper maps and road charts containing his idiosyncratic directions. Some people travel Correro’s trail for a weekend; others traverse all sixty-two hundred miles of boonies, from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Port Orford, Oregon, crossing fourteen states.

In the course of the summer—the best season for dirt roads—Correro estimates that there might be as many as six hundred riders on the TransAmerica Trail. There’s no way to know for sure. He does know that people ride it using motorcycles, bicycles, four-by-fours, Land Rovers, dirt buggies, pickup trucks, Pinzgauer military vehicles, and horses. One person did it in a Volkswagen Jetta for fun; another couple rode it coast to coast for their honeymoon, with the bride in a motorcycle sidecar. One cross-country rider was just eight years old. The oldest may be Correro, who is eighty. He likes to say that he has ridden every single inch of it, and that is true, but also an understatement, because he has ridden parts of it countless times. Though he has given up his motorcycle for a Chevy Tahoe, he still checks the trail to make sure that its roads are passable, that its bridges haven’t been condemned. He modifies his maps, charting new routes.

Read the whole article at The New Yorker »

More » TransAmerica Trail, Wikipedia, GPS Kevin

 

7 Scenic Drives Through Quebec

2019.07.08 /

Quebec is the biggest province in Canada, and there’s a whole lot to see and do.

Destination Canada has put together seven wonderful road trip routes which will take you to some of this provinces’ most beautiful wonders and sought-after experiences.

Some of these trips are short, while others will take you quite a bit longer, and really embrace that road trip spirit.

1. The New France Route – 56 kilometres / 35 miles – Road trip highlights starting in Quebec City include Domaine de Maizerets, Maison Girardin, Montmorency Falls Park, Auberge Baker, Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area

2. The Fjord Route – 235 kilometres / 146 miles – Highlights include Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, Musée de la Nature, the Musée du Fjord, Saguenay Fjord National Park

3. The King’s Road – 280 kilometres / 174 miles – Highlights include Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade church, the Quebec Folk Culture Museum, the Old Prison of Trois-Rivières, Lake Saint-Pierre

4. The Wine Route – 138 kilometres / 86 miles – Highlights include many vineyards, Brome Lake, Mont Sutton

5. The Navigators’ Route – 470 kilometres / 292 miles – Highlights include Centre de la Biodiversité du Québec in Bécancour, Îles du Pot à l’Eau-de-Vie archipelago and Île aux Lièvres, the Musée maritime du Québec, Bic Provincial Park, Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site

6. The Whale Route – 880 kilometres / 546 miles – Highlights include Cap-de-Bon-Désir Interpretation and Observation Centre, Daniel Johnson Dam and Manic-5 Generating Station, Pointe-des-Monts Lighthouse, Vauréal Canyon

7. The Gaspesie Tour – 1,230 kilometres – 765 miles – Highlights include the Rimouski Wildlife Reserve, Reford Gardens, Exploramer, Bonaventure Island, and Gaspesie and Percé Rock provincial parks

Learn more at Destination Canada

Watch Noraly from ItchyBoots.com Travel Through Russia as She Rides Around The World

2019.06.22 /

We last connected with Noraly riding through Kazakhstan. With this video series we follow her progress in Russia on her way to Georgia.

Ep. 92 – Riding from Atyrau, Crossing into Russia, and Riding onto Astrakhan
Noraly rides here last 300km in Kazakstan, across rough roads to the Russian border. And then rides onto Astrakhan.

Ep. 93 – Riding 300 km from Astrakhan to Elista

Ep. 94 – Riding from Elista to Stavropol
Noraly passes through a police check stop.

Ep. 95 – Noraly heads towards the Georgian border
Her transit visa is running out.

Follow Noraly as she continues her adventure with riding through Georgia.

Watch Noraly from ItchyBoots.com Ride Through Kazakhstan as She Makes Her Way Around The World on a Royal Enfield Himalayan

2019.06.13 /

We last saw Noraly riding through Kyrgyzstan. With this video series we follow her progress through Kazakhstan.

Ep. 83 – Crossing into Kazakhstan
Noraly rides from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Ep. 84 – Getting a Russian Visa and servicing the Royal Enfield in Almaty.

Ep. 85 – The Plains of Kazakhstan
Noraly has only a couple of weeks to travel to some 3400 km to the Russian border. So despite the weather forecast, she must make tracks.

Ep. 86 – Riding to Turkestan, Kazakhstan
Naraly rides to an important pilgrimage site. Yasaui Mausoleum, built in the 14th century, hosts the tomb of Sufi teacher and poet Yasaui.

Ep. 87 – Noraly explores Sauran, the ruins of the capital of the Mongol White Horde, on her way to Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan

Ep. 88 – Riding from Kyzylorda to Aralsk
Noraly rides to see rockets at Baikonur on her long day’s journey to the Aral Sea.

Ep. 89 – Nothing but Camels – Riding from Aralsk to Aktobe
Noraly plans a long 617 km day ride.

Ep. 90 – Aktobe to Uralsk
Noraly takes a 480km detour due to road construction.

Ep. 91 – Noraly ploughs through another 510 kilometers of detour on her way to Atyrau.
Through flat grasslands and semi-desert on her way to the Russian border

You Don’t Need Much Gear To Start Overlanding

2019.06.10 /

You need a reasonably reliable 4WD vehicle, good off-road tires, some recovery gear, a way to safely carry water and cook, and you are good to go.

Jakob Schiller, writing for Outside Magazine:

You may have noticed: our wild places are get­ting crowded. Last year, 331 million people visited the U.S.’s 59 national parks—58 million more than ten years ago. Which means that if you want solitude, you’ve got to work for it.

One way is through overlanding, which, loosely defined, is off-road camping. Some head out for years on end, but the majority take their rigs on weeklong jaunts. “It’s about using sturdy vehicles to explore, whether 100 miles or 10,000 miles from home,” says Roseann Hanson, founder of Overland Expo, a semiannual gathering of the tribe in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Asheville, North Carolina. The practice has long been popular in places like Australia and South ­Africa, but it’s gaining traction in the U.S. Rooftop tents are popping up in Brooklyn as well as Bozeman. And 12,000 people turned out for this year’s OE in Flagstaff, 20 percent more than last year.

Much of the gear is overkill, but a few select items can help the exceptionally itinerant find the space they need.

Read More…

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Please tread lightly, pack out your trash, and treat every person and location with respect.

Please do not bury waste or wipes – even those that are biodegradable. Always pack out bags, sanitary wipes, and feminine hygiene products to minimize impact on the environment and the spread of disease.

If you find any errors, have any tips, or see anything that might need improving, please let me know.

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