Another Idiot Abroad

One man, three cylinders and no idea

[donvulpes]

All good things must come to an end

Well, apart from taking the bike to the shipping company on Friday, the riding part of the trip is now over. 10,870 miles and 27 States in around 9 weeks has been a fantastic trip. We have barely scratched the surface of this wonderful country and it has definitely whetted our appetite for more. The last few days have been just more examples of the warm reception we have received almost everywhere we went ( we still haven't forgiven you Boston ). Savannah was a lovely Southern city with a deep and rich history, although you can't help but wonder at the fabulous houses and then at the awful cost to the people on whose backs these vast fortunes were made. Leaving Georgia, we hit Florida and only a fortnight after Hurricane Matthew had done with much more force. The majority of the buildings were still standing, but there was clear evidence of structural and contents damage to many of the waterfront houses we passed. It's a huge credit to the various govt and utility agencies that life is already returning to normal. This trip has been an eye opener in many ways. Almost all the bad things we were told to expect, never happened and all the good things were at least as good, if not better than we expected. We're definitely coming back and I don't think we'll ever have enough time to see as much as this great country has to offer. If you're thinking of coming, I would stop thinking and start doing. Ignore all the political bollocks you've seen on the TV, ignore most of the pop culture and mainstream media references out there too. Hire a car ( or ship your bike ) as it's really cheap ( and petrol is about £1.70 a gallon right now ) and get out on the open road. There is something for absolutely anyone over here and they really are ( mostly ) glad to meet you. Do it, you won't be disappointed.

[donvulpes]

Ooh yer bug...... ger

It's been a quiet couple of days on the blog front, so I thought I should jot down a few lines to keep this updated. We had a lovely stay in Shelbyville and an excellent meal too, but Leicester City were playing in the Champions League on Tuesday so we had to make a dash to get to Nashville, checked in and in a sports bar in time. Thankfully we made it with time to spare, but this just meant we drank more and after the full time whistle had blown ( and City had won.... again ) we both decided that enough beer had been drunk to write the rest of the day off and head into Nashville in the morning. Wednesday was hot and dry, so we enjoyed a lovely walk round Nashville ( the Johnny Cash museum is excellent and informative ) taking in a few of the sights and generally enjoying a chilled day. Neither of us are real country music fans, so a lot of it was wasted, but we enjoyed the charm of the place, the warmth of the people and another famous US city 'ticked off' This morning the weather threatened to turn ugly, so we headed out quickly and made our way over to Chattanooga, before leaving the interstate behind and heading over to Murphy for the night. Luckily we were off the interstate as just outside Chattanooga a flying beetle ( dune bug ? ) managed to hit me square in the eye and lodge itself under my eyelid ! It bloody hurt I can tell you, but thankfully the road was quiet and I was able to get over to the hard shoulder and extract the nasty bug..ger. Thankfully it didn't do any lasting damage and I was able to carry on riding, as our route took us through the glorious Cherokee National Forest just at the right time. The stunning variety of red, oranges and yellows looked amazing as the forest donned it's Autumn dress. We were sad that we weren't able to see Vermont at this time of year, but North Carolina did a great job of making up for it. Tomorrow is the last Leicester of the trip and then hopefully time to enjoy Deal's Gap ( sans luggage ideally ) before heading south towards Miami.

[donvulpes]

Groundhog Day Pt 2

So here we are again in Chicago, but this time the compass needle is pointing South and our final destination of this trip is Miami in 12 days or so. Sadly we were unable to meet up with a fellow Tex owner ( Cliff ) in St Louis, but we’re definitely heading back this way again, so there will be other chances.

The flight over for this leg was slightly different and we enjoyed an overnight stay in Reykjavik. Our interest for that city and Iceland in general is well and truly piqued so we’ll definitely be back again in the future.

As for all things Stateside, the bike has been collected from the excellent team at Cycle Tech in Summit and with everything we have for the trip spread out on the floor in front of me, it’s back to finding a place for everything in a couple of panniers and a topbox. Thankfully Claire and I are finally starting to pack light so it shouldn’t be an issue. Famous last words ……

[donvulpes]

A post for the numbers nerds

There are a few that would like a few facts and figures, but sadly the trip counter stuck so I don’t have all the data.

