Destination Magadan
Once the journey was complete the fundraising for our tiny charity stopped so after two years of deliberating Compass Expeditions was formed and continue to donate to Freidreichs Ataxia Network today; sadly but expectedly Kathy died in 2013, a fighter to the end.
Starting with five BMW F 650 GS Twins and a worn out Toyota Troopcarrier offering five short tours of South America, Compass Expeditions has gone on to become one of the world’s leading motorcycle tour companies with over 35 bikes from the entire GS range five support vehicles and over 30 tours on every continent, (excepting Antarctica), and a rental fleet in Australia, all in nine years!
Each year we are lucky enough to have Charley Boorman lead a tour for us in Australia and have Simon Pavey run an off road skills course followed by a tour also in Australia.
If you say, “I strangled Alice” fast enough that’s how you pronounce the name of this town, spelt Ystradgynlais explained Dakar legend Simon Pavey. We had gathered in Wales, UK, at the world-renowned Off Road Skills rider-training center to participate in a course especially designed by Simon for the upcoming Road of Bones expedition 13 riders & 1 Co-rider were about to embark on a journey of a lifetime.
Joining us for the 2014 Road of Bones Expedition were Walt & Pam USA, (BMW R1200GSA), Robert USA, (Suzuki DR 650), Bayne Canada, (BMW F800), Eric Canada (BMW F800 GS), Brian Zimbabwe, (R1200 GS), Ray Australia, (Suzuki DR 650), Andrew Australia, (BMW R1200 GS), Jane Australia (BMW F650 GS), Leanne Australia, (BMW F650 GS), Tim Australia, (BMW F800 GS), John Australia, (BMW R1200 GSA) & Geoff Australia (Triumph Tiger XC800). After two years of planning we were about to depart on the 105 day Road of Bones expedition that would take the riders, from the UK, to France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Russia.
With the Off Road Skills training complete the team enjoyed a superb breakfast at the legendary bikes hangout the Ace Café in London before crossing the tunnel into Europe.
Mission statement: To provide riders with that elusive “life changing experience of a lifetime”
We made quick time across Europe but not before riding through spectacular vineyards of the Rhine Valley and amongst castles scenically along the Rhine River and visiting the amazing Neuschwanstien castle created by the mad Bavarian king, Ludwig II before experiencing what is widely regarded as one of the finest passes in Europe, the immense Grossglockner.
The Hungarian capital of Budapest, wonderfully located on the Danube, stunning Romania of Count Dracula fame and the Black Sea resort island of Nessebar, Bulgaria were visited before we reached the Turkish border. Thirty Turkish bikers had ridden seven hours to greet us at the border and escort the group into Istanbul.
By the time we reached this amazing vibrant and historical city we were already down one bike as Brian’s BMW R 1200 suffered a big end failure and his trip was over, on the 1200 at least, Brian became our spare rider and only had three days “off” a bike for the entire expedition.
We crossed the amazing country of Turkey, slept in caves converted to hotels and marveled at the Ottoman houses that hung precariously over raging rivers. Riding towards Georgia in the Turkish far northeast was biking nirvana as we rode amongst tea plantations that clung tenaciously to steep hillsides and through vast canyon lands on empty roads that followed the course of lonely rivers.
Georgia proved to be a revelation but we weren’t to make it any further than the capital Tbilisi. News had come through that the only border open with Russia had been closed due to a deadly landslide that killed eight truckers. Our itinerary had been thrown into chaos and a new plan hastily hatched which involved riding back to Europe after every conceivable alternate plan had been considered.
Returning to the Georgian–Turkish border on our way back to Europe a border guard asked, “Where are you going,” “Russia eventually” we replied, “why not cross at the Georgian–Russia border”? He asked perplexed, incredibly the border had reopened the day we were leaving Georgia to go back into Turkey, another U-turn and rewriting of the itinerary ensued as we rode hastily back for the Georgian border with Russia.
We rode the legendary Georgian Military Highway a pass of staggering beauty and amazing history with poet’s writers and armies all travelling this road. The highway winds deep into the Caucasus passing turquoise lakes and numerous monasteries in stunning locations, switchback after switchback greeted the riders as we rode beyond the green fertile valleys into a stark beautiful landscape high above the snowline.
