Latest news with #motorcycle
Times
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Charley Boorman: Potholes? You should see the ones Ewan and I faced in Kazakhstan
It's no consolation to anyone who's recently suffered a punctured tyre or damaged alloy wheel due to a pothole, but the next time you're cursing the state of Britain's roads, count yourself lucky that you don't live in Kazakhstan. 'We'd been given a police escort out of town,' motorcycle adventurer and TV presenter Charley Boorman recalls. 'They then pulled over to the side of the road and just waved us on. We went on for another mile or so, and then this road that we were on … it was meant to take a day to get across [but] it took us almost two and a half days. It was a dead straight road through the desert that looked like a runway that had been bombed about 20 times, and it was just all over. There were potholes you'd drive into and you would disappear and come out the other end. I mean, it was extraordinary.' So, maybe we Brits shouldn't complain too much? 'Yeah, I think it's pretty good here.' Boorman sat down with us at his home ahead of the airing of a new series for Apple TV+ in which he and his motorcycling compadre, the actor Ewan McGregor, travel on 1970s motorcycles, from McGregor's house near Perth, Scotland, through Europe and Scandinavia, down to Boorman's home in the south of England. • Read more expert reviews, news and insights on cars and motoring Long Way Home follows three earlier series, beginning with with Long Way Round in 2004. That first trip covered 9,000 miles, from London to New York City, via Europe, Asia and America. In 2007, the pair followed it up with Long Way Down, which saw them journey from John o' Groats in Scotland through 18 countries across Europe and Africa, ending in Cape Town in South Africa. They donned their helmets again in 2019 for Long Way Up, which aired the following year. That ride took them from Argentina through South and Central America, finishing in Los Angeles. Boorman, son of the film director John Boorman, met McGregor on the set of The Serpent's Kiss in 1997 and the pair immediately connected over a passion for motorcycles. 'It was my big comeback movie because I was an actor before I did all this. It was Pete Postlethwaite, Greta Scacchi, Richard E Grant, Ewan McGregor … and Charley Boorman. And I was like, you know, 'I'm back'.' While the movie tanked and his acting career didn't take off in the way he had hoped, the experience still changed Boorman's life for ever. 'The film just went straight to DVD but we had a great time, and when I first met Ewan … I went up and said hello to him and said, 'You've got a Moto Guzzi California.' And he went, 'Yeah, I love motorbikes, what have you got?'' The conversation sparked a 30-year friendship as well as a jointly owned, championship-winning National Superstock 1000 racing team (part of British Superbikes support series), countless track days and long weekends away on motorbikes. And then, of course, came the idea to go further — in more than one sense. 'We ended up doing Long Way Round,' Boorman tells me. 'I've got so much to thank Ewan for really because my acting career had gone the wrong way — I'm heavily dyslexic and was really struggling to learn lines. I wasn't enjoying acting any more; it was stressing me out too much. 'I was getting less and less films and I was doing more and more painting and decorating, and doing people's houses up, and that was over a ten-year period. It was really hard to realise that your dream of being an actor and having quite a lot of success was over. So I was coming to terms with being a builder and I felt I'd let my family down, really, because I wasn't doing what I said I would do. It was quite a difficult time.' Then came a call from McGregor — he'd had a brainwave. 'I went round to his house, and he had this big map out and said, 'Look, I think we should do this.' And I was like, 'OK'.' Boorman didn't have the financial means to drop his work and leave his family for four and a half months, though, so came to an arrangement with his colleagues on the newly formed Long Way production team (which includes film-makers David Alexanian and Russ Malkin). 'I had five grand in the bank — that's all I had to my name,' Boorman explains. 'I had to make a deal with Russ and Dave and Ewan that I would get a weekly salary, because we didn't have enough money to pay ourselves.' A book deal helped to finance the trip itself. 'After that, I didn't have anything to lose by going.' '[It all came about] because of Ewan's generosity,' Boorman is at pains to point out. 