Watch FortNine battle sleep deprivation, hallucinations and border guards in the racing documentary Yalla Habibi, around the world! – Jalopnik

What counts as a long motorcycle ride to you? Two hours? Three? Maybe a whole day in the saddle? Maybe you’ve looked at a BDR or an iron butt and dreamed of doing one someday. Well, Ryan and Connor at FortNine have set a new bar for those who dream of road trips: traveling the world in less than 17 days, non-stop, by motorcycle. All it cost them was their grip on reality.

The trailer for their circumnavigation race documentary, “Yalla Habibi!”, was released earlier this month — but it wasn’t the first look we got at the film. Ryan and his team even teased us with little snippets from “Yalla Habibi!” for months without ever telling us where they came from. When I was finally able to watch the entire film, which came out last weekend, it put everything into perspective. It also showed how tough it is to achieve such a record.

‘Intense’ is not the right word for the trip. Ryan and Connor both started hallucinating somewhere in Europe due to lack of sleep; by the time the crew reached Australia, Ryan was dodging non-existent kangaroos on the road and seeing non-existent statues on the roadside. Connor slept even less, unable to catch the few winks in the planes Ryan and Edwin piloted. The trio bribed the police, witnessed a suicide attempt, raced along Turkish roads at triple-digit speeds and came up with entirely new ways to lose blood.

The documentary is shot in an interesting style; there isn’t really a core story to it. No extensive introductory voice-overs, but very few bits for the camera. This isn’t ‘Long Way’, it’s riveting. “Jalla Habibi!” puts you in the chair and lets you feel exactly what it is like to make such a journey. It’s not a perfect approach, but it’s definitely worth checking out. Also unique to FortNine: “Yalla Habibi!” is not available on YouTube. You’ll have to pay 10 of your hard-earned dollars for itwhich I definitely recommend. It’s easier than driving yourself, I promise.