Motorcycles Adventure: Last Sunday Monika and Simon Newbound set off on the trip of a lifetime. Their aim is get into the Guinness Book of RecordsJohn Wheeler talks to two dreamers.
Simon, from England, a former radio operator on a nuclear submarine, reckons he spent about 10 of his 23 years service underwater in a "high-tech tin can" and says motorcycling is the perfect antidote to those years of claustrophobia.
Together with his Czech-born wife, Monika, the couple are challenging two Guinness World Records.
Monika aims to achieve the record for the number of countries visited by a woman in one continuous journey, which currently stands at 105 countries.
The pair also hope to travel the greatest distance as a couple on a continuous journey by exceeding 99,000 kilometres (61,479 miles).
Monika, who currently has less than a year's riding experience, will be riding a BMW F 650 GS. Simon's choice is the latest BMW R1150 GS.
The machines are standard BMW's with sensible globetrotter extras such as Ohlins suspension, Autocom communications, enlarged fuel tanks, Remus exhaust systems, Garmin GPS systems, braided hydraulic brake lines and 41 litre panniers.
Their record attempt started out from Maxwell Motors in Blackrock.
Planning their route has taken them over four months to finalise and is designed to avoid wars and adverse weather. It takes in Northern and Southern Europe, the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina, the West and East coasts of the US, Africa from north to south, the Pakistan Highway and a coast to coast ride across Australia.
After visiting the west coast of Ireland they will ride through Wales and Scotland and then visit the British Motorcycle Federation's Show in Peterborough next Saturday and Sunday on May 18th and 19th, before making for Norway and the Arctic Circle. They expect their journey to take them two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years to complete.
Along the route they will see the splendours of the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Mongolia's Buddhist temples and the Taj Mahal. "I suppose anybody and everybody will think of this journey as one for romantics. Monika and I would not disagree," says Simon.
The trip is to raise money for Ward 15 of the Royal Manchester Childrens' Hospital, which specialises in treating mentally and sexually abused children.
Before they set off Simon said: "Confidence and belief in ourselves and the bikes ability, coupled with the rewards that come from completing such a huge personal challenge is what has committed us to undertake the journey. Living the dream and experiencing the world's rich diversity of culture is what we are both looking forward to more than anything."
Soon the couple will have notched up Ireland, first country on their list - just 105 to go.