At last we reached Russia but they were far from happy to see us and it took eight hours for us to cross the border, with representatives from the local Rotary club waiting a staggering twelve hours to greet us!
The Rotary Club organized a somber visit to Beslan, scene of the horrific massacre of over 300 people, nearly 200 of them children in 2004, before we rode east into Russia proper.
It wasn’t long before we were leaving Russia to cross the mighty Kazakh Steppe as we turned south toward Uzbekistan. Camping out on the immense steppe was an incredible experience as the riders were surrounded by a vastness and silence that was long thought to have disappeared in this world.
We entered the storybook lands of the fabled Silk Road in Uzbekistan skirting the Kyzyl Kum Desert as we rode into Samarkand home to some of the finest antiquities in all of Central Asia with the mighty Registan as its centerpiece. Ghenghis Khan, Tamerlane and various despot emirs all had a turn at ruling these lands and all have left their mark.
Some of the finest riding of the entire expedition was experienced in Kyrgyzstan as we rode the rarely visited and lofty Kazaman Pass, three days of rough off road riding amongst towering snowcapped peaks and lonely nomadic ger camps that dotted the landscape, with many riders declaring it the “greatest riding days of their lives.”
Once again we crossed the vast empty Kazakh steppe camping beside deep blue lakes watching stunning sunsets. Wild dust storms blew in from the steppe at times having the riders lean at an alarming angle into the wind only to be stung by the sand as it blasted into us.
The Russians seemed happier to see us this time and the border crossing only took five hours! We were riding into remote Russian now amongst immense wheat farms interspersed with huge stands of Fir trees that served as boundaries. After 2,200 miles since leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan, riding virtually non-stop each day we reached the spectacular Lake Baikal, referred to as the “jewel in the Siberian Crown.” This stunning blue water lake is a lake of superlatives being the world’s oldest lake, deepest lake and holding 20% of the worlds unfrozen fresh water with 80% of its flora and fauna found nowhere else on earth.
Continuing on the Trans Siberian Highway we reached Mongolia a country that offers the riders simply some of the most spectacular riding of the expedition. Mongolia is a landscape of vast yawning valleys dotted with nomadic ger dwellers fattening their stock on the lush green pastures before the brutal winter arrives. Rough dirt tracks disappear over the horizon and riders can choose to take anyone of these tracks, as they all lead to the next remote village, or ride across the immense open landscape. The colors of Mongolia are highlighted by an immense blue sky and beautiful light that makes the entire country glow with a wonderful clarity.
The riding became tough as we faced numerous rivers, some deep, all with difficult challenging muddy entries and exits and deep slippery mud sections that extended well beyond the rivers.
Mongolia exacted its toll on the riders with one rider breaking his leg and another breaking three ribs amongst the numerous falls, these were tough days but it was what we had come for and at nights we were amply rewarded with wonderful ger camp accommodations and log fires in impossibly beautiful locations.
Crossing back into Russia for the last time only took three hours before we rejoined the Trans Siberian Highway heading due east into a remote empty landscape of the endless forests of the Taiga.
We eventually reached the M56 or Lena Highway and hit the rough dirt with the sign reading Magadan 3177ks with the vast majority of it dirt. We rode directly north to one of the world’s most isolated cities of Yakutsk, capital of Yakutia before crossing the mighty Lena River, via ferry. The city has no road links and is only able to be entered via ferry. Final bike preparations were carried out in Yakutsk with servicing and tire changing completed before the final push to Magadan and the evenings were spent with the Night Wolves, a great group of guys and girls belonging to what is Russia’s biggest biker club.
Under a vast blue Yakutian sky we departed Yakutsk crossed the Lena River again and with a certain trepidation we began what we had all come for, the Road of Bones.
The Road of Bones has a tragic yet little known history; Stalin populated his Gulag system with prisoners from across Russia and POWs during WW2 and interned them in Gulag camps along numerous tracks that led to the many gold & tin mines that exist in the far north east of Russia. It was an unimaginably brutal place with an estimated 2 million people dying during the construction of these tracks and at various mines, their bodies simply left on the tracks thus these tracks became known as the Road of Bones.
