This Biker is Riding Around the World in 19 Days
Photo Red Bull
Two-time Dakar rally winner Sam Sunderland is planning to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world on a motorcycle.
The Red Bull rider will have to achieve the feat in less than 19 days, eight hours and 25 minutes to get into the record books. During that short time he will need to cross 15 countries, pass through five continents, 13 time zones and cover 18,000 miles.
Sunderland will ride his Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer almost 1,000 miles every single day with the only real breaks coming when the bike is flown between continents. According to the rules the ride must start and end in the same place and be tackled in one continuous direction. The clock stops only when he has to cross the ocean, and that means that the overall journey time will be around 30 days including flights and crosssings.
"There will be days when I'm on the road for 15 or 16 hours – in the cold and rain, heat and humidity, battling the wind, exhaustion and mental fatigue. Add to that jet lag and crazy time zones – it's going to be brutal,” he admits.
Sunderland is set to start his record attempt in London on September 1, with the route made up of six stages. He will travel down through Europe, into Turkey and then to the Middle East, from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Dubai in the UAE. Next he will fly to the Australian Outback and then on to New Zealand. Another flight will take him to the USA where he will then ride into Canada before one final flight to Morocco and then a last run through Spain and France and back to London.
You can follow this incredible journey on the Red Bull website.
Photo Red Bull
If you’ve love driving then you’ll know the drill. As you enter the mouth of a tunnel you drop the windows, drop down a gear and up the revs to experience the echo of engine against the walls.