For the first part of the tour, the figures are:

Total miles. 8768.2 miles ( 5428.2 solo )

88:02 hours riding solo

46.5 mpg average consumption solo ( much higher figure when Claire was with me and I was held back by speed limits )

58.7 mph average speed solo ( and that includes 3 hours of crawling through Chicago traffic ). I blame Montana and Idaho for that ;)

Average cost of fuel - stupidly cheap compared to Europe and UK :/

[donvulpes]

What ? No Yogi ?

Well the last two big items on the this trip happened ( or not ) over the last couple of days, so I thought I should at least throw together a penultimate update. Yellowstone National Park was the destination on Thursday and it didn't disappoint in the slightest. Luckily the weather was perfect for the day and as I managed to get there early ( I stayed in a cabin fairly close by ) the crowds hadn't arrived. I had already seen some pics online and read write-ups about how amazing the place is, but even that didn't truly prepare me. If you've ever seen the Jodie Foster film, Contact, you'll understand what I mean when I say that my words and photos don't do the park the justice it deserves. It's more than four times the size of Leicestershire and took me seven hours to ride round the loop inside. There are stunning views round almost every corner and it was fantastic to see some more wildlife in it's natural habitat. If you are ever in the area, I can't recommend the place enough. Make sure you allow yourself a few days though, as I can pretty much promise you won't want to leave. I know I didn't. The next stop was Utah. I didn't have the time ( or tyres ) to get to MOAB but I hoped to get some great sunset/rise pics last night and this morning, especially against the reds and golds of the Utah landscape. Sadly the weather gods made sure I paid for the Yellowstone weather, by giving Salt Lake City and blanket of cloud and any hopes of some interesting pics were dashed :/ Another tick to be added on the next visit. For now the idea is to head East and get to Chicago in time to sort the bike and bags, as well as catching a Cubs game if I can :) 480 miles today sees me in Colorado ( that now makes 26 states in total by the time we ship back in October ) and heading for Omaha in Nebraska tomorrow

[donvulpes]

Do The Hucklebuck

Sorry it’s been a while since an update, but there’s not really been that much to write about, so I didn’t want to bore you ( more than you are already ).

The planned trip to Glacier National Park didn’t go as well as expected, sadly. I woke on the day to drizzle, rain and more drizzle. I tried to head out, within minutes I was soaked and could hardly see a thing. Most of the park scenery was going to be obscured, so I decided on a day of rest and Netflix instead.

The following day, before I headed off towards Seattle, I was able to spare a few hours and the park didn’t disappoint. I would have loved a whole week to explore, so I’ll be coming back and really make the most of it.

Once I got to Seattle, the first order of business was to get Hobbes off to TriumphOfSeattle to have new fork seals fitted. They’d started weeping back in Chicago and wouldn’t last the rest of the trip, so they guys in Seattle squeezed me into their busy schedule and Hobbes is fit and raring to go again.

Other than that, it’s been a quiet week compared to the first part of the tour. Seattle is a much quieter place than Chicago and I’ve mostly just been ‘chilling’ and enjoying some time off the bike.

If you ever get over to Seattle I can highly recommend the Duck Tours. One and a half hours through the streets of Seattle and around Union Lake with a funny/interesting commentary. Well worth $35.

Today sees me heading back to Chicago to get a flight home, but I’ve done a fair few miles to allow me a full day in Yellowstone this week and then a few photo ops in Utah, before blazing across Nebraska and Iowa to catch a Flight home.

Hopefully there’ll be a few more pics and titbits still to come.

Total miles 6314 miles ( 2998 on the second leg )

[donvulpes]

Nosey bugger aren't you ;-)

[donvulpes]

The dollar bill guy

It’s been a hectic couple of days since I left Iowa behind. The route to Glacier National Park passes close by Mount Rushmore ( thanks for that snippet of info, Jon ) so I knew I’d have to put some serious miles if first, if I wanted to take a detour. Thankfully the weather was a lot kinder than in Iowa and as I was able to make an earlier start, 530 miles were racked up by the time I decided to find a place to crash.

I was still some way short of my intended destination, but after a good night’s sleep I woke late and headed out on nearly empty roads, thanks to it being July 4th. Sadly my luck changed as I neared Rushmore and the holiday traffic built quickly. Hobbes was overheating as quickly as me, but thankfully the folks on the entrance sorted things and I was into Rushmore.

