Wed, 08 Mar 2000 17:04:21 GMT
From: simon @ millennium-ride.com
To: sponsors @ millennium-ride.com

2k/02/09
South Sinai sun & scuba diving

2k/01/28
Istanbul

2k/01/21
Lap of the Med. instead

2k/01/10
Libya visa problem

99/12/26
I'm outa here

99/12/26
Tracker info

99/12/23
Yes I'm still alive ...

99/10/
Hello Sponsors

99/09/23
Millennium Motorcycle emerges as a Sponsor Monster

99/09/06
Medical

99/07/28
Engine swopping

99/07/17
Tea-table survival & Gambia

99/07/11
Note to Sponsors with pin badge

99/06/12
Bike moves & Budget

99/05/04
things fall into place

99/04/10
TV and the first jabs

Dubai is lining itself up to be the next Hong Kong and right now is in the middle of its annual Shopping Festival (which incidently is being held in favour of Medecins sans Frontieres. Never have I come across a country where a charity has such a high profile.) I was greeted by the opening fireworks on my night of arrival a week ago. Shopping Festival? Well, anything to do with commerce goes here. The Emirate (one of seven) wants to diversify from oil and seenms to be doing quite well. Over 80% of the population in the UAE are expatriots attracted by high wages.

Graham and Nikita, veterans of a trans-Africa Landrover journey, saw the loaded bike and invited me to stay with them on my second day here. But before telling you about the Now moment I'm going to recount the journey through the Magic Kingdom.

I left Jeddah with the 'wind-catchers' attached (John T ram air cooling wings) which reduced the engine running temparature from 120 degrees C to 85 - perfect for the 2500 km of desert to cross.

As non-Muslim I took the mandatory detour around Mecca and didn't mind this religious discrimination because the desert scenery was absolutely stunning.
I stopped to photograph a group of scary-looking red-arsed baboons on the mountaintop near Taif until I was chased back to my bike by the male chief!

The first night out of Jeddah I strapped a load of firewood to the back of the bike (prompting another police check) and rode of into the desert to camp. I found refuge from the wind amongst a pile of rusting old cars and dropped the bike just once in the soft sand. I cooked up a mean stew and settled down to my first practice on the harmonica that ET had given me. Now I can just about get clean clear notes on the scale!

The wind blew me all the way to Riyadh and another 5 star $2 Youth Hostel.
At one point I had to surrender my passport and follow the police to their station. I thought had seen the last of it as they sped away at 200km/h after a speeding motorist! Other encounters on this ride included a free meal from an Indian restauranteur and a donation of money and more food from some kind Arab gentlemen. The people I have met have been so wonderful throughout this trip and is the main aspect which springs to mind when I recount the happenings so far.

I arrived at Riyadh's Radio station and was pounced upon by three female interviewers for each of their shows - I enjoyed every minute of it. I would have liked, and should have, stayed longer in this capitol. At some stage I am going to have to admit that my schedule is far too quick. A month behind after two months should just about put me in the Winter in Siberia especially if the going in India will be as hard as I've been advised!

I was sand-blasted all the way to Dammam on the East coast where I tied up with the local Harley Davidson crew and hosted by Larry and Lisa's family who arranged a private villa for me. Someone even came in each day to do the washing up and make the bed! This was the other side of life in Saudi.
The compounds, the biggest having 15,000 residents and are towns themselves, mostly lived in by ex-patriots employed largely by oil companies, have a completely different lifestyle to that out in the 'real world'. It even felt like the USA. Saudi Arabia is a land full of surprises, particularly the non-alcoholic beer, no wonder the Government wants to keep the place a secret.

The bike got new rear wheel bearings, rear tyre (those Metzeler Sahara Enduro 3s are just great), a new chain (due to the tight spot not the wear, before I found out that tight spots can be cured by pressing together the rollers, and now 1500km the new one also has a tight spot!), and the left aluminium pannier welded. I made some great friends here.

The ride to Dubai took two days and the sand was blowing in from the Arabian Gulf (the hot land causes an onshore wind) producing sand-drifts on the fast lane of the motorway. So when a car passes you (often at 200km/h) it is best to brake because of its sandy wake. At least the sand was blowing from the left, the opposite side to the chain. (Although today when I washed the chain a good spoonful of sand came out.) I spent the intervening night with a group of Indians in a tyre depot - in the day the room was an office and in the night a communal dorm. We had hot milk for breakfast.

I've been to speak to the dhow boat people on the Dubai creek in the city centre. These are the ancient-looking wooden vessels which carry everything from chickens to microwaves across the Gulf to Iran Pakistan and India. I was savouring the hour or so spent trying to communicate with the Iranian crews going to Bande i Abbas and eventually established that all things are possible! I also took the Olympus camera in for repair for the second time, this time to an official dealer.

