About

As the man behind the incredibly successful and popular blog section of the Ride Expeditions website, Julian’s musings on all things bike-based are informing and helping riders from California to Canberra on a daily basis. A motorcycle journalist for just short of fifteen years, Julian’s riding has taken him all over the world, from testing Yamahas in Corsica, racing Husqvarnas in Temecula and touring KTM’s in Morocco. He’s ridden many of the recce tours and customer tours with Ride Expeditions, his experiences featuring in magazines across the world. Aside from blogging, copywriting and filling the Ride Expeditions Facebook feed daily, Julian’s life is all about riding and tinkering with any of his five bikes, except of course when he’s collecting vintage clocks and watches. OCD? We’re saying nothing.

Ian or ‘Wiggy’ as he’s affectionately known, is our video guy, responsible for all the bits of cinematic eye-candy that appear on our website and media channels. Prior to this, Ian actually spent 20 years working on the railways in the UK, so if your train was late, delayed or indeed totally cancelled any time from the early 90s, Ian would like to personally apologise.

He actually started making films back in 1998, and since going professional Ian has taken his cameras to New Zealand, West Africa and even Vanuatu – you Google it – we had to! He’s made everything from feature films, cult movies and documentaries to videos for the Gambian Tourist Board, five-star hotels and community groups. He moved to Cambodia in 2012, loving the culture and positivity in this vibrant and colourful country. Sadly, Ian sometimes rides a scooter, a source of some embarrassment for the rest of the Ride Expeditions team …

Sometimes it’s good to hear the calming voice of a doctor, and they don’t come much calmer than Dr Ross. Drafted into the Ride Expeditions team for advice and assistance for all things medical, Dr Ross’s list of achievements is enough to make us all feel slightly embarrassed and distinctly under-qualified. He’s currently an Associate Professor of Anaesthesiology at Cape Town University alongside being the Chief Medical Officer at Wild Medix where he oversees training, education and research. He’s also been an Expedition doctor, taking a full year off his busy schedule to support an intrepid team of explorers – ideal training for his role with Ride Expeditions then!

In his spare time – whatever there is, he’s also a volunteer flight doctor with South Africa’s Red Cross Air Mercy service, flying all over the country doing good deeds and saving lives – Jeez he should be dubbed Saint Ross!

Stop it Ross – you’re making us all look bad! What a guy.

Monique initially joined our operations team but quickly showed a natural ability to multitask and work with people… So we called off the search for a new general manager just one month later and awarded the position to her.

Her passion and excitement for Ride Expeditions is contagious.

Megan is a true super power and loves the challenge of organising all of the finer details required to ensure the smooth running of our tours. Book onto one of our trips and you’ll no doubt get to know Megan well in the build up for your trip!

Megan is Henk’s wife, so of course she rides and currently has a KTM 690 Enduro R in her garage.

Mike has two of the most important responsibilities in the company: 1. Assessing the risks and determining how we can keep all of our guests as safe as possible; 2. Ensuring the quality of our operations is ever improving. He analyses the feedback of all of our guests and support teams after every tour and uses the info to make the next trip even better… An extremely difficult job given that our tours are already so good!

When someone describes themselves as a jack of all trades, you don’t expect them to have such an impressive skill set as this…

Dr Lynne has training in paediatrics, emergency care, general surgery and anaesthesia, and she was the first female African to receive a fellowship in wilderness medicine from the Wilderness Medical Society in the USA.

She’s a volunteer flying doctor with the Red Cross Air Mercy Service and has worked on or in most modes of transport with the exception of trains and space craft (she hopes to tick those off of her list soon!).

Be it code for the website, settings in our CRM or fancy reports for our support teams, NK has a natural ability to figure things out.

Originally from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, NK moved to Cape Town to pursue a career within the events industry and has since developed a keen interest in travel & tourism.

A self confessed cat lady, Myra brings a wealth of administrative and bookkeeping experience to the office side of the business.

While her main responsibility involves everything that has a number in it, she is also a natural super power when it comes to assisting other teams in keeping things running smoothly and efficiently.

