Music journalist Greg Parmley just set a new Guinness World Record and he did it in style. Parmley traveled to 26 live music festivals around Europe in 30 days on the back of a BMW R1200R.
The BMW Owners Association reports that Parmley started at the famous Glatsonbury festival in the UK on June 24th before making his 5,500 mile trip through 13 European countries to 150 bands play live.
Parmley traveled up to 400 miles a day through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland to see bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Elbow and Slash.
"Right from the off, I knew this trip would be a lot about timing," Parmley said. "It was a bit like a house of cards - if I missed a festival for any reason, the whole record attempt was in danger of collapsing."
BMW provided Greg with the motorcycle necessary to complete the trip, the BMW R1200R, and all the accessories and equipment necessary to complete his Guinness World Record Attempt. Parmley blogged about his adventure for the Daily Telegraph and quickly garnered hundreds of fans on his Ride to Live Facebook Page.
"There was a lot of motorway riding involved, so I was glad to have a bike that could handle long, fast stretches of road," Parmley said. "The R 1200 R was just ridiculously capable. Everything from navigating muddy festival sites, to the tight mountain hairpins and bends of the Alps, with countless miles of thankfully comfortable autoroute cruising - it did the lot. Among the riding highlights were the alpine roads between Italy and Switzerland, which demanded total concentration, and the tiny back roads between the Czech Republic and Poland through the wilderness, while searching for a river crossing that was still operating in the storms."
If you didn't get the chance to read about Parmley's trip when it was happening, just wait a few weeks for the video. Parmley is currently editing together a short film about his Guinness World Record.
