We've sort of lost touch with each other a little bit. 1:41 PM EDT, Thu September 17, 2020, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman take on a 13,000-mile e-bike journey in the Apple TV+ series, "Long Way Up.". Boorman admitted he had been "putting on a show" for a roadside garage and braked sharply as part of a maneuver. Send him yor best. Africa gets a really bad rub as a dangerous place, usually by people who havent been. They crossed 13 countries, namely Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S.A. WebThis is Charleys touring show with of an added update regards his accident last year how it happened and how the recovery is going. What do his doctors think about that? WebWild at Heart Season 6 Episode 4. John thought acting might help his dyslexic son to express himself. This one: Ewan McGregor (aka the young Obi-Wan in the Star Wars prequels and soon a new back-story Disney series) and his wingman, Brit TV personality Charley Boorman, have reportedly begun production of the third entry in their popular Long Way motorcycle road trip TV series, and are set to travel from the southern reaches of South America and ride the long way up to the United States. Half of the road stays in the shade. Long Way Up, takes the two best friends and their returning crew on a slightly truncated trip north following a route along the fabled Pan-American Highway. I usually go back the way we came with them so they can experience it as well. I taped him on the shoulder and said, I dont think my wife wants to go to Australia with you but I do. He looked me up and down and simply said No and then walked off. Ewan and I didnt really know what we were doing. Riding electric, it's just a mindset and you know from driving an electric car in LA, then you know what it is. Will update U., The funny man followed up with:@charleyboorman is now in surgery but was in good spirits before going in. You're looking at your GPS for the actual mileage left and you're looking at your bike which is telling you the projected mileage based on within the parameters that it's experiencing at that point in time and you're trying to keep those fingers together, so it adds a certain element of artistry to it. It appears he will be tagging along on this ride as well as he appears with McGregor in one Facebook image. Electric bikes are brilliant. They also decided to travel with medic Dai Jones, cameraman and security officer Jim Foster, and various "fixers"local guides and interpreters. During this time, he got an acting job on The Serpents Kiss in 1997, where he met McGregor, and they talked about bikes, because thats what bikers do, and cooked up the idea of a 19,000-mile, two-wheeled journey from London to New York that became 2004s Long Way Round a TV series, book and DVD. Olivia matches lonely elderly people with tenants who provide company or help, and suddenly found herself also dealing with a husband who couldnt manage the lavatory alone. [1] They were accompanied by the same key team members from Long Way Round, including cameraman and director of photography Claudio Von Planta and cameraman Jimmy Simak (who also oversaw music supervision and soundtrack production), and producers Russ Malkin and David Alexanian. Also, Triumph is owned by a family, theyre very generous and very kind and we have a great relationship. I think this scene (The Bike Shed) has brought younger riders back into biking. You might think the gods are trying to tell the Boormans something about hazardous pursuits, but when we meet, Charleys leg is nearly healed (he invites me to feel a screw that has worked loose beneath the skin) and hes planning to resume his bike safaris in Africa in August, go on a speaking tour to promote the book, then try to put the Darien Gap TV project back together. Traversing through cities, mountains, deserts, and snow, they documented their trips using special helmet cameras whilst riding their bikes, had a cameraman ride on his own bike accompany them, and had a production crew that provided them with additional support and rendezvoused with them at border crossings. Once youve been around the world and down its length on a motorcycle, there really isnt anywhere left to go but up. Weve joined selected affiliate programs which will allow us to place advertisements for select motorcycle and motorcycle-related product retailers on the site. The book abounds with bikes trashed and accidents endured, including the time Boorman rode 400km in the Dakar Rally with broken hands. It was hours and hours and hours later that I actually woke up, but again, I wanted to get back on the motorbike. However, American producer David Alexanian and cameraman Jimmy Simak were unable to obtain the necessary entry visas and were forced to fly from Tunisia to Egypt. Charley Boorman: When I did have the accident, you know, I remember waking up in the morning and I was in Portuguese hospital. HotCars covers all things automotive: the