Andy and I have been riding motorbikes since we were 16 and although Andy is 4 years younger he got around to passing his bike test several years before I did. Since then we’ve owned a various selection of bikes big and small sometimes having periods without any bikes at all but rarely for long. I think we’ve both owned bikes continuously for about the last 15 years and during that time we’ve tried to go on at least 1 biking adventure together every year. It started off with just a few days away, sometimes in the UK and sometimes into Europe and at various times of the year depending when we could arrange to get time off together.
During that time we’ve often talked about going on a longer trip, but obviously work and family have always got in the way, until now.
The initial plan was to cycle down to Istanbul and then around the Black Sea Coast in Turkey and back through Georgia, Russia and Ukraine but recent events meant a change in plan. So we’re still intending to ride to Istanbul but taking a different route there and back roughly as shown below. However we’re going to remain completely flexible on our plans and so the route, the destination and the time away could change on a daily basis. The site has been written mainly for the benefit of our Dad, George Oakley who is a very young 92 and is as sharp as ever, even if his mobility is not so good. Interested in everything we do, we thought this was a good way of him following our journey and sharing some of our experiences rather than boring him stupid with hundreds of photos when we return. So here goes, you’re all welcome to tune in to see our posts, but bear in mind it’s for our Dad and we’re bikers not professional journalists.