When seven weekend adventurers from either side of the Atlantic meet in Geneva, the trip that follows turns into the most memorable journey…
Pack your bags and join Martin Smith on a rip-roaring journey through the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. Filled to the brim with tips about route planning and packing, readers can also soak up the stunning scenery and meet the many of the brilliant personalities who joined Martin along the way.
“The switchbacks kept on coming relentlessly… 8, 9, 10… then 20… then 30… I think there are 48 hairpins as you climb up the eastern ramp to the top and they hit you continually with no respite. But then you catch a glance of the village that sits at 2757m atop the pass.”
Martin Smith lives in Cheadle, Greater Manchester. He’s had a great passion for bikes since he was a child and spent many hours on the back of his father’s motorbikes travelling from Manchester across the Pennines and the occasional day trip to Wales. He bought his first motorbike aged sixteen, while serving an electrical apprenticeship but later sold this for his first car. Several years down the line, with a career in IT and with two grown-up children, Martin bought a sports bike, then upgraded to a proper adventure bike and his journeys across the globe soon began.
Martin says, “My journeys are documented on my blog with routes as a resource for other travellers. My most recent works have appeared in magazines and this encouraged me to write a lengthier account of my travels. I am the lead planner and tour guide (mainly because my companions like to leave me to it – my printed itineraries are legendary), as such I have gained an immense amount of experience in planning a trip and hope my book encourages more people to take up adventure riding.”
