Mondo Enduro

Last updated
Mondo Enduro
Mondo Enduro logo.gif
GenreMotorcycle Adventure television series
Created byGerald Vince
Directed by Austin Vince
Starring
  • Andy Bell
  • Louis Bloom
  • Clive Greenhough
  • Mark Friend
  • Chas Penty
  • Nick Stubley
  • Austin Vince
  • Gerald Vince
No. of episodes2 with 12 chapters total
Production
Executive producerAhmad Ahmadzadeh
ProducerPeter Higgins
EditorHugh Williams
Production companyAimimage Productions
BudgetSelf financed and unsponsored
Original release
Release1997 (1997)
Related
Terra Circa

Mondo Enduro was a round-the-world adventure motorcycle expedition in 1995-1996. Team members Austin Vince, Gerald Vince, Chas Penty, Bill Penty, Clive Greenhough, Nick Stubley and Mark Friend set off to go round the world by the longest route possible in the shortest time on Suzuki DR350 Dual Sport bikes.

Contents

Their route took them from London, through Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Siberia; then from Alaska to Chile and finally from Cape Town through Africa and the Middle East back to London.

The expedition was filmed and was subsequently made into a 2-part TV series. Shown on Discovery Travel and Adventure Channel over 40 times, this has since reached cult status amongst biking and adventure travel fans.

The real difficulties in the expedition came in the Zilov Gap, the 400 mile roadless section in Siberia. The team got bogged down here and eventually ended up taking the Trans-Siberian railroad to circumvent the last 100 miles of the Zilov Gap.

As well as a cult TV show and DVD, the expedition diaries ( ISBN   1-904466-28-1) are a fascinating account of a round-the-world expedition done on a shoestring budget, with rough camping the order of the day.

