Went on one of Chris Scott's tours...stayed for a few days, then parted ways.

[Engineer]

Group rides are rarely all sweetness and light for all those involved - best with just a couple of good mates and make it up as you go.

 

[Barnoe]

No fun chasing someone who thinks its a race, and to be honest although i could keep up i would probably lose my rag and say something.

What did you see... "oh nothing, we was going to fast and just saw the back of the bike in front"
No photos or video for the memories, no time for that.

well worth the money

 

[Wapping]

… chasing someone who thinks its a race, and to be honest although i could keep up….

You been to Hilltop then? Awesome, mate.

Keeping up doesn’t count. Overtaking, better known as: Creaming them through the twisties, is where it’s at.

 

[Mr Bean]

Group rides are rarely all sweetness and light for all those involved - best with just a couple of good mates and make it up as you go.

Don't rule out those that split the group in to those that ride very quick, compared with those who want to ride at a more leisurely pace.

Wiz and Muppets tours work for me.

 

[AndyB_11]

Whenever I’ve been away with a group it’s seemed to naturally split into different groups of people who ride how they want and with who they want to and everyone gets together over dinner.

I enjoy going away with a bunch of mates, I enjoy going away with just my wife and I equally enjoy going away on my own.

Do I enjoy riding with people I don’t know? I only tried it once and found that we had different ideas regarding what was a decent distance to cover in a day, what time we should start in the morning, how long fuel stops should take and how frequently we should stop for fuel. We didn’t argue, I knew one out of the three other guys before we went so we had a chat after the second day and I went my own way on the third morning. The guy I knew wanted to go with me but his workmates got moody and were going to go home if he didn’t stay with them so he fell on his sword

 

[Richeyroo]

When I rode my bike through Africa in 1995 we would regularly meet overland trucks. The mix of hard drinking ozzies, vegetatian hippies, culture vultures, carnivores, trustafarians and all sorts of loonies made for interesting viewing. Quite often folks seemed to hop off for a bit of respite care on their own, agreeing to meet the truck at a stop in the coming days

I wonder if the big trucks still plough through Africa these days ?

 

[richardbd]

The guy I knew wanted to go with me but his workmates got moody and were going to go home if he didn’t stay with them so he fell on his sword

Grown-ups then?

 

[AndyB_11]

Grown-ups then?

I didn’t hang around long enough to find out for certain.

While it was still being planned there was a lot of concern because I was a smoker and could be the cause of the plans going awry but the reality is I fill the bike, take a cup of coffee from a machine outside, drink the coffee while I have a tab and go. Eating is cheating and best done in the evening accompanied by beers

We were supposed to be riding to southern Italy and they ended up getting to Milan while I was riding down the Adriatic coast then getting a ferry to Croatia.

 

[The Other PaulG]

When I rode my bike through Africa in 1995 we would regularly meet overland trucks. The mix of hard drinking ozzies, vegetatian hippies, culture vultures, carnivores, trustafarians and all sorts of loonies made for interesting viewing. Quite often folks seemed to hop off for a bit of respite care on their own, agreeing to meet the truck at a stop in the coming days

I wonder if the big trucks still plough through Africa these days ?

Vic Falls was a natural funnel for all these overlanders. It was pretty amusing to watch all these 'individuals'.... Most trucks had the collection of people you describe, including a bloke called Tristran who now spent every day searching out the local ganja and wandering around in a hazy cloud, Annabel who was looking for adventure but was now quite clearly pregnant by the truck driver, Emma her mate who wasn't speaking to her anymore plus a few empty seats vacated by those who had succumbed to dread diseases or found other reasons to leave as they were missing Mum.

The drivers were generally a good laugh though.

 

[Northern jock]

Vic Falls was a natural funnel for all these overlanders. It was pretty amusing to watch all these 'individuals'.... Most trucks had the collection of people you describe, including a bloke called Tristran who now spent every day searching out the local ganja and wandering around in a hazy cloud, Annabel who was looking for adventure but was now quite clearly pregnant by the truck driver, Emma her mate who wasn't speaking to her anymore plus a few empty seats vacated by those who had succumbed to dread diseases or found other reasons to leave as they were missing Mum.

The drivers were generally a good laugh though.

Best job I ever had!
I drove for Guerba who were a bit more expensive and, from memory, the only company to have 3 crew on a truck. Leader, codriver and campmaster (cook). The trips didn't attract the stereotypes listed generally, drugs would get a passenger kicked off the trip and we avoided stopping at a lot of the busier spots. Also we went through West Africa (etc), a lot of them just plied their trade on the busier routes south of Kenya and didn't vary their itineraries.
The only reason I've driven to Timbuktu is that job, we stopped in Bamako and the office in the UK told us (by fax when we checked in) that there had been a ceasefire and we could head there if we wanted. So, we asked the punters if they fancied it and off we went.
Still plenty of great trips, drinking, shagging and laughs had.
There are group trips in the east and the south these days but they are very restricted in many areas. The days of commercial overland travel, bush camping most nights, safe in most countries are long gone I'm afraid.
With Guerba it certainly was great adventure travel for crew and punters.

