Interview With Simon And Lisa Thomas From 2ridetheworld By Pearlvin Ashby
கணவன், மனைவியாக இருவர் சுமார் 16 வருடங்களாக இரு மோட்டார்சைக்கிள்களில் உலகை சுற்றி வருகின்றனர். இவர்கள் இருவர் மட்டுமே அடங்கிய இந்த குழுவுக்கு 2ரைடுதிவேர்ல்ட் என பெயர் சூட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது.
~ED.70~
கணவன், மனைவியாக இருவர் சுமார் 16 வருடங்களாக இரு மோட்டார்சைக்கிள்களில் உலகை சுற்றி வருகின்றனர். இவர்கள் இருவர் மட்டுமே அடங்கிய இந்த குழுவுக்கு 2ரைடுதிவேர்ல்ட் என பெயர் சூட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது.
~ED.70~
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The following day we were trying to cross a very very very bad bridge.
00:04 The idea was to get both bikes up onto the bridge and ride them across.
00:07 There was no way of walking the bikes.
00:09 The bridge was all gone, there was nowhere to walk.
00:15 There was a thin plank to ride.
00:17 And it was about 60 feet down, 100 foot wide.
00:21 We couldn't go through the water, we had to use the bridge.
00:23 The very first night we were camping.
00:27 A Jaguar.
00:28 And we were busy doing stuff and it started to rain and we heard this noise.
00:32 And we looked at the track, and it's just a dirt track.
00:34 And we literally went...
00:36 There was the biggest black cat we have ever seen.
00:42 And it got halfway across the track we had ridden down.
00:44 [Music]
01:12 Sir, your name please?
01:13 My name is Simon Thomas, I'm half the To Ride The World team.
01:16 And I'm Lisa Thomas, I'm the much better half of To Ride The World.
01:22 So could you please share us the experiment, the best moment of your riding?
01:28 Wow!
01:29 Well for me the best moment was when we set off in 2003.
01:33 Okay.
01:34 That had to be the best moment.
01:35 There have been so many bests along the way, it's almost impossible.
01:39 Because we've had 17 years of bests.
01:42 But that first thing about getting on the road and pulling away.
01:46 And it's just you and your motorcycle on the road.
01:48 That sense of freedom and real empowerment actually.
01:52 Ladies out there, I ride my own motorcycle.
01:55 So make sure you do too.
01:57 So when you mention the particular name ladies, see.
02:00 In India there are a lot of young riders, female riders are coming in.
02:04 Still most of the people want to become a rider.
02:06 But still they are facing some issues like, you know, the typical Indian mentality.
02:11 What do you want to tell them to get inspired, get behind the bars.
02:14 I mean the bars means the motorcycle.
02:16 And you know, it's a freedom.
02:18 So as a female rider, what do you want to tell them?
02:21 I know it's incredibly difficult regardless of where you are in the world.
02:25 For as a female to start riding.
02:28 A lot of people will assume that you're too small, you're too light, the bikes are too big.
02:32 And yes, some of the bikes are big.
02:34 So you have to just have a look around and see what's comfortable for you.
02:38 But always make sure when you start riding, you ride safely.
02:43 So that you know how to ride the bike properly.
02:45 I always wear a kit, I always wear shoes and gloves and a helmet.
02:49 And make sure that you ride your own ride.
02:54 There are plenty of riders out there and I hate to say it.
02:57 There's plenty of male riders out there that try to put pressure on the female rider to ride like them.
03:03 And we ride differently.
03:05 Female riders are more considerate.
03:07 We think things through a lot.
03:09 This sounds terrible, doesn't it?
03:10 I mean, male riders can be the same too.
03:13 But don't feel under the pressure from your partner or your riding buddies to ride their ride.
03:19 That's regardless actually, whether you're male or female.
03:22 Ride your own ride.
03:23 I have seen some, you know, there are some male riders who are like literally dominating the,
03:29 you know, coming, butting female or they should, we are going fast.
03:33 Why are you not coming fast?
03:34 You just follow us.
03:35 So I got the point, like what you said.
03:37 Seth, so you have to tell to, what do you want to tell to our young riders?
03:42 I think the most important thing about motorcycling.
03:47 I got into motorcycling when I was actually in my late teens.
03:52 So I started motorcycling late.
