Bikers’ epic to hit stage

Aug 2 2007 by Gordon Barr, Evening Chronicle

Two famous bikers are teaming up for a show in Newcastle. Entertainment Editor GORDON BARR has the details.

ACTOR Charley Boorman is no stranger to the North East.

Now as famous for his motorcycling escapades as for his thespian work, he was last in the region in May while filming his latest TV series.

He and fellow actor Ewan McGregor were in Northumberland taking a break from filming their latest television series, Long Way Down – a travelogue taking them from John O’Groats to Cape Town – when they dropped into the Riverside Café in Chollerford.

It is likely he will recount his time there when he takes to the stage of the Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle next month.

Boorman will be joined by fellow biker Patsy Quick on September 6 in A Motorcycle Adventure Evening, a one-off event which should appeal to motorcyclists and adventurers alike.

Boorman is renowned for his adventures in Long Way Round, an around-the-world motorcycle trip he embarked on with his good friend Ewan McGregor.

It was filmed for TV and spawned a best-selling DVD and book. In the spring of this year the pair set off again, this time from John O'Groats in Scotland, to Cape Town, South Africa. Long Way Down is scheduled to be screened later this year.

But for Boorman, all these travels are eclipsed by one event; the Dakar Rally, a fixture in any serious biker’s calendar.

“The highlight of my motorbike career was definitely riding the Dakar Rally in 2006,” he explains. “And having the story made into a TV show and DVD called Race to Dakar.”

Last year fellow racer Patsy Quick became the first British woman to ever finish the Dakar. It was during that race she struck up a friendship with Boorman.

She rode her KTM for three weeks from Lisbon to Dakar and was described by her husband and mentor as “a real-life Lara Croft”.

Quick overcame all the odds to achieve her dream. Selling antiques and riding off-road bikes is an unusual blend of interests but she, in turn, is an unusual woman.

She says you have to be something of a schizophrenic to finish the Dakar then lead a normal life.

“There was a huge anti-climax,” she admits.

Both will be recounting their adventures for the show at the Tyne Theatre on September 6. Tickets are £16, available from the usual outlets.