“It’s the story of my incredible 7,000 mile motorbike journey from Europe’s southernmost point in Tarifa, Spain, via my home in Mallorca, through the Tramuntana mountains, to Nordkapp, Norway – the furthest northern point in Europe reachable by road inside the Arctic Circle.
Story of resilience
“This is more than just a travelogue; it’s a story of resilience, adventure, and the challenges of solo travel across a continent. My route pushed the boundaries, even taking me to the Russian border. It’s a journey few have completed by motorbike, and I’m eager to share the experience with your readers,” he told the Bulletin while preparing for his next venture to ride from the most western to eastern points of Europe.
Born in Stoke, he read languages at Oxford and then went into marketing. He describes himself as “almost retired now”, but previously he was the MD of Marston’s Brewery in Burton and then in Wolverhampton. He now lives in Brailsford, Derbyshire, and Mallorca. “This journey is part of a bigger quest to reach all four cardinal points of continental Europe by motorbike.
“This summer I travel to Cabo da Roca in Portugal (westernmost) and then in 2026 to Ilomantsi in Finland (eastern limit). No-one has done this to my knowledge. Certainly, nobody has written about it. There’ll be a second book in due course,” he said. And more often than not, he has been biking down to Mallorca from the UK while the rest of the family flew to Palma. Stephen did admit that his loving wife has neither been on the back of his motorbike nor flown with him in a microlight!
“I come down to Mallorca via various routes and my neighbour on the island, who used to be my boss, Ralph, has accompanied me on a few journeys, even stages of my adventures. Routes down to Palma could be through France or more direct via a northern Spanish port and then I’d take a few days to explore Spain - it’s a wonderful country to tour on a motorbike, so much to see and so much history. But the biggest challenge is always having to work within my 90-day restraints for being in Europe at any one time, whether I’m riding down to Mallorca or embarking on my main adventures elsewhere across Europe, so that always has to be taken into account and journey time compliant with the EU rules,” he explained.
Schengen rule
“This first journey was over two years. The first stage was through England and Spain down to Tarifa and then over here to Mallorca was in 2022, again working round the Schengen rules. Then the second part was in 2023. I spent the summer riding round and exploring Mallorca, then via Barcelona I went over the Pyrenees into France, back to the UK where I was joined by my mate Ralph. We sailed to Rotterdam up through northern Germany - which was fun and games because we had all out gear stolen (one of many stories in the book) - and then went over from Germany to Denmark into Sweden all the way up the coast to Oslo then across to the west coast of Norway, followed then all the way up to a place called Bodø in the Arctic Circle. We then took the ferry to the Lofoten Islands which are just stunningly beautiful, which is in fact where Top Gear’s The Grand Tour filmed an episode, then from there still further up the coast to eventually Nordcap, the most northerly point well inside the Arctic Circle. From there we set off for Kirkenes on the Russian border, the furthest we could physically get especially with the war in Ukraine.
7,000-mile journey
“Then we made our way back reflecting on a wonderful, once in a lifetime 7,000-mile journey which, to my knowledge, has neither been done nor written about. That is one of the reasons I wrote the book but also to leave something for my grandchildren and the family,” Stephen explained. Normally Stephen rides alone and could have done with Ralph on his journey down to Tarifa where he took a spill on some oil and broke two ribs. However, that didn’t stop him completing the ride, despite the sheer pain. Hence why his wife calls him an ‘adventure pony’; he could quite easily be referred to as a Top Gun!
Tours of Mallorca
The tours have taken Stephen through some of the most stunning landscape in Europe, if not the world, but Mallorca holds a very special place in his heart. He has plans for biking on the island but that’s on hold for the moment because he has another adventure to complete from the most eastern to western points of Europe.
“During the summers I’ve ridden and explored all over Mallorca and other parts of the Balearics - the Tramuntana, Sa Calobra all the great routes and there are some fantastic roads here which very few people in the UK really know about. And Mallorca is a perfect place to come and ride and tour at leisure. Take Sant Elm to the Formentor lighthouse. Apart from the view and the landscape, the roads are very technical, so it’s a great ride for any serious biker.
“I’d be very keen to promote coming to tour Mallorca. Plus there’s a very much more laidback vibe towards biking on the island, so that’s encouraging. And I know there are some large clubs, so there’s definitely potential. There are rides one would not do during the summer. It’s too hot, there’s too much traffic and it’s much more enjoyable in the off-season. So bike tours or biking in the winter could very easily attract motorbike enthusiasts from across the world during the winter.
“They’ve got the time the money and want to explore the culture and the history. I’m sure it would work. It has for me and my friends. The bike offers opportunities for mingling with locals that four wheels never would. So for me it’s become a tradition to bring the bike over here every year, but I’ve become more adventurous over the year, wanted to do longer tours - hence north to south and now west to east. I’m also very interested in history, in particular battlefields, so this enables me to visit and explore these on my travels,” he said. “But now it’s west to east and, again, I can’t find any documentation of this having been done before on a motorbike.
Russia
“So, first we’ll ride to the most western part which is Cabo da Roca, Portugal and then, technically the most eastern point of Europe is in the Urals, deep in the heart of Russian on top of a mountain you can’t get to - only on foot. For obvious reasons Russia is off limits. So the eastern most point of continental mainland Europe is a place called Ilomantsi in Finland. Then, I’ll go back to Helsinki, take a ferry to the Baltic countries and come down through Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and then northern Germany and back to the UK. I’m hoping that Ralph will be able to come with me.
“But in my heart and the original inspiration for all this adventure riding is coming to Mallorca. Having discovered Mallorca on two wheels, I decided to discover everywhere else on two wheels. And maybe, I haven’t done it yet, there is a book to write about Mallorca on two wheels. The second book is going to be something like East to Estonia, I haven’t really worked on the title yet. But there’s plenty in the tank to write about.
Stephen’s book is available on Amazon in Kindle book form, has been published this month and his blog is at: https://substack.com/@stephenoliver
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