03:55 But motorcycling is about freedom.
03:59 It's about expressing who you are.
04:02 And you can do that on your own bike, riding by yourself or with a group of friends.
04:09 But the one thing that's amazing about motorcycling is no matter where in the world you are,
04:14 doesn't matter the country.
04:15 If you arrive on a motorcycle, you're about to make new friends.
04:19 And motorcycles, when you turn up, people have a look and they don't recognize the number plate
04:27 straight away.
04:28 Why are you here?
04:30 Where have you come from?
04:31 How long have you been in my country?
04:32 Your number of friendships we now have around the world.
04:37 We've now been through almost 100 countries.
04:39 The number of friendships we have is humbling.
04:44 And that's because we turn up on a motorcycle.
04:47 If you're in a car, it's very easy to wind the windows up and block yourself away from
04:54 the area, from the people that you're going to meet.
04:58 With a motorcycle, the very first thing you do after taking your helmet off is put your
05:03 hand out.
05:04 You are going to be shaking someone's hand.
05:06 But yeah, motorcycling is addictive and it's something you fall in love with and you stay
05:13 in love with it.
05:14 I just want to tell you something like being in this motorcycle, just as a common, most
05:19 of the people who ask me how to sustain in the motorcycling, you know, most of the people,
05:25 youngsters in India, motorcycle is getting developed.
05:28 What they are doing is they are leaving their career and coming into motorcycle and trying
05:34 to make something.
05:35 But, you know, it's not like 100% it works out.
05:38 What do you want to tell to them?
05:39 I think the simplest thing is that if you're looking to make a career from motorcycling,
05:45 if you're using social media, then you have to be prepared to work harder than you think
05:52 you need to.
05:53 You have to work 48 hours a day, nonstop.
05:56 You need to make sure that the content that you're posting is not just engaging, it has
06:03 to be interesting.
06:04 And high quality.
06:05 It has to be high quality and it has to be your passion.
06:09 If you try and fake being excited about something, the people are going to tell.
06:14 So for you to be able to provide good content on a daily or weekly basis, speak from the
06:21 heart, speak and share about what you're excited about.
06:25 If it's motorcycles, if it's travel, if it's wheelies, if it's riding in the desert, if
06:30 it's riding through a jungle, if it's riding to the next town, share that passion, share
06:36 that excitement.
06:37 And honestly, people will want to watch.
06:39 I know you have a beautiful moment in Amazon.
06:42 So could you please explain?
06:44 Together.
06:44 Okay, a beautiful moment in the Amazon.
06:47 That's one way of putting it.
06:49 I decided I do all the routes and I do the research and this has been happening throughout
06:56 our trip.
06:57 And I decided that we could ride the Amazon jungle.
07:01 And it was a route that had never been attempted by large capacity motorcycles.
07:06 I did all the research and we had ropes and pulleys.
07:10 We knew there were going to be terrible bridges that we might have to pull the bikes over.
07:15 Jaguars mud up to our legs.
07:18 Yes.
07:19 Anacondas.
07:20 We didn't see the anaconda, but the very first night we were camping, we were busy doing
07:26 stuff and it started to rain and we heard this noise and we looked at the track and
07:30 it's just a dirt track.
07:31 And we literally went.
07:33 There was the biggest black cat we have ever seen and it got halfway across the track we
07:40 had ridden down and it froze and it looked at us and it was absolutely motionless.
07:47 And then it dove into the jungle.
07:49 I think when it looked at us, it went, "Dinner."
07:52 Dinner.
07:52 But the problem was that we were camping and every single time, there was a storm coming
08:00 in, but every single time a palm tree blew.
08:04 We were like, "Ah, it's here."
08:05 Your brain goes, "Jaguar."
08:08 It wasn't that we didn't see it again, but we did not expect that on the very first night.
08:13 But the following day, we were trying to cross a very, very, very bad bridge.
08:18 This was a route that had been closed for 25 years.
08:20 And I'm taller than my wife, so the idea was to get both bikes up onto the bridge and
08:27 ride them across.
08:27 There was no way of walking the bikes.
08:29 The bridge was all gone.
08:31 There was nowhere to walk.
08:32 There was a thin plank to ride.
08:34 And it was about 60 feet down, 100 foot wide.
