I’ve always dreamed that one day I’d be able to ride a motorbike. As a child I’d sit for hours watching my next door neighbours tinker with their bikes and, come the weekend, speed off in their leathers on some wild and crazy adventure. I had no idea where they were going or what they would be doing, but I wished I could go along for the ride.
As an adult I started thinking differently. ‘It’s way too dangerous’, I told myself. And then, when I became a mum, ‘I have to be responsible now and when would I find time to ride anyway?’ Comments from others, like: ‘bikes are really heavy you know’; ‘you need good balance’; ‘it’s a skill’; ‘it takes a long time to learn’; ‘the test will be difficult’; ‘you don’t have a bike – or any gear’ gave me all the more reason not to try.
But a few weeks ago, when I interviewed the inspirational Tiffany Coates, the world’s foremost female bike adventurer, something changed. Tiffany has covered more miles than any other solo female rider and, as an international freelance motorcycle guide, she really is doing what she loves. Tiffany’s story reminded me that I’d let fear get in the way and that I needed to give myself permission to follow my dreams. Two motorbike lessons later and I’m so grateful for her words of wisdom. I hope this interview gets you thinking about what you’d love to do and how you can make it happen. ~ Rachel
Tiffany and Themla (bike) in Peru
1. How are you doing what you love?
Travel is my passion and always has been; from early childhood I was fascinated by the idea of going to far off places and loved hearing other people’s stories about their travels. My dad was in the army and so I had a peripatetic childhood, moving every two years, growing up on Army bases all over the UK and sometimes overseas. This meant that being the new girl in town and having to make friends was the norm for me.
When I grew up it was only natural that I started backpacking and exploring the world for myself. I stumbled into motorcycle travel by accident rather than design and it became a life changer. Each year varies with how much travel I manage to fit in, it can be a couple of trips totalling six weeks up to a few months or the longer journeys when I’ve been away for anything from 14 months to two and a half years. I have crossed every continent, some of them two or three times and still there are new countries I want to see and explore.
Adventures in Kashmir
2. Tell us about your first ever adventure: Why India and how did you feel once you’d decided to go for it?
Following lots of backpacking trips I had decided my next destination would be India, my best friend Becky wanted to go as well and we quickly agreed that we would go overland as there are a lot of interesting countries along the way. Suddenly a spur of the moment decision was made that we would travel by motorbike – I’m still not sure how that came about; neither of us had bikes, licenses or even knew how to ride! However, we were determined to do it and that this was going to be an adventure like no other.
3. How long did it take you to prepare for this trip to India?
Preparing was fairly intensive. We did a five-day bike training course on 125cc bikes, we thought we were Evel Knievels, sat revving the engines at traffic lights. It’s a tough test to pass and amazingly we both got our licences at our first attempt. It was at this point that we started to ask around about a suitable bike having decided that we wanted to ride two up. After some searching, we tracked down a second hand BMW 800cc bike, named it Thelma and had to learn to ride all over again as it was vastly different to the 125s we trained on. Despite having to stand on tiptoes to reach the ground, and having to balance a bike which weighed over four times more than us between our thighs, we got it cracked and within two months we’d set off. I’m more of a seat of the pants type girl than a meticulous planner so our preparation, although intensive in terms of time scale, was not as detailed as it could have been. We worked out a rough route, applied for the appropriate visas and got hold of some bike gear – some of it second hand. I also sold all my hair to a wigmaker to raise extra funds to purchase some tools. For me, over-planning takes the spontaneity out of a journey.
4. You prioritise travel in your life. How do you fund your adventures?
As well as being an international freelance motorcycle tour guide – and the only woman in the world employed at this level, I have a bread and butter job at home as a youth and community worker, working with some of the most disadvantaged children in our communities. I live quite frugally and I save every penny towards my next adventure. Life on the road can be fairly cheap: petrol is always my main expense and I tend to camp because I love being outdoors – I’m not a city person.
5. Tell us more about your trusted motorcycle, Thelma…
Thelma is a 1992 BMW R80GS – a bit of a rough looking bike these days, although I would set off on her tomorrow around the world again without any hesitation. She’s got a good engine that never gives up and has seen me through some sticky times. When Becky and I were naming her, we had decided that we wanted a female name that wasn’t too racy and Thelma was one of the most sedate names we could think of – it also tied in with Thelma and Louise, a great road movie about two women, which is of one of my favourite films.
Thelma was second hand and had 20,000 miles on her when we got her, she has since covered over 190,000 miles. She’s criss-crossed tough routes all over the world through rivers, ice, and clay, and from high snow-covered mountain passes and Arctic tundra to deserts. She’s my trusted companion so I don’t really see myself ever letting her go. I’ve decided that when I get too old and feeble to keep Thelma upright and balanced on her two wheels, I’ll attach a sidecar to her – the ultimate stabilisers!
