Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Ruan]

Great RR. keep it coming please

[2WheelieADV]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Well you can see in this pic, I began in the UK with a standard huge yellow UK number plate:



But as soon as I got out of the UK, while in Holland, I fitted a small 12 quid white show plate (see pic below) and left my stock yellow UK plate there in Holland, to be fitted if the bike needs to come back to the UK. German style white plate suits the bike colour better, smaller size acts less like a parachute, and outside of the UK, no-one is going to pull you over for having a non-standard plate. Its not like the cops in a Ukrainian village have any ideas what is and isnt technically legal re UK number plate sizes and colours. Even in Europe, even in the extremely unlikely chance that a cop pulls you over and says "that seems small compared to other yellow UK plates I have seen - whats the story?" - you can always make something up ... like - because I use this bike in competitions, they issued it with a smaller white plate. Or - yellow is standard but for 10 quid extra they will issue you with a white plate. You can say anything. Similarly UK cops wont have a clue about every possible permutation of Slovakian number plates for example. If its got the country and the number on the plate, and that number matches the number on your registration paperwork, then everyone is happy.

I think American plates are the smallest. It's so unusual to see such a big plate in EU. Austrian ones are HUGE, but I think in France (or Spain can't recall for sure) they are smaller on scooters.

[Gas Hog]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

The actual route was not direct - it was 12,000 miles - 18,000 km - and yes it took me 4 months of work to lay down the track - same length if time it took to ride it basically

Something about that statement..going to take a moment for that to soak in
Great RR as usual, tough first day for sure. Looks as
slick as deer guts on a pump handle.
Gary

[Gateshutter]

Excellent

[Colebatch]

Terry and I fuelled up and headed out of Lviv. About 10 miles into the afternoon, we stopped to regroup, make some new ground rules (with just two of us now we had to really back each other up). We stopped on on the crest of a hill, in the middle of a field.

Now it was just the two of us.

[Arek Kontrol]

c'mon what next? Can't wait for the next instalment.

[Colebatch]

The afternoon continued to dry our track out. The track itself was getting faster. It was definitely a lot more fun riding than the morning, and we wondered if Rick had made the right call. This riding would have been a lot easier on him and his hip.

The track continued through a mixture of forest, and sand based trails. As we would discover over the coming week or so ... the Ukraine was predominantly sandy. But for now, the sand was wet ... which made things predictable:

(again all vidcaps from the GoPro)

[DanVFR]

Next time i'm swinging by London i need to buy you a beer and i bet you have some great stories keep up the great report man!

[Colebatch]

At the end of day 1 and 245 km, Terry and I pulled into our first overnight stop, a town called Brody, on the main road between Lviv and Kiev. We knew this town would have fuel and a hotel.

Our day's ride:

[Ni3ous]

Ouuu man, you two should convince Rick not to make final decision about leaving you two until next morning.
I am sure after taking a good sleep and rest, he would continue with you.
I believe next day spirits would be high again.
I guess after leaving you two, he has a lot of things in his head, if his decision was the right one.
I still hope he will change his mind, just return and ride on with you two!

[Colebatch]

For completeness ... the google earth view of the journey from London to the starting line - the Poland - Ukraine Border:

[dmaxmike]

I know you are going to be going through the middle of nowhere and all but is there anyway you could post a picture of everything in your kit? It seems very “large” especially the poor guy that had to turn back already. I assume that once you get father into the unknown there will be more camping and whatnot so maybe the bulk is needed? I am in no way dissing you and I am certainly not a minimalist bike camper I just thought the load looked a little large for how gnarly I know this RR is going to get! Keep it up and get to the hot girls section faster!

[flying.moto]

I have been to L'viv in 2008, and loved it!
Unfortunately or not i was there on foot with a good friend of mine, so nothing relevant to brag about, but I am very happy to see you hold my home country in high regards!

Can't wait for more!

[DanVFR]

I'm sure the trip has been completed already guys, he's not still riding?

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

I know you are going to be going through the middle of nowhere and all but is there anyway you could post a picture of everything in your kit? It seems very “large” especially the poor guy that had to turn back already. I assume that once you get father into the unknown there will be more camping and whatnot so maybe the bulk is needed? I am in no way dissing you and I am certainly not a minimalist bike camper I just thought the load looked a little large for how gnarly I know this RR is going to get! Keep it up and get to the hot girls section faster!

Cant post a pic of all in the kit. Its all unpacked now.

I dont know how much lighter we could have gone, but the reality is not much.

This is Terrys full kit. - Two saddle bags and a tank bag.



On my bike I had the same two saddlebags a small tank bag and added a roll bag on the back.

On my bike one saddlebag was all camping gear ... tent, mattress, sleeping bag, cutlery, cup, plate etc. The other saddlebag had spare parts for a 3.5 month trip, full large semi-pro video camera kit bag, including several microphones, batteries etc) cold weather clothing (thermals, fleece, windstopper jacket), some emergency food supplies, small medical kit. My rear bag had my clothes (3 x t-shirts, 1 x chinos, 1 x shorts, 1 pr shoes, 5 x boxer shorts, 5 x socks), laptop, electronics.

Terry basically had a similar load to me, but I was carrying the following gear he wasnt ... thus the roll bag extra. I had 3 video cameras, ( 1 - Go Pro plus spares, fittings, chargers etc, 2)a regular consumer size video camera, and 3) a large semi pro video camera with kit), I carried several still cameras including a DSLR, I carried a laptop.

If you strip away the stuff I was carrying to document and record the trip (laptop, 3 video cameras, 2 still cameras, all the chargers and accessories that go with that), I also would have just had the two saddlebags. One full of camping gear, the other with spares and a couple changes of clothes and cold weather gear.