Banbury lads to circumnavigate the globe on a moped and sidecar

Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes will set out to be the first people to ever circumnavigate the globe on a scooter with a sidecar in order to learn, inspire and support the fight against modern slavery.

The ambitious journey will take the duo east and take almost two years to complete, cover five continents, encompass some 50 countries and cover about 40,000 miles all with little or no experience.

Matt said: “The trips going to take around 18 months and anything can happen in that amount of time so we’ll be open to taking different routes if necessary.

“Equally some of these places are an absolute nightmare to drive through with your own vehicle in terms of visa’s and permits. We’re going to try our upmost to get in but if we can’t it won’t stop the trip and well just find a route around said country.”

In preparation the adventurers undertook the 2,200 mile tour of the UK on 125cc bikes camping on roadsides, coping with wintry conditions and were on the saddle for up to 14 hours a day but are from seasoned riders.

Matt said: “Experience – none! We still don’t have our full bike licences, we failed our tests in November. All part of the fun of this ridiculous story.

“We have had our training donated to us by Metropolis Motorcycles in London though.

“And they trained the crew for Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round expedition, so we are in good hands.”

The pair, who have been friends since childhood, will team up with Walk Free Org a charity committed to putting an end to modern day slavery.

They have also presented talks to school pupils, including the Warriner where they were both once students, to raise awareness.

There is no firm start date as yet as complicated visa and funding issues are still in motion and the pair still need to purchase the all important moped/sidecar combination.

Matt said: “We decided it’s best just to say we’ll go as soon as we can but we will go.”

To sponsor the duo and follow the trip click here.