Where has the time gone?

What a crazy couple of months these last two have been – loads going on and all of it good. April was packed with presentations around the UK and full on work on two new projects. And I can tell you about one of those right now.

‘Into Africa’ has just been released as an Enhanced e-book on Apple i-Tunes. There are loads of pictures; many of which have never been seen in public before. Interview video clips, and lots of maps – something I’m frequently asked for. Mind you, when you see the maps you need to look at them with one point in mind. Africa is roughly 5,000 miles long. I rode 22,000 and if I’d tried to put all the twists and turns (plus the frequent ‘getting lost’ wrong turns), the maps would have looked as if a 2 year old had been let loose with a crayon!

And May? It’s has kicked off with me on the run again. I was invited to book sign at the Paignton BMAD (Bikers Make a Difference) Bike Festival and it went very well indeed. It was unexpectedly cold but who cares when the rain mostly stayed away. Do check out BMAD when you get a minute. These guys, bikers from all sorts of backgrounds, do great work.

Our friend Peter arrived from the USA immediately after. If you’ve read ‘Tortillas to Totems’ then you’ll know all about Peter. He’s the biker Birgit and I met at the east rim of the Grand Canyon. A Harley Davidson up a dirt road? Peter’s comment was, “Why not.”

And now I’m just back from sunny Wales. Yes you read that right. The sun shined on us all at the Touratech Travel Event. Amazing weather – have to start off with that because this is the first time I’ve been to Wales and it’s been clear blue skies. Wonderful, and according to all the guys and girls who went out riding the trails in the area, perfect. I met quite a few people who tried trail riding for the first time and mates were they grinning.

The presenters were Andreas Hulsmann who is one of the best travel photographers I’ve ever seen. Nathan Millward, who kept everyone enthralled in spite of having no shots as his laptop ended up on the bonfire (yes you read that right). Paddy Tyson had everyone in stitches and Nick Sanders rounded off the presentations with a very funny performance. Yours truly did a stint too but the best bit I thought was the question and answer session that ran for most of the evening. Great questions from the audience and we were all put well and truly on the spot on several occasions.

Terrific atmosphere. Excellent weekend – though I think the clear skies meant that a few folks are now thinking about upgrading their sleeping bags! Finally, what an excellent opportunity to meet up with friends. I really enjoyed the chance to have conversations with friends that were more than the 5 or 10 minutes bikes shows and the like allow.

So what next? Well, there’s yet another new project on the way and I hope to be able to tell you all about that in June. But first, this coming weekend I’m off to the UK’s biggest outdoor motorcycle event at the Peterborough Show Grounds – 18th to 20th of May. It’s time for the BMF (British Motorcycle Federation) rally. I suspect it’s going to really hop this year as there are all sorts of new things going on. Another one to check out!