One thing that really grabs me about riding with a group tour is that you start out as a bunch of strangers, but by the time you finish, you are riding with a bunch of friends, generally speaking. You know each person a lot better, you know how they ride, you know how they operate, you know their motivations, and some of their strengths and weaknesses, and dare I say it, personality traits and possibly disorders. And they know yours. You laugh a lot, you get a bit miffed sometimes, you even get annoyed occasionally, but it is generally all good. A pecking order develops, where people find their preferred riding position within the group, and generally stick to it. You begin to bond as a group. Your riding improves, and by the end you are riding as a pretty tight group. You share the highs and lows, the pleasure and pain, and celebrate the cameraderie of a wonderful adventure together. Then you bugger off and never see each other again. Sometimes, that's a good thing, but other times, as Shakespeare said, parting is such sweet sorrow. Here is how I saw it, so meet the group.
From Big Bike Tours, we had Kay and Noah, the two managing partners, who took it in turns to lead the ride on alternate days, one riding, the other driving one of the service trucks. Also Tony, the pretty sharp Thai mechanic and general dogsbody, driving the other truck. Two trucks were necessary because of the size of the group and the amount of luggage. K and N were riding a BMW 300GS, yes, a 300. The poor little thing must have spent a couple of weeks being red lined and probably needs a new engine now that we are back in Chiang Mai. But these guys are such good riders that nobody could catch them if they decided to give it some stick. Then, in no particular order, there was....
DAVID AND VICKI: From Sydney, riding two up. David had the Heinrich Himmler haircut, which I have to say I found a bit confronting at first. Vicki is athletic and into Muay Thai boxing, and has the traditional bamboo tatts to prove it. Regular Asian travellers, and probably the fastest couple on the ride. Vicki got altitude sickness in Tibet, and David got food poisoning in Laos. That's commitment! I wonder if David being a non drinker has anything to do with any of that?
HOLGER: From "Chermany" and the oldest rider in the group at 72. Veteran of several BBT trips in the past. And he can ride. Up with the front runners for quite a while before he decided he better back it off a bit and stay alive for his wife's sake, who he dutifully rang every day to clock in.
ANDREW: A Builder from the Midlands of the UK. Widely travelled, usually a small group rider or a loner. Quiet, courteous and thoughtful. Quite a fast rider too.
SAM AND MONIQUE: A very affable couple from Switzerland, the German speaking part near Zurich. Monique spoke a bit of English, but you could tell it was hard work. Sam spoke very little English, and said "Ja, ja" an awful lot. Hung out a lot with Holger, quite understandably because they could talk to each other. They were riding two up, usually at the back of the group, but occasionally demonstrated that they could mix it up. Widely travelled, with experience of riding in Africa and South America.
GUS: A retired accountant from Orlando, Florida. Very quiet guy who let his riding do the talking, and it talked fairly loudly. One of the faster riders, and an interesting conversationalist who has travelled and ridden in Asia a fair bit.
SCOTT: From Tassie, another fairly quiet guy who preferred riding mid pack or toward the back of the group. Always kept within his limits. Very widely travelled, including SE Asia, and recently did a trip across Russia. Usually always went local where food was concerned, and was very culturally sensitive and aware.
KEVIN: Company Director from Newcastle, UK, and a Geordie Jack the Lad to boot. Rides like he lives life, with no time to waste. Has five stents in his heart, has a wife in the UK, a Thai girlfriend here, and will chat up anything that's remotely female, even if gender might be blatantly questionable. Voracious appetite for beer, getting his kit off, and speed (the velocity kind). An inspiration to us all !
BJORN: Not a name one necessarily associates with Americans, but he's of Norwegian descent, and from Seattle, Washington, where there is a large concentration of Scandinavians who settled the State way back when. Former director of a company that made components for Boeing. Very smart man, very widely travelled, and very knowledgeable on many subjects, as well as being a gourmet and connisseur. A true adventurer. Multi lingual, including fluent Vietnamese! Caz and I both really enjoyed his company. Most surprising of all, he's relatively new to riding, but you'd be unlikely to pick it. Preferred to err on the side of caution, which only reinforces what I just said.
GREG: A mate of Bjorn's, also from Seattle. A very affable Harley rider, although nobody holds that against him! Unfortunately, dropped his bike twice early on, and had a few close calls which would naturally slow anybody down. Always interesting and fun to talk with.
All in all, a great bunch of very nice people who had one heck of a good time. There was some challenging riding at times, particularly with the traffic in China, and the weather in Tibet. We covered around 4500 km and rode on everything from super highways to absolute goat tracks, wet, dry, dusty and slippery, roadworks, gravel, mud, occasional water crossings, and some places where you could die if you got it wrong. We rode in boiling heat up into the mid 40's, down to literally freezing in the Himalayas. We all got back here safely in one piece, albeit with some cases of minor bike damage, ready to live another day. Don't know about you, but I find that extremely satisfying and fulfilling.