Episodes

No.TitleRoute
Chapter–1"Preparation"Mill Hill School and Geralds garage
Mondo Enduro team is introduced. They prepare their bikes, train how to ride and launch their expedition
Chapter–2"Europe"Mill Hill School - Dover - Ferry to France - Nice - Pisa - Monte Cassino - Bari - Ferry to Greece - Northern Greece
Mondo Enduro team adapts themselves to road life. Home sickness and small mishaps happen.
Chapter–3"Turkey to Uzbekistan" Istanbul - Central Turkey highlands - Armenian border - Georgia - Azerbaijan
Forgotten essential documents for one of riders force them to invent novel solutions. Chains snap and tyres are punctured numerous times. Turkey-Armenia border is something else than Mondo Enduro team think it is.
Chapter–4"Central Asia" Baku - Caspian Sea ferry - Turkmenistan - Bukhara - Samarkand - Kazakhstan
Mondo Enduro team follows the ancient Silk Road and enjoys the rich heritage of ancient towns on the route. Kazakhstan has vast empty sections where no other traffic, nor fuel, is available. Petrol is available from private vendors selling it from their lorries.
Chapter–5"Russia" Barnaul - Iskitim - Novosibirsk - Irkutsk (Andy, Mark and Nick leave the team due to time constraints) - Zilov Gap - Skovorodino
Post Soviet Russia is shockingly poor and shops are empty. Street side vendors are the only source to get supplies for the team. Never before seen Westerners with their bikes are a local attraction every time Mondo Enduro team makes a stop. M53 highway construction is in progress and road conditions are bad. Team makes a stunning discovery when one of the bikes has serious problems. Zilov Gap is much tougher than expected and while team gets exhausted the bikes start falling apart. 100 miles before the end of the gap riders make the decision use the train for the rest of it before returning to road driving.
Chapter–6"The Road to Magadan" Skovorodino - Yakutsk - Lena river barge - Khandyga - Magadan
Mondo Enduro starts their drive towards Magadan. Since there were no passable roads going north from Yakutsk at the time they use a river barge on Lena river get to the next town Handyga, where the road starts again. Team arrives to Magadan 111 days after their departure.
Chapter–7"Canada & USA" Anchorage - Vancouver - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Nogales - Mexico
Bikes and drivers are both transported via air to Alaska. Return to good roads and availability of products is a culture shock after months of enduring bad roads and scarcity. One team member has to quit due to running out of money. Remaining three members continue the journey towards Mexico.
Chapter–8"Central America" Guatemala - Honduras - San Salvador - Coatepeque Caldera - Nicaragua - Costa Rica - Panama
While being warned for the difficulties and security conditions of the Central America Mondo Enduro team encounters friendly people, who help them out of trouble. Mondo Enduro makes quick progress through the Central America and take a ferry to Colombia
Chapter–9"South America" Colombia - Bogota - Ecuador - Quito - Peru - Trujillo - Atacama desert - Chile - Santiago
Andes Mountains make the roads more challenging. A friend living in Peru offers much needed refuge for the team repair their bikes. Pan American highway is the 3000 miles long lifeline across the Atacama desert. Mondo Enduro team are air transported to South Africa with their bikes.
Chapter–10"South Africa" South Africa - Johannesburg - Zimbabwe - Victoria Falls - Zambia - Malawi - Tanzania
Mondo Enduro gets a new rider joining them from South Africa. They get their fifteen minutes of fame when a local TV station conducts an interview. Continuous torrential rain and bike breakdowns follow when the team makes progress towards north.
Chapter–11"East Africa" Kenya - Nairobi - Ethiopia - Eritrea - Massawa - Red Sea Ferry - Saudi Arabia - Jedda
Wildlife is seen close when Mondo Enduro makes a visit to the nature park near Nairobi. Team manages to secure visas for the coming countries on their route. Roads return to gravel and Mondo Enduro crosses the Equator for their second time. One of the drivers has a serious accident in Ethiopia.
Chapter–12"The Middle East & Europe" Jedda - Jordan - Petra - Syria - Damascus - Turkey - Cappadocia - Bulgaria - Serbia - Hungary - Budapest - Czech - Prague - Germany - Frankfurt - Belgium - France - London
While on the ferry to Saudi Arabia Mondo Enduro team notices that their Visas have some special limitations. They decide to risk it anyway and it pays off. Jordan offers wondrous sights. Video cameras are frowned upon Syria and Damascus. Team encounters a man on a long walking journey. After crossing the Bosporus strait exactly one year after they had done it the other direction team senses how close London and their home is. Good roads take them back home where a welcoming party awaits them.

Music

Mondo Enduro uses short musical inserts very often. Most of the music is performed by "The Quakers" band, where Austin Vince is one of the music composers and instrument players.

See also

Terra Circa expedition made a new attempt to cross the Zilov Gap in 2001, only few years before it ceased to exist due to Trans-Siberian Highway construction patching the gap.

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Siberian Railway</span> Railway network spanning Russia

The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over 9,289 kilometers, it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baikal–Amur Mainline</span> Russian rail road route

The Baikal–Amur Mainline is a 1,520 mm broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the 4,324 km (2,687 mi)-long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Siberia</span> Island

New Siberia is the easternmost of the Anzhu Islands, the northern subgroup of the New Siberian Islands lying between the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea. Its area of approximately 6,200 square kilometres places it the 102nd largest islands in the world. New Siberia Island is low lying, rising to only 76 metres and covered with tundra vegetation. The island is a part of the territory of Yakutia, Russia.

<i>Then Came Bronson</i> American television series

Then Came Bronson is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC. It was created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, and produced by MGM Television. Then Came Bronson began with a television film pilot that aired on NBC on March 24, 1969; the pilot was also released in Europe as a theatrical feature film. This was followed by a single season of 26 episodes airing between September 17, 1969, and April 1, 1970.