'He's a very kind and generous, nice person, you know — very caring. And I think he realised that…' Boorman's sentence tails off, though the suggestion is that McGregor had spotted his friend was struggling in more ways than one. After Long Way Round, Boorman fulfilled a lifelong dream of entering the gruelling Dakar Rally, creating a show about the experience called Race to Dakar. He also made documentaries about motorbike trips from England to Sydney, then Sydney to Tokyo, and another charting a journey that took in the four extremities of Canada. Building on these adventures, Long Way Home was conceived as a stark contrast to McGregor and Boorman's previous trip. Long Way Up was a tricky one to organise and shoot, Boorman says — not only as it involved filming in foreign countries but also because he and McGregor chose to use electric motorcycles: a pair of Harley Davidson LiveWires. 'That was a real challenge,' he tells me. 'There are no fast chargers in South America, Central America or Mexico, and it was only the last four or five days [in the US] that we had access to them. So it was very complicated. And although it was amazing fun, we lost a little bit of freedom in the fact that we couldn't just stop and camp on the side of the road like we had done in the last two, Long Way Round and Long Way Down, and because you always had to plug in [overnight] as there were no fast chargers. It was a little limiting for that.' Europe and Scandinavia would have been much better suited to electric vehicles, thanks to a more mature charging infrastructure (Norway, in particular, is considered the EV capital of the world, with about 10,000 rapid chargers and almost 90 per cent of new car sales in 2024 being fully electric). But for Long Way Home, McGregor and Boorman returned to combustion bikes to avoid any need for compromise. It also adds an extra element of jeopardy, in terms of the potential for breakdowns — especially as the bikes chosen are about 50 years old. 'When you ride these old bikes, you only have an 85 per cent chance of finishing the day,' Boorman says. 'So they come with their problems.' The main reason for choosing them, though, was that McGregor wanted to stretch the legs of one of the favourites in his collection: a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado police bike. 'Ewan's owned it for about 10 or 12 years, and he loves her. She's a gorgeous, gorgeous thing.' Boorman had to find something of similar vintage, settling on a 1973 BMW R75/5. 'I was looking at Ducatis,' Boorman says, 'but a lot of Ducatis in those days were quite sporty bikes and around the mid-Seventies, they had real reliability issues. So I wasn't sure what to do.' A German brand might prove more reliable, he thought, before spotting a BMW R75 that had been customised by a specialist for someone else. 'It was really nice because the whole front part up to the petrol tank is all original, and then the back he kind of modernised and made it like a café racer. Kind of a retro look — and I really liked the look of it.' Boorman convinced the owner to sell it to him, and then resprayed it from the original blue to his trademark burnt orange. 'I've got a quite a thing about orange bikes,' Boorman explains, and that's clear from a glance around his garage — the collection of bikes includes those from the TV shows, including the orange-hued Livewire used in series three. There's also a BMW used during his entry into the 2006 Dakar, which ended prematurely after he crashed and broke bones in one of his hands. Boorman has had a number of accidents on motorbikes, including one in 2016 during which he was clipped by a car, hit a wall and 'destroyed' both legs. But that was a small crash compared with what happened next. 'In 2018, I finally got over that [first crash]. I had cages around my leg and metal everywhere, but I had just got back to riding properly — not walking properly, but riding — and I had a much, much worse one. I just woke up in a hospital in Bloemfontein, in South Africa. I'd snapped my forearm — bent completely backwards, all the bones had come out. I broke my pelvis. I crushed my left side; broke all the ribs, collapsed lung. Head injury, brain swell, brain bleed, massive concussion.' Boorman says he doesn't remember the collision itself, only waking up 24 hours later in hospital. According to another account he has given, he has vague recollections of being transported to the hospital in the back of a pick-up truck, pleading with the driver to pull over because of the intense pain. 'That brought the number of operations up to 34 or 35. It has only been since the beginning of last year, 2024, when I started this trip with Ewan, that I've been able to walk properly. There's been a lot of pain.' Isn't it difficult to get back on the bike after such devastating accidents? 'It was pretty easy actually,' Boorman says. 'The motorcycles were the thing that kept me going — that at some point I'll be able to get back on a motorbike. 'I think if you ask people who ride horses, or ride motorcycles or bicycles or mountain bikes, or climb mountains — serious people who do it — a lot have probably had serious injuries, and all of them get back on. I don't know why; it just seems like the right thing to do. 