TED SIMON is an inspiration to bikers and travellers around the globe.
The former chemical engineer, turned journalist, has twice circumnavigated the globe on motorbike roadtrips of epic proportions – in 1973 at the age of 42 – and in 2001 at the age of 69 to see just how the world had changed in the intervening time.
And the adventurer will be sharing his story at the Coventry Transport Museum on Saturday.
With Ted will be his famous 1991 road trip bike the BMW R80GS – which will be arriving at the museum between 10.30am and 11am to join his 1973 journey Triumph Tiger in the musuem’s Champions Gallery.
Ted will then talk about his exploits featuring tales from his four-year, 64,000-mile travels through 45 countries in 1973, and from his 59,000-mile journey through 47 countries during his 2001 expedition.
Speaking ahead of the talk Ted said: “People who thought of my journey as a physical ordeal or an act of courage missed the point. “Courage and physical endurance were no more than useful items of equipment for me, like facility with languages or immunity to hepatitis.
“The goal was comprehension, and the only way to comprehend the world was by making myself vulnerable to it so that it could change me.
“The challenge was to lay myself open to everybody and everything that came my way.
“The prize was to change and grow big enough to feel one with the whole world.
“Ever since my original journey I have been learning more about its significance.
“The idea that I might be making it for others, as well as myself… It seems that when you raise yourself up to achieve something beyond what is needed just to live day by day, the energy you generate has an effect on those around you.”
Tickets for the talk are £5 on the door.
Anyone buying a Ted Simon Book at the event (Jupiter’s Travels, Dreaming of Jupiter, Rolling through the Isles, and Jupiter’s Travels in Camera) will have their admission refunded.