Here we are, all back safely.
L to R. Kay, Tony and Noah.
Noah celebrates another successful trip.
Scott, Gus & Bjorn contemplate the worst meal we had on the trip.
Vicki, David, Kevin, Greg (obscured), Holger, Andrew, Gus. at the worlds biggest lazy Susan.
Sam and Monique.
From Big Bike Tours, we had Kay and Noah, the two managing partners, who took it in turns to lead the ride on alternate days, one riding, the other driving one of the service trucks. Also Tony, the pretty sharp Thai mechanic and general dogsbody, driving the other truck. Two trucks were necessary because of the size of the group and the amount of luggage. K and N were riding a BMW 300GS, yes, a 300. The poor little thing must have spent a couple of weeks being red lined and probably needs a new engine now that we are back in Chiang Mai. But these guys are such good riders that nobody could catch them if they decided to give it some stick. Then, in no particular order, there was....
DAVID AND VICKI: From Sydney, riding two up. David had the Heinrich Himmler haircut, which I have to say I found a bit confronting at first. Vicki is athletic and into Muay Thai boxing, and has the traditional bamboo tatts to prove it. Regular Asian travellers, and probably the fastest couple on the ride. Vicki got altitude sickness in Tibet, and David got food poisoning in Laos. That's commitment! I wonder if David being a non drinker has anything to do with any of that?
HOLGER: From "Chermany" and the oldest rider in the group at 72. Veteran of several BBT trips in the past. And he can ride. Up with the front runners for quite a while before he decided he better back it off a bit and stay alive for his wife's sake, who he dutifully rang every day to clock in.
ANDREW: A Builder from the Midlands of the UK. Widely travelled, usually a small group rider or a loner. Quiet, courteous and thoughtful. Quite a fast rider too.
SAM AND MONIQUE: A very affable couple from Switzerland, the German speaking part near Zurich. Monique spoke a bit of English, but you could tell it was hard work. Sam spoke very little English, and said "Ja, ja" an awful lot. Hung out a lot with Holger, quite understandably because they could talk to each other. They were riding two up, usually at the back of the group, but occasionally demonstrated that they could mix it up. Widely travelled, with experience of riding in Africa and South America.
GUS: A retired accountant from Orlando, Florida. Very quiet guy who let his riding do the talking, and it talked fairly loudly. One of the faster riders, and an interesting conversationalist who has travelled and ridden in Asia a fair bit.
SCOTT: From Tassie, another fairly quiet guy who preferred riding mid pack or toward the back of the group. Always kept within his limits. Very widely travelled, including SE Asia, and recently did a trip across Russia. Usually always went local where food was concerned, and was very culturally sensitive and aware.
KEVIN: Company Director from Newcastle, UK, and a Geordie Jack the Lad to boot. Rides like he lives life, with no time to waste. Has five stents in his heart, has a wife in the UK, a Thai girlfriend here, and will chat up anything that's remotely female, even if gender might be blatantly questionable. Voracious appetite for beer, getting his kit off, and speed (the velocity kind). An inspiration to us all !
BJORN: Not a name one necessarily associates with Americans, but he's of Norwegian descent, and from Seattle, Washington, where there is a large concentration of Scandinavians who settled the State way back when. Former director of a company that made components for Boeing. Very smart man, very widely travelled, and very knowledgeable on many subjects, as well as being a gourmet and connisseur. A true adventurer. Multi lingual, including fluent Vietnamese! Caz and I both really enjoyed his company. Most surprising of all, he's relatively new to riding, but you'd be unlikely to pick it. Preferred to err on the side of caution, which only reinforces what I just said.
GREG: A mate of Bjorn's, also from Seattle. A very affable Harley rider, although nobody holds that against him! Unfortunately, dropped his bike twice early on, and had a few close calls which would naturally slow anybody down. Always interesting and fun to talk with.
All in all, a great bunch of very nice people who had one heck of a good time. There was some challenging riding at times, particularly with the traffic in China, and the weather in Tibet. We covered around 4500 km and rode on everything from super highways to absolute goat tracks, wet, dry, dusty and slippery, roadworks, gravel, mud, occasional water crossings, and some places where you could die if you got it wrong. We rode in boiling heat up into the mid 40's, down to literally freezing in the Himalayas. We all got back here safely in one piece, albeit with some cases of minor bike damage, ready to live another day. Don't know about you, but I find that extremely satisfying and fulfilling.
Here we are, all back safely.
L to R. Kay, Tony and Noah.
Noah celebrates another successful trip.
Scott, Gus & Bjorn contemplate the worst meal we had on the trip.
Vicki, David, Kevin, Greg (obscured), Holger, Andrew, Gus. at the worlds biggest lazy Susan.
Sam and Monique.
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