'People talk about mental health, and about living in the present — not thinking about the past or, or wishing you were somewhere else or what's going to happen in the future. You get on your bike and you can only really think about what's going on at that moment. [It's about] those bits of decompression. 'If you've had a terrible day at work and you've got a 30-minute commute, by the time you get home, you feel great because everything's forgotten. [If] you drive home in the car, you're still working on the telephone, you're listening to the radio, you've got somebody sitting beside you … you're distracted. You're not given that chance. And then you get out the car and you're walking up to the house and you're still talking on the phone and kids come and say hello. And you're going, 'Shh, I'm on the phone,' when you shouldn't be. 'Ewan says it a lot. It really does help your mind, you know. It's mindfulness. Ever since I was six years old, I'd been doing mindfulness without realising. And I'll probably hopefully carry on right up to the end.' That's great for his mental health, I venture, but what does Boorman's wife think about it? Is there a conflict between self-care and ensuring that the ones you love aren't forced to suffer? He pauses. 'The first crash was very difficult,' he admits. 'Because it was both legs. It's very debilitating and it's a complete change of life. There was a moment where I could have lost my leg. There was a real moment whether or not we could have kept it. And so she had to go through all of that. And then, to go through another one … you know, she was more pissed off and angry about the second one! She goes, 'If I have to go down to f***ing get you again, I'm going to f***ing…' 'And fair enough, you know. She's not wanting to, but has to pick up the pieces. And then I go off again. 'But she's not that bothered. If I spend too much time at home, I see that there's a suitcase sitting by the front door. 'Time to go now, Charley.'' Which suggests that, even in their mid- to late-fifties, Long Way Home is unlikely to mark the end of McGregor and Boorman's motorcycling adventures. Is another series in the works already? 'I don't know,' Boorman tells me. 'I think, like everyone, we get close to the end [of one journey] and we start to talk about another one, because you don't want to let the one that you're on end. So, yes, we have spoken about it — but who knows?' Long Way Home is available globally on Apple TV+
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
For Eric Bana, 'Untamed' and its wilderness was hard to leave behind
When Eric Bana is not filming, he's more than likely riding a motorcycle in a remote part of Australia. He's been doing it since he was a kid, having grown up in a semi-industrial part of the suburbs of Melbourne on the verge of farmland. Now, it's his solace on days off. "It's a vulnerable feeling, it's an exciting feeling," he says on a video call. "You have to be self-sufficient. You have to think worst-case scenario. What happens if I get a flat tire when it's 120 degrees and there's no water around? It keeps you awake." So when, back in 2019, Bana was given the pilot script for the Netflix limited series "Untamed," he was immediately attracted. He would play the role of Kyle Turner, an agent in the Investigative Services Branch of the National Park Service in Yosemite — essentially a park detective. It's a murder mystery yet set against the kind of wilderness that Bana loves. "I just felt a kinship for Kyle immediately," he remembers. "I don't know if it was just like the shared love for the outdoors and how that affects our psyche and our well-being, our sense of self, our emotional journey in life — I just immediately felt very strongly for Kyle." Bana stuck with the project through the COVID pandemic and the Hollywood strikes, allowing the series created by Mark L. Smith of "American Primeval" and daughter Elle Smith to finally hit the streaming service on Thursday. The show finds Bana's character investigating the death of a young woman who plummets off El Capitan and into two rock climbers. The case unexpectedly connects two other traumatic incidents that have happened in the mountainous wilds — at least one of which directly involves the taciturn Kyle, grieving the death of his young son. "He exudes that kind of sensitivity and strength at the same time," Elle Smith says. "It allowed him to just really embody Turner. Because he's been living in this show for so long, so many years and kept it alive and has remained passionate about it, once we got into production, he was Turner." "Untamed" also marks the latest in Bana's unconventional career that has seen him touch nearly every corner of the Hollywood machine, even though he has always chosen to live in Australia when he's not working. It never made sense for him to move to Los Angeles when many of his shoots were overseas anyway. When we chat, he's briefly in town for "Untamed" press. Though he started his career as a comedian in his home country, he was part of the superhero craze before it was a