Uneasy Rider

In 2006, travel writer Mike Carter exchanged his day-to-day work routine for a BMW R 1200 GS and a 20,000 mile trans-European journey in the hope of finding some meaning in his life. His regular columns in the UK’s Observer newspaper received critical acclaim and it wasn’t long before there was a book deal on the table. One year and 352 pages later, Uneasy Rider has just been published.



Interestingly, it was a broken heart and a moment of drunken bravado that inspired the middle-aged, and typically rather cautious, journalist to take off on this life-changing, six month motorcycle trip around Europe. Never mind that he hadn’t been on two wheels since a three-month teenage episode involving a Lambretta, four crashes and an 18-month ban for drink driving, a plan had begun to loosely form…

And so, having completed a six-day World of BMW residential motorcycle course and hastily re-mortgaged his flat, Mike set off alone, resolving to go wherever the road took him to enjoy the adventure of heading off into the unknown. He ended up travelling almost 20,000 miles and reaching the four extremes of Europe: the Arctic Circle in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the south, the Portuguese Atlantic to the west and the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east.

Although in reality the book is a witty and entertaining motorcycle travelog, Uneasy Rider is in fact a journey inwards, as, on the way, Mike finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover what he – as a man in his forties who hasn’t quite found his place in the world – should be doing. Self-deprecating, poetic and utterly engaging, his is a heroic journey taken for the rest of us too scared – or too busy – to leave our 9 to 5 office-bound existence.

Reflecting on his journey, Mike discovered the joys of riding a BMW GS motorcycle to the extent that he can never imagine life without one again:

“I’ve witnessed how riding this bike through towns and villages – especially in less-developed places – makes you an instant celebrity, breaks down barriers, where people instinctively wave at you and smile, like you’re blowing through the place on a magic carpet. I went from a sense of fear every morning about getting on the bike to a sense of excited anticipation from the moment I woke up. But it was from the bikers I met everywhere that I’ve probably learned the most. They’ve ridden along with me, taught me how to be a better rider, shown me their towns and countries, taken me into their homes and families, fed me, watered me and picked me up when the isolation and loneliness has bitten.

“Before I left the UK, I somewhat cynically thought that this two-wheeled fraternity I’d read so much about must be a myth; that it couldn’t possibly exist these days – where the prevailing attitude seems to foster selfishness, a suspicion of strangers and the cult of the individual. But it’s out here, everywhere. All you need to do is jump on a motorcycle and, I’ve no idea why, the whole world becomes your friend. It’s enough to restore your faith in human nature!”

Published on 7 February 2008 by Random House (ISBN: 0091922682) and available from www.amazon.co.uk for £10.99 (plus shipping) Uneasy Rider: Travels through a mid-life crisis, by Mike Carter, will delight any adventure riding enthusiast or armchair traveller who dreams of making their own big trip on a motorcycle.

Mike's trip in numbers:
•19,950 miles ridden
•23 gifts received, including shoes, worry beads and a stuffed fish
•3 sets of tires worn out, and just one puncture – in Spain
•27 countries visited. Number of countries visited where he was informed the next country was dangerous: 27
•6 attacks: three by dogs, one each by a snake, a goose and a human
•4 women he met whom he could easily have fallen for
•1 person who definitely fell for him: a Turkish waiter called Hassan!

Read more about Mike’s trip online by visiting www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/feb/10/mikecarter.roadtrips