26
DECEMBER 2020
A QUICK GLANCE has become the Journal tradition to go back in time and pull out interesting bits for a while, although as we are lazy we didn’t bother to find out precisely how long “a while” is. This year we decided that 10 years is a good rewind - plenty of people who are still around will remember the snippets and hopefully it makes their Journal read a bit better. Besides, showing us newbies what utterly insane law-breakers BMWMCQ people were in the 2010 olden days with their trimmed moustaches and thick gold chains nestled in a shock of chest hair is inspirational. And the blokes were even worse. This month we were doing the re-read of the December 2010 Journal and swooning at the usual then-President Richard Maher shenanigans, and discovered a write-up of the very first Compass Expeditions Road of Bones expedition. We were supposed to do this tour in 2020, but Compass have closed their doors leaving us as Adventure Orphans. So to read about the first was quite moving, and hence we offer up the Road of Bones section in A LONG QUICK GLANCE.....
A LONG QUICK GLANCE the latest G 650 GS’s. The ride began in London 93 days prior but that is another story; we pick up the expedition as it crosses the Lena River and begins the ride on the M56 Kolyma Highway otherwise known as “The Road of Bones”.
The road ahead, Mongolia We left the luxury of the Tygan Darhan Hotel; Yakutsk’s finest, knowing it would be a while before we had any more small comforts. With our BMWs fully prepared for the ride ahead we crossed the Lena once more on the ferry in light rain and freezing temperatures. The road was deserted and we felt reassured to have Leo in the Toyota Landcruiser support vehicle always at our rear.
By Mick McDonald, Compass Expeditions
I
n the 1930s Joseph Stalin took control of the largest country on earth, Russia, and embarked on an amazing feat of engineering that also became infamous for its inhumanity and cruelty, thus the Road of Bones was born. This 2,000km long track from Yakutsk to Magadan, through some of the wildest country on earth, took a massive toll on the Gulag prisoners who built it with an estimated two million dying, either shot for not working hard enough or perishing due to the intense cold.
September 2010 saw a group of adventurous riders tackle the Road of Bones with Compass Expeditions, the first tour group ever to ride this route. Every rider was on board a BMW from the GS range, from the old Dakar’s and R1200s up to
Compass Support Vehicle It was well into autumn and the countryside was aglow with the brilliant yellows and reds of the Taiga forests that disappeared off into the distance. We were soon into a good rhythm but freezing cold and promptly stopped at the only café we saw since leaving Yakutsk. A wood fire was raging inside and a wonderful hot Borscht soup did the trick for lunch. The café was owned by an elderly couple
