The Video

Click on the image below to take the RIDE!

Low Band

A Moto-musical video exploring some never before recorded sections of Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces of China (~10 minutes)


Be sure to check out Gaurav's "Riding Solo to the Top of the World" teaser video of his adventure to the ChangThang Plateau, India @

www.60kph.com


  • Ridden, Photographed, Produced and and all that by: Carl Parker

  • Eternal thanks for eternal support from: My Family and Friends

  • Music: “ Misty Mountain Hop” by Led Zeppelin; “The Weight” by The Band


The Story

With every ride - on motorcycle or through life - we have the potential to learn truly great things not only about the world but also about ourselves.  No matter how hard we try or how good we think we are, there is always so much more to go.  Through good or bad times, it’s how we deal with and overcome the challenges before us that define who we are: a reminder of lessons too easily forgotten.

Living, working and riding in China has given me many opportunities to explore and photograph a world of landscapes and cultures I never imagined I would see.  From the cold and wet Tibetan plateau to the arid and windy northwest China you’re bound to find some trouble and adventure.

The Lesson gives us a brief view of NW Sichuan, and then follows an unmapped road through the headwaters region of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers (two of the four key rivers in China and SE Asia ).  The road from Qumalai to Budongquan changes every year as much of it follows old river beds.  Complete lack of bridges and culverts makes this one mean road to ride when wet! Because of it’s remoteness, the upshot is the abundant range of wildlife these grasslands host; namely golden eagles, the very rare and huge cinereous vultures, marmots, hares and of course Tibet’s famous Cujo-like mastiffs. An unusually rainy season for 05’ created treacherous river crossings on a grossly over laden and underpowered Chinese made 150cc motorcycle and companion named “Cannonball.”  

Extremes fill many peoples’ lives: from the wet and high to the dry and low, we enter the Qaidam salt basin of Qinghai province – one of the largest salt-peter deposits in the world and host to some of China ’s beautiful wind-formed earth mounds called “yadans.”  Lack of potable water makes this a difficult place for wildlife and people alike.  Although spectacularly beautiful, GPS navigation is highly recommended through this area devoid of people, food, drinking water, and petrol. Chinese national highway 315 is plagued with high winds, shifting sands and truly Martian terrain.  Although less than 600km long and currently under construction, 315 is especially dangerous especially near Mangnai, a region known for extremely violent sand storms.  There is no record of any unescorted foreigner successfully making it through 315 although an Englishman attempted to cross it by bicycle a few years back and ended up dead.  This truly is the wild-west!

Share a short story of one man’s ride - what he saw, felt and learned along the way.

Ride, Inquire, Discover and Endure (RIDE),

hm