'I get my bum pinched by a tranny, my pocket picked by a grifter and a gun pulled on me by a one-eyed, one-armed midget who’s upset cause I winked at him. These are the days that must happen to you.'
OK. Dan Walsh- the best writer in the world. Period. He has a new book out in July 2008. Buy it. You WILL NOT regret it, I promise, having read his escapades in BIKE magazine for years.
Amazon seem to have the best deal, but you can log on to http://www.dan-walsh.co.uk/ and input the promotional code WALSH. So there.
'Riding a bike removes the need for clutter, toys, rubbish that other men have to take on holiday. If I want adrenaline, I’ll rush a giddy overtake, not rent a jet ski.' The world through the eyes of Dan Walsh is never less than Technicolor, and always uninhibited, rebellious and on the edge. Not since the days of Jupiter's Travels has one man embarked on such an angry, narcotic-fuelled bike trek around the world. 'For me, Chile will always be South America’s supermodel sister – very beautiful but too long, too skinny, and too expensive to ride, and despite the groovy exterior, unpleasantly right-wing underneath.'Dan has travelled the length and breadth of the world; in Africa, on his XT Desert Rat; across the American continent, on a BMW F650 GS Dakar. Along the way he's visited Buenos Aires, where ‘revolutionary’ means the angry poor invading the presidential palace, not a really small phone that’s also a camera. He's crossed the dry sub-Saharan savannah, which is like riding across a piece of toast with a mouthful of crackers. He's been mistaken for a bum in New York, bashed by deadly tequila in Mexico, contracted typhoid in a dilapidated Bolivian hotel, visited The Most Beautiful Road in the World in Peru, been kidnapped in Kenya and finds that downtown Soweto is about as threatening as Stockport. 'I get my bum pinched by a tranny, my pocket picked by a grifter and get a gun pulled on me by a one-eyed, one-armed midget who’s upset cause I winked at him. These are the days that must happen to you.' Soaked in adrenaline and coruscatingly funny, Dan Walsh is the rightful heir to Ted Simon as the pre-eminent biker-rebel of our generation.
2 comments:
Dan the man, let us into your back-pocket while you take your ride down the same roads as "can count them on one hand" writers of a slice of generations that have shit their head, breathed in a deep big breath of fresh air and used their ride towards dust to gather some grins, contemplate their navels and set some of their soul free. Maybe we can all get together and have a big party to celebrate! Gittie up Dan, save us from some boredom. Burn baby burn.
Eh?
Whatever - Dans writing is a breath of fresh air. Honest, often painfully so, but always a great read. Not many writers will admit they're a twat at times, even though we all are. While we sit in the pub thinking about it, he's out there doing it. Recommended !
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