As expected it was absolutely mobbed ( my fault for picking a crazy day to visit ) so a quick couple of photos were taken and I headed out. Thankfully another friend had pointed me towards a great bike road for leaving, so ignoring the GPS I hit the 16A and wound my way for miles, through some glorious scenery, on well maintained roads and despite the slow RVs and Harley riders, had a great ride. Thanks again Cliff :)

After Rushmore I headed north again, aiming to hit Big Timber and find a campsite to finally get some camping time in. Montana had other plans though and with clouds looming, I was racing to find somewhere to stay. Rounding a quiet corner, I noticed an American flag and something clicked. Sure enough I saw the sign for the Little Big Horn monument, so I nipped in for a look and survey the fantastic Montana landscape ( and skyscape ).

Today I woke under tiles again. Those threatening skies had opened up good and proper overnight, so I was glad I had decided to grab a motel room. I will get some camping in, I promise.

Leaving the motel I got talking to some other bikers who asked about Hobbes as they had a friend in St Louis who rides one too. Turns out their friend is also my friend, Cliff. Talk about a small world ! Sadly I was distracted after this so left my glasses on top of my luggage and they’re now on an interstate somewhere :/

After a very scary time where I was convinced I was going run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere ( note for Tiger Explorer owners, as your fuel remaining indicator clears to say ‘no range’ you can squeeze at least 18 miles more out of the tank ! ) I arrived at my base for a couple of days. Glacier National Park is supposed to be amazing and I can’t wait to explore. Standby for a blizzard of pics.

I might even go to Canada !

[donvulpes]

One gets wet in Iowa

Leaving Chicago on Friday felt very strange. We'd been back for a few days and as be both love the place it felt right immediately. Now, after dropping Claire off at O'Hare the night before and a slight delay waiting for service parts, I was once again leaving, but this time Hobbes and I were heading west and our eventual target of Seattle. The New England part of the tour had been blisteringly hot, so I ordered a mesh jacket and instantly felt happy with my choice as Chicago was warm and humid again, but the much improved venting kept me a lot cooler. As I was late leaving, I only just made it into Iowa before stopping for the night. Coralville sounds like a quiet tropical beachside village... sadly it isn't, but I slept well and headed into Friday aiming to reach Harlan by lunchtime to meet up with a fellow Tex owner, Jon. You know what they say about best laid plans ? Well this was a perfect example and as I got further and further west, the skies darkened and before long the heavens opened. I had easy access to the waterproof lining for my new jacket, but the waterproof over trousers were in Claire's luggage and within an hour I was soaked to the bone. I was wet in places I never even knew I had, so I called it quits and checked in to a motel for try and and dry my gear. That meant I wasn't able to ride to meet up with Jon, but being the great guy he is, he met me at the motel and even whipped me off to his local Triumph dealer to see some lovely old British bikes and the fantastic new Triumph range too. It was a great hour, talking bikes and generally putting the world to rights, but soon they were closing and Jon dropped me back at the motel. After a much better night's sleep I woke this morning to find almost nothing had dried completely. Packed, dressed in damp clothes and hungry ( the buffet breakfast was mobbed and I didn't fancy standing around all moist and sticky ) I headed off into the Iowa morning once again. Thankfully the weather gods were much kinder, so by my first stop of the morning at a Google Starbucks ( and a chance to have a quick FaceTime with Claire ) I was dry again. The weather stayed warm and the roads clear, so with 480 miles on the clock for today and clouds rolling in, I called it a day. Although the roads were straight and fairly dull, the landscape was stunning and I couldn't help wondering what it must have looked like when the Native Americans roamed these plains. Tomorrow is Mt Rushmore which is quite apt given the date. Total miles 4300 ( 932 for the second leg )

[donvulpes]

Leaving on a jet plane

Well Claire is at least. We’ve reached the end of Claire’s holiday period, so later today she’ll be boarding a plane home and tomorrow I continue west. 

Hobbes has been dropped off with Cycle Tech in Summit to have some new tyres fitted and try to sort his pannier problem, following our standing spill in Massachusetts. While I was there Joe, the owner, noticed that the front fork seals are starting to weep, so I’m now on the clock to get to Seattle quickly enough that TriumphOfSeattle can fit some new seals for me. Failing that I have to nurse the poor bike over 4500 miles on this next leg and then leave the bike with Joe, to be repaired, while I fly back to work.....

