Andy and Keith from Northern Ireland set out on the first ever Mototaxi Junket back in November 2009, and got slapped in the chops with super strength sofa-bike adventurism including a hatrick of near death scrapes and driving 1170km with a broken collarbone.
Calling themselves team 'Mayan's a Pint of Harp', they set out on a mototaxi from Huancayo in Peru in the rough direction of Paraguay.
An early update from Keith described the roads up in the high Andes on Day 1 '...crazy, completely mad, we´re talking 2,500ft drops at some points, on blind bends, on dirt roads, super narrow, with buses and trucks coming the other way... all this in a mototaxi, with no bike experience!'.
As the road lowered to a positively relaxing height offering only 100ft sheer drops, Andy lost control: “we were heading towards the cliff edge, Keith was very much on the wrong side of the mototaxi so dived off the other side before we went over.
“The mototaxi ran over his leg and messed it up pretty badly, then regained balance and I was just able to hold on to it and steer it round the corner... by a matter of millimetres judging by the tire marks.”
This was by no means the end of their butt-clenching first day on the Mototaxi Junket. On the same two mile section of road, now with the return of 2,500ft drops Keith explains that “Andy freaked out and crashed into the mountain, he bust his hand but the Mototaxi was OK”.
A couple of days later, “with high but safe-ish roads... we got to the peak of the mountain where the games really began.”
“My fault this time,” reported Keith, “the roads were gravel and had two grooves where the car tyres were, we however were a 3 wheeler.
“I skidded and hit the cliff wall, flew over the handle bars, and smashed my collar bone. I originally thought it was just bruised, until the swelling went down and my collar was a funny shape. I refused to go to hospital as I thought they'd tell me that driving a Mototaxi wasn't the best idea with a broken collar bone! Got off the plane in Belfast and went straight to casualty, which was good fun telling them what happened. Its nearly fixed now...”
As they continued east through Peru the terrain into the stunning flattened out plains of the Altiplano at over 14,000ft before winding down past Lake Titicaca into Bolivia. After a number of bureaucratic hold-ups, Andy and Keith just managed to reach the capital La Paz before they had to return home. Keith summed up the adventure:
“Nobody said it was going to be easy, nobody said it was going to be so hard. “This adventure has been absolutely amazing and I would do it again in a second. The people we've met, the friends we made, the awesome views we've seen and the waves and confused expressions from everyone we pass looking at us sail by in their Mototaxi... All of this has made it an awesome experience, and I can´t wait until the next one!' Facts & Stats- Distance travelled with broken collarbone: 1170km (land) + 9815km (air) = 10,985km
- Money raised for Operation Smile - £1,868
- Three Near-Death Crashes
- Death Avoided Within - 2-3 millimetres
- Mototaxi Land Speed Record – 78km/h
- Maximum Altitude - 14,000ft-ish
Mototaxi Land Speed RecordThe humble Mototaxi is not designed to travel fast. It isn't really designed to travel. However Keith and Andy seek to establish themselves as the current Mototaxi Land Speed Record holders at 78 km per hour.Any pioneering Junketeers from the November 2009 edition should send any claims to the record to Junket HQ. Sign up for the JunketThere are places available on the August 2010 Junket and January 2011 edition - find out more and sign up for sofa bike adventuring on the Mototaxi Junket website. Article written by Tommy Williams Esquire |  |  Andy freaked out and crashed into the mountain, he bust his hand but the Mototaxi was OK. 
Andy's team mate on the Mototaxi Junket I skidded and hit the cliff wall, flew over the handle bars, and smashed my collar bone. I originally thought it was just bruised, until the swelling went down and my collar was a funny shape. I refused to go to hospital as I thought they'd tell me that driving a Mototaxi wasn't the best idea with a broken collar bone! Got off the plane in Belfast and went straight to casualty, which was good fun telling them what happened. Its nearly fixed now... Keith's candid account of the collarbone incident Nobody said it was going to be easy, nobody said it was going to be so hard.
This adventure has been absolutely amazing and I would do it again in a second.
Keith of Team Mayan's a Pint of Harp summing up the mighty Junket
Keith and Andy on the Mototaxi Junket 2009 |
