Post by derek on Oct 26, 2012 12:21:48 GMT
The Adelaide Centenary Adventure
25th October 2012
The Adelaide Centenary Adventure – Recreating the first around the world ride 100 years on
The first biker to ride around the world left Dublin 100 years ago on October 23, 1912.
On Tuesday 23 October 2012, the centenary of that day, author, adventurer and Sunday Times motorcycle columnist Geoff Hill and former racer Gary Walker were in Dublin to announce their attempt to recreate that incredible journey.
Sponsored by motorcycle insurance specialists Adelaide Insurance Services, and supported by BMW Motorrad, they and bikers from all over Ireland met at Joe Duffy Motorrad on Tuesday morning to celebrate the achievement of American writer Carl Stearns Clancy.
They have the original boots which Clancy wore plus a Henderson motorbike as used by Clancy for the trip.
The Henderson led a parade of bikers north from Dublin to recreate over Tuesday 23 October and Wednesday 24 October the Irish leg of Clancy’s journey, through Donegal to the Giant’s Causeway and down the Antrim coast road to Belfast.
Geoff and Gary will then recreate Clancy’s entire round the world journey from April to June next year accompanied by his original boots on their second journey around the world 100 years after they did it the first time.
BMW Motorrad are providing the motorbikes for the trip: R1200GS Adventures which would probably seem like spaceships to Clancy compared to the 1912 Henderson he used – a 934cc inline four with one gear and no front brake which made 7bhp and was advertised at the time as the fastest motorcycle in the world.
Feargal O’Neill, a Dublin biker is credited as the catalyst for the 2012 part of the story which started in February last year when Geoff received an email from him: “I think it is a real shame that Clancy is not better known, when you think that he accomplished this feat before the outbreak of the First World War and six years before Alcock and Brown crossed the Atlantic. With the centenary looming, myself and some other motorcyclists are going to recreate the Irish leg of the journey. I feel that there is a duty on us modern-day motorcyclists to do our bit to honour the memory of this great pioneer of our sport, and I really hope that you might be able to come to Dublin for the big send-off.” “Would you be interested?”
As soon as Geoff replied to Feargal’s email saying yes, he ordered Motorcycle Adventurer about Clancy’s journey by multiple round the world rider and author Dr Gregory Frazier who last year published this book from Amazon, and the more Geoff read it, the more he became convinced that recreating the journey just had to be done.
Clancy and colleague Walter Storey started the ride in Dublin because Clancy’s father was Irish and after leaving Ireland, the two rode through the UK and on through Holland and Belgium to Paris. Storey, who had never ridden a motorbike before the trip and had been badly shaken after being hit by a Dublin tram on the very first day, then returned home and with incredible courage, 22-year-old Clancy continued alone, riding down through Europe and across Algeria and Tunisia.
When he found he couldn’t get petrol in India, he shipped the bike to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, rode around there and part of Malaysia, then hopped up through Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai to Nagasaki, rode around Japan, shipped to San Francisco and rode home to New York.
His journey took 10 months and 18 000 miles in a tweed three-piece suit and a flat cap!
Read the full article and view pictures on Right To Ride - www.righttoride.co.uk/2012/10/25/the-adelaide-centenary-adventure/
Trevor Baird
www.righttoride.co.uk
www.righttoride.eu
www.rideitright.org
www.firstaidforriders.org
trevor.baird@righttoride.co.uk
25th October 2012
The Adelaide Centenary Adventure – Recreating the first around the world ride 100 years on
The first biker to ride around the world left Dublin 100 years ago on October 23, 1912.
On Tuesday 23 October 2012, the centenary of that day, author, adventurer and Sunday Times motorcycle columnist Geoff Hill and former racer Gary Walker were in Dublin to announce their attempt to recreate that incredible journey.
Sponsored by motorcycle insurance specialists Adelaide Insurance Services, and supported by BMW Motorrad, they and bikers from all over Ireland met at Joe Duffy Motorrad on Tuesday morning to celebrate the achievement of American writer Carl Stearns Clancy.
They have the original boots which Clancy wore plus a Henderson motorbike as used by Clancy for the trip.
The Henderson led a parade of bikers north from Dublin to recreate over Tuesday 23 October and Wednesday 24 October the Irish leg of Clancy’s journey, through Donegal to the Giant’s Causeway and down the Antrim coast road to Belfast.
Geoff and Gary will then recreate Clancy’s entire round the world journey from April to June next year accompanied by his original boots on their second journey around the world 100 years after they did it the first time.
BMW Motorrad are providing the motorbikes for the trip: R1200GS Adventures which would probably seem like spaceships to Clancy compared to the 1912 Henderson he used – a 934cc inline four with one gear and no front brake which made 7bhp and was advertised at the time as the fastest motorcycle in the world.
Feargal O’Neill, a Dublin biker is credited as the catalyst for the 2012 part of the story which started in February last year when Geoff received an email from him: “I think it is a real shame that Clancy is not better known, when you think that he accomplished this feat before the outbreak of the First World War and six years before Alcock and Brown crossed the Atlantic. With the centenary looming, myself and some other motorcyclists are going to recreate the Irish leg of the journey. I feel that there is a duty on us modern-day motorcyclists to do our bit to honour the memory of this great pioneer of our sport, and I really hope that you might be able to come to Dublin for the big send-off.” “Would you be interested?”
As soon as Geoff replied to Feargal’s email saying yes, he ordered Motorcycle Adventurer about Clancy’s journey by multiple round the world rider and author Dr Gregory Frazier who last year published this book from Amazon, and the more Geoff read it, the more he became convinced that recreating the journey just had to be done.
Clancy and colleague Walter Storey started the ride in Dublin because Clancy’s father was Irish and after leaving Ireland, the two rode through the UK and on through Holland and Belgium to Paris. Storey, who had never ridden a motorbike before the trip and had been badly shaken after being hit by a Dublin tram on the very first day, then returned home and with incredible courage, 22-year-old Clancy continued alone, riding down through Europe and across Algeria and Tunisia.
When he found he couldn’t get petrol in India, he shipped the bike to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, rode around there and part of Malaysia, then hopped up through Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai to Nagasaki, rode around Japan, shipped to San Francisco and rode home to New York.
His journey took 10 months and 18 000 miles in a tweed three-piece suit and a flat cap!
Read the full article and view pictures on Right To Ride - www.righttoride.co.uk/2012/10/25/the-adelaide-centenary-adventure/
Trevor Baird
www.righttoride.co.uk
www.righttoride.eu
www.rideitright.org
www.firstaidforriders.org
trevor.baird@righttoride.co.uk