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In September this year Matthew, Patrick and Stace leave Central London for Moscow. Travelling via Holland, Germany, Poland, Kallingrad, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and France.  Here, Matthew explains where the idea originally came from.

Hatfield to Russia - Part One

Moving to Hertfordshire was one of the biggest decisions of my life. Leaving my wife behind in Nottingham, my friends, my colleagues, and everything I'd worked for since University.

But the big smoke called and I left my comfortable job, my comfortable life, and set out to make a name down south.

Herts welcomed me with open arms, deep, wonderfully winding a-roads, tight naughty little b-roads and an IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) group that taught me rounding corners at 90mph isn't big and isn't clever. I am of course talking about biking, the only constant in my life since 16.

My wife finally got work here and we were able to start building our home again. Everything was good, life was settled, and I was happy, settled even.

Then it happened.

I still can't put my finger on when it happened, but I found myself bragging to friends in the pub that I was a bike touring God - I'd been all over the UK that summer and thought I was the business.

"Of course it's the big one next year."

Oh blast I've said it now.

"Yeah I'm going to ride to um... Russia and back!".

Bugger.

That should have been the end of it, but it soon became clear that this mad idea caught far too much of the imagination of my biking mates, no-one would leave it alone and I now found myself with two companions for the journey. Patrick and Stace. Too much beer and bravado, the excuse of many a mad idea.

So here I am. Three months to go. No vaccines, no visas, no motorbike and no idea. September the 5th sees three of us leaving Central London for Moscow via most of Europe.

There's only one way this can work out. Problem is I don't know which way that is. Just yet...