If the goal is to concoct a superpower elixir of an adventure motorcycling legend in a beaker, one would need to conjure up quite a mix. Bring over that pipette full of balls-out courage; go ahead and squeeze in an extra strong dose of “ain’t gonna take any crap” independence; and, don’t forget to grow some eyeballs in the Petri dish for that super forward-thinking vision. If there’s one person who has slugged down this strange brew, it’s got to be Austin Vince. But, there’s one additional superpower that landed him on the telly before any other adventure motorcyclist... and, that’s his extraordinary charisma. Here’s just a tip of this iceberg.…

AM: Was there a specific event that lured you to the road?

AV: Not really, but the sudden access to the former USSR in ’90 meant that essentially, a new planet had been discovered that you could get to by motorcycle!

AM: Was this the same event that led you to the idea of taking on the longest route possible in the shortest period of time for your first motorcycle adventure?

AV: In May 1991 Gerald Vince [Austin’s older brother] was perusing the Sunday Times Travel supplement when he noticed a succulent oddment amongst the “In Brief” stop press type section. As a result of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, all of the former Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe had, at a stroke, dropped their insanely convoluted visa requirements for British nationals. In addition, they no longer required pre-booking of every night’s accommodation in expensive state-approved Intourist hotels. In other words, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, etc., were, for the first time since about 1937, open for truly independent travel.

Gerald sucked in me, Nick Stubley the missile designer and colonic consultant, Dr. Andy Bell. That summer they rolled off the ferry at Hamburg and before day’s end were in East Germany. The next 3,000 miles were literally mind-blowing. They were utterly unprepared for this other Europe. Devoid of neon, artificial fibers, motorways, fast food, anything Japanese… the list is endless. In fact, for most of these countries it seemed like it still was 1937.

It planted a seed that certain foreign countries might be fascinating not because of what the humans there had done, but what they had not done.

A few months later seven of us had a meeting in Nottingham to kick about the idea of a big bike trip somewhere. London to Cape Town popped up pretty quickly but we kept coming back to how mental it had been in Eastern Europe, travelling amongst societies used to living under a command economy Police State. Just then the light bulb went on over all our heads—the Soviet Union.

AM: What was the motivation behind documenting your two round-the-world adventures for the rest of the world to see?

AV: Influenced by Britain’s maverick indy film-maker, Josh Collins, I had started heavily shooting on Super-8 in the early ’90s. I made goofy films about school life, but the forthcoming Mondo Enduro trip didn’t need much thought—I knew I had to combine my love of motorcycling with my obsession with the title sequence from the Banana Splits. You know the rest!

AM: In taking on such challenging goals, like being the first Europeans to reach Magadan via the “Road of Bones,” were there issues with the group dynamics that almost kept you from reaching your destination?

AV: Very important, the RoB was in no way challenging after the nightmare of attempting the Zilov Gap. Remember, it is a road, designed for use by heavy trucks and jeeps. We rode about 300 miles a day on it. How difficult does that sound? Sure, there were loads of river fordings, immersions, mud and rocky bumpings, but basically it was trivial after the pain in the Zilov Gap of being down to less than a mile a day of progress. That’s why the RoB hardly features in the book or film of Mondo. All the “thrills” were bureaucratic!! Our visas clearly stated that we must leave USSR from Vladivostok.

Hence, after about a month of travelling from Skovorodino (which is where you swing north for Magadan from the Trans-Sib Highway) we were confident that on reporting to Magadan airport we would be told “nyet” and be sent back to Skovorodino!! Also, we arrived in Magadan with no money, only credit cards. Magadan in 1995… think about it, not a single ATM in the city, and if Aeroflot wouldn’t accept our cards (and why would they?) we were screwed.

THAT’S what was so exciting, having no idea if we could ever leave Magadan!! The team pretty quickly fractured once it was clear what the rhythm of life on the road in the former USSR was like. Some of the guys just weren’t that into it. They went ahead back in Irkutsk on day sixty-six.

AM: How long did it take you to edit your first adventure project, Mondo Enduro?

AV: It was edited by a professional. This was long before we all had Windows Movie Maker! It took about six weeks.

AM: Were you flying by the seat of your pants in the editing room, or did you have some experience before taking this on?

AV: It was the first film I had made that had sound. It was painful how many crucial shots I had failed to film. It was a massive learning experience and in fact Terra Circa, the follow-up trip was supposed to be a sort of “Mondo filmed properly!” project!! Remember, it was 17 years ago. Back then, amateurs could shoot their own films on Hi-8 but they still couldn’t edit them. That’s where you had to go cap-in-hand to the TV establishment.