On a main road in Southern Sudan
6. Why is freedom so important to you?
Having an open road in front of you and knowing you have the freedom to go wherever you want is very alluring, and motorbike travel brings a thrill every day with each challenge it brings. Thinking on my feet and making on the spot decisions about where to go, or which route to take, is addictive, fun and for me, it’s what life is all about. I may decide to take a detour which takes me through the world’s largest walnut forest in Kyrgyzstan, or camp on a deserted beach in Nicaragua and see turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. Whatever I choose to do I enjoy the moment; breathing in fresh air away from towns and cities.
Travelling through Iran
7. Does it ever scare you going into strange and unknown countries, what are the biggest dangers you have faced?
The more I think about this the more I realise that I must be missing the fear gene that other people posses. Rather than feeling intimidated and scared about going to new places I feel invigorated and energised. I look forward to taking in new sights and sounds and experiencing and the thrill of the unfamiliar. Danger really is not lurking around every corner, as we’re often led to believe. Wherever I am the biggest risk of all is probably the threat from other drivers and vehicles. Unstable countries with security issues can be a worry too, but I’ve always seemed to get away with things!
8. Why is it so important to be resourceful on the road?
Resourcefulness is an essential skill for life on the road. Whether it’s spotting a piece of wire on the ground that will work as a bodge repair on the bike or staying with a local because the threat from wild animals – wolves, bears or lions –makes it too dangerous to sleep outside, using your initiative can be the difference between completing a trip successfully or abandoning it, or even life and death.
Doing some urgent roadside repairs in Uzbekistan
9. What do you miss most about home?
I miss my family, friends and home-cooked food the most when I’m on the road. And loneliness is definitely a factor. Spending extended amounts of time alone on a motorcycle in continents where English isn’t spoken can be isolating. I deal with it one day at a time, and make the most out of every encounter when I meet people. I have a strong sense of self-belief and this always helps me to keep going.
10. What are the best bits about being a woman travelling solo on a bike, and what are the biggest challenges you face when you’re out on the road?
I often don’t think too much about the fact that I’m female and that the vast majority of motorcyclists doing trans-continental journeys are guys – it is definitely a man’s world. However, being a woman means I get the best of both worlds: I’m treated as an honorary man because I have my own bike but I’m also welcomed into people’s homes and get to spend time with female members of the family, which in many cultures, I couldn’t do if I was a man.
Making new friends on a street in Khiva, Uzbekistan
I’ve also got away with a few fines (or bribes) which blokes would probably have had to pay, but the flip side is that I am more vulnerable to unwanted advances in remote places like border posts, cafés, or out on the open road.
Reaching the border in Tajikistan
11. What have been your most memorable rides to date, and why?
There are just too many to list but these trips were particularly special:
- crossing the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (the world’s largest salt flat)
- getting the first glimpse of the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas
- travelling across the Gobi Desert where I finally cracked the Holy Grail of bike travel – riding confidently with a fully loaded quarter tonne bike – and enjoying the sensation of floating and gliding over the soft sand.
In the Kzylkul Desert
12. You’ve crossed every continent, some of them several times. What was the toughest continent to cross?
Definitely Africa because of its lack of infrastructure, the threat posed by wild animals and the sheer remoteness of many of the places there. This trip was epitomised by a deep river crossing where the water rose to the same level as Thelma’s fuel tank and I really struggled to get through. I hoped there were no crocodiles lurking underneath me and was conscious that if something did go wrong I was a hundred miles from the nearest main town.
Crossing a river in Ethiopia
13. Tell us about your next trip…
Well, I’ll be breaking new ground later this year by leading the first British group of motorcyclists across Madagascar. I’m also keen to explore Borneo by bike.
14. Do you have any words of wisdom budding motorcyclists, or to anyone who dreams of having an adventure but isn’t sure where to go?
Once you start riding you will never stop, get decent bike gear that effectively protects you from the British weather, find friends to ride with and let your dreams take you wherever you want to go.
I truly believe that anyone can ride anywhere on any bike that they choose to take. Don’t let others put you off because, until they have tried it for themselves, they will never know or understand the thrill of putting on your helmet, pointing your bike east and just setting off whether it’s to East Anglia or Angola; the whole world is an adventure waiting to be explored.
In Belgium
For more information about Tiffany and her wild adventures visit her website or connect on Twitter and Facebook.
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You’ll find more interviews with people who are doing what they love here.