craze, playing the title role in Ang Lee's 'Hulk,' a movie that's now undergone a critical reassessment. He's been a 'Star Trek' villain and a Steven Spielberg protagonist in the historical drama 'Munich.' (Over the past 12 months, more and more people have been bringing up the role of the Mossad agent tasked to respond to the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics: "With the passing of time, you realize how incredible some of the observations were," he says.) More recently, he ventured into the world of television, playing the sociopathic John Meehan in the first season of the anthology series "Dirty John." Bana says he tends not to think about specifically playing characters that contradict his previous work, but he understands that coming off that role probably was one of the reasons he gravitated toward Kyle in "Untamed." "There was no doubt that the character of John had a level of toxicity to him that was just so high," he says, adding, "I realized that Kyle was a warmer character for the audience to follow than John." Before he actually got to play Kyle, he started a mini-franchise in Australia with producing partner and director Rob Connolly thanks to "The Dry" and its sequel, in which he plays another investigator reeling from a traumatic past. Read more: Shades of 'Dirty John' had Eric Bana questioning motives even after filming For creator Mark Smith, Bana was the ideal person to embody Kyle because of his ability to convey a lot with very little dialogue. "We felt like he was just so expressive in his eyes and his face," Mark says. "He can do so much without saying anything, and that was crucial to this guy who really doesn't want to speak — he doesn't want to talk to people. He just wants to be kind of off on his own, doing his thing in the wilderness." Because Bana got on board early, the Smiths could start writing the rest of the scripts with him in mind. One of Bana's requests: The more he could be on a horse, the better. In the show, Kyle eschews motor vehicles for a trusty steed, which gives him more access to the less traversed areas of the park. Bana ended up loving his horse. "I desperately wanted to smuggle him on the plane and take him home," he says. Mark and Elle Smith conceived of the series after being sent articles about the National Park Service's Investigative Services Branch. They were not familiar with that world but were nonetheless fascinated by this strange profession that is part FBI agent and part park ranger. Bana had visited Yosemite years ago as a solo tourist but didn't have the chance to go again before the shoot, which took place in British Columbia. Still, he spoke to rangers and ISB employees to get a sense of "just how crazy" some of their work can be. "When you mix drugs, when you mix people coming from all kinds of different backgrounds and having different entitlements to the places that they're in, it's really interesting," he says. Bana understands from personal experience that the attraction to the outdoors is partially based on the fact that danger is almost always lurking around the corner. In Australia, he adds, "there's always something trying to get you, whether it be two-legged, four-legged, eight-legged or whatever." On the set of "Untamed," he was incredibly eager to see a bear — and was disappointed when it never happened. "We had a bear guy on set who was responsible for our and the bears' safety," he says. "We had very strict rules around food and all that sort of stuff. I was desperate, desperate to have an encounter with a bear of the positive kind, and I never saw one." Elle Smith confirms that most everyone else got to see a bear. "He had really bad bear luck," she adds. But even with his lack of bear sightings, Bana's love of being outside was crucial for the entire production. Mark explains he's not the kind of star who returns to his trailer, instead pulling up a chair to hang out. "This was a tough landscape that we were shooting in," Elle Smith adds. "I think it really helps in terms of tone setting if your movie star is willing to get out on the rock and do the climb. It really helps the crew also feel like they're able to do the climb." Bana was intoxicated by his environment — so much so that he wouldn't want to go back to the sterility of a soundstage. "Going to work in a studio after doing something like this — the thought of it is just debilitating creatively," he says. "There's something about a camera coming out of a box when the sun rises and going back when the sun goes down. There's an energy, there's a cadence to that." For his follow-up, he went back into the elements for "Apex," an upcoming film opposite Charlize Theron, where they play a pair of rock climbers. He says he did intense training in the skill or else he would have looked like a "fool." And just like how Bana is willing to let the weather dictate his shooting days, he is also patient with his career. It's one of the reasons he was willing to wait for "Untamed." "I've been in this business for a period of time now where I realize you really do have to go with the ebbs and flows and you really do have to pace yourself, but at the same time when you find something that you love you just have to try and protect it," he says. It's something you could also say about the natural world, and Bana hopes that "Untamed," even with all its dark deeds and buried secrets, encourages audiences to go see for themselves. "I hope people enjoy the feeling of being in that space, and in a perfect world, feel motivated to go and seek them out," he says. He certainly will be. Sign up for Screen Gab, a free newsletter about the TV and movies everyone's talking about from the L.A. Times. