About Norman Magowan

From Belfast, Northern Ireland, Norman worked in the aerospace industry for 10 years before moving to Stevenage in England in 1989. For the next 15 years he was gainfully employed in the UK Space industry. He took a voluntary redundancy package, swapping his role as Quality Manager on a leading space programme to take up the challenge of the Pan American Adventure.
Author Archive | Norman Magowan

On Top of the World!

We set up camp in the Ice Park RV Ground beside a pair of Yamahas bearing New Zealand plates. The bikes belonged to Garth & Sandra Cooper who were also near completion of their own Pan-American run and we had a lot of fun sipping a few beers and recounting tales of the road with […]

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Decision Time for Prudhoe Bay!

We crawled along in the smoke. The road stayed good. The fire changed direction yet again and the highway was no longer under threat. Up ahead the border loomed in the gloom. A friendly official waves us in. We made it! We are finally here in Alaska!!! But we can’t see a damned thing with […]

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Stampeded in Calgary

The border crossing into Canada was the most comprehensive crossing of the whole trip. Why are you coming into Canada? Where are you staying? What is your itinerary? Where you refused admission to any of the countries on your trip? Do you have insurance for your bikes for the period you will be in Canada? […]

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On to Oregon and Canada

Leaving San Francisco we rode one more time across the Golden Gate Bridge. It really is quite possibly the most beautiful bridge in the world. There was a lot more fog around today so we stopped to get a few ‘ghost’ shots of the bridge draped in veils of sea mist. At the car park […]

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Part III Begins at Long Last!

Winter 05/06, home with family & friends in Northern Ireland and then a spot of Contract work back at the old place in England. An April departure to start Part III was delayed until May due to work commitments and then the May departure was put off to June due to a family illness. At […]

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Baja Races and The End in Latin America

We took the ferry from Topolobampo near Los Mochis to La Paz on the Baja Peninsular. It was a big modern ship and we had a smooth uneventful overnight voyage across the Sea of Cortez, trying to sleep in one of those uncomfortable airplane type recliner seats that permits adopting a comfy position for a […]

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Heaven on Mexican Highway 16

Texas was fun but being back in the US was far too easy. Well most times. Having crossed from Mexico our first stop in the US had been a gas station to buy a chilled bottle of water. “Sorry Ma’am, but we can’t sell you any water just now. Our system has crashed and we […]

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Boondoggled in Houston

Tedious Texas. The roads have grown steadily worse since leaving Mexico as we ride around the Gulf Coast. Big straight Interstates that are quite simply chloroform in concrete. Our butts twitch with discomfort as we fidget to find a comfortable perch for the next lot of oblivious miles. No wonder Texans drawl. We figured it […]

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Fear & Loathing in Mexico City – The Adventurers Return

You don’t want to go anywhere near the place. It’s so very dangerous. People get mugged, robbed, raped, murdered or any combination of the above you care to chose from. Taxi crime. Only take cars from licensed taxi stands, otherwise you might be another victim dropped off dead or alive down a dark alley in […]

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Interlude – Bad times in Belfast

Returning home we came to see our trip as such an absolute high point in our lives from which we had suddenly been plunged into some of the lowest depths we’d ever known. Top this off with the sudden transformation from travelling through 9 months of seemingly perpetual summer into some of the most appalling […]

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