at least the bike was still running albeit slowly with a smoke trail worthy of the Red Arrows display team

Once in hospital it was discovered that I’d punctured my lung and broken five ribs.

Herman had always proved to have a cool head in a crisis and was a lot braver than the rest of us!

I consulted Andy, he gave the new route the thumbs up and we were back in business. I buried the hatched with the ‘Jibbers’ and we arranged to meet up for another trip to Derbyshire

this drew absolutely no sympathy with me, not only was I the only married one of the group but Jen was expecting our first baby in March 2004

August 2003 was also the month that Jen and I announced to the world that she was pregnant and would be expecting our baby in March 2004

Herman’s Tenere blew a head gasket and the cam ate itself after just 200 miles. This was taken in good spirits as were most disasters which befall Him.

The inspiration was still coming from Mondo Enduro and now Austin and the Boys were at it again with Terra Circa, another round the world adventure

As the final episode of Mondo Enduro came to an end I turned to my wife Jen and said that I felt the need to do something similar. Jen was one step ahead of me and knowing me all too well had seen this moment coming for weeks and so had kind of prepared herself.