Cuba And The Blue Wave Rally

This entry is part 2 of 21 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #13

Create your own motorcycle diary Cuba! The Caribbean island known for its white-sand beaches, rolling mountains, cigars, rum and exotic scenery. You can ride there.

Organising a motorbike tour of Cuba has been a long-held wish for Mike and Angela of Britton Adventures, but finding reliable bikes they could hire legally has been the problem. In 2013 Mike and Ange even went to Cuba to check it out, but found only privately owned, and therefore illegal, older Russian models.

What they did find there was a vibrant and exciting country with great scenery, a lively culture, and friendly people. Even more inspired they returned to New Zealand determined to find a way to get a bike tour in Cuba up and running.

Just like that

Then an email exploded into their inbox, out of the blue, from a Cuban company with late-model, big-bore Harleys available. The company wondered whether Britton Adventures wanted to become their Oceania agents?

You bet they did!

So a partnership was formed and 2015 is the year for the kick-off of Britton Adventures Viva! Cuba! tours.

“Yes,” said Three-star Mike. “Harleys.”

“They’re certainly something different for us, but we’re always looking for new experiences. Getting access to these Harleys has opened up a lot of possibilities.

The models that will be used on Britton Adventures’ Cuba Tours include the Electra Glide, Street Glide, Low Rider, Switchback Dyna, V-Rod, Sportster Super Low, Street Bob, and Wide Glide.

No way!

During the set-up time Mike and Angela thought one of the names of the partners looked familiar, so they enquired. If you know your revolutionary history you’ll understand why they were a little excited when they realised they’d be working with Ché Guevara’s youngest son, Ernesto Guevara!

Although Ernesto never knew his father it seems he shares Ché’s passion for ’bikes, as demonstrated in the movie and book Motorcycle Diaries.

Book it

The tour is for 15 days, from October 28 through to November 11, in Cuba.

The dates exclude travel time to and from, and will take you from the lively capital of Havana to Santiago de Cuba in the south and Maria La Gorda on the coast in the north, plus plenty of places in between.

If you like the idea of cruising the streets, highways, avenues and lanes of Cuba on a big, late-model Harley, contact Mike or Angela at Britton Adventures.

They’re out of the country a lot at present, so the best way to contact them is by email: mike@adventurerides.co.nz or angela@adventurerides.co.nz.

Don’t muck around though – it’s an awesome tour and due to bike availability numbers are limited.

Support the 2015 Blue Waves Rally Mongolia

While we’re talking about Mighty Mike and Angela, they’ve been operating tours in Mongolia for donkey’s years – see the story in issue #03 – and wanted to give something back to a country and people they’ve learned to love.

In 2013 the Lake Hovsgol Conservancy and the Mongol Ecology Center launched the Blue Waves Moto Rally for Rangers.

Its aim is to raise awareness of the global significance of Lake Hovsgol National Park, to rally an audience worldwide, and to support, fully equip, and train the park rangers working to preserve the magnificent ecosystem. Lake Hovsgol is one of the oldest and cleanest lakes: it contains between one- and two per cent of the world’s freshwater, and the lake and the surrounding National Park are being destroyed by illegal poaching, deforestation, mining, and development.

After seeing the worn-out motorcycle of the Chief Ranger break down while chasing illegal campers, Robert ‘Mac’ McIntosh, co-founder of the Lake Hovsgol Conservancy, turned to his fellow conservationists and said, “I am going to buy a bike, ride it all the way to the lake, and give it to this ranger. Are you in?”

It turned out to be the start of something special.

Britton is in!

When Mike and Ange were approached by the organisers of the Blue Wave Rally in early 2014 they had no hesitation in becoming involved in the project. And when they heard the bikes that were to be given to the rangers were trusty Yamaha AG200s they were even more enthusiastic.

Donating reliable trail bikes to the Lake Hovsgol Park Rangers, so they can better patrol the park, is a practical way to assist in the protection of this unique and important part of our world.

The inaugural Blue Waves Rally in 2014 saw 15 bikes donated to Park Rangers in one region of this vast National Park. Mike was one of the riders on the initial Rally and became an invaluable part of the team with his practical skills and knowledge of touring in Mongolia, mechanical skills, and Yamaha motorcycles in general.

Join in

The 2015 Blue Wave Rally aims to raise funds to purchase bikes for another group of rangers, this time in the remote Taiga region, north-west Mongolia. Participants on the Rally will ride approximately 2000km and then hand the bikes over to the Park Rangers. Mike is again one of the riders and Angela is also joining the Rally this time as part of the support crew.

Three other Kiwi riders are raising funds for a ranger’s bike and joining the Rally.

Iain and Stuart are both farmers from the Dannevirke region, and Mischeal, a nurse who operates two dementia-care homes, from North Canterbury. Mischeal’s 15-year-old daughter, Jessica, will also be travelling with the Rally in one of the support vehicles.

This year, 20 rangers will be the recipients of Yamaha AG200s, gear and equipment.

Motorcycles are often perceived as environmentally unfriendly, however in the case of the Blue Wave Rally For Rangers they’ll go a long way to assisting the preservation of one of the world’s unique and precious ecosystems.

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