latest auto news and informative reviews on the car, pickup truck and motorcycle industries. It is a follow-up to the Long Way Round of 2004, when the pair rode east from London to New York via Eurasia and North America. A year ago, the 50-year-old who started out as a child actor in his father Johns films and gained a second bite at stardom on television as Ewan McGregors motorcycling partner in the Long Way adventure travel series suffered a horrific bike crash. I just think it was about time, you know. And so we found each other again and decided to do this trip.. Its really touching me, and what I was looking for in terms of feeling closer to the world, the Earth, appreciating the beauty of it as we ride along.. Fill in your details below to join the weekly Adventure Bike Rider Bulletin and get the latest adventure motorcycling news delivered right to your inbox. Charley had a terrible accident and was very badly injured. In Uganda, they met former child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army and saw the work being done to rehabilitate them. It's the longest trip ever attempted on an electric motorcycle, one that required Rivian to install a new string of fast-chargers along the planned routea rural charging network that will now serve the people of the region, as McGregor pointed out to me. You'd be doing 100km an hour on this dirt road on your bike and suddenly this truck would come past you at 130km an hour and leave you in the dust. I got clipped and the bad thing is I hit a wall. I broke both my legs, broke and dislocated my right ankle and smashed my left tibia and fibula. Boorman was then badly injured in a motorcycle crash in 2016 but eventually recovered. We looked to the back of their car and there was this young guy smiling at us with a gun in his hand and he was pointing it at us. Charley journeys in a circular route starting and finishing in Cape Town, experiencing the deeply rooted It was a surprise though, it's not an everyday occurrence for me! Apparently, after completing two epic motorbike adventures, the two felt they needed an additional challenge. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman will film in coming months", "Charley Boorman confirms the Long Way Up will take place within months", "Apple TV+ now includes all classic Fraggle Rock episodes, orders full season reboot [update: official]", Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo by Any Means, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long_Way_Down&oldid=1110182313, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Galaxy British Book Award 2008- Best Popular Non Fiction, This page was last edited on 14 September 2022, at 02:52. His close friend and partner on the road Charley Boorman, a fellow actor turned journeyman writer and TV presenter is similarly moved by the scenery. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013 for his outstanding contributions to the world of dramatics and his charity work. Holiday? The journey started on 12 May and finished on 4 August 2007. JAG: Charley, you were in quite a few different wrecks over the years. Once it became a little warmer, the batteries became much more friendly and we got more distance out of it. Ewan McGregor and his wingman, Brit TV personality Charley Boorman, have reportedly begun production of the third entry in their popular Long Way motorcycle road The video series was a hit both with riders and non-riders (celebrity helps) and it resulted in a well-received 2008 sequel, Long Way Down, which saw the pair ride from their homes in England to Cape Town on the southern tip of Africa. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. S02E01 Cape Town January 9, 2013; Channel 5 (UK) Charley begins in Cape Town and abseils from the The road through the Calchaqu Valley in northwest Argentina. She was cooking every meal, and bathing me, which would do my head in, Boorman says, but she is a saint, my wife, incredibly practical, and just gets on with it.. However, given the pairs typical journeys through distant lands where it might be a challenge to find gasoline or food, let alone a Level II electric vehicle charger, its suspected the sprinter vans might be ferrying generators for the Livewire bikes, which will need to top up about every 100 miles under favorable conditions. It was sort of like a dream come true., Boorman recalls riding by a solar farm in Costa Rica and knocking on the fence to ask to check it out. I mean, one time it was so cold outside that the batteries would just turn off and they wouldnt charge. He had shattered his left tibia and fibula and broken his right ankle and wrist. Were also starting to do short tours to Spain with The Bike Shed, mianly on hipster bikes like the T120s and Thruxtons. He also has a penchant for all things F1, occasionally catching up on WRC. Also, insurance is very expensive and bike theft is a big issue. The journey ended at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of the continent, from where they were accompanied to Cape Town by a phalanx of bikers, similar to their arrival in New York on the Long Way Round. Nite!. That was the case for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who ended their last biking adventure 13 years ago at the end of the Long Way Downtelevision series. [Chuckles]. Update 2moro. Rivian also installed charging stations along the more desolate parts of the route. Okay, not Yorkshire again. 