Most adventure riding magazines fill their covers with photos of serious dudes wearing serious gear on serious bikes in serious places. The Cross Egypt Challenge takes a slightly different approach.
Alex Chacon (best known for epic selfie videos, for whatever that’s worth) has done his time on serious bikes in serious places wearing serious gear, but he’s just uploaded a video giving another look at adventure riding. Chacon’s posted a YouTube video of the Cross Egypt Challenge, a scooter rally across the desert that takes nine days to complete 3,000 km.
Chacon did the rally on a 150 cc step-through, and most of the other contestants seem to be on machines of similar size. Riding in Egypt is not without its dangers, but it seems contestants are much safer than the scaremongering media would have you believe. Plus, there’s a certain charm in a rally that has its own fuel tanker traveling with them.
Chacon did the rally in 2014; the 2015 rally runs Oct. 23-31. If you’re interested in attending, find out more details here; it seems international attendees can rent scooters for the ride. Please, if you go, let us know – we’d love to see more picture and get a first-hand account of this mad event. Just in case you’re wondering, a round trip flight from Toronto to Cairo costs as low as $1,100 …
You can see some of Chacon’s other motorcycle-based adventures at his website here, including rides through Canada.
I rode the Cross-Egypt Challenge in 2013 and yes it’s an amazing experience. At NO TIME did I ever feel that I was unsafe or worried about my surroundings. This even included the 5 days prior to the ride that I spent in Cairo touring the city, both on a private tour and even wandering around by myself. I found the Egyptians to be very friendly and helpful to visitors to their country. Here’s a link to a photo (I’m the 4th scooter behind the camel) that shows we did have some very unique and interesting riding times.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/Steve_YYZ/Cross%20Egypt%20Challenge%202013/1154df00-f629-4932-be81-f50ec2237b8e_zpsbb931600.jpg
My partner and I did this rally in 2013 and loved it so much we went back with two friends in 2014! I highly recommend it. We did not experience any “dangers” that the scaremongering media would have you believe are prevalent and you can’t beat the price. If you’ve ever wanted to go to Egypt and you ride then this is the trip for you. They have the option to do it on a motorcycle, but it’s way more fun on a scooter (I ride a ZX12 at home). The first year there was some off-road riding just to get from the main road to the destination, but otherwise it is paved roads. The organizing crew is amazing, the people are very warm and welcoming and it was great to spend time with riders from all over the world.
For all that video there’s no footage of them actually riding offroad.
3,000 km on a scooter? Hummm, who could we get to organize a Canadian version?
& I totally want a helicopter beanie camera mount for my helmet.