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London to Timbuktu
Ride on the Expedition to Timbuktu, one of the greatest two
week journeys that you can do on a bike and you
will never forget what you have done. Journey on the
fantastic roads of Morocco, the mountain passes of the Atlas,
the edge of the Sahara and the long straights of magnificent
Mauritania. The tremendous bonus is that The Timbuktu visits
the incredible Dakar Rally where you can
stand next to these heroes as they compete in the desert.
Diary Excerpt
After the last scrutineering session,
the Dakar recorded a starting line up of 231 riders, 14 quads,
181 car crews and 85 trucks who would race 4918 miles to the
Pink Lake in the capital of Senegal. Likewise, we too would
ride over 8000 miles to Timbuktu and back; cross Morocco,
Mauritania and turn east to Mali. Two weeks later 132 bikes,
109 car teams and 69 trucks reached the capital city of Senegal,
a participant list decimated by the harshness of what is the
world's toughest off-road event.
We visit the Dakar on several occasions before continuing
on our own journey across the savannah and the bush where
you smell the scent of Africa and see a culture from the annuls
of expeditionary history. With its history of heroes, the
Dakar gives each rider who completes the course that rare
stamp of legendary status. Alongside the Dakar I set up this
journey to Timbuktu, which, for me, had the cache of 'grande
voyage'. Sponsored by Roadsure and Motorex along with Hein
Gericke and Yamaha, this journey is a rare Trans-African journey
to a place of legend, some of which will would rub off on
to anyone capable of riding there. What I soon realised was
how close you can get to a world class event. Timbuktu might
be faraway but astonishingly we were shoulder to shoulder
with superstars like Dakar winner Cyril Despres and title
holder Marc Coma who sit at nodding distance as they go through
their final checks before being flagged off.
Diary Excerpt
They crossed Morocco and so did we.
When they slid out of sight into the desert we made it to
the Mauritanian frontier. On the way we saw villages that
clung onto cliff faces, Ksars built and re-built since the
5th century, we saw goats that climbed trees and we tasted
oranges in the anti-Atlas mountains that had been juiced by
the Gods. We would reconnect with the Dakar further south
and after completing our paperwork we rode out of Morocco
before entering an area of land administered neither by Morocco
nor Mauritania.
The riding is hard but not too hard. 95% on good roads and
with a push and shove OK for a sports
bike. With the support of professional transport specialists
you can ride there in around 16 to18 days and fly home whilst
your bike is safely freighted overland from Central Africa.
Diary Excerpt
One night we camped out, just pulled
of the road and set up our tents. A star filled night sky
assuaged any tenseness. There is nothing better than a desert
wind to massage the mind free of bad thoughts. After dawn
we broke camp and rode hard all day, stopping only to eat
a little but not really to look around. Motorcyclists exist
in their own road-movies, they are the starring characters
in a series of dramatic sketches played out to the full in
their head; practised, performed and watched by themselves
as they ride their bikes. There are scenery shifts and changes
of stage direction, but for fear of distraction, the focus
on riding in Africa by definition includes only what is useful
to enter peripheral vision. The detail is in the machinery
and the process of riding safely.
Squeeze it in to your busy life. Let me state the obvious…..one
life one chance! Let me suggest more than this, that
this journey just might change the way you think. But the
best bit is the camaraderie of the riders themselves. YOU
make it happen. You will talk about this journey for
the rest of your life.
Ride with one of the most experienced adventure riders in
the history of world touring.
18 day 'Fly-Ride' (you ride there, we bring your bike back)
£2790
28 / 30 day 'both ways' £2990
Book before May 2008 to take advantage
of these 2007 prices.
Ride with
Nick Sanders.
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