AROUND THE WORLD IN A 1000 WORDS LONDON COPPER BRUCE SMART EXPLAINS HOW IT TOOK HIM TWO ATTEMPTS TO MAKE IT AROUND THE WORLD... For me it goes back to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and the Long Way Round. I saw that and fell in love with the idea of riding around the world. I’d never ridden a bike before but saw what they were doing and thought, ‘I want to do that’. But like most people I thought it was something I would do when I retire, or never do at all. Unfortunately my mum got diagnosed with cancer. She fought it for a long time and towards the end she was living with me. We were chatting when the Long Way Round came on, and I said how much I’d love to do something like that. Mum turned to me and said, ‘Don’t get to my stage in life and regret what you’ve not done. Look after those that you love, but live your life.’ That struck a chord. There and then I went online and Googled direct access, found a place near me and booked myself on it. That was it. I did my direct access. Passed that. Bought a GSX-R600 having failed my test the first time for fluffing my u-turn I turned up at the hospice where my mum was and said, ‘I’ve done it, I’ve passed my test.’ She gave me a big smile and said, ‘Promise me you’ll do this trip.’ She died six days later. Still, I thought I can’t do it now, I’ve got a job, a mortgage, a son. I’ve got responsibilities. I can’t go yet. Then I happened to be at work one day - I’m a police officer in London - when I happened to be chasing a bloke who pulled a gun on me and pulled the trigger. I heard the click but luckily the gun didn’t go off. It was then that I realised I’ve just got to get on and do it. In the end it took 3 years to get ready to go. It took that long to get my life to a point at which I was ready to go. I was trying to work out my budget. I tried to figure out how much money I would need to cover the maintenance for my son, how much I would need for my flat. How much I would need for fuel, food, shipping, lodging. Also, I guess if you set your deadline so far in the future you don’t have to worry about it so much. That the day will never come. But it did come. I set off in October 2012 and got as far as Mauritania on the west of Africa before I decided to turn back. It was an unfortunate time. There was a massive explosion in Islamic fundamentalism, moving <strong>into</strong> Mali and Mauritania. There were road blocks everywhere and I suddenly realised that I was in the middle of the Sahara and I felt totally vulnerable. I found that hard to deal with, I have to admit. It was a massive decision. I felt a total failure and it haunted me for a long time. Thankfully, the failure of the first trip gave me the drive to give it another go. A year later, I did. On the second trip I went <strong>into</strong> Europe, up <strong>into</strong> Scandinavia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Eastern Europe and eventually <strong>into</strong> Romania, then right across Russia, South Korea, Japan, across to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, then all the way down to Australia. From Sydney I shipped the bike to Chile then rode the Pan America highway all the way up <strong>into</strong> North America, down to Florida, and up <strong>into</strong> Canada. I was trying to get up to Alaska but I hit a bad spell of weather so headed back to New York, shipped the bike to Dublin, lapped Ireland before coming home via the Isle of Man. I was on the road 390 days in total. I covered 74,000 miles in a year. I didn’t have anything stolen until I reached the Isle of Man, when someone nicked my tank bag. I slept in fields, deserts, peoples’ back yards. Occasionally hotels, hostels, people I’d met on Facebook. The hardest areas to find places to stay were in Europe. Just because I was new to it and wasn’t certain of what I was doing. I like to be in control. I like to know what’s happening. It’s the gradual realisation that life on the road can mean you’re not in control. You deal with now. You have to be flexible. My daily budget was about £35 a day in Europe, then in Russia about £10-15 a day, in the Far East anything as low as £5. I was generally doing 200 to 350 miles a day. The most I did in one go was 1500 miles. The biggest problem I had was with the subframe. It kept snapping and I had to repair or replace it 4 times. When I set off I had way too much stuff, maybe 60 kilos of luggage. I set off with ration packs, a full tool kit. All the stuff I didn’t need. The first time it went was in the Sahara. I went through 3 subframes until I reached Japan when I had it reinforced. In terms of advice for other people I’d say, ‘just go.’ The hardest part is leaving. Once you’re going you’re alright, you’re just riding a bike. I wouldn’t look for the sponsorship aspect that I did initially. They can have an influence on your trip, sometimes negative. Telling you where to go and what to supply. In the end the experience cost me around £35,000, which was for everything; the bike, expenses on the road, expenses back home whilst I was away. In terms of what next, for me it feels like I’ve done it, though I do have unfinished business with Africa. I don’t have that drive to go back yet. But I would like to go back someday. It beat me last time. 14 Find out more at www.getting<strong>into</strong>adventure.com
The hard pack roads of Laos Overlooking the rice fields of Indonesia Meeting people along the way, Indonesia The friendly faces of Thailand
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