AN ex-para is back from an adventure which could almost be straight from a Boy’s Own annual.
He rode his motorbike 6,033 miles, across 14 countries, along the way seeing sights he could never have imagined – and at one point narrowly avoiding jail.
Peter Rutter spent 23 years with the 1st and 3rd battalions of the Parachute Regiment, rising to the rank of warrant officer. After leaving the Army he worked as a military adviser to the United Arab Emirates Army until he decided to take up an entirely different career, making the most of his love of motorbikes.
That was when he decided to ride all the way back from Dubai to Colchester astride his trusty BMW R1200-GS.
Mr Rutter, 46, now living in Boxted, could have taken a fairly direct route through Turkey into Europe. Instead, he decided on a more challenging route.
Setting off in March, he spent a month riding through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France.
Mr Rutter said: “It was an amazing adventure, which was made special by the people I met along the route.
“It was not so much the countries I travelled through, but who I met.”
However, it was far from plain sailing and the lone rider’s patience was particularly put to the test as he tried to cross the border into Russia.
He said: “My visa was running out as I left Kazakhstan. An officer came over and said ‘follow me’.
“We were in a room with a table lamp which reminded me of a scene from the film, Taxi Driver.
“He told me it was a problem to leave the country with an out-of-date visa and I would have to go back to Atyrau, in Kazakhstan, and get customs officers to give me a letter. “If I didn’t, he said they would wait for an interpreter and that would take five days and I’d have to spend it in a cell.
“With the best blagging skills I have, I said I had no money and there was a part broken on the bike, which I needed to get fixed in Russia. “I said if I went back that would take two days and my Russian visa would start to run out.”
Several phone calls later, he was finally, allowed to continue on his journey.
The adventure continued as he entered Ukraine and headed towards the city of Lviv.
He recalled: “The ride in was OK, until I was stopped by the police for speeding. “I was careful while being in Ukraine and had been watching my speed, but that morning, there was a lack of concentration and as I rode around a bend listening to my music, sure enough, there in the road was a policeman with a speed gun.
“He asked for $60 for the privilege of doing 105kmph in a 50 limit. I arrived at mid-morning and checked into the George hotel – the hotel where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman stayed when they made their documentary, the Long Way Round, where they parked their bikes in the lobby.
“Sadly, I was nowhere near famous enough to park my bike in the lobby!” Mr Rutter managed to keep calm during both experiences, but was mightily relieved finally to arrive home in Colchester, where he’s not expecting quite so much excitement in his new line of work.
After qualifying as a motorcycle instructor two years ago, he has started his own bike training school, Phoenix Motorcycle Training, based at the TA Centre, in Circular Road East, Colchester.
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