A Journey on Two Wheels
What better way to revive a blog than a cross-country off-road adventure?
This time, we’re riding Baja. All of it. And we’re bringing all the right gear, all the right bikes, and all the right people.
That’s ~5636 kilometers. And we’re leaving Austin in six five days.
On Saturday, I’m going to ride my CBF across Turkey. See the interactive map on my website? The orange line marks my planned path. I’m calling it the Oriental Express.
Spanning more than 4,500 kilometers, the journey is going to be huge. I will state with no ego, this is something no other motorcycle rider in Armenia has ever done before.
For me, this is going to be my largest ride so far and my first experience of a cross–country trip. I will be averaging 300 kilometers per day and will have 17 overnight stays in different cities and towns. This will push my motorcycle and of course my own self to the very limits, both physically and psychologically.
I have already booked my vacation at my company and made the basic preparations and purchases. The map on the website is programmed to show my location real-time during the journey, so it will be easy to track me. I will blog, I will tweet, I will post pictures and impressions and I will live this experience online as much as I will ride it.
The fact that I am riding through Turkey definitely adds an extra layer of adventure to the trip. I am excited to find out what lays ahead. This is purely a personal motorcycling adventure, and for me there are no other aspects to my undertaking. In Turkey I am planning to be an Armenian from Armenia, traveling on my motorcycle and experiencing Turkey. The planned path is plotted out based solely on the input of many travelers who have experienced Turkey. It has no historic or personal significance to me and it is subject to spontaneously change depending on the circumstances I face during the ride.
I think this trip will be an outstanding adventure not only to ride but also to follow. Today’s technology enables it fully. So make sure to subscribe to it either using your email address or using your favorite feed reader (I stick with Google Reader). You can also follow me on Twitter, although the tweets will be streamed into this blog as well. If you feel like befriending me on Facebook or Google+, these are also great options to track the adventure!
In the next posts I will be covering all my preparations extensively, including the equipment and the devices I take, the maintenance of the motorcycle, the financial aspects, and everything else. So stay tuned. It’s crazy ahead. The hunt ride is on!
Great news for all of you* on two wheels in (or soon-to-be-in) Armenia!
Here is an email I have received from one of our rider fellows a couple of minutes ago (in Armenian):
bike-festi start@ sksvum e Akhtalaic septemberi 15-in , cankali e bolor@ havakvats linen min4ev jam@ 15:00 (cerek@ ekexecu taratskum kazmakerpvelu e xorovatsi paraton taraznerov derasannerov ev ayln,isk jam@ 6-in stadionum sksvelu e rock paraton). Septemberi 16-in gnalu en Sevan, entex el pokrik mijocarum e linelu,ev 17-in gnalu en Jermuk` mianalu mec rock-festin. Bike festi shrjanaknerum kazmakerpvelu en khaxarkutyunner,mrcuytner,xaxer(Jermukum). Septemberi 21-in bolorov galis enk Yerevan nshelu ankakhutyan ton@. Menk mer vra enk vercnum Hayastanum mnalu voxj @ntackum vareliki tsaxser@. Artasahmanic bikerner@ petk e mtnen Bagratasheni koxmic, ancaketum klini mer koxmic nerkayacuci4,vor@ jamanac bikerin kpoxanci kartez,vareliki ktronner ev ayln. Amboxj @ntackum bikerner@ klinen GAI-i hskoxutyan tak t4anaparhnerin xndirneric azatelu npatakov.
Translation to English:
Bike-fest will kick off from Akhtala on September 15th. It’s desirable that everyone is there before 3:00PM (there’s gonna be a BBQ party in the church during the afternoon with national dresses, actors and shit. Then there’s gonna be a rock festival at 6PM in the stadium). On September 16th there’s gonna be another small event in Sevan, and on September 17th they [the bikers] are going to ride to Jermuk to join the rock fest. During the motorcycle fest lotteries, games and competitions are going to be organized in Jermuk. On September 21 we’re all gonna ride back to Yerevan to celebrate the Independence Day.
We [I assume the organizers?] will cover all expenses of motorcyclists’ fuel during the entire stay in Armenia. Foreign bikers/motorcyclists should enter Armenia from Bagratashen [a border town near Georgia]. We are going to have a representative at the border who will give the bikers a map, fuel purchase checks and other stuff. At all times the traffic police will be escorting the motorcyclists to avoid any issues on the road.
Then I randomly found out that PanARMENIAN.Net has more information available on the subject:
PanARMENIAN.Net – Travel without Borders project initiated by National Geographic Traveler Armenia through the assistance of RA government kicked off on August 24 with sailing of an international regatta.
The project consisting of 5 stages will finish nearby Tatev monastery on October 16, the day of opening of the longest ropeway in the world.
After Nairi and Ani boats complete their voyage, an equestrian tour will launch towards the Selim pass.
Between September 10 and 20, Armenia will host a bike fest, which is expected to bring together 150 bikers from different countries. The bikers will ride Bagratashen-Akhtala-Dilijan-Sevan-Selim pass-Jermuk route.
Besides, Music without Borders festival will take place in Jermuk.
The final stage will feature an international rally to follow Russia-Kazakhstan-Iran-Turkey-Georgia-Armenia route.
