What made you sign up for PDC?
Wanted to feel like I was in the Dakar, just for a moment. And I did.

What were you most nervous about before leaving?
Not nervous at all, surprisingly.

Favourite moment of the trip?
Riding along the beach with all the fishing boats — think it was Senegal.

Toughest day or biggest challenge?
Turning off the beach into the soft sand hell. But I loved it. Everyone getting stuck and challenged — amazing. Would do it all again tomorrow.

What surprised you most about the trip?
Halfway through the trip I found out my bike had an off-road mode.

Funniest moment?
Can’t pin one down. Every day was a crazy laugh. Really cool bunch of people. Endless laughs. Recharged the soul. And Knuckles Up.

What did you learn about yourself during the trip?
That the tough days make the best memories.

Advice for someone thinking about doing PDC?
Throttle open in the sand. Just send it.

Sum up the trip in a sentence or two:
Three weeks of the most amazing assault on your senses. I thought it would be good, but it was fkn great.

What did the trip mean to you personally?
An unforgettable experience with tough days, excitement from the unknown, and constantly changing environments and situations that keep you right on the balls of your feet.

Describe PDC to a mate in the pub:
Make sure you read your rider notes. Mr Lee doesn’t like it if you don’t read your notes. Ready for Gambia to Cape Town when you are. (Mr Lee: “Not happening!”)

Thanks again Mr Lee — been unreal.

What made you decide to sign up for PDC?
I wanted an adventure that would be the culmination of my 18-month journey trying to learn how to ride off-road.

What were you most nervous about before leaving?
Would my bike make it?

And would all my carefully thought-through add-ons and upgrades prove I had a knack for amateur engineering?

The bike made it. Very few of the add-ons survived the desert — which was brutal on the bikes — but everything stock OEM was extremely reliable.

Toughest day or biggest challenge?
We spent a night in the middle of the desert in what was basically a hotel made of mud huts.

The next morning, our hosts told us that overnight storms had flash-flooded our intended route, so we had to backtrack the previous day’s ride.

What had been challenging sand, stone and dust the day before had turned into a one-inch layer of grease. WadIs we had skipped across were now rivers rising quickly. The support vehicle couldn’t follow us out and ended up having its own adventure. But everyone pulled together.

If somebody got stuck — usually buried way above the axle — five riders would immediately stop to help. When we reached flooded crossings, nobody sat around waiting. Somebody would put a brew on, others would walk ahead looking for crossing points, and a couple of riders would strip off and test the depth and current.

This was serious, unplanned stuff. But there was no whingeing — just a lot of smiles and laughter. That’s how a real team works.

Favourite moment of the trip?
When we finally got back onto tarmac after the “storm day” — I literally hugged it.

I thought I’d broken my ankle, but a couple of Ibuprofen proved me wrong… sort of.

What surprised you most about the trip?
The people.

Funniest moment?
One of the group got his bike hopelessly stuck in a huge dune of soft sand and temporarily swapped it for a local bloke’s quad bike.

The local then showed all of us how to ride sand properly… wearing flip-flops.

What did you learn about yourself during the trip?
Three or four decades ago I used to do some serious “boys’ own” adventures.

At 57, I found that old version of myself again.

Advice for someone thinking about doing PDC?
Stop thinking about it.

And if you decide not to do it, forget you ever heard about PDC… because if you don’t, you’ll regret it forever.

Sum up the trip in a sentence or two:
This is not a motorcycle tour — it’s a proper adventure.

The French and Spanish motorways aren’t particularly exciting, but they lead to Africa… and Africa is.

What did the trip mean to you personally?
It proved two things:

1. I’m not an engineer — or mechanically capable in any way, amateur or otherwise.
2. I’m not an old man yet… and won’t be for a while.

Describe PDC to a mate in the pub:
“You’ll never look at a beach the same way again.”

And:

“When the PDC team politely tell you that you don’t need a new back tyre… listen to them.”

(If you were there, you know.)

What made you decide to sign up for PDC?
My friend Wayne sent me the link… and then ended up not coming himself.

Considering I’m not on Facebook or Instagram, it’s honestly a miracle I even found out about it 😊

What were you most nervous about before leaving?
Spending three weeks with eight Brits.

Favourite moment of the trip?
Riding across the Mauritanian desert.

Toughest day or biggest challenge?
The final one kilometre of sand after technically finishing the challenge in Dakar.

What surprised you most about the trip?
How quickly the Moroccan desert flooded after the storms — and how Mr Lee handled the whole situation completely cool as a cucumber.

Funniest moment?
Guy hugging the tarmac after our “adventures” in the desert.

What did you learn about yourself during the trip?
That I can “just do it”… especially with amazing fellow riders around me. And they really were amazing.

Advice for someone thinking about doing PDC?
Prepare, plan… and then just do it.