08:38 We couldn't go through the water.
08:39 We had to use the bridge.
08:41 And as I used the throttle, I popped the front wheel up.
08:44 I got the back wheel up.
08:46 As I got the back wheel up, the wood just crumbled.
08:49 I fell and I landed on my head about two and a half, three meters down.
08:54 And I was unconscious for a couple of hours.
08:58 However, in this kind of circumstance and hot weather, a lot of people wouldn't be wearing
09:04 their kit or their helmet because it's so hot.
09:06 He was.
09:07 Because had he not worn his helmet, he would have died.
09:10 Now, his helmet saved him, but he still didn't come round for maybe six hours.
09:16 No, it was two or three hours.
09:18 It felt like six.
09:19 No, but it took six hours to get you going again.
09:22 Yeah, so when I landed on my head, my helmet compressed onto my shoulders.
09:27 That was all I remember.
09:28 I woke up a couple of hours later, but it took another six hours for me to actually
09:34 stand up.
09:36 In that time, Lisa brought the bike up right.
09:38 She used rope and pulley.
09:39 She lifted an R1150GS on her own, took all the bags off, got me up.
09:46 On a very bad bridge with no where to stand.
09:48 And then I don't remember this, but we had to make a decision.
09:54 I was blind in my left eye and I was paralyzed.
09:57 So we had to make a decision.
09:59 Do we go back to Manaus?
10:01 But we knew that they didn't have hospital facilities for whatever this was.
10:04 We go forwards.
10:05 So we went forwards because we knew what was behind us and that was bad.
10:10 In front of us, it can't be any worse.
10:13 Oh, yes, it can.
10:15 So Lisa towed me for two days.
10:18 Then we had to do lots of repairs.
10:20 But from the accident to the hospital was three weeks.
10:22 I was passing out five or six times a day just because of the pain.
10:27 We took plastic cable ties and we cable tied each finger to the handlebars.
10:32 Then we cable tied my knee to the bike because I couldn't stay on the bike.
10:37 And then we got to the hospital three weeks later, which was five and a half thousand kilometers.
10:43 And I get to the hospital and I said, I think I have a problem and I passed out.
10:49 And when I woke up, they did an X-ray.
10:51 I had a neck band on and they said, OK, when did this happen?
10:55 I said three weeks ago.
10:56 No, no, you don't understand because they were speaking Portuguese.
10:59 I said, no, I speak Portuguese.
11:01 When did this happen?
11:02 And I said, no, this happened three weeks ago.
11:04 Why?
11:05 You shouldn't be alive.
11:07 Your neck is broken in two places.
11:09 Your blindness is because your C6 vertebrae is dislocating and it's cutting into your spinal cord.
11:15 Three weeks ago, you shouldn't be alive.
11:18 If it wasn't for this lady pulling me out of the jungle, I wouldn't be here.
11:22 But that was the most that was the most demanding part of our lives.
11:26 And then there was lots of other stuff that happened as well.
11:29 But that's probably not appropriate for an interview.
11:31 Yeah, in this point, I want to tell ladies, most of the people you say like physically,
11:37 mentally you are weak.
11:38 Here you have an inspiration.
11:41 By mentally and physically, by movement first, you know, they will go down by mentally.
11:48 And, you know, lifting a total 20 GS with the luggage is not an easy task.
11:53 On her own, she did it.
11:55 It's like, I'm on a goosebump moment.
11:58 And I was like, wow.
12:01 It's not an experience I would choose to repeat.
12:03 Yeah.
12:03 But we might be going back to the Amazon next year to try it again.
12:07 Maybe.
12:08 We'll see.
12:09 But it's one of these things that people say, how did you cope with that situation?
12:13 But the thing is, you don't look at the whole situation.
12:17 You look at little parts and you go, this needs to be done now and do it.
12:21 Now this needs to be done.
12:23 Because if you look at everything, all of the problems and complications together,
12:28 you maybe will sit down and just go, I can't.
12:32 If you think about my husband's nearly dead, he can't ride his bike, the bike's not working.
12:38 We've got 5000 kilometers to ride.
12:41 He's in too much pain.
12:42 The problem seems insurmountable.
12:46 But if you just take one step and you fix that and then you fix the next step.
12:51 I think that is like life in general, isn't it?