Conclusion: if you’re a motorcyclist and you want to visit Armenia (which happens to be a paradise for motorcycling), now is the perfect time!! Whether you’re riding a sportbike, a grand tourer, a cruiser, a streetfighter, a chopper or an enduro (especially an enduro!), hit the road and head over here! Even if you are a sociopath who does not care about the fantastic people he’s going to meet in Armenia, there’s still guaranteed free rides, free fuel and free police escort, where or when else would you ever have all of that together? I’d also add free drinks and free girls (maybe even guys and camels), but that wouldn’t be guaranteed. Take your shot!
For your extra information, Google Maps works great in Armenia (as long as you navigate your way through Georgia).
Have a safe trip!
* I’m gonna be on the other side of the planet from September 10, and that’s a bummer.
This winter was ridiculously warm and thanks to the forecasts, I am taking my motorcycle out of storage this weekend! That means, I personally am going to start my Season 2010 in less than a week! Yes, my sidebar counter turned out to be too pessimistic for 2010.
I have fabulous plans for the 2010 riding season, enough to say that among the plans is a journey of unprecedented mileage for any motorcyclist from Armenia!
On the subject of positivity, hat tip to Kornelij for the dinner ad!
Happy 2010 everyone, again!
Happy New Year to all of my dear readers!
Season 2009 was truly an amazing motorcycling experience. Yerevan started really getting on two wheels. A lot of riding events took place. New dealerships, motorcycling clubs and pubs opened!
As 2009 goes into history, it leaves only wonderful positive motorcycling memories. This was my most intense riding season, I put about 9000 kilometers on my odometer and I’m planning to do nothing less in 2010! During the rides there were of course wonderful friends and ridemates to share the joy and the most wonderful places and roads to discover and explore! And of course I blogged a lot!
On this I want to wish us all a very happy, a very exciting and a very passionate 2010. Let’s ride through it on two wheels and be safe, healthy and excited in doing so! Vroom!
Some of my memories from 2009 are in these pictures, and they are clickable too! Muah!
The pictures are also available on my Picasa account for your viewing pleasure!
Other parts of the series can be found here.
So you take your motorcycle on a ride every day, and on the weekends you trip the countryside. You quickly accelerate on the intersections and smile at the girls who look at you from the cars. You enjoy the sun glaring on your chrome while you’re chilling at a cafe and you bet with every 5-series BMW in the town that you will beat them to the next intersection. You do it for a year. Two years. Three years. But with every kilometer rolling on the odometer, the motorcycle whispers to those who listen: motorcycling is not about speed or looks… well, not primarily.
Being a fresh rider, I used to hate rides with no destinations. I remember the old riders looking at me with indulgence when I rushed to get there, and how I thought they were old cripples to not push their motorcycles to the limits. But when you hold on to the grips for too long, the motorcycle does whisper to you.
It is not about where you go. Not at all about where you go. It is not about how fast you get there.
It is about the road you take to get there. It is about how you ride that road. Not about how fast. Just about how. And then this realization strikes you and you stop for a moment. You breathe, you look around. You realize you don’t want more destinations. You want more roads. And what you once hated very sincerely becomes the most beautiful vehicle to your eyes that could ever be designed.
I used to hate offroad motorcycles. I knew, I was certain that an offroad motorcycle was going to be the last one I ever own. Turned out so, but absolutely not in the negative way I meant it to be!
So after my current CBF500 I know exactly what am I going to own next. I cannot wait. And who could? I am finally going to ride a vehicle that is really essentially designed to be a ground vehicle, from its core. I am going to experience freedom of movement unimaginable with any other vehicle. It is going to be fast. Not too fast. It is going to be sexy. Not too sexy to the ones non-transcended. It is going to be a Honda.
Remember, kids. If you think Enduros are not cool, you are wrong. If you think motorcycling is about speed, it might be — but only for the select few like Valentino Rossi and on very specially designed tracks and events. If you think motorcycling is about style, and you’re ready to spend that much on style, way to go — give me a call to have some beer together! And especially, if you are just starting to get into riding and you’re wondering about what you want to stick to, give the offroad a second thought after you initially disregard it. Keep in mind, it is very probably that offroad is where you will get anyway, with time. Just in case, watch the Long Way Round starring Obi Wan Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
The Enduros opened my eyes in a way no other motorcycle ever could. They opened whole millions of roads to ride in my small beloved country. They turned Armenia into a paradise for motorcycling.
Motorcycling stopped being about the speed, so I stopped noticing the next-year ultra-cool Sportbike JAP-09900XXX year 2050 riding along Baghramyan. It stopped being about the style, so I stopped noticing the 10o-years-old style shiny and loud Darley Havidson sinking in its own chrome.
It started being about the adventure.
Other parts of the series can be found here.
Aye everyone!!
This is the First Annual Garbage Ride, and every single person with a motorized vehicle is WELCOME TO JOIN!
About 400km, the ride is a very unique experience of a roadtrip across central Armenia and quite challenging for a single-day effort.
View First Annual Garbage Ride in a larger map
The First leg of the trip follows Armenia’s western border very closely, rides along the Arpacay Reservoir (a wonderful scenery, I’ve heard) and comes all the way to Gyumri.
The Second leg is not your regular Dilijan – Yerevan trip, it goes from Gyumri to Vardaghbyur and to Tashir (!!!), then rides down to Fioletovo through Stepanavan and Vanadzor, then through secondary roads to Hrazdan, Bjni, Yeghvard and finally Yerevan!
Yes, unless you’re a hardcore Armenia traveller, this might be the best journey across Armenia you ever had, so BE SURE TO NOT MISS IT!!
Are you riding a motorcycle? A car? A truck? A bus? A minivan? A ropeway?? Whatever your shot, we take it~!