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
19 hours ago
- CBS News
Colorado motorcycle deaths increase in months following lane filtering legalization
It was June 26. Tanya Walker was on the phone with her sister while driving southbound on Interstate 25 when she saw a motorcyclist in her rearview mirror. "My heart sunk into my stomach," Tanya Walker said recounting a moment she says will stay with her forever. "This guy is going way too fast, lane splitting. He's weaving in and out of traffic. He's going to cause an accident." "It's just a recipe for disaster," Walker said. The motorcyclist caught up to her, passing in front of her vehicle before crashing. "The bike hit the wall. They both flew off the bike. I felt helpless, worthless to be honest," Walker said. According to court records, Jacob Blackman was driving over 120 miles per hour. His passenger, 19-year-old McKenna Angelillo-Smith did not survive. "I'll never get her back. I won't get to love her, and I won't get to see her get married, and I won't get to see her have children, and I won't get all these things," said Kristen Angelillo-Keezer, McKenna's mother. "It was a stupid irresponsible mistake that was made," Kristen said. "If one person watches this story -- and its some kid who just got a motorcycle -- for the love of everything that's holy, just be careful. Take the responsibility of what you are being given seriously." Across Colorado, motorcycle deaths are surging. In 2024, 165 riders died -- the most ever in the state. According to Colorado State Patrol, in 84% of those deaths, the rider was found to be at fault. Forty-four percent were not wearing a helmet, and nearly half didn't have the necessary motorcycle license to operate. "That tells me that we are choosing higher risks for this sport than we have skills," said Tiffany Maestas, the owner of Motorcycle Rider Training Center in Lakewood. "Motorcycling is risky," Maestas said. "It's inherently risky, but it can be safe. We have control over 66% of the factors that come together and produce crashes." Maestas' organization offers the courses needed for riders to get the legally required endorsement, and a better understanding of how to anticipate hazards, not just react when trouble hits. "There's perception. There's reaction. There's identifying escape routes, identifying potential hazards, collision traps," Maestas said. "All those things need to be taken really seriously because we are on two wheels." To help address the rise in motorcycle deaths, Colorado legalized lane filtering in August of last year, allowing motorcyclists to safely navigate through stopped traffic. Maestas believes there's some confusion between lane filtering and the illegal practice of lane splitting. "Both motorists and motorcyclists don't know the difference and don't execute it properly," Maestas said. In the months since the law changed -- August 2024 through June 2025 -- CBS Colorado found there have been 137 motorcycle deaths, up from 108 during the same time the year before -- a nearly 27% increase. "We don't have any information that directly addresses lane filtering, but what we do have is a connection in the numbers," said DJ Summers with Colorado's Common-Sense Institute, a nonpartisan research group. Summers said their research found, while accidents increased, there's been a decline in low-level traffic enforcement opening the door for more speeding, fewer licenses and a drop in registration. "Motorcycle deaths increased after lane filtering allowed," Summers said. Their data suggests the dip in enforcement led to more risks on the road. "Riders that shouldn't be on the road were," he added. While data can't confirm what caused every accident in McKenna's case, the risks taken were clear. "Your luck will run out. Unfortunately this time, something happened, and it cost me my child," Angelillo said. Colorado State Patrol recently announced a relaunch of its educational campaign on lane filtering. As part of the new law, CDOT is required to put together a report by 2027 comparing the data from before and after lane filtering was allowed, and the law is set to automatically expire that year.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Iron Horse Shoot Out returns to Amarillo with precision, power and purpose
