PHOTO BY ANDREW COLLIER
WIRRAL'S JOHN PEERS
ON HIS ARCTIC ADVENTURE
Wallasey-born Insurance Broker John Peers, 59, has amazingly
circumnavigated Europe before heading North to the Arctic to
raise funds for the charity Lady Taverners. Two security guards very quickly saw me off the premises, only for
me to realise a little later on that I had been trying to withdraw the
equivalent of £8,000!”
His solo motorbike ride in June of this year saw him ride over
12,000 miles, through 24 countries with 18 different currencies
and multitude of languages over 28 days. Countries visited
included Serbia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Belarus, Transylvania, Finland,
Lithuania - the list goes on. He even made time to visit Santa in
Lapland before reaching the highest fishing village on the planet
in Norway's most Northerly point. A night in the Ice Hotel in
Sweden followed by riding over the incredible Oresund Bridge
into Denmark meant that even the last legs of this epic journey had
many highs to remember. Visa's and crossing so many borders, especially through what were
the old Eastern Block countries had its moments for John too.
Speaking of the highlights of this incredible journey, John said:
“Well, my passion for motorcycling goes back to my youth when
New Brighton promenade was my home track. Riding the bike on
the trip about five to six hours a day, made me feel like being 17
all over again. Of course seeing the extremes of Moldova, Europe’s
poorest country to Norway, one of the most affluent, is fascinating
in itself. The corruption in Transnistria and the war torn buildings
purposely left as reminders in Bosnia will forever stay in my
memory. Then there are the people along the way - I firmly believe
that by travelling on your own you meet so many more people and
are often invited into their homes which I personally find every
bit as interesting as the architecture of their palaces and churches”.
With eighteen different currencies to contend with John did
encounter a few problems. “Well I was escorted out of a bank in
the Ukraine” John recalls. “I had only just arrived and was very
tired after a particularly stressful day paying off the corrupt Police
in Transnistria with alleged speeding fines. I tried to withdraw
what I thought was about £80 in Ukraine Hryvnia but my card
was refused in the cash machine which was inside the bank itself.
“I can only guess my reason for being so fascinated with borders
goes back to my Dad’s enthusiasm for watching World War Two
films, I really find them very exciting places to be, guards walking
around with machine guns, searching my bike for anything from
cigarettes to amber stone”.
John added: “But there can be unnecessary lengthy delays even
for motorcyclists whom the authorities usually let through quite
quickly. I waited 6 hours to get into Poland from Ukraine, however,
that was nothing in comparison with the 48 hours my truck driver
friends were there for."
John relied on the information truck drivers gave him along the
routes he took. “The truckers are using these routes every day and
they are the best source of information as to which border crossing
have the least delays etc. I spent a good hour a day somewhere
along the road chatting to truckers over a cup of coffee”.
This trip resulted in John raising almost £4,000 for the Lady
Taverners. His next venture is in aid of the Blood Bike Charity. "I’m
off again at the beginning of September, this time to Asia travelling
to Istanbul and beyond, and when I’m not on a trip, I ride for the
Blood Bikes who are a volunteer group of motorcyclists who move
blood for the hospitals also move breast milk for premature babies.
Motorcycling has been in my blood since I was about 13 when I
used to help an older friend who rode in the sand races on New
Brighton beach, and my plans are well advanced for next summer's
trip which will hopefully take me to India”.
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