Sum up the trip in a sentence or two:
An amazing and tough experience with a caring crew and awesome fellow riders. Riding through those incredible landscapes was a true adventure and worth every penny.

What did the trip mean to you personally?
I had always wanted to travel from France to Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania. That journey had been one of my dreams for years, and the reality went far beyond my expectations.

Describe PDC to a mate in the pub:
A true adventure that safely pushes you to your limits thanks to a knowledgeable team and support crew. You’ll experience at least a small taste of the most famous rally in the world.

What made you decide to sign up for PDC?
It was realistically my only opportunity to ride from Paris to Dakar at this stage of my life.

Like many riders, I dreamed of racing the Dakar when I was younger, but never had the skill level or financial backing to do it.

I didn’t want to attempt the route alone and deal with all the logistics myself, and this trip allowed me to fulfil a lifelong ambition.

It certainly wasn’t a race — nor was it trying to be — but we still rode motorcycles all the way from Paris to Dakar.

What were you most nervous about before leaving?
Sand riding. I’m not a particularly good sand rider, although I usually managed to find untouched “virgin” sand which was much easier to handle.

Favourite moment of the trip?
There were several.

Riding across the Mauritanian desert and camping there. Riding 70 miles down the beach in Senegal. And the flowing trails in Spain and Morocco.

Toughest day or biggest challenge?
The heat and humidity in Mauritania and Senegal. I’m definitely more of a cold-weather person.

What surprised you most about the trip?
How well the less experienced riders handled the off-road sections.

Funniest moment?
The endless jokes from David over the intercom system.

What did you learn about yourself during the trip?
Nothing new. I’m probably too old not to know myself by now!

Advice for someone thinking about doing PDC?
Go. You only live once.

Sum up the trip in a sentence or two:
Three weeks of camaraderie as we “flowed” across Southern Europe and Northwest Africa.

What did the trip mean to you personally?
It scratched an itch I’d had for decades — experiencing at least a taste of the original Paris-Dakar spirit.

Again, to be clear, this wasn’t a race. Far from it.

But we did ride motorcycles from Paris to Dakar.

Describe PDC to a mate in the pub:
It’s a fantastic way to travel through a part of the world many people would otherwise avoid.

You’ll experience different cultures, incredible scenery, overcome a few obstacles — think punctures and sand — and probably step outside your comfort zone from time to time.

But it’s not a dangerous or impossibly difficult ride, and the logistics were excellent.

You don’t want to reach the end of your life regretting adventures you were too sensible — or too nervous — to try.

What made you decide to sign up for PDC?
A challenge to be had. You’re a long time dead, so don’t put off dreams until you physically can’t do them anymore.

What were you most nervous about before leaving?
Whether the bike would let me down.

Could a completely standard Honda — no suspension upgrades, standard clutch, nothing fancy — really cross deserts and survive the Atlas Mountains after everything I’d heard about them being “poor” in those conditions?

And did I personally have enough off-road ability?

Favourite moment of the trip?
Too many to pick just one.

But riding onto the old Dakar beach finish felt surreal — being within touching distance of the finish after all those miles, alongside a brilliant group of people I’d never met before.

It’s hard to describe that feeling properly.

Toughest day or biggest challenge?
Mentally, the toughest day was after the desert rain forced us to retrace our route.

The excitement of finally reaching tarmac again quickly disappeared when we later found the tarmac road itself had also been washed away.

That turned into a 417-mile run from Fort Bou Jerif to the next stop — physically and mentally exhausting.

What surprised you most about the trip?
So many things. The sights I’d never seen before. The almost daylight-level moonlight during desert camps. The stars. The teamwork. The little standard Honda surviving all the punishment we threw at it. The local people we met.

And how well the whole group got along together.

Funniest moment?
Too many again. The constant banter, taking the piss, and how bad moments somehow became funny moments a few hours later over a beer.

What did you learn about yourself during the trip?
There were days picking the bike up repeatedly, or during that 417-mile day, where I genuinely thought:

“What the f**k am I doing here?”

But I kept going. I learned I’m capable of far more mentally and physically than I’d previously believed — especially outside my comfort zone.

Advice for someone thinking about doing PDC?
Listen to your heart and don’t let your inner fears stop you. The PDC team doesn’t hold your hand — you’re responsible for yourself — but you always know the support is there in the background.

You’ve got Lee routing, Mike the mechanic and Mark the paramedic. As Lee kept reminding us:

“This isn’t a tour. It’s a challenge.”

Sum up the trip in a sentence or two:
Lots of highs, some lows, but bloody ace. Personally, it was one of the best experiences of my life. And if another trip ever happens, my bike will be on the ship to Gambia in a heartbeat for the southern leg 😉

What did the trip mean to you personally?
Maybe not like Robert climbing Everest… but it was my own mountain to climb. And hopefully there’ll be even bigger mountains still to come.