In April 2004, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman set off on motorcycles from London and travelled east in search of adventure. Their destination was New York, some 20,000 miles away, and into a world that was very different from what it is today. No Google Maps or social media; mobile phones weren’t very smart, with Ewan and Charley planning their routes on paper maps.
Not Just For Petrol Heads And Bikers
There are three Long Way… shows – Long Way Round, Long Way Down, and Long Way Up, with all three capturing some memorable moments in countries that we would otherwise know very little about. Unlike Noraly, aka, Itchy Boots, who I’ve written about in Itchy Boots Has Accident In Africa the lads have a backup team in each of their adventures, consisting of film producers, cameramen, and vehicles loaded with spare parts and other supplies. A third bike, with Swiss cameraman, Claudio von Planta aboard, also travelled with Ewan and Charlie on each adventure.
Long Way Round
Months in the planning, the lads set off from London on BMW R1150GS motorcycles – KTM pulled their offer of loan bikes – on 14 April 2004 and as you can imagine, the world has changed a great deal since then. Riding through Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia (Vladimir Putin was president even then!), the team hit The Road of Bones, flew the bikes to Anchorage, and rode across Canada and the USA, arriving in New York City on 29 July 2004, having covered nearly 20,000 miles.
To say the journey was challenging would be an understatement and both men handled the adversities with initiative and aplomb. It took me a while to warm to Charley Boorman, but I was immediately taken with Ewan McGregor’s charm and infectious personality and it soon became clear that both had their virtues in different skills and areas. Charley is definitely a hands-on, mechanical type with Ewan always available with charming quips and laughter. Let’s face it, anyone who can eat sheep’s testicles in Mongolia and still smile afterward, is worth watching. I won’t spoil the adventure by going into more detail, but I will say that I was hooked from beginning to end. For me, the most interesting aspect was the interaction between the two men, the team, and the fascinating people they met along the way, including men wielding Kalashnikovs in Ukraine. It’s also interesting to see the equipment they were using, much of which was especially made for them, including the helmet cameras.
Long Way Down
In May 2007, the lads got the team back together and rode their BMW R1200GSs from John O’Groats, Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa, arriving there on 4 August having covered 15,000 miles and overcoming mind-boggling African bureaucracy, injuries, and heart-wrenching encounters with boy soldiers in Uganda. Again, I was glued to the TV for this series and how the team surmounted all the challenges they faced.
Long Way Up
Living in Argentina, I found this adventure the most interesting and challenging. The boys set off from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego on 5 September 2019 and after 13,000 miles, arrived in Los Angeles on 14 December. Challenging, because they were riding electric Harley Davidson prototype bikes, with the backup team driving Rivian electric vehicles which were handmade especially for the adventure. Fortuitously, Rivian installed some 150 fast-charging points along the route, but of course, the team often ended up in such remote areas of Patagonia that they had to plug into domestic supplies which were usually insufficient for their needs, with charging often taking over six hours. I was a little surprised that they set off from Tierra del Fuego in winter conditions because the snows in Patagonia are known to continue well into November on some occasions. Furthermore, batteries do not like cold weather, as most of us can attest to, so their range was severely debilitated, at least until they reached warmer climes.
This particular series was let down by the team buying an old bus in Mexico so that they could transport the bikes during the night because of the dangers posed by the infamous drug cartels and the ending was somewhat abrupt. Having said that, many armchair critics felt the series was let down by too much attention given to charging the bikes and backup vehicles. But surely that’s the whole point of a pioneering adventure like this. It focused the mind and helped us understand the technology behind electric vehicles – both the advantages and the drawbacks. All three can be watched on Apple TV+.
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these adventures, not just because I am a motorcyclist but as an observer of people with a love of adventure. I also subscribed to Apple TV+ especially and I’m glad I did because the quality of shows on offer is outstanding, but that’s another story.
Oh and before I forget, Apple TV has announced that Ewan and Charlie will be back with a new, ten-part series, Long Way Home, probably in 2025. I will definitely be watching that!
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