NNP Alert

Next on the list is...TADA...

Yes motorbiking! I just found out that I can take a Basic RiderCourse Training over at MSF: Motorcycle Safety Foundation. It is a 14 to 15 hour program, which provides classroom and actual motorcycle operator training in a controlled, off-street environment.

No this is not a thrill seeking attempt at creating daredevil stunts like a willie (eyes rolling). Rather I am very much inspired by Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman's motorbike journey round and down the world. I'm talking about the documentary travel series they shot back in 2004 and 2007. Check it out over at wiki: Long Way Round and Long Way Down.

I have always been passionate about traveling and just watching these two made me realize how wonderful it would be to do it on a bike! There was this part when Ewan and Charley were in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, to meet up with their personal hero Ted Simons- the granddaddy of global motorcycle bike riding. They were in the public market looking for Mongolian riding boots and the scene cuts to Ted where he begins to tell the camera what it is about the road, the bike and the journey that fascinates him. For him it was all about the freedom, the loneliness, the feeling of being in something rather than watching it through the TV screen that is the car window. It is one man on two wheels and the open road.

I can't begin to tell you how hardcore this dude is. For four years he travelled over 64,000 miles (103,000 km) through 45 countries in a Triumph Tiger 500 cc motorcycle. That's the bike below with Bob Dylan...



Anyways, I plan to take it next month. I hope to use my motorbiking skills when I travel to South America this fall! That is another NNP in the making so stay tuned. If any of you are bike riders I definitely want to hear back from you! I need a lot of tips!!!