By the time she got back to her native London Elspeth had been away for three years and added 48,000 miles to her R60’s odometer, so it now read 88,000. She stripped and completely rebuilt the engine herself and still has the bike in running order today.

(Tragically, she threw out her unique, home-made aluminium panniers when she moved out of London; long before Touratech, Metal Mule and BMW themselves offered hard alloy luggage, her own version was much more practical, if a little less pretty….)

                                                                    Photo by Paul Blezard

Elspeth still rides bikes and has owned a succession of BMWs. After a flirtation with an R1100GS a few years ago she returned to an ‘air-head’ when she bought a 1998 R80GS Basic – the last of the breed – in 2001 , which she still uses as her everyday bike today. She found the R1100GS a bit too heavy for her liking, although she has since been tempted by the new and lighter R1200GS.

Elspeth also has a lightweight Yamaha Serow for serious trail riding and has just sold an immaculate 1973 R75/5. Elspeth has been to both Europe and Morocco on her R80GS and in 2002 went around the world again as back-up driver for adventurer extraordinaire Nick Sanders when he took 23 paying punters on bikes around the globe in three months. Elspeth often found herself driving a truck flat out for 18 hours and a thousand miles in a single day, and also had to ride a variety of bikes on different occasions when their owners fell off and hurt themselves.

Photo by Paul Blezard

When she returned from her round the world trip in the mid-80s, Elspeth Beard completed her architectural studies and spent seven years transforming a completely derelict Victorian water tower into a unique and beautiful home, while working full time in London and bringing up a son on her own. Initially working from the water tower, outside Godalming in Surrey, she gradually established her own architectural practice and is now an architect of some renown, with many awards to her credit.

Her tower has been featured on “The World’s Most Extreme Homes” and in several other TV programmes and in countless magazines. Elspeth also has a private pilot’s licence. She has even had two Japanese TV documentaries devoted to her life and work. And no wonder; she’s quite a woman.

© Paul Blezard 2007

http://www.elspethbeardarchitects.co.uk/