Vut is our Number 1 man, taking charge of leading all the Ride Expeditions tours in Cambodia and sometimes venturing to Laos too. He’s a scarily talented Supercross and enduro rider and when not out on tour is busy beating the opposition in local and national races. But if there’s one thing our customers will know him best for it’s his marshalling cry of ‘Helmets on Gentlemen’! Like his sweep rider Lux, Vut is annoyingly good on the trails, standing and carving beautiful lines without batting an eyelid – copy Vut and you’ll do just fine.

After the Dali Lama, Anu is probably the calmest and most chilled man in Asia, and takes care of all the bike logistics for our epic Himalayan tours. After a short stint at 13 years old guarding apple orchards from pesky monkeys, Anu has worked on Enfields his whole life and there’s nothing he doesn’t know about classic machines. He opened his first motorcycle rental and mechanic business in Northern India at age 20, having borrowed money from the local bank manager by assuring him he needed it to build a house! He now oversees the fleet of bikes and leads the tours with effortless riding, gentle charm and endless professionalism.

If you have met Nono you won’t forget him. As the baby of the team, Nono joined us from the 2017 season in the holidays outside his computer programming course at University, and his wide smile and irrepressible happiness made him an instant hit on the tours, particularly with the ladies! Although in his early twenties, Nono rides a bike like a veteran, tackling whatever the Himalayas can throw at him with a casual confidence and almost infuriating ease. When not on the Royal Enfields, Nono can be found on his beloved KTM and taking selfies that highlight his Bollywood good looks and rugged cheekbones.

Lux is another one of the regular faces on our dirt bike tours in southern Asia, his calm and irritatingly smooth riding style a reminder to Julian of how good he could look if he had a tad more skill. Lux is based in the bustling city of Phnom Penh and when not riding, helps out on the maintenance and preparation of the Ride Expeditions fleet, from fettling WR450’s to slimming down and upgrading our KLX250s to become the distinctly more exciting KLX300s. His prowess in mending punctures is legendary, sometimes firing off five repairs in an hour during the apparently regular Cambodia nail spreading season. Lux doesn’t say much, but with skills like his, he doesn’t need to.

Topy is one of our regular tour staff on our Himalayan expeditions, accompanying the hordes of riders on their way to the highest passes in the world and beyond. A native of Manali in the North of India, Topy’s abilities on a motorcycle, particularly on a Royal Enfield, have to be seen to be believed. While we struggle over rocks in fully protective motorcycle gear, Topy is likely to pass by in a T-shirt and sandals with his trademark smile and cheery wave. As an experienced mechanic with the trusty Enfields, Topy can also fix anything from a broken headlight to a wobbly wheel bearing before you’ve finished your biscuit. A useful guy to have on the team? You bet!

TK is our man in Laos. Stationed in the rather beautiful capital city of Vientiane, TK is possibly one of the best and most enthusiastic promoters of his wonderful country and having ridden there, you’ll know just exactly why. A confirmed off-road rider, TK loves his Hondas, from his near immaculate XR250 to the fleet of ultra-reliable and endlessly capable CRF250Ls that we use on our cross-border adventure from Laos and on to Vietnam. TK’s friendly and gregarious nature does mean that wherever we stop he seems to instantly strike up a rapport with everyone he meets as if he’s known them for years. And as for his knowledge of the trails in Laos – there’s no one better.

As the newest lead guide on the Ride Expeditions Himalayan tours team, fresh-faced Tinku has a lot to live up to, not least because he sounds like a stand in member of the Teletubbies! Born and raised in Manali at the heart of the Himachal Pradesh region, Tinku has the Himalayas in his DNA and has spent a lifetime exploring the incredible landscapes that surround his home.

His bike riding must be pretty good too as he’s managed to impress Anu, our own Indian motorcycling guru, although his penchant for rallying and autocross has let the side down a bit. In the winter, Tinku likes to spend his time snowboarding on the slopes around Manali, which goes someway to make up for the whole unsavoury four-wheel activity thing.

