BREAKING GROUND

Over 100 years ago, a 22-year-old climbed aboard a 1912 Henderson motorcycle, pulled down his flat cap and left Ireland to ride round-the-world and become the first adventure rider.

Motorcycle travel was completely unheard of. Forget luxuries like travel insurance, GPS, petrol stations and the internet. He was on his own, the first of his kind. Maps were greyed out with unchartered lands and some countries didn’t even have petrol let alone petrol stations.

Today, an adventure rider’s biggest worry is often their next social media post, back then they had revolvers tucked in their belts and fought off bandits. It was a different world and these plucky few were the first to discover it. These are the tales of pioneers, the first men and women to traverse the globe