My Iranian visa is being processed (Blair please don't do anything to upset them this week) along with another Indian one because I won't even arrive there before expiry of the existing one. This gives me an ideal opportunity to do some:

FUNDRAISING

The widely-respected Saudi Al Mutlaq Establishments trading company sponsors the HD distributorship in the Kingdom and its chief, Monther, gave the go-ahead for a 1000US$ donation to the charity appeal. Then the Gulf hydraulics company DFI then came in with 500$ through its own Dutch chief Jaap. About 1800$ was raised here.

Buoyed up by this unexpected humanitarian help I made the plan to raise $10,000 while here in the UAE. Both Harley and Honda are letting me use their offices for practical purposes. It's been a week days and I am making in-roads to the media and although no corporates have yet come through a few hundred has been raised from individuals and bar collection. I get a real buzz from trying to get money out of people, but it can be hazardous, with moods swinging up and down by the hour depending on the reaction. The Gulf News newspaper wrote a wonderful article about the Ride today.

As an aside, we'd better stop using the Euro for Millennnium Ride fundraising - bit of an embarassment really isn't it? Why can't we just have a global currency? I once saw a European Parliamentarian wearing a T-Shirt saying "1 Euro (is greater than) 1$". That was about 6 months ago.
Now he has his just deserve for being such a currency nationalist.

MOTORCYCLING

Throughout all of the Middle Eastern countries I have so far visited the highest proportion of riders are here in the UAE. In Jordan and Syria there are insignificant numbers of bikes. I managed to meet some UAE riders during the parade of the Dubai Shopping Festival and there appears to be three distinctive groups (apart from the Indians despatch riding on CD200s):
the Goldwing riders, the Harley riders, and the Fireblade riders (with one or two R1s thrown in.) The riders all appear to have a large disposable income and there is no discriminatory legislation. Even during the Parade the Fireblade riders doing wheelies standing on the pegs were ignored by the police. Motorcycling is a pursuit for the rich at weedkends. Media interviewers are intrigued that there should be such a thing as bikers' rights but I delight in telling them all about it. One aspect they identify strongly with those is diesel spillage from trucks. Throughout the Middle East it is all over the roads, worse than anywhere I have seen in Europe.
Hopefully the work that FEMA has done in Brussels will eventually improve the situation here as manufacturers adopt the new EU standard as a global one.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE both have helmet laws but they are hardly enforced, and in the former the police don't even bother with them. I wasn't told to wear mine at all in Saudi and not here until a few days had passed.

The most useful work that can be done for bikers here is education of drivers. Basically the drivers haven't got a clue. Left hand turns from the right hand lane are the norm, not only by Arabs (who can't see sideways anyway because of their head gear) but by the ex-pats the bad habits obviously rub off. Tonight on my way to the Dubai Internet Cafe (thanks for the free time Ahmed) it was SCARY on the road coming in, chock-a-block traffic, screaching tyres as cars coming up at the rear slam on the anchors and swatch cars zipping up the hard shoulder or central reservation. It's best not to venture out on a bike in rush hour.

THE TRACKER SYSTEM

CLS has revamped the Tracker website which now includes a far better map.
Check it out at: http://www7.integra.fr/cls_carte

The previous address will be shut down soon. The Username and password are still the same: "Simons trip" and "sponsor" (Caps or not, no diff)

If these updates are getting a bit long for you, sorry! I just want to add one more thing.

It is very hard to describe how fulfilled I am feeling right now. I think back to the months of planning this trip, the years of dreaming about such a journey. Now I am only nine weeks into it and it feels like I am really living, I mean LIVING, challenging life to offer up what it will and going with the flow. It often feels far too good to be true, almost a bit of a piss-take, but I can tell you it is well recommended. I hope none of the experiences to come will be too painful, making me eat my words! Just gonna take it easy.

Tomorrow (Thursday) I've been invited to the annual dinner of the Natural History Club of the UAE up in the mountains to do some fundraising - Tim said I'd liven up their evening!

Then on the Sabbath (Friday) I'm off desert riding on XRs. Must get my muscles loosened up for that or I won't be able to move on Saturday.

from Simon

This interim report is intended for those who support the Millennium Motorcycle Ride. Share this dream while raising funds for medical health care registered charities Médecins Sans Frontières (worldwide) and Riders for Health (Gambia appeal). For 20 Euro/US$ + goodwill donation you get a commemorative pin badges and regular email updates. Corporate sponsors welcome.
PLEASE LINK: www.millennium-ride.com