When away from the bikes, cars and sliding down hills on a plank, Tinku admits to a thoroughly acceptable appreciation of beer, something he shares with most of the Ride Expeditions team. Good work Sir!

Duc Phu might sound like something you might order while on one of our tours, but rather than a tasty snack, Phu is our fearless guide on our Vietnamese adventures. Sat aboard his diminutive Honda 230, Phu is unexpectedly swift on the trails, slicing his way past paddy fields and across rickety bridges without stopping for breath, motoring his way across the country without maps, GPS or anything other than an encyclopaedic knowledge of the trails in the region. Mrs Phu also gives him a shopping list for each tour, so don’t be surprised if he stops to purchase everything from black garlic to livestock – legend!

Cuong started out in the early 90’s as a mechanic and just so happens to be one of the very best in Vietnam. With larger ambitions he then opened his own shop where people could repair, buy & sell Minsk motorbikes. Now an experienced tour guide, Cuong is an extremely knowledgeable and laid back kind of dude who’s knowledge of the trails in Vietnam is unsurpassed.

Ah Ernesto, where to start? A fun, enthusiastic, yet laid back & truly generous guy, hospitality comes naturally to Ernesto. Combine this with the fact that he’s a keen bike enthusiast and you have yourself the perfect guide to take you around Colombia!

Our local tour partner, Baagii, was born and raised in Mongolia & is an avid traveller. His hobbies include photography, history, kayaking and motorbiking. Baagii has been leading expeditions in Mongolia since 1999 and we couldn’t have asked for a better team mate & tour leader!

Eddy practically lives on the road! When he’s not driving one of our support vehicles on our expeditions in Southern Africa, he’ll be driving one of those massive expedition trucks, stopping only to spend time with his family back in Zimbabwe.

He’s a licensed guide and his knowledge of the African bush is incredible. Point out a beetle, snake, bird, tree or flower to Eddy and he’ll be able to tell you all about it… In between fixing up the truck and preparing your lunch. What a guy!

Originally from Chile, Rodrigo relocated to Argentinean Patagonia when he was 23 and has lived there ever since.

He is a professional fly fishing guide, a nature lover and he knows the routes of Patagonia like nobody else. He says he is not a chef, but we don’t believe him.

You’ll find Acho guiding our trips in India, usually wearing cool sunnies. An exceptionally chilled guy, Acho effortlessly deals with all the complications en route during our expeditions.

Argemiro is our chief mechanic on our dirt bike tours in Colombia. Be it a flat tyre, drowned bike or worse, Argemiro will be sure to keep the wheels on the bikes going round and round.

Alejandro drives the support vehicle on our tours in Colombia. He also arranges meals, phones ahead to hotels, sorts the logistics, takes care of your luggage and manages a wealth of other jobs that pop up during the trip.

Andres may be one of the youngest on our Colombian support team, but he is a truly talented trail mechanic that is exceptionally passionate about his role on tour.

Always calm and collected, Ramoo makes light work of servicing both the Royal Enfields and support vehicles on our Indian expeditions.

There’s never a dull moment when Lenoy is guiding our motorcycle tours in Laos! While not guiding our trips, you can find him on kayak or cycling expeditions somewhere in Laos, so he knows the countryside better than most!

A man of few words, Pow remains chilled whatever the situation may be on our tours in Cambodia. Be it a punctured radiator in the middle of the jungle or cracked engine casing on a steep rocky hill climb, Pow will be totally unphased and will get it sorted, always!

Always smiling and always wanting to help, Rajesh supports our trips throughout the Himalayas.

Pramod is never shy to get stuck in during our Himalayan expeditions… Be it a dropped bike in a river or flat tyre, he’ll be there immediately to get it sorted.

Ramesh is responsible for keeping our bikes in tip top shape during our motorcycle tours in India. To date, we’ve not seen him fail to fix any mechanic issue at the roadside!

Nitraj supports our Himalayan expeditions as a mechanic, and he loves it… You’ll never see anyone so happy to fix a flat tyre!