McGregor trip update

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are heading across the hostile, open wastelands and rugged roads of Mongolia, onwards to Siberia.

After setting off from London at the end of May to circumnavigate the globe on two BMW R1150 GS Adventures, the duo have completed over half their 20,000-mile odyssey. The journey is part of their Long Way Round project and will be made into a major TV series to be screened on Sky One (UK) and Bravo (USA).

Ewan and Charley know that the hardest part of the ride is still to come. However, they are both confident that they will be able to cope with whatever Mother Nature and Lady Luck decide to throw at them.

Once in Mongolia they found that the landscape was one of continuous change. From open steppes, past lakes and gorges, the road merged seamlessly into vast open landscapes where Kazakh Yurts and Mongolian Gers lived side by side.

McGregor said: on the testing conditions: “Mongolia has been one of the most eventful countries so far. To begin with we covered loads of miles but then it started getting sticky. There was one point where we covered just 100 [miles] in three days. It was so rainy and muddy that we just couldn’t get anywhere, we just kept getting stuck and falling off.

“The worst bit of the whole trip so far though was when I fell off in a river. It was what I was dreading the most. I had nightmares of baling out and filling the engine with water and stranding us in the middle of nowhere. The moment finally happened when I crossed a river and hit a massive boulder hidden under water.

“Luckily, as the bike began to fall I hit the kill switch, stopping the engine before it sucked in water. When we dragged it out of the river it was fine. I’ve been carrying so much luggage that it was damaging the bike and making it so heavy that it was difficult to ride. The rear subframe failed, but we managed to get a local mechanic to weld it. It was amazing to watch – he was a real craftsman… It only cost £10 for three-and-a-half hours work. I’ve never needed a bike as much as I do now – it’s the most important thing in the world… It’s been a good thing though – I’ve got rid of most of my luggage and the bike is so much easier to handle. I just can’t believe the difference, it feels so light and nimble.”

The Long Way Round project is the realisation of a dream born out of the love of motorcycles; the freedom they bring, and a desire to use them in a test of human endurance – an extreme challenge. The adventure is also a major test of Ewan and Charley’s friendship as they travel through some of the most beautiful, yet incredibly hostile terrain in the world.

Ewan and Charley are providing Motor Cycle News with an exclusive progress report of the journey. Further updates will also be posted on www.longwayround.com at regular intervals.