BMWPE
Race Dog
There’s no doubt that the Spanish have a thirst for travel. From the early pioneers of centuries past, to modern day globetrotters such as Alicia Sornosa, discovering new countries and cultures is what it’s always been about for them. Alicia’s philosophy on living is quite simple: life is short and the world is big, so she wants to see as much of it as she can…
Between 2011 and 2012, Alicia Sornosa became the first Spanish woman to go around the world on a motorcycle. It was a journey that would change the journalist’s life. After just three months of planning, she left her homeland on a BMW F 650 GS for Africa, travelling on to India, Australia, the USA, Canada and Alaska, before journeying south all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
This 80,000 kilometres journey over five continents was then followed up with a trip around South America to film a documentary TV series. Constant travelling only made her restless for more adventures though, and office life is but a distant memory for Alicia. Her latest adventure recently saw her heading east to Tokyo, this time on a BMW F 700 GS.
“I was inspired to do this journey because 2014 was the year in which 400 years of relations between Spain and Japan were celebrated. I wanted to ride solo from Madrid to Tokyo to mark these four centuries of special links between the two countries and to discover more about the Japanese culture.”
The journey from Spain to Japan was a tough one, by any stretch of the imagination – and tested both Alicia and her GS to the limit. After riding north through Western Europe, she crossed into Lithuania and rode on to Moscow. Then she dropped down into Kazakhstan, riding the width of the country before crossing back to the Russian landmass to journey through the Altai region that took her to the border with Mongolia.
The next challenge was to cross part of the Gobi Desert en route to the capital city Ulaanbaatar. From there she headed north towards the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryatia. Then she continued riding east until mainland Russia meets the sea at Vanino, where she boarded a ferry for the isolated island of Sakhalin, lying in the north Pacific. From there she was able to get another boat south to Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island before another short hop – this time across the Tsugaru Strait – to Honshu, the largest and most populous island of Japan. Here on the nation's main island, Alicia made her way to Kyoto and her destination of Tokyo.
As is often the case, it was the journey, rather than the destination itself that left the most lasting memories. Along the way, she was able to raise funds for medicine and education for vulnerable children in Mongolia, via the generosity of enthusiasts following her journey. In all, Alicia rode more than 20,000 kilometres on her journey from Madrid to Tokyo and her trusty BMW GS got her there safely, despite the toughness of the trip.
“I was happy to be able to ride the new model F 700 GS after using the F 650 GS for my round-the-world trip. That’s now over 120,000 kilometres that I’ve travelled on BMW bikes to date,” she says. “I didn’t make any modifications to this bike for travelling, apart from adding various protection bars, panniers and a higher windshield, all from Touratech.
The 700 was 100 percent trustworthy, in spite of being the most ‘urban’ model in the GS family. It was a capable off-road tool and for my weight and height, was perfect for me.”
Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t the loneliness and isolation of the Siberian wilderness that Alicia feared most on her travels, but it was actually the urban chaos of downtown Tokyo right at the end of the trip that made her most nervous. Fortunately by this stage, at least she wasn’t travelling on her own anymore.
“The highways in Tokyo were very fast and with a lot of traffic, and I was really afraid to have an accident there,” she said. “After having ridden solo all the way to Ulaanbaatar, my partner joined me for the rest of the trip to Tokyo. He bought an Africa Twin motorcycle in Mongolia but it broke down almost every day. I’m never afraid of travelling alone because I think that most people are good and often very helpful. For sure, it’s nice to ride accompanied, but I like it when you make trips alone because you meet many people.”
It’s always hard to pick out the most memorable parts of this long journey across such diverse landscapes and cultures, but among the highlights Alicia mentions are the many special travellers she met en route, the amazing hospitality of the Mongolian people, and the breathtaking forest landscapes of the endless Siberian plateau. Next on her ‘wish-list’ is a trip to Turkey to make another TV documentary and then a possible journey around Central America. One thing is for sure, Alicia is convinced that travelling by motorcycle has changed her life beyond recognition.
“Now I cannot stop this way of living. I always said that travelling is a drug for the soul and this is completely true in my case,” she says. “I need to see, feel, and meet other cultures. Riding a motorcycle makes me feel in touch with the things that surround me. On a motorcycle I am more accessible to others, easy to stop, touch and talk to. Add to that the fact that I am Spanish and we have always been a ‘discovering’ people, then it’s obvious that a bike is the perfect way for me to journey far away to inaccessible and forgotten places.”
