Actor, father, motorbike fanatic: Charley Boorman is the epitome of the modern adventurer in pursuit of fresh challenges away from the success of his personal life. Choosing two wheels as his preferred mode of transport, Charley harnessed the challenges of a round the World trip with Ewan McGregor. Now his sights are set on the unyielding sands of the desert.

Charley Boorman has been riding motorcycles since he was seven years old. The son of renowned film director John Boorman, he grew up on a farm in Ireland and used to ride through the fields on his first motorbike and took part in schoolboy motor cross and Enduro races. The bike bug remained with Charley and, for four years, he ran a motorcycle race team and spent the years riding with David Jeffries and Matt Llewelyn.

In 2004 Charley and his best mate Ewan McGregor came up with the madcap idea of circumnavigating the globe on motorbikes. After months of intense preparations when at times, it looked like the project would not get off the ground, the pair set off from London in April 2004.

Over the next three gruelling months, they travelled through three continents and fifteen countries. Long Way Round was the realisation of a dream born out of two friends' love of motorbikes, the freedom of the open road, and the adrenaline rush of an extreme challenge. Their entire journey was filmed for Long Way Round, a unique television series that was broadcast on Sky One in the UK and Bravo (USA) and spawned a best-selling DVD, book and CD soundtrack. It has now sold the world over into many territories including Australia, Canada, Japan, France, Spain and Italy.

Following the overwhelming success of Long Way Round, Charley has become an icon in the motorcycling world. On the Long Way Round UK Tour Charley visited motorcycle and adventure exhibitions plus BMW dealerships across the UK to talk about his adventures. Each event was a sell-out as crowds flocked to catch a glimpse of Charley and have their book or DVD signed. A similar tour of the southern hemisphere is to take place this winter.

Next up, Charley is taking on the desert with one of the World's harshest challenges: the Lisbon-Dakar Rally. This is not just a race out of Europe via the Iberian Peninsula and down through West Africa. This is one of the most physically and emotionally demanding battles across inhospitable terrain, alone, to achieve the impossible. But for Charley, it is, as for many others, one of the most romantic and dangerous races known to man.

It remains the only race open to both amateur and professional bikers and for a first time participant like Charley, finishing the race in Dakar will be the ultimate goal.


Son of director John Boorman and Christel Kruse Boorman. Daughters, Doone Yasmin, born in London in Jan 1996 and Kinvara Atalanta, born in London in 1997. Motorcycle of choice is the Italian Ducati 748 sports model, but Boorman and pal Ewan McGregor each rode a BMW 1150GS Adventure for their marathon trip around the world in "Long Way Round" (2004). Charley and Ewan McGregor first met on the set of The Serpent's Kiss (1997). It wasn't until both men discovered they shared a mutual passion for motorcycles that their friendship was finally sealed. First motorbike that he ever owned was a Yamaha DT100. Because he was too young to hold a license, he could only ride the bike off-road. A non-fatal brush with cancer in 2010 necessitated the removal of a testicle which was replaced with a prosthesis. Boorman quipped, "I had it whipped out and I have a false testicle in there now. If I bury myself, the only thing that will probably be left is a silicone testicle lying in the coffin".