Nick Sanders Journey Beyond Reason - Fastest Man Around the World

March 1, 1:42 PMDC Motorcycle Travel ExaminerMark Poesch

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"One Man.  One Bike.  One Camera.  No Luggage.  No Support.  No Film Crew.  NO SENSE!"

Continuing our "travel by DVD" series, I was recently reminded of Nick Sanders’ Journey Beyond Reason.  Released in 2007, Nick videos and narrates his record-breaking trip around the globe: 20,000 miles in 20 days.

To explain the name of the DVD, Nick narrates this introduction:

Everyone said I shouldn't go. No one thought it was a good idea that I try to motorcycle around the world faster than it had ever been done before. Any journey around the world by motorcycle is hard, but this was going to be harder. I've ridden around the world fast, and I've ridden around the world and taken my time. And if you could start a journey like this knowing how you might feel at the end, it's possible you wouldn't go. If you knew what was involved and how much it would hurt before you left then the screams of reason would have to be muffled by a type of madness before you could start your engine and go.

For the prelude to the journey, Nick set off from Whales to Calais.  Nick’s 1997 record of 31 days had been broken.  Nick explains that he has been doing this for 25 years (at the time, he was 47) and has already rode around the world twice on bike, and six times on a motorbike.  "So it's nothing new.  Like Brer Rabbit, throwing me into the briar patch."

The journey would take him from Calais, past Paris and Leon, through Prague, and on through Eastern Europe, India, New Zealand, and then from Alaska across Canada and the US and then to Spain, up to the UK and then back to Calais.  I’ve always wanted to travel through Europe and visit many of these countries, but this is nuts: To finish in 20 days, Nick aimed to cover an average of 1,200 miles each day, and more where he could, to make up for the countries and roads where he knew he’d be far below that average.

His experience and training in super-human endurance were invaluable.  Also essential was his pragmatic tuning of time-saving measures.  For example, he packed no luggage and took no change of clothes.  He explained, "No luggage means I don’t have to pack – I can save 25 minutes each day."  He also shared (too much?) that he would wear no underwear, but then clarified that he would be washing his underclothes every night.

The routine amounted to: Ride, fuel, film. Repeat.

Now, it’s particularly notable that whereas Ewan and Charley rode BMW R1150GS Adventure and BMW R1200GS Adventure all-terrain motorcycles for their adventures, Nick demonstrated the surprising versatility of supersport bikes, riding the Yamaha R1!

Nick explained that he rode the R1 because it is comfortable, reliable, and fast – and after 20,000 miles, who could argue with him!?

Not truly alone for the entire trip -- camera chase bike and co-rider James caught some of the early footage, which is beautifully edited, and perfectly complemented by Nick's narration, which captures the journey viscerally.  With the current exchange rate, you can get the DVD for about $21, or you can get "The Deal" -- the book and DVD -- for about $27.

This is a must-watch for motorcycle and travel fans alike.