Steve Courtney
Tour Guide
I first started riding motorbikes in my late teens when it was still legal to ride 250cc bikes on “L” plates. My first bike was an MZ 250, an Eastern European two-stroke that I named the Blue Pig, both because of its looks and the fact that it only started when it wanted to. When I managed to scrape together a bit more money, I bought a Yamaha RD 250, quite a serious bit of kit in those days, but I crashed it more than I rode it as I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing.
I suppose I started to grow up a bit and decided four wheels were safer than two (at least for me!), so I didn’t ride for the best part of 40 years. I finally passed my test in 2015, just before I moved to live in France for a couple of years. The idea was that I would use the bike to explore the area around where I was living in the Dordogne, and I haven’t looked back since, becoming a “born-again biker.”
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I’ve become a serial bike changer—good news for motorbike dealers but bad news for my bank balance. Since passing my test, I’ve owned four Kawasaki’s, two Triumphs, three Ducatis, and three BMWs. That’s 12 bikes in less than 10 years. I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.
What is it I love about riding bikes? Pretty much everything. I really enjoy the challenge of trying to ride a motorbike well in all situations and weather conditions, enjoying a busy ride in the city almost as much as a blast in North Wales or the Peak District, which is where I tend to ride the most when at home. Motorcycling is my form of meditation because, as we all know, you really can’t think about anything else when you’re riding a bike.
In terms of my working life, which happily is now behind me as I retired in March this year, I’ve reinvented myself more times than Madonna! I spent 12 years in the Royal Navy, 18 years working in business-to-business sales and sales leadership, managed a 32-bed ski hotel in the French Alps for a season, and spent 9 years working all over the world for the (very) rich and famous as a chief engineer on private super yachts. For the past 8 years, I’ve delivered training courses in Antibes and Palma de Mallorca to help young yacht engineers progress in their careers, and I still do some online one-to-one coaching.
I first encountered Magellan when I signed up for a Picos tour in Spain in 2019 and jumped at the chance when Toby, the guide, asked if I might be interested in becoming a guide myself. This is now my third year guiding for the company, and sometimes I can’t believe I’ve managed to combine my love of touring on a motorbike with the opportunity to show others how fantastic roaming all over Europe on two wheels can be. I’ve met some amazingly interesting and kind people on the tours, many of whom have become friends, and I hope to meet lots more in the years to come.
Check out Steve's three favourite trips