As Adventure950 put it,"from little acorns grow large oak trees"....i'm at the twig stage right now.Started riding at 4 years old(dad and grandad were lifelong bikers) and now aged 34 i'm venturing further and further every time.A few years ago i travelled around Scotland on a 250 MZ,then Ireland and Scotland again on a R65,then France,then the rest of europe,Slovenia and Croatia on a XL600LMF(last year).This year i've been abroad twice already,am going to Morocco and Sahara in the middle of August(!!!) to ride as much piste as possible.When i get home i'll have 3 days to clean the sand out of everything then it's out to France again for another 3 weeks.My first trip abroad was 2 years ago.Why?Because between the age of 4 and 32 i've spent all my money and time competing in just about every different sort of motorcycle sport there is(havn't tried ice racing yet 'coz we never get enough of it!).I've never been married,have no kids,don't smoke or drink like a fish(i've tried the pubs and clubs scene but find myself thinking about what to do next to the bike in the garage) or do drugs,i rent where i live and don't have more than £500 in the bank at any one time.I live for my bikes.But these last couple of years i've been getting tired of going round in ever faster circles and want to find something that leads me somewhere i've never been before.I get a huge amount of satisfaction from making my own stuff rather than buying it(could'nt afford it anyway) and have never owned ANY vehicle less than 6 years old.
My point here....there are some of us who have other reasons for not travelling the world.Had i saved all my dosh over the years i'd be very able to go off for a few years and see the globe,but i would'nt have the memories of the good races/trials/etc,that i do have.If i had travelled the world first and raced afterwards i probably would'nt be here now(it's amazing how little you break when you're young!).
So if you see a tall bloke without long hair(have got a beard tho) on a rather home made looking 21 year old XL600 at Ripley,be gentle please as i'm a bit fresh at all this.
Jon.

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Just going for a short ride on my bike....