Magadan Motorcycle Adventure Episode 6

Motorcycle Adventure Dirt Bike TV is proudly supported by Adventure Spec in England, Rally Raid Products, Giant Loop in the United States and Adventure Moto in Australia. It's like the freeway. Everyone leaving Magadar, now the weather's improved. Have a look at this. Wild Russia! This would be one of my last expansive views of the ancient Siberian landscape that had been the home of the woolly mammoth and dinosaurs. The sunny weather had brought with it dust, something I hadn't seen for weeks. Despite the effort, I'd prefer wrestling in mud any day. The roads alternated between quality blacktop and well-maintained dirt, and we were covering the last few hundred kilometres to Magadar at a cracking pace. Our final overnight stop before reaching Magadar would be at the old Soviet Union town of Yagudno, defined by those large unit blocks in various states of disrepair. And one of them would be our home for the last night of our trip. I've been intrigued by these multi-storey buildings that almost look derelict. And on our final night, we're actually going to stay in one. It's reasonably well appointed inside, it just looks so derelict outside. And here's our beds, nice bright lights. No, our flat in the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, so in the 1960s. I was surprised to find the unit clean and warm, simple but functional. And after dropping our gear off, we were met by the president of the Polar Owls Motorcycle Club, who warmly welcomed us and invited us to put our bikes in their workshop for the night. We're at the Polar Owls Motorcycle Club, and a veterinarian runs it and he's gone to operate on a cat. It's going to take him about an hour, so the cat must be pretty sick. As usual, Renat will have a cigar and we'll eat some sunflower seeds and watch this Russian movie. This is my last cigar. Your last cigar? Well, you timed it well. This small club represented the very best of the adventure riding spirit. Offering free accommodation, access to a huge range of tools capable of fixing anything, and most importantly, a well-stocked beer fridge. We're at the Polar Owls Motorcycle Club, Magadan. Hello. Hello, I am a doctor. That's good. This is a couple of members of the club. Very interesting. Rides the very ultra-reliable Honda Africa Twin. You don't need to understand Russian when Renat is speaking the universal motorcycle language of bench racing. He was recounting our challenging times in the mud. And we left our new friends from this small town with a huge heart, and we were back into the dust. But it didn't matter too much, as our journey was near its end. This place is named Grandfather's Bald Head. Grandfather's Bald Head. And these are the last few kilometres of dirt on the road to Magadan, aren't they, Renat? Magadan, just 245. So about 45km of dirt. Yes. And here comes one of the reasons we hate dirt. Dust. Almost in the blink of an eye, the raw Siberian wilderness that we had been immersed in for weeks gave way to a city life. As we rode those final kilometres, I reflected on how a great friendship between Renat and I had been forged on the side of the road, and how that friendship led us to this 17,000km adventure across Siberia. Renat had given me a wonderful gift, to see and feel Mother Russia and its people from the seat of a motorcycle. I would leave Russia with my belief firmly intact that the nightly news distorts our view of the world and how others live life, and that the best way to see the truth is to see it for yourself. There was no fanfare or welcoming party when we reached Magadan, just a small celebration between ourselves. But we knew we were part of only a handful of adventure riders throughout the world that had taken this journey in the summer of 2016, and we were content with that achievement. Motorcycle adventure is infectious, not only to the riders, but to their families. And within six months after our ride to Magadan, Renat and his wife Svetlana visited us in Sydney, Australia, and Sonia and I shared our country with our lifelong friends. And this is the beauty of motorcycle adventure.