The fourth annual Iron Horse Motorcycle Shoot Out is about to kick off in downtown Amarillo, with practice rounds already underway as of Wednesday, July 16. The event brings together elite police officers and civilian riders from across North America for three days of motorcycle skill competitions — and a mission to support the Panhandle's first responders. Hosted by the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle in partnership with the Amarillo Police Department Motor Unit, the event runs July 17 to 19 at the Santa Fe Depot Pavilion, 401 S. Grant St. Admission is free, and the public is encouraged to attend. Precision on the pavement Riders will face timed challenges across two distinct courses — a tight precision layout under the covered pavilion and a speed course on the adjacent asphalt lot. 'This isn't about showmanship — it's about safety,' said Sgt. Trent Thomas, a 19-year Amarillo police veteran and motorcycle unit supervisor. 'If you can control a bike here, you're more prepared out there — in traffic, during a pursuit, or on a rescue call.' Thomas said the competition helps riders develop instincts that translate directly to the field. 'We've had officers avoid crashes thanks to the skills they've refined here,' he said. 'You hope you never need it, but when you do, it matters.' A long road for a worthy cause John Jenkins, a motorcycle instructor from Calgary, Alberta, drove more than 1,300 miles with his bike in the back of his truck to compete for the third year in a row. He said the Amarillo event stands out among the national circuit. 'There's a level of professionalism and community here that you don't find everywhere,' Jenkins said. 'It feels like you're training with a purpose.' Jenkins credits the event with improving not only his own skills, but those of his students back home. 'These skills have saved my life — and my students' lives — on the road,' he said. 'You build muscle memory here, so when something happens in real life, your body knows what to do before your brain catches up.' Training that gives back While the riders improve their technique, the event also raises money for the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle, which provides emergency financial support and resources to firefighters and law enforcement officers across 26 counties. The nonprofit typically raises between $50,000 and $60,000 during the shoot out. The funds help provide: $20,000 within 24 hours to the family of a fallen first responder $5,000 immediately for line-of-duty injuries, with up to $12,000 in follow-up support Equipment purchases for departments lacking the budget Mental health and wellness conferences for first responders Executive Director Suzanne Talley of the Texas Panhandle 100 Club said the fundraising goes hand-in-hand with honoring those who serve. 'When people come out and support this event, they're doing more than watching a show,' she said. 'They're backing the men and women who risk their lives for our communities.' In 2024, the organization raised more than $900,000 in just eight weeks to aid 54 volunteer fire departments impacted by devastating wildfires. Opening ceremony and community support A formal opening ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, at 8 a.m., featuring remarks from Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley, interim Police Chief Jimmy Johnson, and regional fire and law enforcement officials. 'This ceremony honors the service behind the spectacle,' Talley said. 'It's a reminder of why we ride.' The public is welcome to attend each day's competitions. Riders pay entry and banquet fees, and additional fundraising comes from slow-ride reentry tickets and sponsor contributions. Returning sponsors include Full Smile Dental (presenting sponsor), IVRS Wellness, Atmos Energy, ADG, Happy State Bank, Creative Cannon and Panhandle Eye Group. For event details, live scoring, or donation information, visit This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Iron Horse Shoot Out brings national riders to Amarillo Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
N.B. motorcyclist airlifted to hospital after Cabot Trail crash
A New Brunswick man was airlifted to hospital after a head-on crash along Cape Breton's Cabot Trail Monday morning. RCMP, fire and ambulance crews responded to a report of a collision involving a motorcycle and a van on Route 30 in St. Anns around 10 a.m. Police say the vehicles were travelling in opposite directions when they collided. The motorcyclist, a 58-year-old man from New Brunswick, suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital by LifeFlight. The driver of the van, a 47-year-old man from Quebec, reported minor injuries as well as his three passengers. A section of Route 30 was closed for several hours while an RCMP collision reconstructionist attended the scene. It has since reopened. Police say their investigation is ongoing. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