 

[Northern jock]

Vic Falls was a natural funnel for all these overlanders. It was pretty amusing to watch all these 'individuals'.... Most trucks had the collection of people you describe, including a bloke called Tristran who now spent every day searching out the local ganja and wandering around in a hazy cloud, Annabel who was looking for adventure but was now quite clearly pregnant by the truck driver, Emma her mate who wasn't speaking to her anymore plus a few empty seats vacated by those who had succumbed to dread diseases or found other reasons to leave as they were missing Mum.

The drivers were generally a good laugh though.

Vic Falls was great for limited periods. Most trucks working south of Kenya stopped there so as a driver you would meet up with all the other drivers and raft jockeys amd others and have a couple of days off. Punters went rafting, drivers got to go for free so I've been down the river many times! There was so much activity for punters there we didn't have to do much, just enjoy and drink cheap beer in Drifters.
It was also a good place to do work on your truck as there were a lot of tools and knowledge in town. That also made it a good spot for others to service their vehicles, plenty tools and knowledge and parts could easily be couriered there.
I was in that area in '95 a few times, maybe met you Richey

 

[AndyB_11]

Back in the late ‘70s a lad who did his apprenticeship at the same place as me blagged his way into a job as a general dogsbody travelling backwards and forwards between London and the Far East in clapped out 24 seater coaches. He got the job on the strength of being a diesel fitter but forgot to tell them he knew nothing about automotive diesels having only ever worked on marine engines and he’d never owned a car having ridden motorcycles since he was 16

His parents lived close to mine so I’d usually see him in the pub when he was home and he always offered to put a word in and get me a job but the wages were dire and you got food/lodge en route then paid at your final destination based on a percentage of the profit made on the trip.

Apparently the drugs scene was fantastic which made up for all the bad points

 

[ChasF]

When I rode my bike through Africa in 1995 we would regularly meet overland trucks. The mix of hard drinking ozzies, vegetatian hippies, culture vultures, carnivores, trustafarians and all sorts of loonies made for interesting viewing. Quite often folks seemed to hop off for a bit of respite care on their own, agreeing to meet the truck at a stop in the coming days

I wonder if the big trucks still plough through Africa these days ?

I spent a couple of days at Ma Roches in Nairobi helping a truck driver change some wheel bearings. Can’t remember the company but he’d pretty much lost it with his punters, none of them would help with anything on the truck. All I saw was a couple of sulky blokes with guitars. The driver was desperate to keep the trip on schedule so I guess it was one of the cheaper ones.

On the other hand, we kept meeting up with a truck in Tanzania and Malawi with mostly very loud New Zealand girls on board who seemed to be having a great time.

 

[Richeyroo]

Mama Roches . Yep, there’s a memory. We stayed there too

 

[geotim]

I'm just back from one of Chris Scotts group tours which start off in Marrakesh, do a circuit south of the High Atlas, then head back in. It started off well, but I left after a couple of days.

Group riding isn't for everyone. All lovely folks of course, but I soon realised I was the kid who'd be the last to get picked for the team. I spent a morning trying to keep up...then thought...fuck it, this is no fun, I'll end up dead off the side of a cliff. Morning of Day 3 I headed back to Marrakesh. Enjoyed that day by myself more that the first two. Learned a lesson...go by myself or with somene whose riding I'm compatible with.

Chris is wonderful by the way. Knowledgeable, supportive, calm and patient.

Thanks for sharing, seems like the sensible solution which many persons egos wouldn’t allow!

I’m glad you enjoyed the solo ride back, some good memories from the trip at least.

Staying in your comfort zone is not a bad thing and it sounds like the group were supportive. Very thoughtful of you to let them ‘get on’ - thinking of others is not a common trait these days.

Safe riding.

 

[Northern jock]

I spent a couple of days at Ma Roches in Nairobi helping a truck driver change some wheel bearings. Can’t remember the company but he’d pretty much lost it with his punters, none of them would help with anything on the truck. All I saw was a couple of sulky blokes with guitars. The driver was desperate to keep the trip on schedule so I guess it was one of the cheaper ones.

On the other hand, we kept meeting up with a truck in Tanzania and Malawi with mostly very loud New Zealand girls on board who seemed to be having a great time.

A company called Economic Expeditions was one of the worst I met. I was offered a job by them, they gave you a truck to build up yourself in the uk then sent you off with punters, didn't matter if you had no experience, one crew only. We did occasionally meet them and help them out.
Most folk had a good time on trips but I wouldn't have wanted to work on the party trucks, they all did the same itineraries via the same beaches and bars and campsites and missed the more remote corners.
We also had a big base in Nairobi so stayed there.

 

[the woodster]

group riding , slowest person should be right behind the leader. the fast boys can have fun at the back . you look after the weakest in the pack.

Yep, that's exactly what I did in the Pyrenees last summer. I had the guy on the RE Himalayan behind me. It wasn't that he couldn't have ridden at our pace, just that his steed struggled on the transit days with him and luggage.

 

[Beebarron]

I would agree - I prefer to ride solo - as I know my skill level is not that high and when riding in groups my speed always seemed to be higher than my skill leval probabaly due to a bit of bravado on my part. And I figured it was going to end badly one day - so billy nae mates for me most of the time .