12:54 You do little parts and you get over this one hurdle and then you go, now it's the next hurdle.
13:00 Because if you look at the whole thing, it can become overwhelming.
13:03 It's intimidating.
13:05 I can tell one more thing here where the love also comes out.
13:09 I can say like, you know, taking whenever you're out of the bike, you have to cut the
13:15 tax, you have to make him sit down and again you have to make him sit.
13:20 That's where the most of your confidence and your bondness creates a lot.
13:26 Yeah.
13:26 So hats off to you for that.
13:28 Seriously.
13:29 Thank you.
13:29 That's very kind.
13:30 Thank you very much.
13:31 No, no.
13:32 See, this is inspiration not only for the biking.
13:36 The whoever people think that I am mentally weak, you inspire them.
13:41 And you know, whoever like think, whoever sickness, they can't come out or you know,
13:46 some people, they are well, but they think that they are weak.
13:50 You are an inspiration for them.
13:53 I think the problem is today, again, because of social media, everybody wants to be heard.
14:00 And it's very, very easy.
14:01 It takes no imagination and it takes no effort to be negative.
14:05 So if someone feels bad about themselves, they will typically say bad things about other
14:11 people.
14:12 But the reality is people everywhere.
14:16 It doesn't matter about race, religion, creed or age.
14:19 People generally are far more capable of amazing things than they allow themselves to believe.
14:27 I think people are stronger than they believe.
14:30 Fear dictates a lot of people's lives and their decisions that they make.
14:35 And so it's easier to not make that decision at all and just stay in your...
14:39 But deciding to do nothing, whether it's family, whether it's work, whether it's job,
14:46 it doesn't matter, choosing or deciding not to make a decision until later is a decision.
14:52 And the only way to go forward is through action, is through making new friends,
14:59 making new contacts, thinking there's something I want to do.
15:03 I don't know if it's possible, but if I try it and I succeed, fantastic.
15:10 If I try it and it doesn't succeed, it doesn't work, find something else that does work.
15:17 And learn from those experiences.
15:18 Keep looking for those situations that will allow you to be happier,
15:24 that will allow you to live life.
15:28 So guys, here you go.
15:30 The true, I can say, true, passionate and also inspiring riders.
15:37 So thank you for giving...
15:39 You were very welcome.
15:40 Thank you.
15:41 Okay, so you are in India and you are in Goa.
15:45 How cool is Goa now?
15:47 Okay, so...
15:48 I mean the climate especially.
15:49 Okay, so I have to tell you, we are not very English.
15:53 We love hot weather.
15:55 So all day I've had this motorcycle jacket on and I've had friends go, "No, take it off,
15:59 you must be hot."
16:00 We just, we acclimatized very quickly, but we were lucky enough to be in India for almost
16:05 six months and obviously we spent some time in Goa as well and that was 10, about 10 years ago.
16:14 The first time we were in India was 10 years ago and we were here for almost six months.
16:18 We explored, I think we explored 26 states and six unions.
16:23 So we traveled India extensively.
16:26 But India is pretty special.
16:29 The people, the atmosphere, the energy and the food.
16:33 We love that.
16:34 So it's more of an out of the box thing.
16:36 So right now to get an invite to come and speak and share our journey with India Bike
16:42 Week for us, genuinely, it's a privilege.
16:45 We are privileged to have you over here.
16:48 So guys, here's the thing.
16:50 They are going to back on India.
16:53 If you see them stop, you know, you should say hello.
16:57 Yeah, not with a hello, with a handshake.
16:59 Perfect.
17:01 So basically, you know, biking, you see, as a friend, I think biking brotherhood is, we
17:06 all come under one family.
17:08 Yeah, absolutely.
17:09 Two wheels makes a family.
17:10 So thanks for it.
17:11 One family, one bigger tribe.
17:13 Yeah, true.
17:14 And what do you want to tell about people's like, you know, you can tell something.
17:18 Yeah, so I mean, DriveSpark, really cool guys.
17:23 They came over, said hello and straight away we knew we had to have a conversation.
17:28 So it's been our pleasure.
17:29 Thank you.
17:29 Thank you.
17:30 Thank you.
17:30 Thank you.
17:31 Thank you.
17:32 (upbeat music)
17:34 you