Simon and Monika Newbound are long distance

motorcyclists Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous co ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In May 2002, husband and wife Simon and Monika Newbound departed from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with the goal of riding two

BMW motorcycles BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle brand of BMW, part of its Corporate and Brand Development division. It has produced motorcycles since 1923, and achieved record sales for the fifth year in succession in 2015. With a total of 136,963 vehicles sold i ...

continuously until they had completed a total circumnavigation of the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

by the widest landmass from Sligo, Ireland to St John's, Newfoundland, Canada and exceeded the existing

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

of . On 25 October 2004, the Newbounds completed a full

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the Earth. Their route went eastward from

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

, Ireland to

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

, through 71 countries including Norway, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan, Canada, and the United States. They rode their BMW F650GS and

R1150GS The BMW R1150GS and R1150GS Adventure are motorcycles that were manufactured by BMW Motorrad from 1999 through 2004. There was a limited run of 2005-06 model year R1150GSA models as well. The R1150GS models are part of the BMW GS family of dual-sp ...

bikes above the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

three times on three different continents. They both rode across every state in the United States and every province in Canada, crossing North America six times. Monika and Simon rode their bikes through the Gobi,

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, Mojavi and Kavir deserts. Prior to their first major journey, neither had any experience of motorcycle mechanics, and Monika had never undertaken a long distance trip before. Their World Records were achieved without any backup teams or support vehicles. During their travels around the world they have been welcomed and hosted by many kind, generous and famous people. Today ^{(written April 2017)} Simon and Monika Newbound await confirmation from Guinness World Records for their second world record when they both rode more than 51000 miles continuously in the country of Iran. In October 2005, Guinness World Records formally acknowledged that the Newbounds had not only broken the existing world record, but extended it by almost taking the new world record to .

References

Motorcycling writers Long-distance motorcycle riders English sportswriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Improve categories, date=August 2021