On 4th November 2012 maths teacher Austin Vince, ‘the godfather of DIY Adventure Motorcycling’ (MCN) and director of the legendary Mondo Enduro and Terra Circa films, struck out into the largest desert in the world with his team of six riders on Honda XR400s.

Their goal was to penetrate the infamous ‘Empty Quarter’ of the Sahara where no unsupported motorcyclists have ever ridden before. Not only this, but to demonstrate and showcase how in only 4 weeks door to door, a bunch of regular guys, with hardly any specialist gear, can have an affordable world-class travel adventure! You see, Mondo Sahara isn’t about them, it’s about you…

This 5,000-mile expedition was the result of years of planning and is totally cutting edge. The team started in London, ferry to Bilbao then went off-road across Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara. 3000 miles later, at the frontier with Mauritania they had a rendezvous with Richard Kemplay, of Beast Of Burden, Europe’s leading expert on back-country Mauritania.

Whilst the team was riding out, Kemplay had been burying fuel, food and water along a 1200 mile ‘desert lunge’ into the Empty Quarter. He’d crafted a rugged route that was testing and staggeringly dramatic. Locating these buried supply dumps enabled the Mondo Sahara team to ride vast distances into the wilderness, far, far beyond the range of any normal adventure bike rider. All they had to do was make it to the drop-points each night… but is anything ever that simple in the Sahara?

By design, the seven man team was Anglo-American. Why? Because Vince believes adventure motorcycling can be a political act. With US/Nato campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya etc, western/Arab/muslim relations are at an all time low. Vince and his team were determined that by the end of Mondo Sahara, at least there would be some African muslims who’d encountered Brits and Yanks that weren’t in armoured cars or searching their house. The Islamic Republic Of Mauritania has the FCO’s and US State Department’s highest level of travel warning/no-go embargo. Mondo Sahara set out to challenge that, and start to win the world back from the politicians and the generals, one village at a time.

The relentless heat, the pressure to make the drop-points each night and the difficult terrain made this the most exciting and challenging ride of their lives. Mondo Sahara was a true test of man, machine and teamwork in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth.

Austin Vince is a world-renowned film-maker, most famous for the adventure-motorcycling classics, Mondo Enduro and Terra Circa, which documented his round-the-world trips and have inspired thousands of others to hit the road. No doubt, Mondo Sahara will have the same effect!

For more info see : Inception and deception how it all started

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