Police biker gets ready to take the hard way round

Published on Monday 29 September 2008 09:59

EWAN McGREGOR did it with a team of specialist helpers, a lot of money and a television crew. Tom McInally is pretty much going it alone.

The soon-to-retire police inspector will have the support of just two friends when he makes a 20,000-mile journey around the world on a motorbike, following the same route as McGregor did in his Long Way Round TV series.

Father-of-two Mr McInally, 48, of Clermiston, said: "I think our version is going to be more the hard way round to be honest. We can't wait though. It's going to be amazing."

It was after watching McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman make their journey across the world by motorbike that Mr McInally and his colleagues began to talk about doing something similar themselves.

A keen biker since the age of 17, he is no stranger to the open road and all that it can throw up, and has had a lifelong ambition to see more of the world.

He said: "I was at work a year ago and a few of us were joking that we could do our own trip, just like Ewan McGregor's. Eventually those conversations turned into 'Well, why don't we?' talks."

Mr McInally will leave behind his wife Pam, 46, a teacher, and their two daughters, Maria, 19, and Louise, 17, when he takes to the road on his BMW Adventure next May for a trip that he has allowed six months to complete.

He will be joined by two police colleagues, as he travels from Edinburgh to the US, motoring through countries that include France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, Mongolia and Japan, before having his bike flown across the sea to America and then back home to Scotland.

Mr McInally is hoping to raise 20,000 for Capability Scotland from the epic journey, a charity he has close connections with.

He will have just retired when he embarks on the journey and is looking forward to meeting other policemen who have agreed to join him for part of the route, including an Australian officer.

Although Mr McInally will be away from his family for half a year and could be faced with complex and unimaginable scenarios, he is confident of success.

He said: "My wife is totally supportive – she knows I have to get this out of my system.

"I am definitely more excited than apprehensive. Hopefully if there are any difficulties we do encounter, we can use our experience from the force, particularly the ability to negotiate and problem-solve, to sort them out."