After reading other motorcycle road-trip books, I knew I liked the way people tell their tales after being removed from modern life. ‘Ride Out!’ published by Gestalten, the company that made The Ride and Paul D'Orleans Chopper and Cafe Racer books. Ride Out! is a large format hardback book with a mix of road and off-road trip diaries written by a range of men and women, all ages, from different countries.
One man set off on a 12,000-mile journey only two weeks after passing his test. El Solitario’s David Borras, travelled 1193 miles through Morocco on a heavily modified Harley-Davidson Sportster, while three guys travelled on mid-1990s Suzuki DR350s from Edinburgh to Cape Town, a distance of 12,427 miles.
One of the road-trippers featured in this book is Tom Bing, a talented photographer and friend of Sideburn. Tom and his partner Sally McGee, rode from Santiago de Chile to San Francisco on a pair of Honda XR150s. Their Hondas had racks on the side to hold surfboards and all the luggage they needed for 12 months. Tom and Sally travelled through 12 counties for a full year, living on $10 a day.
Their adventure story was my favourite part of this 272-page book. Tom and Sally lived on a normal street before they set off on a trip that most people wouldn’t even dream of, now they are back and living on another normal street, but with new memories. It makes a dream trip seem achievable for someone like me.
Good quality books and stories like this make me want to get outside, follow the roads, and see what the world offers.
You can find the 24 x 30 cm book on Gestalten.com, for €39.90.