It started with a phone call from award-winning photographer Kiran Ridley who was working in Lviv at the start of the war in Ukraine. Covering the refugee crisis from the saddle of an old, Chinese motorcycle, he just needed to talk. It was cold, dangerous, and the whole city was on a knife-edge of uncertainty as they prepared for the possibility of a Russian attack.

Thousands of miles away in my soft, comfortable life, images of destroyed buildings, dead and injured civilians and outnumbered soldiers fighting for their country filled Internet news feeds and TV screens. It didn’t seem possible that in plain view of the world, Russia was targeting women and children with their bombs and missiles, seemingly intent on destroying every facet of Ukrainian life with this unprovoked attack.     

I called Kiran back a couple of days later and asked how I could help. How could I come to Ukraine to tell stories and raise money?

He asked if it was possible to find a couple of motorcycles and thanks to more than twenty years of working with BMW Motorrad, it only took a phone call and we had two BMW F850GS Adventures with full luggage and Navigation in Munich for pick up. Next, Arai Helmets jumped in and REV’IT offered to provide us with outfits before everything started to grind to a crawl.

The paper work went in for my international press credentials and the wait was on. Kiran, who is based in France, had to renew his motorcycle license in the UK, and my press jacket and body armor were ordered with no delivery date due to excess demand. We held our collective breath, as each day seemed to bring some new challenge.

I decided to get a shot in my dodgy knee before the trip, to find the Doctor and his PA both motorcyclists, and both military combat veterans who knew my motorcycle work.

Two weeks later I became the first civilian to go through a week of Combat Life Saver training in Macon Georgia with Charlie Company 148^th Brigade Support Battalion. The idea being, if shit hits the fan, I’ll hopefully have the skills and equipment needed to deal with the types of injuries we could encounter. It began to feel real.

Once back home, the struggle continued for me with a nasty respiratory infection. Kiran caught COVID in Ukraine and with some other personal issues threatened to overwhelm him. He recovered, I recovered, and he had to return to Ukraine suddenly on a new assignment. Our departure got pushed back again.

It was a mad period of sketchy phone calls as Kiran did the mad dash to get home to Paris to file my paperwork with the Ukrainian military and apologizing to BMW for delaying our pick up. He also still had to make a trip to England to pick up my vest and helmet so the stress meter was on high.

You can help out by donating to Neale’s non-profit for this journey, Wellspring International Outreach which helps bring aid and attention to abandoned and at-risk children around the world. Donation link: https://www.wellspring-outreach.org/product/donation/ 

Finally, after booking a one-way ticket, Kiran got his schedule cleared and I caught COVID. It really seemed as if we were not destined to ride to Ukraine. A long, slow week of sickness passed, I changed my ticket, got my negative test and finally landed in Paris.

Details of our trip through Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and into Ukraine will come later, but thankfully it was as smooth as any motorcycle journey could be, and we made it to Lviv in western Ukraine without any issues after some complications at the border.         

As of this writing, we’ve been in Ukraine for five days and on a number of assignments working with the most brilliant fixers. From 1,500 feet below the surface of the earth in an old ‘70s Soviet era coal mine, to spending the day with young amputees who were on the front line, it’s been intense.

We have visited a famous Speedway stadium to visit with we’ve some racers, a 16^th Century Monastery that is housing fifty refugees from Kharkiv, and been hammering away on social media soliciting donations that we will give to the project that most needs our support.

Most days people are messaging to say stay safe, some are donating, and for the most part here in the western part of Ukraine we are alright. There are moments though, like when world famous photographer Brent Stirton, ex South African Special forces, messages from Sri Lanka to say “it’s no joke, I’ve lost two friends and two others wounded,” that the gnawing in my gut begins. It’s the same feeling that happens when the air raid sirens wail, or we approach a countryside military checkpoint.

Life here is tumultuous. One moment I’m overwhelmed at a rehab center seeing so many young men with missing limbs or spending time with refugees listening to their horrific stories. Then we get busy, it passes and I find myself riding a motorcycle carving through a beautiful country landscape, marveling at the stunning architecture in the villages and onion domed churches which accentuate the quiet rural life of Ukraine.

It would be an idyllic country to make a motorcycle trip, adventure ride or holiday. As peaceful and beautiful as it appears, reality comes rushing back knowing that these beautiful people, stunning architecture and peaceful lifestyle can be gone in an instant from Russian bombs or missiles. Then the gnawing in my gut returns.

Tomorrow we head east. The stories are going to get harder and the fight in my head will return, as the search for the words and images to communicate the need for us all to help continues.

2022 Ukrainian Stamps

Born in England, and raised in South Devon, England, Neale Bayly has been a moto-journalist photographer for more than twenty years now. During that time he’s contributed to more than 100 publications around the world. Neale founded Wellspring International Outreach, a non-profit organization, to focus on coming to the aid of orphans around the world. In order to help raise awareness for Wellspring’s work, Neale also created a TV series on YouTube called Neale Bayly Rides.