Long Way Round (LWR) is a British television series and book documenting the journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York City on motorcycles. They travelled eastwards through Europe and Asia, flew to Alaska, and continued by road to New York. The series aired on Sky One from 18 October 2004 – 1 February 2005 and was repeated on BBC Two in 2008. The series was added to Apple TV+ on 18 September 2020, along with sequels Long Way Down (2007) and Long Way Up (2020).
Overview
From 14 April 2004 to 29 July 2004, Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman and cinematographer Claudio von Planta travelled from London to New York City via Western and Central Europe, Ukraine, Western Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Canada, over a cumulative distance of . The only sections not undertaken by motorcycle were the passage through the Channel Tunnel, by train in Siberia to circumvent the Zilov Gap, several river crossings and a short impassable section in eastern Russia undertaken by truck, and a flight from Magadan in eastern Russia to Anchorage, Alaska in the US.
The riders took their BMW motorcycles through deep and swollen rivers, many without functioning bridges, while travelling along the Road of Bones to Magadan. The summer runoff from the icemelt was in full flow, and the bikes eventually had to be loaded onto passing trucks to be ferried across a few of the deepest rivers.
The journey passed through twelve countries, starting in the UK, then through France, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Canada, and the US, ending in New York City.
The team stayed mainly in hotels while in Europe, North America, and the more populated parts of Russia, but frequently had to camp out in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. They visited various sights and landmarks en route, including the Church of Bones in the Czech Republic, the Mask of Sorrow monument (described as the "Mask of Grief" in the show) in Magadan, and Mount Rushmore in the USA. They arrived in New York on schedule and rode into the city accompanied by a phalanx of bikers, including McGregor's father Jim and the Orange County Choppers crew.
Support crew
In addition to McGregor, Boorman, and von Planta, the team had a support crew of producers David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, and cinematographer Jimmy Simak. For the journey through Asia, they were also accompanied by security advisor Sergey and doctor Vasily. The crew travelled in two Mitsubishi off-road vehicles – a red L200 Animal LWB 4x4 pick-up (which overturned in Mongolia and was exchanged for a Ford Excursion in Alaska) and a black Shogun Warrior DI-D automatic estate. Additional vehicles such as a Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant 4x4 van were also used by the support crew during the Russian/East Asia segment. The vehicles generally followed about a day behind the bikers, meeting them at border crossings and when circumstances required a greater degree of teamwork.
Before setting off from London, McGregor and Boorman received specialist training to prepare for the expedition. Operating within hostile and dangerous environments (such as unauthorised checkpoints) was covered by ex-SAS Major Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton. Training also covered off-road riding, the Russian language, and motorbike maintenance. They took advice from experts and embassy officials about the more remote countries they were to visit. During the first aid training, McGregor decided they would take a doctor with them on the Siberian part of the trip, where they would be far from medical help.
Researchers, dubbed "Ewan and Charley's Angels", helped get the team on the road and acquire all the necessary paperwork and visas.
Bikes
McGregor advocated riding BMW motorcycles, while Boorman preferred KTM (a specialist Austrian motocross and off-road bike manufacturer). They had also considered Honda. After off-road tests on KTM and BMW machines, McGregor agreed to go for KTMs, but KTM ultimately declined to provide them with promotional bikes, out of concern that the team might fail.
BMW then contributed three BMW R1150GS all-terrain motorcycles, which were modified to help the team achieve and document their mission. They were also equipped with cameras, microphones and display/viewfinder screens mounted on the dashboards. A customised GPS with specially mapped waypoints in Mongolia and Siberia was crucial in areas with no roads or signposts.