2022Recurrent Ventures. It's such fun to ride and they are so fast. They decided the Long Way Up would be an electric voyage a way to see the world without aiding its decay. ", Long Way Back by Charley Boorman is published by AA, priced 20, Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, Please check your inbox to verify your details, You always find yourself in the characters that youre drawn to play, Saturday night TV is full of people Ive never heard of playing the 1975 is no use if you were released in 1971, Castlerock designer Sara has Oscars fashion all sewn up, Pierce Brosnan charms Ballycastle business owners during filming for new movie, Pierce Brosnan pops into Ballycastle pub while shooting new film, Emmerdale actor says working on suicide storyline was privilege and honour, NI actor who stars in Cocaine Bear almost misses red carpet debut at premiere in LA, Jamie Dornan to return as The Tourist, and this time hes in Ireland, Bad news for Banshees as SAG awards traditionally a good indicator of Oscar success, Colin Murray and wife Carly holidayed weeks before split, Majority of middle ground say NI should remain as an integral part of the UK poll, PSNI granted more time to question two men in connection to DCI Caldwells attempted murder investigation, Overwhelming support for return of PSNIs 50:50 recruitment rule, Saoradh criticised for hailing DCI Caldwell gunmen as republican revolutionaries, SDLP questions BBCs editorial balance after Matthew OToole is thrown off-air during Nolan Show, Though not a Red Devils follower, even I applauded one of their historic wins, The egg: Five ways to cook with that most versatile of ingredients, New IRA and loyalist drug gang planned DCI Caldwell shooting, Met Office predicts snow for Northern Ireland next week, As a unionist, I made a dangerous, stupid and strategic mistake by supporting Brexit, Sinister posters featuring Leo Varadkar spotted in Co Tyrone, The murder of Robert McCartney and the IRA cover-up, Watch: Shocking footage shows driver caught using elbow to steer car transporter on motorway. I consent to allow Adventure Bike Rider to collect my contact information (required), I would like to receive competitions, exclusive offers and other promotional emails from Adventure Bike Rider, I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time. WebLong Way Round: Created by David Alexanian, Charley Boorman, Russ Malkin, Ewan McGregor. Talking about the uncertainty of keeping the bikes charged in these remote places, Boorman recalls a story about getting this amazing charge out of a very dodgy plug in a youth hostile. . They had pretty much changed their whole fleet and they wanted to show me. Having ridden with Ewan McGregor all the way round the world, and on an extraordinary trip through Africa, he is now taking on Canada, South Africa and the USA. British adventurer Charley Boorman treks across Canada and discovers what makes the country amazing. In 2008, he did a show called 'By Any Means' where he traveled from County Wicklow, his hometown in Ireland, to Sydney, Australia using only appropriate public transport and flying whenever necessary. And thats when the real magic begins. Weve been talking about it a long-time and if the stars align we will do something like a Long Way up from Tierra Del Fuego to Alaska in the next couple of years. Series 6, Episode 4. Charley, besides being an avid motorcycle enthusiast, is an actor, TV presenter, and travel writer. South Africa. When he came to rest, as he casually puts it, my leg was all flippy-floppy, bending in the wrong places and But when you and your best friend are the two most recognisable faces in adventure biking, people start to ask questions when you havent been seen together in a while. So it goes with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and their third globe-trotting adventure, a follow-up to the epic journeys documented in 2004s The Long Way Round and 2007s The Long Way Down. I was on a bed pan for god knows how long and I just wanted to go to a regular toilet. I'd had a lot of surgeryboth my legs were smashed up, my right hand had broken bones. Ahead of that, The Drive had a chance to talk to McGregor and Boorman about their trip. I was just unlucky because if you break one leg you can continue to walk on the other one, but I broke both and I was in bed for five months. wBW providessubjective opinionsand information on hard-to-find and unique motorcycling products. Let me just say that