On April 5th 2020, I had my first meeting with Vladimir Yarets…
Born on May 5th 1941, Vladimir is a round-the-world motorcycle rider. Vladimir claims to have rode via motorcycle all the continents of the world except Antarctica.
He also claims to have ridden many of the major islands / island groups of the world. e.g. Japan, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Vancouver Island, etc.
During my first meeting with Vladimir, I was able to review a bunch of photographs that Vladimir brought with him.
I discovered that Vladimir had numerous photographs of him in various locations or of his motorcycle in many places that I was either familiar with, or had actually been to/near myself.
A couple locations that stood out to me were Moose Pass Alaska, Salt Lake City Utah, and Seattle, Washington. One of his photographs, apparently on the island of Puerto Rico, also really stood out to me.
It seems that Vladimir spent somewhere around 13 years riding at least two different motorcycles in various places around the world.
Some time around year 2004 he was hit by a vehicle while riding in Illinois, which left him in very bad condition and totaled his JAWA Motorcycle. After what seemed like a lengthy recovery process, a BMW dealer in Northern Illinois donated to him a new BMW motorcycle so he could continue his motorcycle ride across north america.
It is interesting to note that both human-powered RTW traveler Jason Lewis, and moto-powered rider Vladimir Yarets were both severely injured while traveling in North America. (Jason in Colorado. Vladimir in Illinois)
I look forward to my next meeting with Vladimir Yarets!
