The big practice run

Back in 2013, I rode 6,200 miles on a modified 2000 Yamaha R1 from the northernmost point of continental USA to the southernmost. Prudhoe Bay is often mentioned when people discuss riding top to bottom, and while that’s the most northern point by road, it’s not the northernmost point – that’s in Barrow, where there are no roads leading to civilization. That meant I had to ride from Barrow over the frozen Beaufort Sea. To keep it a challenge, I didn’t allow myself to attach any third wheels or skis or accept any physical help from other people.

I’ve completed a lot of winter rides in preparation for the North Pole, but nothing was as important as the Beaufort test. Before then, I thought that I’d take on this practice run, spend another year tweaking and then go for the big one. But, in that frozen wasteland, I realised the bike and my planning had a long way to go and it’s taken six years so far to get this close.