this trip exceeded every one of my expectations. He smiled and nodded his head. I just recently completed a 5000 km ride through South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia with Charley Boorman. We have just heard that well-known and loved motorcycle travellerCharley Boormanhas broken his leg ina collision with a car while attending the media launch of the new Triumph Explorer in Portugal. Here's What Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman Are Up To Today, all 3 of which you can watch on Apple TV+, Youve Never Seen A Harley-Davidson LiveWire Like This, Charley met with a serious accident when test riding with motorbike journalists in Portugal. We have just heard that well-known and loved motorcycle traveller. I wish you all the best, Charlie. And those beginning few weeks were super cold. So I pulled my pants down and swung my legs around, missed the toilet and ended up wedged between the toilet and the wall. After many years as a BMW ambassador, I was approached about five years ago by Triumph Motorcycles. CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 04: Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman mark the finish line of The [+] Long Way Down at the Lagoon Beach Hotel on August 4, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa. He was last seen starring as Obi Wan Kenobi in Disney+ original series Obi Wan Kenobi in 2022. The first trip in the series was shot in the year 2004, when they set out on a 19,000-mile journey from London to New York City on BMW R1150GS Adventure bikes. Charley Boorman is riding again after his major motorcycle crash in 2016 and ready for his big African adventure later this year. But it was fun and everyone was very fun and very respectful and it was nice. Weve joined selected affiliate programs which will allow us to place advertisements for select motorcycle and motorcycle-related product retailers on the site. Now, a decade after the Long Way Down entry, it looks like the third installment is underway with electric mobility at the core of the concept. CB: Certainly those first few weeks had a steep learning curve. This article is about the TV documentary series. Believe me, thats raelly great. Motorcycle adventurer Charley Boorman has bared all for Motorbike Writer readers, including his backside! I do owe quite a lot of thanks to him for that.. ), We sort of looked at each other, and walked away, and thought if were quiet, theyd keep on charging. This kind of thing happens a lot in a Long Way Up. . Salta in northwest Argentina to take the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) one of the highest in the world at almost 14,000 feet. I love to show people that they can have a great tour in Africa and there is some great food, great wine and the people are so lovely. Charley Boorman's South African Adventure (TV Series 2013-2013) The Movie Database (TMDB) Join Adventurer Charley Boorman as he sets off once more on an epic motorbike adventure, this time making his way through the stunning, rugged and often unknown South Africa. The first episode of Long Way Up is all preparation and planning, which was incredibly fun to follow. Charley also gave us the inside scoop on what it was like to travel from the tip of South America to Los Angeles on electric Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and what plans he and Ewan have for their next adventure. The thing I remember most was flying through the air and seeing the pavement and wall and thinking, 'This is going to hurt'. The following year, Charley and Ewan did another motorcycle adventure trip, this time known as Long Way Down, where they travelled from Scotland to Cape Town, In 2016, Charley met with a serious accident when test riding with motorbike journalists in Portugal where he broke both his legs. Oha! Long Way Back is an account of Boormans recovery, and also the story of his life, touching on his dyslexia (he takes great pride in having a literary agent), the death of his older sister Telsche from ovarian cancer at the age of 38 in 1997, and his own loss of a testicle to cancer in 2010. Harley-Davidson provided them with their prototype LiveWire motorcycles that had a range of around 146 miles with its 15.5-kWh battery. In Ethiopia, they visited a land mine awareness project and met children injured by mines. Long Way Down is a television series and book documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2007 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from John o' Groats in Scotland through eighteen countries in Europe and Africa to Cape Town in South Africa. The original broadcast dates in the United Kingdom were: In the final pages of the Long Way Down book, there is a mention of "Long Way To Go"; however, this is not the intended title for a third series but a reference to the continual support that UNICEF needs for its work. People should at least wear a helmet, gloves and ankle riding boots. When James isnt