<i>Long Way Round</i> Television series

Long Way Round (LWR) is a British television series and book documenting the 19,000-mile (31,000 km) journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York City on motorcycles. They travelled eastwards through Europe and Asia, flew to Alaska, and continued by road to New York. The series aired on Sky One from 18 October 2004 – 1 February 2005 and was repeated on BBC Two in 2008. The series was added to Apple TV+ on 18 September 2020, along with sequels Long Way Down (2007) and Long Way Up (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R504 Kolyma Highway</span> Road in eastern Russia

The R504 Kolyma Highway, part of the M56 route, is a road through the Russian Far East. It connects Magadan with the town of Nizhny Bestyakh, located on the eastern bank of the Lena River, opposite of Yakutsk. At Nizhny Bestyakh the Kolyma Highway connects to the Lena Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW GS</span> Series of BMW motorcycles

The BMW GS series of dual-sport BMW motorcycles have been produced from 1980, when the R80G/S was launched, to the present day. The GS originally stood for Gelände/Sport, but was later renamed to Gelände/Straße. GS motorcycles can be distinguished from other BMW models by their longer travel suspension, an upright riding position, and larger front wheels – typically 19 to 21 inch. In May 2009, the 500,000th GS was produced, an R1200GS model.

<i>Terra Circa</i> Motorcycle Adventure television series

The Mondo Enduro round the world motorbike expedition attempted but did not cross the Zilov Gap in Central Siberia. In 2000 a follow-up expedition, Terra Circa, was organised by Dave Greenhough, brother of one of the Mondo Enduro team members. It was the first motorbike expedition to cross the infamous Zilov Gap.

Austin Vince is best known for his long distance adventure motorcycle expeditions: twice round the world as part of the Mondo Enduro and Terra Circa trips, which were both produced as TV documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian intervention</span> 1918–1922 military operation against Soviet Russia

The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian forces and the Czechoslovak Legion against Soviet Russia and its allies during the Russian Civil War. The Imperial Japanese Army continued to occupy Siberia even after other Allied forces withdrew in 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorcycle racing</span> Racing sport using motorcycles

The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overlanding</span> Travel to remote places focused on the journey more than destination

Overlanding or 4WD Touring is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport where the principal form of lodging is camping, often lasting for extended lengths of time and spanning international boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin and Julia Sanders</span> English motorcyclist husband and wife

Kevin Sanders and Julia Sanders are an English motorcyclist husband and wife noted for overland long-distance riding. They hold two Guinness World Records. The first was achieved in June 2002 by circumnavigating the world by motorcycle in 19½ days. The second was completed on 22 September 2003, riding the length of the Americas from Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, United States to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in 35 days and breaking the previous record by over 12 days. After these Guinness World records, they founded their motorcycle expedition company, GlobeBusters Motorcycle Expeditions in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R297 highway</span> Road in Russia

The Russian route R297 or the Amur Highway is a federal highway in Russia, part of the Trans-Siberian Highway. With a length of 2,100 km (1,300 mi), it is the longest segment, from Chita to Khabarovsk, connecting the paved roads of Siberia with those of the Russian Far East. The construction of the road united the Russian federal highways into a single system stretching from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok. Before completion of the road, the Russian Pacific coast was connected to the rest of the country only by airlines, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the Baikal–Amur Mainline.

Rob Lilwall is a British-born adventurer, author and motivational keynote speaker. He currently lives in Singapore, and is one of the most popular and acclaimed professional speakers in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of motorcycles and motorcycling</span> Overview of and topical guide to motorcycles and motorcycling

The following outline is provided as an overview of motorcycles and motorcycling:

Helge Pedersen is a long-distance motorcyclist originally from Kristiansand, Norway, who now resides in Seattle, Washington. He traveled more than 250,000 miles (400,000 km) touring the world on a BMW R80G/S adventure touring motorcycle between 1982 and 1992. This journey is recounted in his book 10 Years on 2 Wheels. The motorcycle he rode on was placed on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.

Lois Pryce is a British author, journalist and a founder/curator of the Adventure Travel Film Festival. She is the author of Lois on the Loose, Red Tape & White Knuckles and Revolutionary Ride, travel memoirs about her solo motorcycle journeys through the Americas, Africa and Iran.

References