Transorientale, the Pavey way

Mention the word ‘rally’, or ‘raid’, to Simon Pavey and he’ll be among the first to sign the entry form so that he can put his skills to the test and his body on the line. His enthusiasm for extreme motorcycling is a dedication bordering on addiction.

The 41-year-old, Sydney-born Australian expatriate has been living and working in the UK for nearly two decades. Based in Wales, Pavey runs the highly successful BMW Off-Road Skills Course where he teaches novices (and experts) the finer points of off-road riding. In fact, it was Pavey who trained Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman to ride off-road prior to their famous Long Way Round odyssey to New York – via Europe, the Baltic States and Russia.

Having already ridden in six Dakar rallies, you’d think that Pavey’s need for speed and unpredictable adventure had been satisfied. If it had, he would not have had a good reason to enter the first Transorientale Rally from St Petersburg to Beijing and the Great Wall of China.

Pavey, of course, entered as a privateer. Doing his few charitable sponsors and himself proud, the hard-riding Australian on a virtually standard BMW G 650 Xchallenge eventually finished in 18th place. Along the way he achieved five, top ten stage finishes: “I proved that when everything was right I could be up there with the leaders,” said Pavey.

The 11,000-kilometre Transorientale Rally may well be the toughest of them all and it says much for the happy little team from South Wales that Pavey and his Touratech-modified Xchallenge finished so high in the standings. But it wasn’t easy. To the sanguine Aussie though, the unfamiliar cultures and competing on a satisfyingly reliable bike is what really mattered.

“We've learnt a lot about the bike so we can go back home and improve the package ready for the Dakar,” explained Pavey. “We've finished the world's longest rally on what is basically a standard Xchallenge, which can't be bad.”
Typically, Pavey does not say too much about his personal endeavours but he does praise the event and its organisers.

“The rally itself was outstanding and it was a credit to the organisers that they managed to get us through China – considering the political situation at the moment,” he said. “The government shut huge lengths of motorway, just for us. Amazing. The Transorientale and the Olympics are the only two international sporting events allowed in China this year, so it was a big deal for the [Chinese] government.

“In terms of terrain, the rally was a dream. You name it we rode on it, and in it – apart from snow – but we had more than enough rain at the beginning to make up for it. We encountered dunes, gravel, mountains, prairies, sandstorms, motorways, deserts, and mud. There was just so much variety in the terrain, unlike the Dakar where you can be flat-out on stony desert for ages. My favourite part though was riding through the dunes in mountains that had lakes in-between them. It was the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen.”

Simon Pavey was also quick to acknowledge the part his backup team played: “Linley [Pavey’s wife] and Bernie Wright [chief mechanic] probably had a harder time on the rally than me, to be honest. The rear suspension broke on the van and they had to drive the last nine days of the rally with no rear shocks. Bernie was amazing, the guy just worked all night and I couldn't have finished without him. The atmosphere in the team was fantastic, even when things got tough.

“When I look back on it now, the Transorientale has been an incredible experience for the whole team. The spirit of all the competitors was amazing and even when you were racing you knew that if somebody was in need, you’d just stop and help them out. That's how it is, and that's how you make real friends.

“The rally has been the longest in the world and it was tough, and made all of us dig deep, but that's why we do it. Just look at a map and see how far we rode – almost halfway round the world in just over two weeks. It was awesome.”

The first Transoriental Rally was obviously a success, especially as it received a seal of approval from such an experienced campaigner as Simon Pavey. But what of Pavey himself? Well, he and his small team are already preparing for the next Dakar. This will take place in South America in January 2009 and once again the ‘Australian Welshman’ has lined up sponsorship from BMW Motorrad and GlobeBusters (Trans Americas Tours).

Predictably, Simon Pavey was enthusiastic: “This will be new territory for me,” he said, “and I can hardly wait!”