Royal Enfield a friend on ride beyond fear

Photographer Iain Crockart rode a Royal Enfield motorcycle up 17,000 feet through the Himalaya Mountains and came back with pictures that capture the scariness. He writes:

"It is not often in our lives that our minds are clear; what I mean is when we travelled along these paths and roads, your mind did not drift off to think of that project, this client, this loved one. Your mind was focused on that bend, that ridge of sand, that truck, that cow, that child, that running dog. Nothing else mattered. You could live or die in that moment.

"The sheer drops, altitude sickness, the gravel, the deep mud, the water, the snow, the glacial rivers, the landslides, the crazy trucks, the crazier wildlife, all were out to get you."

Crockart's 80-page book, A Motorbike Adventure, Himachal Pradesh, India is NOT for sale. Instead, he is offering it in return for a donation to help him raise funds for a 2,000 km ride in Africa that will benefit three children's charities. The book is just now available through his website.

The cover includes an unmistakable Enfield casquette and a view of the trip Crockart and his companions dubbed "A Thousand Ways to Die."

The Enfield Bullet he rode with the expedition impressed and aggravated him. "You have to stroke it gently and whisper to it to start, the gears have a mind of their own and it became to us all a brilliant, stubborn, loyal friend that at times saved our lives."

Only 2,000 copies of the book will be available.