Protyre News

We’re catching up with adventure bloggers Ed Holford-Walker and John Horsfall. They popped into Micheldever Tyres - Team Protyre back in April to get the most vital piece of kit for their journey…some new tyres! The teams choice in tyres was vital due to remote locations and varied terrains that they would be travelling on.

Setting off in April the pair are now in Iran.

Picking up where we left them last, John and Ed had finished a momentous ski of the Dizin mountains. Before being hit by an eclectic mix of weather including Snow, rain, gale winds and glorious sunshine.
 
Setting off in the direction of Chalus the pair headed East towards Mashad and Turkmenistan which worked out at around a day’s drive. In stark contrast to the snowy mountains and approaching desert, they stopped near the town of Daland and made camp hidden amongst the trees within the very green rolling hills of the countryside.

Continuing their journey towards Mashhad the duo did some tourist spots stopping in at Gonbad to see the famous tower that has stood there for over 1000 years.
 
‘…..[the tower] looks quite new…if someone had said [it was] 40 years old, I would have probably believed them!!’ 
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After a safari-esque drive through Golestan National park, home of bears, wild boars and deer John and Ed settled a while at an old mud castle called Belqeys Castle which though being currently restored was a feast for the eyes.

At last they reached Iran’s second largest and most holiest city Mashhad, their mission being to obtain their Turkmemistan visas the next morning.
 
While staying in the in a homestay near the embassy they had the chance to meet with a few other travellers, one in particular called Ronan, who was cycling to Japan from England. With John’s passion for world cycling the pair hit it off and together the small group took a tour around one of the city’s most popular shrines Imam Reza.

‘It is hard to describe the place, the scale of wealth is vast. The shrine is a exhibition of some of Iran's greatest and most colourful buildings.’

The Turkmenistan visa’s didn’t come through as planned so the team headed up into the mountains and into the border town of Kalat. Here they came across a gathering of shepherds down a river gorge. They offered each other handshakes and dates and after a little help from Google translate began heading up into the mountains and finding a quiet place in the desert to camp and relax whilst the wait continues.
 
You can follow their progress on www.johnhorsfall.org or via social media on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

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