In 1981, aged 21, Chris Scott undertook his first inauspicious visit to the
Sahara on a typically overloaded XT500. Writing about this baptism of fire
in "Desert Travels" he described how he was "being drawn into a black hole
in the certainty that what was humanly possible must also be humanly
survivable I'd no idea what to expect".
Learning from his mistakes, he returned to Algeria, Morocco, Niger, Mali,
Senegal and Mauritania half a dozen times over the next nine years. The
bikes he used varied from a home-made bitsa using AJS, Honda, VW,
Tupperware and Yamaha components to several Yamaha XT600 Ténérés. Although
he's travelled elsewhere, it is the Sahara which has remained his passion
and to which he is always scheming to return.
During the high-earning '80s he owned over 40 bikes: Ducati 900SSs,
Nitrox-assisted XS650s, BMWs, MZs, endless CD200s, a XT600/XV550 hybrid and
a couple of ITs. But he's always preferred single cylinder, four-stroke
trail bikes for both work as a London dispatch rider, desert biking and fun
in the dirt.
In 1989 he ascertained that first-time solo biking in the Sahara was
usually a disaster so he set up Sahara Motorcycle Tours to guide riders
across the desert with the security of a 4x4 support vehicle. Few British
motorcyclists took an interest the adventure, but six riders eventually set
off for the six-week, 6000-mile tour of the Algerian Sahara. Only one
returned with bike and body intact and Chris spent the next year washing
dishes to pay off the debt incurred in setting up the abandoned venture.
He started contributing to bike and travel magazines in 1984 and hung up
his rubber gloves to take up travel writing in 1991. He's contributed to
the Rough Guide series of travel guides, co-authoring Australia and
currently researching a new Alaska title. His first writing project was to
present the Royal Geographical Society with a report, entitled: "Desert
Biking. A Guide to Independent Motorcycling in the Sahara" offering
Sahara-bound bikers the benefits of his experience
This report was subsequently published under the same title in A4 format by
the Travellers' Bookshop (where Chris worked part time) and released as an
illustrated paperback in 1995. In 1996 the Bookshop also published an
entertaining account of his desert biking years: Desert Travels, Motorcycle
Journeys in the Sahara and West Africa.
With Desert Biking nearly out of print and the original film lost, Chris
decided to put together a comprehensive manual for overland motorcycling.
Using several globetrotting contributors to fill in the gaps of his
experience (including IMTs Gregory Frazier and Helge Pedersen), the
350-page "Adventure Motorbiking Handbook" was published by Compass Star in
November 1997.
At the same time Chris set up the Adventure Motorbiking Website on the
Compass Star site to present updated information on the book and receive
contributions from like-minded travellers. The website also incorporates
Sahara Travel Information, providing up to date information on crossing the
Sahara via the current Mauritanian route.
He has also proposed a new, unmoderated newsgroup: rec.travel.motorcycles
as a forum for adventure-bound motorcyclists to discuss and share related
topics.
Go now to Chris's own web site:
THE ADVENTURE MOTORBIKING WEBSITE
return to International Motorcycle Adventurers for more
adventures by motorcycle
19 Nov 97