The Man

No doubt that I’m the slowest motorcycle traveler in the world. It’s not the bike that slows me down. The idea was to roar the Guzzi in one year from top (Prudhoe Bay, Alaska) to bottom (Ushuaia, Argentina) just to show that a seventies Guzzi can do the same as modern endurance bikes. And guess what, the Guzzi performs even better than expected. Other reason to saddle the bike was that I was a slight overworked freelance journalist back home in the Netherlands. I was 41 when I left and eventually bored to the bone in Amsterdam where I lived 20 years, downtown. I expected more out off life than buying a new Ducati ever year, spending my money in bars in Amsterdam, fancy clothes, writing my ass of and eventually running around in circles. So I said the mazzel to work, friends, family, the (night) life in Amsterdam, the Dutch society packed the bike and drove off. Best decision I’ve ever made.

I t took me only 1.5 month to get from Prudhoe Bay to Tijuana in Mexico, a 13000 k’s ride on a 32 year old Moto Guzzi V7. In Mexico this circus came to a sliding halt. I realized that it must be in my case the dumbest thing to speed up to Ushuaia, finish the trip, go back home and face daily routine again. So I spent half a year in the republic of Mexico and saw most of the time nothing but beaches and empty beer bottles. The stress of the preparations and working as a freelance journalist for years in a stressful country came out. While playing with the waves in Puerto Escondido I decided to take as long as I need. And that’s what I’m doing now, taking as long as I need to Ushuaia. The moment I write this (Juli, 07) I’m more than two years on the road and made it to Bolivia. My intention is to stay in South America. I’m afraid I don’t fit in the European rush anymore.

I’m a solo biker and travel as light as possible. No discussions have to been made whether we should go to the left or the right. I do what ever I like. No plans, no personal restrictions, no guidebooks, no time schedule. The circumstances rule the days. If I feel good in a place I can stay for months, if not I speed up. Most of the time I spent with the locals. My Spanish is fluent. While traveling I rely on the information I get from locals. Meanwhile my savings are long gone and I live from writing and some people are so incredibly friendly to support me now and then. You don’t need much in this part of the world.

I’m not a biker I just love bikes, si señor. Didn’t ever bother to get my car drives license. Cars are for wankers. Besides, in a car you’re locked up, smelling your own farts. On a bike you leave the comfort zone. I drive motorcycles for more than 25 years without serious accidents. I like to be in the open, smell the surroundings, feel the wind in my face, the sun, the fucking rain (in the Netherlands where the sun hardly shines). No need to say that I’m an outdoor guy, a happy camper as you like. Most of my bikes were Italian two cylinders like Laverda’s; Guzzi’s and Ducs, even had a Buell M2 Cyclone. I prefer torque than revving up. Personal favorite is the Ducati 748SP. It would’ve been the 749R if I were still back home. Italians design with heart and soul especially when they focus on motorcycles. I mean only Italians can design a Ducati 916 or the MV Agusta F4. A part of my freelance work in the Netherlands was to write for motorcycle magazines like Motor Magazine (Leest dat blad!) and I was a house writer for the MotoPort organization for years. I also worked a lot for broadcast organizations. I studied journalism for 4 years in the late eighties, early nineties. I was born in Nigeria, Kaduna where Muslims and Christians slide each other throats.

About the site, it’s just a joke so don’t take things too seriously. The hidden message is that everyone can do a trip like mine, if you want. There’re no excuses not doing it. Life is short, before you know you talk about your unfulfilled dreams and that sucks, I’ll tell you. I never worked for Internet before. I was used to paper, now I hobby with bits and bites. I fool around with my Canon Powershot 5 megapixel that can record half an hour of blurry film. With the big Canon I shoot pictures when I’m not lazy. If you’re looking for poor grammar, go ahead. I’m not an English native speaker.