2019-07-01_RiDE

‘Is it still an adventure?’

I’VEBEENTRYINGtowritethismonth’sarticlefora
whilenowbutI’mstruggling.EveryoneI meetinthe
USA,afterhearinghowI madeit toLosAngeles,
exclaims;“Allthetrickystuffisbehindyou!”Tobe
honest,theendofthiswholeadventureisthe
scariest partandthelackofdramaintheUSAhas
meantthelastfewweekshavebeena bit...easy.
Don’tgetmewrong,Americaisbeautiful.While
mostAmericanswouldcallmecrazyforridingupto
Seattleinthesnow,it alljustfeelsa little‘normal’.I
findmyselfsearchingfordirt trailsandvehicle
recreationparks,pushingmybikeandmyskillsin
searchofthat‘uhoh,thismayhavebeena mistake’
moment.I haveseensomebreathtakingsights
though,despitethesnowinfringingonmyandthe
DucatiScramblerDesertSled’smanoeuvrability.
I finallygottoridethrough
redwoodsandfulfilmychildhood
dreamofracinga ‘speeder’through
thetreesoftheforestmoonof
EndorfromStarWarsEpisodeVI:
TheReturnoftheJedi. I rodethe
PacificCoastHighway,overthe
GoldenGateBridge,andthrough
theamazingroadssurroundingSan
Francisco.LeavingSanFrancisco,I

rodetoAlice’sRestaurant,a famousbikerspot,

whereworld-classmotorcycleroadsmeet. As I was

gettingreadytoleave,a manapproachedmeand

askedwhereI wasridingfrom.I toldhimI rodeten

monthseastfromtheUKtogethereandcouldsee

theexcitementinhisface.

HetoldmeheracedAMAProflat-trackona

Triumphinthe 19 70sandhemeetsattherestaurant

everyWednesdaywithhiscompetitorsfrombackin

theday.Wewentinsideandheshowedmehis

pictureuponthewall,alongsidesomeotherlegends.

It turnedouthissonworks there andhepulledhim

overanddemandedhetakemypictureoutside,so

thatit canbehungonthewallnexttohis.

So,if youfindyourselfridingthroughCalifornia,

stopbyAlice’sandseeif youcanfindme!

Theonethemeofthelastmonththathaskept

meenthralledonthisjourney,yetagain,hasbeen

people.I’vebeenluckyenoughtoconnectwith

riders,businesses,andphotographersthatI’ve

admiredfora longtimeandmanythatI’mgrateful

tohavebeennewlyintroducedto.I finallygotto

thankMatt,whosentmea clutchpackwayback

whenI wasstrandedinKazakhstan.I alsogotto

hangoutwithmanyinspirationalfiguresatThe

OneMotoShow.

I spentthedaywithErikJutrasinSanFrancisco,

onthebestroads,creatinga newepisodefor

StoriesofBike. I washumbledbytheturn-outfor

aMovemberfundraiserorganisedatTheHouseof

MachinesLA.

Thereis a lottobeexcitedaboutandit’sbeena

nicereminderthatadventuresareaboutmorethan

justdiceysituationsandlogisticalchallenges.

HenryCrewisaimingtobetheyoungestpersonto

circumnavigatetheglobeona motorcycle,at 22 andraise

£35,000— £1a mile— forthemen’shealthcharityMovember.He

writesexclusivelyforRiDEandyoucanfollowhisprogressor

donateatwww.35000miles.com

TheMojave

Desert— lots and

lotsofnotmuch

Below:Hanging

outwithtrees

thousandsof

years old.Below

left:Henry’snow

onthewallof

fameatAlice’s

inBigSur

HenryfindsridingthroughAmerica

unfamiliar.It’sa littletoo...easy

RiDE’s record chaser

JULY 2019 | 19

RiDE’s newest contributor, 22-year-old Henry Crew, is attempting to claim

a round-the-world record and raise money for charity in the process