AM: How difficult was it for you to get your DIY-style of the Mondo TV show picked up by Discovery?

AV: On our return to the UK in May ’96 we hooked up with an independent production company in London that I knew through the parent of a boy at my school. With their help I supervised the creation of a four minute “pop video” style trailer showing us whizzing around the world. It’s one of the special features on the Mondo DVD (and to this day sends tingles up my spine). We sent that off on a VHS with a proposal to eleven different UK network and cable channels. We only ever received one reply. A rejection from Discovery Europe. It took another year but with some major string-pulling and favors being called in, they finally commissioned it as two one-hour shows at “cost.” This meant that the production company got a fee for “producing” the show whilst Gerald, me and the others got £150 each—for a year’s work. Back then, the camera alone had cost us £1,400!!

AM: When you went back to Russia to conquer the 400 mile roadless section of Siberia, affectionately named by your team as the “Zilov Gap” for Terra Circa, did you know that you would be shoving it to future attemptees like Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as humble pie?

AV: Quite the opposite—when LWR [Long Way Round] contacted us, having seen Mondo and Terra on TV and then watching the DVDs, we were quickly set to work as their lead Siberian advisors. Back then, in 2004, Gerald and I were the only people in the English-speaking world that had crossed Siberia by bike—not once but twice. All our time was essentially spent preparing McGregor and Boorman for the Zilov Gap.

We were still the only people that had attempted it and so were thrilled at the prospect of the next team tackling it being not only British but also drenched in A-list celebrity status. In those early days we thought we were prepping two plucky adventurers for a massive unsupported step into the unknown. You can imagine our disappointment when we got called from Mongolia on their satellite phone by Russ Malkin the director.

We had never been told there would be an entourage and there he is asking how to get the bikes on the train because they didn’t want to attempt the Zilov Gap. Strange, when they knew a bunch of nobodies like us had pulled it off with only a few dunkings and a broken collar bone between us, they could easily have ridden it. To this day I feel sorry for them—the Zilov Gap experience was the best ten days of that route—super exciting and a world first.

Frankly, I am baffled as to how those guys have managed to fool so many people into thinking they were cutting edge when the second it got interesting, they baled. They’ve got all that money and fame but by doing the Gap on the train, they turned their backs on the most satisfying part of the whole project. Oh well, their loss…. It is crucial that I emphasize that crossing the Zilov Gap was not difficult, anyone could do it, you just had to be prepared to get wet and cold for a few days.

AM: How does being married to the fabulous solo riding heroine, Lois Pryce, inspire you in goal-setting?

AV: She’s the real deal—I am just a clumsy Korean Karaoke to her Memphis Soul Stew original.

AM: Do you and Lois have a fondness for the Russian-made Ural motorcycle and sidecar for sharing fun as an adventure riding couple?

AV: I have never had so much fun. Naturally, after our Ural USA trip (zero adventure but 100% pleasure) we were converted. It was with not a little irony that we then heard that, a year later, Ewan McGregor had just bought one!

AM: Can you tell us how you got started riding, and at what age?

AV: Same old, same old, my elder brother Gerald. Being ten-years-old in 1975 and being surrounded by greasers on Triumphs and Nortons is wasn’t hard to get “sucked in.”

AM: You have taken your absolutely hilarious show on the road that promotes DIYing, and how a big budget and over-planning shouldn’t get in the way of our road dreams. Is this enough to keep you giving back to the adventure riding community full-time, or do you have bigger plans for inspiring a larger group of people?

AV: I suffer massively in that there is no industry that can make money out of my message. Paul Guillien at Touratech has been a fabulous patron even though I am far from being their best advert! My biggest message is to Americans—you are the greatest people in the world living in the richest and most developed society on this planet.

However, too many people in other parts of the Earth are not such fans, but you can charm them back, from the saddle of a motorcycle. You need to get out there and win the world back to your side, village-by-village, border-by-border. It might mean you have to go somewhere that seems uncomfortable, different or strange, but then again—that’s the essence of Adventure Motorcycling—being far, far from home, slightly anxious, and not sure what’s going to happen next….

AM: Any unusual future traveling plans?

AV: Mondo Ali Bongo!!!!!!!! Three yanks, four Brits. A 5,000 mile off-road arc across, Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara. Once we get to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania we collect a load of GPS-cached drop points from the Beast of Burden team. They will have buried food, fuel and water about every 150 miles across the Empty Quarter of the Sahara. We punch into the desert and spend the next two weeks surviving and travelling where absolutely no motorbike has been before. A 1,000 mile lunge into the unknown. Mark the name well: Mondo Ali Bongo!!!!!!!! AustinVince.com