Between 2011 and 2012, Alicia Sornosa became the first Spanish woman to go around the world on a motorcycle. It was a journey that would change the journalist’s life. After just three months of planning, she left her homeland on a BMW F 650 GS for Africa, travelling on to India, Australia, the USA, Canada and Alaska, before journeying south all the way to Tierra del Fuego.
This 80,000 kilometres journey over five continents was then followed up with a trip around South America to film a documentary TV series. Constant travelling only made her restless for more adventures though, and office life is but a distant memory for Alicia. Her latest adventure recently saw her heading east to Tokyo, this time on a BMW F 700 GS.
“I was inspired to do this journey because 2014 was the year in which 400 years of relations between Spain and Japan were celebrated. I wanted to ride solo from Madrid to Tokyo to mark these four centuries of special links between the two countries and to discover more about the Japanese culture.”
The journey from Spain to Japan was a tough one, by any stretch of the imagination – and tested both Alicia and her GS to the limit. After riding north through Western Europe, she crossed into Lithuania and rode on to Moscow. Then she dropped down into Kazakhstan, riding the width of the country before crossing back to the Russian landmass to journey through the Altai region that took her to the border with Mongolia.
The next challenge was to cross part of the Gobi Desert en route to the capital city Ulaanbaatar. From there she headed north towards the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryatia. Then she continued riding east until mainland Russia meets the sea at Vanino, where she boarded a ferry for the isolated island of Sakhalin, lying in the north Pacific. From there she was able to get another boat south to Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island before another short hop – this time across the Tsugaru Strait – to Honshu, the largest and most populous island of Japan. Here on the nation's main island, Alicia made her way to Kyoto and her destination of Tokyo.
As is often the case, it was the journey, rather than the destination itself that left the most lasting memories. Along the way, she was able to raise funds for medicine and education for vulnerable children in Mongolia, via the generosity of enthusiasts following her journey. In all, Alicia rode more than 20,000 kilometres on her journey from Madrid to Tokyo and her trusty BMW GS got her there safely, despite the toughness of the trip.
“I was happy to be able to ride the new model F 700 GS after using the F 650 GS for my round-the-world trip. That’s now over 120,000 kilometres that I’ve travelled on BMW bikes to date,” she says. “I didn’t make any modifications to this bike for travelling, apart from adding various protection bars, panniers and a higher windshield, all from Touratech.
The 700 was 100 percent trustworthy, in spite of being the most ‘urban’ model in the GS family. It was a capable off-road tool and for my weight and height, was perfect for me.”
Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t the loneliness and isolation of the Siberian wilderness that Alicia feared most on her travels, but it was actually the urban chaos of downtown Tokyo right at the end of the trip that made her most nervous. Fortunately by this stage, at least she wasn’t travelling on her own anymore.
“The highways in Tokyo were very fast and with a lot of traffic, and I was really afraid to have an accident there,” she said. “After having ridden solo all the way to Ulaanbaatar, my partner joined me for the rest of the trip to Tokyo. He bought an Africa Twin motorcycle in Mongolia but it broke down almost every day. I’m never afraid of travelling alone because I think that most people are good and often very helpful. For sure, it’s nice to ride accompanied, but I like it when you make trips alone because you meet many people.”
It’s always hard to pick out the most memorable parts of this long journey across such diverse landscapes and cultures, but among the highlights Alicia mentions are the many special travellers she met en route, the amazing hospitality of the Mongolian people, and the breathtaking forest landscapes of the endless Siberian plateau. Next on her ‘wish-list’ is a trip to Turkey to make another TV documentary and then a possible journey around Central America. One thing is for sure, Alicia is convinced that travelling by motorcycle has changed her life beyond recognition.
“Now I cannot stop this way of living. I always said that travelling is a drug for the soul and this is completely true in my case,” she says. “I need to see, feel, and meet other cultures. Riding a motorcycle makes me feel in touch with the things that surround me. On a motorcycle I am more accessible to others, easy to stop, touch and talk to. Add to that the fact that I am Spanish and we have always been a ‘discovering’ people, then it’s obvious that a bike is the perfect way for me to journey far away to inaccessible and forgotten places.”
