There are many things I love about my job. For one I get to ride dirt bikes every day! Then there’s meeting like minded people who share the same passion. There is also the satisfaction of teaching people how to ride and possibly introducing them to a new way of life. I believe this may have happened with Joe & Jonas, two cousins from the UK who had absolutely no experience off-road, let alone with a clutch driven bike. After 30 minutes of driving up and down the road at Kickstart HQ and getting their heads around the bikes, we were suited and booted and ready to go.

We started off pretty easy going, just on red graded roads through the vast Cambodian countryside. The lads seemed to be doing pretty well, so I asked them if they were up for something a bit more challenging, which they were, and we ended up hitting the forest trails to Beng Melea. The wet season is late this year, and we haven’t really seen any proper rain yet so I thought they would be fine. Well it had decided to rain in this area! It was pretty wet to say the least, but Joe & Jonas had great fun piling through the mud and puddles. I was impressed!

Riding in Cambodia is never dull; conditions change from day to day here. There were a couple of spills; at one point Joe ended up down a ditch after his cousin slid into him as he was waiting quietly by the trails edge. I happened to turn round as this happened…they always look worse than they are, but once we got the bike up, and Joe brushed himself off, we were good to go. The trail started getting wetter and the boys were looking a bit tired, and I didn’t want to wear them out, so we got onto easier routes. With a mix of single trail and red roads that carved through beautiful villages and scenic country side, we followed the mighty Kulen Mountain to our lunch stop; Beng Melea.

After a welcome break, we headed back to Siem Reap on similar trails. They guys were exhilarated when we got back and vowed to buy bikes and keep up the riding when they got back to their country. I hope they stayed true to their word ;)