Immediately the challenges were thrown up with hundreds of miles of deep gravel that a lot of riders hated. We also broke our 5th and last set of trailer springs after only the first day on the Road of Bones and were forced to hire a “local” version of the VW Kombi to assist us to carry our considerable amount of bike spares, luggage and camping equipment, we needed to reduce the weight on the trailer if it were to make it to Magadan.
We crossed the Aldan River, yet another mighty river in what was now the extremely remote Kolyma Region. We ascended into the mountains the deep gravel became less so and the Road of Bones became a 50 mph track. The riding was magnificent as we rode amongst larch and fir covered mountains that were dissected by wild rivers all the while the colors of autumn were highlighted by the ever-present blue Kolyma skies, these were days we wished would never end.
The weather was holding and remained stunning but was also a double-edged sword, with the higher speeds we were averaging one flat tire every 80 miles and were quickly falling behind as we changed up to 11 flat tires in one solitary day!
The extremely remote area of the Kolyma Region is littered with abandoned settlements and a number of, what once were, huge cities. Entire cities stood utterly deserted it was as if the residents of these cities fled an imminent disaster, riding amongst them was both surreal and strangely eerie.
One city that does indeed remain is Ust Nera, a more forlorn god forsaken settlement would be hard to imagine. All around stood crumbling buildings and everywhere one looked were heaps of rusting scrap metal, cars bodies, trucks and skeletons of factories. Black coal dust permeated every inch of Ust Nera and we couldn’t wait to leave. Our desperation to escape was exasperated after Walt hit a pedestrian bringing them both crashing to the ground. The pedestrian ran away and Walt rode off to a quiet place to repair his bike and gather his thoughts but not before locals asked Walt if he wanted a priest?
We rode into Magadan a day late after riding 16,500 miles and suffering 18 flat tires in five days. Arriving is always the pinnacle of the expedition and as we neared I thought of all that we had experienced since leaving the Ace Café 106 days earlier, from the tragedies to the Triumphs, and I became immediately overwhelmed, it is a surprisingly emotional moment; we had made it to Magadan!
WHAT’S NEXT?
Every year Compass Expeditions offers an “epic” journey somewhere in the world that supplements our shorter rides in South America, Australia, Africa and Europe. We will be running our 75-day Cairo to Capetown expedition in September 2015 and the Road of Bones expedition again in 2016.
ADVENTURE MOTORCYCLE TOURS OF SOUTH AMERICA, AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND
Our motorbike adventure tours can take you to all corners of the earth, giving you the chance to experience a number of exciting locations from a new and interesting perspective. We take you to some of the most stunning locations in the world, including South America, Australia and Southern Africa, all on BMW motorcycles.
You can experience anything from an amazing scenic ride along the challenging Ruta 40 on our Patagonia Explorer tour, explore the vast Australian interior on a BMW motorcycle rental bike, or cross a quarter of the earth’s surface on the demanding, but epic, Road of Bones: London to Magadan motorcycle expedition.
Whether you opt for one of our awesome Australian motorcycle tours or a challenging quest across two continents – you can be sure your trip will combine excitement with a unique cultural experience and the time to properly take in your surroundings. Because we take you to some of the most spectacular and interesting destinations on the planet, we want to ensure you don’t just experience them as a hazy blur. That’s why our motorcycle adventure touring effectively combines adventure with an appreciation and respect for the culture and beauty of the places we visit.
Combined, the Compass Expeditions team have lived and worked in South America for over 20 years; we know the best places to visit, which roads and trails are the best to use, and how to keep our fellow riders safe. Compass Expeditions are world leaders when it comes to extraordinary, sometimes challenging, motorbike touring destinations, including Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.
Adventure is our passion, and we aim to give our fellow travelers a unique holiday experience they’ll never forget. So to experience some of the most amazing sights in the world with a qualified team of intrepid travelers who know the area, contact Compass Expeditions and be a part of the adventure!
Final notes:
Award winning documentary film -maker, Robin Newell of Thought Films, filmed the 2014 expedition with a view to offering it to TV networks across the globe in 2015. A DVD series will also be made of the expedition and will be available for sale in early 2015. For more information contact +613-5368-2113 or info@compassexpeditions.com.