riding motorbikes, he can usually be found reading or writing about them. Id love to ride with (princes) Harry and William. As with their previous trip, and Boorman's Race to Dakar, Russ Malkin's company Big Earth produced the series. I agreeI do not agree. Discovery Company. The torque is unbelievable, its fun to be sort of silent and it's just a different riding experience. Then I noticed the guy beside me and then he wasn't in a very good way at all and it was at that moment that I kind of realized that actually, these are just some broken bones and I'll get through this. I really hope Charley and Ewan do ride together soon in another adventure. Please send Charley your best wishes via Twitter. The TV journeyman and professional biker tells Hannah Stephenson about some of his most hair-raising moments, Horror crash: Charley is back on his bike after a horror smash last year. My waterproofs because, you know, London and my Arai adventure helmet and my injection-moulded earplugs. Travel back by ADAC. (One quick note: this interview has been edited for clarity, and it's also a lot better when you read McGregors copy in his Scottish burr.). EM: You just have to change your mindset. More importantly, the pair hopes the show will give people a new appreciation for where electric vehicle technology is at this moment, and the kinds of eco-conscious adventures that are already possible in far-flung areas of our increasingly fragile environment. I fell off that as well. And then we just got used to it and we began to understand how far we could go and how far we could push the parameters and you kind of like all of our trips, eventually you just settled into it. I really thought, 'S***, he's going to kill us'. My agent said why dont you use your recovery time to start writing a book about your life, your bikes and your crash, starting where youre sitting on the tarmac thinking what has just happened?. The support team with the production crew followed them in custom-built Rivian R1S all-electric SUVs. We need to be a bit more friendly toward each other and look at what the cycling industry has done with their lobbying. You know, helmet on and no one knows who you are. EW: It'd been over 12 years since we did The Long Way Down, our trip down through the African continent back in 2007. Youre sort of ready for it to end. Can you put an off-road suspension on it? The visuals satisfy an increasingly unbearable wanderlust that has become more acute during this year of coronavirus lockdown. With the right planning, of course. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, reading fiction books, watching movies, and spending time with his pet cats and dogs. Or if you live in Europe, pop over to Morocco for some of the best off-road riding. Id love to the do Simpson Desert. Is the Honda CRF300L the best beginner trail bike? The book and TV show enabled me to do the Dakar and the other tours and books and shows, so it really changed my life. YouTube channel where he posts videos on motorbikes. Charley and I talk a lot about it, about how you hear people who should really know better dismissing electric-powered vehicles. But the LiveWire wasn't even being sold yet, so we were so lucky that they built us these two beautiful bikes. [4] WebCharley Boorman, adventurer, motorbike enthusiast and no. All Rights Reserved. The team travelled from their base in Shepherd's Bush, London, to John o' Groats at the northern tip of Scotland to begin their journey. 2023 Cable News Network. GET THE LATEST ADVENTURE BIKE NEWS IN YOUR INBOX. Great story. There were moments towards the end of this trip that I said to Charley, that I could do this forever, I feel like I could keep going. Probably if theres a villain to be named in this epic saga, it is the search for power to keep both e-bikes and vehicles properly charged between stops. Didn't think you were that famous? I said can you give me a hand? and she just shook her head and said no. It felt like my whole body had been jarred. Use your recovery as the spine of the book. The bone came out of my skin. But now Im ok and starting to do some dirt riding again so Im super excited for our two trips there later this year. As an aside, I could watch Charley Boorman layer up (please put this on TikTok) all day. Co-director of photography Jimmy Simak also acted as music supervisor and soundtrack producer for the series. If I'm at work or I'm sitting there between takes, or I am sitting in my trailer or whatever, I find myself daydreaming about a ribbon of road coming at me from somewhere. I just love it as a way of life. if you're if your daily commute is less than 100 miles, which let's face it, most of us don't ride more than 100 miles a day on our bikes. For Long Way Up, which debuts globally on Apple TV+ on September 18 with the first three episodes, McGregor and Boorman reunite to ride 13,000 miles from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to Los Angeles, California.