It’s a BMW.

Ewan rode one. Charley rode one. Even Claudio rode one. For me it was an easy choice. I wanted something big a powerful, something I didn’t have to push too hard to make it climb the hills and round the corners. Something big enough to carry gear but powerful enough that it didn’t know it was carrying gear. The BMW R1200 GS/A fit the bill. Started looking on advrider.com for a lightly used “previously owned” R1200, but it had to be a GS/A. I saw several that had been outfitted with the full adventure touring gear but they wanted a great deal of cash to make it happen. Or they were located in Florida, or Washington. So patience was the order of the day and without much delay one showed up in Tustin. Right around the corner. Richard was the owner, actually second owner, and the bike only had about 2000 miles on her. Talk about lightly used! She looked brand new, like she had just come off the line. Beautiful . Richard was a reasonable guy and knew that all the add-ons weren’t going to hold there value so he was looking for a very reasonable price. I agreed and we had a deal. Rode it around the block once, don’t know why, just thought I should. I wasn’t disappointed. Now to start the kitting out process.

Yaks and BMWs

This is going to take some work.

In order to manage the 7-9 hours a day on the bike I'm going to need some seat time.
Endurance hasn't always been my thing, but it clearly has a level of appeal that motivates me to get going. I'm looking forward to the "Dual Sport" nature of this trip, 2000km, on and offroad, altitude, weather and, most certainly, yaks. Think about it - two tons of yak in the cross hairs is enough to make you think twice.

The bike of choice is the BMW R1200 GS/A - the emphasis on the "A" part. I like the idea of a bike that goes everywhere and anywhere, with plenty of ground clearance and, best of all, an eight gallon gas tank!

I need to start looking for a lightly used late model R1200 with a setup good for endurance riding. I'm sure there are plenty out there with the economy doing it's thing, but I need to find the "right" one.

Tibet. Seriously.

I think it's pretty well set now. Tibet is the destination, Next May is the timeframe. I waffled a bit on targeting the Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors trip, but that felt pretty touristy and didn't really address the main desire - crossing tibet.

I've been speaking with Edelweiss tours, out of Austria, regarding logistics, timing, equipment and general fitness required to navigate at 12,000+ feet elevation.

This is going to be a process with a fair number of goals along the way. Riding experience, travel knowledge, learning the language (both languages: tibetan and mandarin chinese..) and general health and fitness.

Time to make some lists...

Welcome to Across Tibet.

Welcome to Across Tibet.

Over the coming months I'll be posting background on the trip, preparation for the trip, and general thoughts about what I think I'll encounter along the way.

Please feel free to post comments and ask questions and I'll do my best to respond.

The overall plan for the trip is to blog along the trip as access is available, posting observations, insights and photos of the journey.

I hope you'll join me.

-Joe