TRAVERSE 29
TRAVEL- ROMANIA
JIM TAYLOR( W) / ALESSIO CORRADINI RALLYCOOL( P)
ACROSS SEVEN LANDS
The idea of riding the famed Illyria Raid had been, at first, a casual suggestion from a friend— a sort of dare disguised as an adventure. A“ green lane” rally spanning seven Baltic countries in seven days, it promised long stretches of isolation, rocky tracks, and muddy plains. I had been roped in, reluctantly, and now, on my KTM 790, I was riding south through Europe toward Dubrovnik in May 2023, carrying almost no knowledge of the event itself. Two days before the start, I rolled into the Adriatic coast, glad to have made it in one piece. After five days of wet roads and unrelenting drizzle, the first morning of sun felt like a small miracle.
The plan had been simple on paper: tour Europe on a standard adventure bike, switch to rally wheels for the Illyria Raid, survive the gruelling seven-day, mostly offroad ordeal, and then return to road tyres to continue a circular tour back to Dover. It was meant to prove— or disprove— the versatility of modern adventure motorcycles. The journey south had been gentle, if sodden, but now the real test was looming.
Dubrovnik greeted me with heat and stone. Riding into the medieval city, I felt the weight of its history pressing in through the narrow streets. Once a city that had withstood sieges during the recent wars, it had also doubled as King’ s Landing in Game of Thrones. Tourists thronged the main thoroughfares, but beyond the bustling squares, up towards the sea wall, the city fell into quiet. Laundry hung from balconies, a lone cat basked in the sun, and one or two locals drifted by, going about their day. The contrast between crowd and solitude mirrored the ride I was about to undertake— moments of chaos punctuated by absolute isolation.
TRAVERSE 29