How Adventure-Spec and Dave got together...

Dave Lomax is a true adventure seeker and has been travelling to remote parts of the world for nearly 15 years. Initially he used any form of transport he could get his hands on before finally settling on Motorbikes as his prefered method of travel in 1998.

Extended remote trips in the late '90's led to a need for cash and full time employment (as they do!), but the adventure bug couldnt be killed off so easily and Dave's trips continued in ever more extreme short bursts.

Solo trips across the Himalayas from Delhi to Kashmir and back were followed by trips to Central America, the Middle East, and Africa, before Dave returned to the western world for a quick trip across the USA on the Trans Am Trail in 2003. Since then Africa has been revisited many times, as have the remoter parts of Europe particularly Lapland and The Pyrenees

Many people have ridden the same trails as Dave but few in his style. Preferring small 400cc bikes Dave travels with minimal luggage (Usually one 20 litre bag) light and fast (completing the Trans Am Trail in less then 3 weeks) and has always returned to tell the tale (so far!)

Dave's Profile...


Name : Dave Lomax

Age: 37

Location: Manchester (mostly)

No Of Years Riding: 17

How did you first get involved with bikes?

Bordom during my days working as an Engineer with GEC in Leicester led me to pass my bike test and share ownership of a GPZ500s which my mate crashed and wrote off inthe first week....

What led you off road, because you dont own a road bike now do you?

No I dont. Its not that I dont like road bikes, its just that roads are usually full of people and I prefer my riding remote and peaceful. Sadly the areas I want to go to dont seem to have much tarmac so by necessity I had to learn to ride off-road!

I can understand that, but the bikes you choose wouldn't be everyones choice for some of your trips would they?

No possibly not, but I think that they are probably the best bikes for the trips. People tend to compromise their bike choice for comfort or luggage carrying capacity which is great if you have lots of time or cash, but I usually have neither and am more concerned with enjoying my time on the bike than my time off it, especially as I usually ride for 12 - 14 hours a day once I get moving.

Your latest trip to Africa 'Azalai' is pretty extreme, whats all that about then?

I dont know really. I'm one of those people who just has to keep going one step further. I know its not healthy or good for me but I find it hard to stop my dreams growing and even harder to stop myself fighting to meet them. The Sahara has become a special place for me in recent years, I find a very rare peace there, and I love the freedom and space to ride how and where I want. Its the antithesis to modern life.

We've had a look at the trip route and to be honest its a bit ambitius isnt it!

Hmmm....if you mean that its possible we wont reach Taoudenni then yes, I suppose it is. But I've always worked on the principle that anything thats easy to get isnt worth having (except money!). Although the first part of the trip has been ridden before its far from the mainstream riding experience, although I see no reason why if we prepare properly we shouldnt make it to Timbuktu with a little luck.Its the second bit that could be tricky. We have no tracks, no GPS waypoints, and no useful maps. We are in a truly lawless area of the Sahara where tribal Touaregs control the ground and our passage. And there is the small matter of almost 2500km of dunes before we hit a known track again. The main thing is that we try our best, that way we can't fail really. We are only going to Mali to TRY and reach Taoudenni, its the journey and the company that will make the trip special not the destination.

We know from talking to you earlier that you will be using a support vehicle for this trip. You've never done that before and really its a bit of a cop out isnt it?

Its certainly against everything that I have enjoyed about adventure biking over the years. I spent a long time thinking about this and worked out all kinds of plans to get from Atar to Timbuktu unsupported. I think that the first part of the trip is very possible although undoubtably on the limit of adventure biking. My DRZ with a 27l tank and extras would have to fuel dump for itself for the first 200km of the piste and that would allow a 600km unbroken section. Quite managable really. The problems come in the second part of the trip. Over 2000km unsupported is impossible. By the time I arrange fuel/water/food dumps and everything else associated with a trip like this I'm really riding supported anyway. I have only two choices. Ride supported or dont bother trying it. Its a first for me and we'll see how it goes, but I have to say in reality I think there are more problems riding with a support vehicle than without. Wait until you see it! One totally stripped out Landrover carrying nothing but fuel / water and two people driving a moving incendiary device in the Touareg 'badlands'....Whose idea was this?!


Previous Trips

  1. Middle East
  2. Central America
  3. North America
  4. Africa
  5. Western Europe
  6. Northern Europe

Upcoming Trips

  1. Pyreknees Up 2008
  2. Azalai 2008