Behind the News: Mongol Rally rider Stephen Allen

Stephen Allen and his brothers-in-law Kevin and Aran Power knew before they began the Mongol Rally this summer that only 30 motorcyclists had completed the 16,000km journey in the past 10 years.

Keen motorbike riders since their teens, the three men were undaunted by the fact that the most powerful bikes they could ride, under the rules of the London-to-Ulan Bator rally, were 125cc models. "The whole point is that you donate your vehicle to charity when you get to Mongolia. It's mostly inadequate cars – with, at maximum, one-litre engines – that do the rally," says Allen, a 31-year-old welder.

The Power brothers, who are a couple of years younger, are engineers, so there was lots of potentially useful mechanical knowledge between the three of them.

It took the trio 40 days, riding through 21 countries, to complete the rally. “We were doing an average of 400km a day, because we couldn’t go faster than 80km/h on the bikes. Some days we were driving for 12-16 hours. It was tough, and in fact we were the only ones to finish on motorbikes.” (So far about 100 of the 250 cars that started are missing en route.)

Allen says the trip was extremely challenging, both mentally and physically, with bad roads, cheap tools and tyres, poor maps, and bland food – salami, noodles, biscuits and water. “We had 16 punctures between us. My bike exploded at one point, and I had to be on the back of Aran’s bike for four days before we could buy another bike. Our insurance cover ran out once we left the EU, so we were taking life in our own hands after that.”

Although they didn’t fall ill, each lost about seven kilos. “It’s a high-stress situation, often with no cash machines, no GPS, difficulty finding petrol, and driving over mountains, through rivers, and over mud, stones and rocks in some places. We were following the sun every morning. That we stayed friends is amazing; we saw couples break up and friends fall out under the pressure.”

They trio, who paid for the trip themselves – it cost about €4,500 each, including €1,100 for visas – set up an idonate.ie page to raise funds for the Midwest Preschool for Hearing Impaired Children, in Limerick, where Allen’s sister, Maria, is principal.

The preschool, which has four children this year, has been running on voluntary funds for the past decade. “We never have enough money to say we’ll be open all year, and now, with the money raised, I can guarantee parents I will stay open this year,” she says.