Last summer, actor Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman saddled up their BMW GS R1150's and set off on a monster three-month bike tour from Britain all the way across Siberia, into Alaska, and across North America to New York.
Ewan recounts a "transcendent moment" during the trek, while riding across Kazakhstan, that has me daydreaming about summer touring:
It was the most perfect evening to ride. The temperature was absolutely beautiful, and the sun was just hanging there in the lower part of the sky. I got this complete sense of, This is where I was meant to be at this moment. I belonged on the back of the bike, on this trip. It was absolutely what I should be doing at this moment. Everything was fine at home. Everything was good on the road. I was struck by that feeling of complete contentment. Quite unusual.Hey, after making three Star Wars movies, I'd need to clear my head, too. Their intercontinental journey, which raised money for UNICEF, is recounted in their book Long Way Round. And they're not hanging up their helmets yet: they're gearing up for another trip through Africa soon.
Puts the motorcycle-as-fashion-accessory poseurs to shame, doesn't it?
1 comments:
I am familiar with the ultimate "motorcycles-as-fashion-accessories" type. I used to work as a market reporter at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and there were a number of traders who owned customized harleys. These guys think they're hardcore because the put chaps on to make the two mile "trek" from the West Loop or Streeterville apartments to Twisted Spoke or Starbuck's on Rush. They think they're so cool, and I just snort from behind my sunglasses. Chaps - in Chicago! BTW: MacGregor's description is really like achieving a sense of mindfulness (or Zen) in the most positive sense.
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