Chris Evans, look out! Bainbridge native Michael Stevenson, James Kohnen and Graham Risch are ready to take over at Top Gear.
For the last 18 months, the trio — who became friends in mechanical engineering classes at the University of Colorado Boulder — have been planning a journey of 20,000 miles across Eurasia.
And if the scope of their trip wasn’t impressive enough, they’re doing it all on motorcycles.
“One of the best things about being on a motorcycle is that you are completely immersed in wherever you are,” Risch said. “You get the smells, the weather, and the people — for better or for worse. You can’t just close the door of your car or go back to your house to get away from it.”
On May 12, the friends set out from Boulder on their Kawasaki KLR650s. They rode 1,500 miles to Toronto, shipped their bikes to Belgium, and hopped on a plane, the beginning of what they anticipate will be a seven-month adventure through
28 countries, including Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Russia, India, Cambodia and Malaysia.
One of the stops they’re most excited about is Myanmar, which remained closed to tourists from 1962 to 2010. Although it’s an expensive trip — they’re legally required to hire a guide, who will charge $1,850 per person — Stevenson thinks it’s worth it.
“It’s an opportunity to see a people and culture that has had little influence in the past 50 years.”
As they’ve quickly discovered, traveling by motorcycles poses some unique challenges.
For starters, there’s little protection against the elements.
“We’ve encountered monsoon rains that nearly washed us off the road, hail that made our knuckles bleed, 120 degrees Fahrenheit heat, 60 mph winds, dust storms, lightning. Everything except snow and extreme cold,” Stevenson said.
There are also thieves to thwart, border guards to sweet talk – for whatever reason, most are suspicious of the motorcycle registration cards issued by the state of Colorado – and constant bike maintenance to perform.
“We do daily checks on the bikes for loose bolts and cracks in the frame, and we’re always discussing weird noises from the engine, any strange vibrations,” Stevenson said. “We were under the impression that spare parts for KLR650s would be available all over the world. They’re not. Meaning, if something does break, and it’s specific to our motorcycles, we could be in trouble.”
So far, the only major mechanical holdup has been a broken generator in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Which isn’t to say that the pair hasn’t had harrowing experiences. Stevenson cited several car collisions, his own attempt to ward off anaphylactic shock after being stung by a wasp, a near 1,000-foot fall down Mount Olympus, “and miserable vodka hangovers after meeting some friendly Russians.”
At the end of the day, however, the journey has been positive, with the kindness of strangers a constant across cultures.
“Everyone we’ve met has had a similar mindset toward us; helpful almost to a fault, curious, generous,” Stevenson said.
“We’ve been given food from those who have little food to give, we’ve been gifted spare motorcycle parts despite our insistence to pay, we’ve received free mechanical work on our bikes, and people have dedicated hours of their time to help us continue our travels.”
For updates from the road, follow the group’s blog at www.3x2freefall.com. Those looking to donate to the Myanmar portion of their trip can visit www.gofundme.com/3x2freefall.
