Faces Of Scram Africa - Joel Gindill

 Another year, different stories, the Faces Of Scram Africa 2019 comes this year to explain and transmit the feeling about Scram Africa by the words of the riders. The second testimonial is from Mr. Joel Gindill, who went from the UK to Barcelona bringing his new Auto Fabrika Type 7G ready to cross 2.500 kilometers of pure Rocks, Dust and Dunes at Morocco's Finest Landscapes, read below.

I've always believed that if you are going to do something, do it properly…"go all the way". Complete something hard, and the rewards reflect it. Riding The Scram reinforced and ingrained this ethos. It was, without a doubt, one of the hardest things I've ever done - both physically and mentally….and I wouldn’t change it for the world!  

The adventure starts the moment you sign-up. Firstly I had to learn how to ride offroad! Secondly, I had to figure out what I was going to ride (for me an opportunity to fulfill a long term ambition of commissioning my own custom build, for others the opportunity to get down and dirty with their existing rides by modifying it). Just getting to the start line via a 2000 mile cross-European road trip - we felt we accomplished something amazing before even starting. And then it started.  

The out-of-this-world scenery; the comradeship of 20 other riders roaring alongside you; the "holy crap" moments of being so far outside your comfort zone you forgot where your zone even was; the exhaustion and pain of riding 10 hours of extreme terrain a day; the elation of riding into camp in the middle of the wilderness in one piece; the exhilaration of real achievement; the laughter of the days exploits over a cold beer; the life-long friendships built in the heat, noise, and smell of the ride; the memories seared into your brain by the desert sun; the bond between man and machine built by exceeding each other's limits and coming out the side; being part of something special – the Fuel family.   

Everything now seems a little tame; a little muted; slightly bleached. I look forward to the next adventure, the next time "just getting through to the other side" is the only focus. Very few things live with you forever… Fuel Scram Africa is one of them.