The trip so far has been brilliant. We’ve covered 3360 miles from the day we first left Chicago and had a wonderful time. We have had a few low points, but they have been vastly outnumbered by the highs. The next part of the trip is going to be a lot different, but I’ll try to update as and when there’s something worth saying. 

For now though, if I may, I’ll pass on a few nuggets of info, tips or opinions that might hopefully help anyone else on a similar trip. Please note that this trip isn’t sponsored at all and apart from the Metzler tyres I won in a completion, all the stuff we’ve used has been bought by Claire and I, so anything we say is unbiased and honest.

So what have we learned so far ?

Clothing choices ( on and off bike ) are vital. I was wearing a Rukka jacket which proved to be total overkill in the summer. We were warned that New England weather can be vastly different from day to day, but a much lighter jacket would have been a better option ( and indeed will be now I have bought a mesh jacket by Joe Rocket for the second leg ). 

Same advice with footwear off the bike. if you’re going to have a few days sightseeing, then take some light walking shoes. You’ll be surprised how far you can walk and in the wrong shoes, it can be crippling.

In the major cities we visited, the public transit system can seem a little confusing at first, but works well and is cheap too. You can save a lot of money by getting a hotel near a train line and taking that into the city each day. For instance our second stay in Chicago is at a hotel ( which is very clean and well appointed ) no more than 10 minutes from an L station, ten minutes into town on the train and costs £60 a night. You won’t get that sort of price in the centre of town.

Apps like Hotels.com are great for finding bargain stays and you can get free nights through their loyalty schemes. Trip Advisor is wonderful for finding all the best places in major cities too.

Fast food in America is mostly just that, fast. The quality is pretty much what you would expect. Almost without exception, we found that local diners and take-out places offered higher quality and cheaper food and drinks. It’s worth taking a few extra minutes and looking for something other than the usual suspects.

Hydration. Water water everywhere....it needs to be on your back at least. We used CamelBak but there are other equally good options. These were literally life savers, as we were able to stop at most petrol stations or fast food outlets and keep them topped up with ice, so we could have a cold drink throughout the day. Almost all American hotels and motels have ice machines in them, so tale full advantage and fill your hydration system at the start of the day.

Intercom systems take a lot of the guesswork out of travelling together. It makes everything so much easier and less distracting than simple hand signals, allows you to listen to some music while you ride ( I know some people will say that having music is a distraction, but we would argue that boredom from a 220 mile stretch of the interstate is much more dangerous ) and make any last minute changes to your plans as you go along, so saves a lot of time too.

A large percentage of food outlets have free wi-fi these days, which makes life a lot easier in these connected days. Google powered Starbucks are definitely the best option.

Preparation is king too. Check over all the gear you’re taking and go through everything you are going to need. If you’re taking a camera, make sure you have a charger and storage for the pics ( I speak from experience ). There is a laundrette wherever you are going to be, so don’t pack loads clothes, as you won’t need them. 

Give your bike ( if you’re going by hire car, this bit doesn’t apply ) a really thorough check too. It’s going to be doing a lot of hard graft for you, so it’s essential it’s as prepared as possible. I didn’t have a lot of time free, so luckily Pidcock Triumph were able to service the bike before the trip. There’s nothing worse than sitting about waiting for the bike to be fixed, for the sake of a bit of prep work before you left.

There are loads of other points, but it’s going to end up like War & Peace, so I’ll finish here and hand you over to Claire for a few words:

“Just do it...When I met Paul last August I'd never contemplated touring or biking. I've always loved to travel but in a more conventional way, and biking was never on the radar. 

10 months on I'm training to take my bike test and have my lovely Bonny T100 Black ready and waiting at home & I'm at the end of a fabulous tour of over 3 weeks as pillion....Paul is a very bad influence but I've I've loved every minute; life begins at 49....

I had no expectations; I think that helped and would be top of my list of advice to anyone who plans to do this! I would also say that you need to be comfortable, don't be bothered by what you look like, hair, clothes etc. wear comfortable underwear, sports bras and big knickers! This is also a good tip for men ( not the sports bra, obviously ).

Finally, trust the one in control, if you don't then don't do it. For the most part I was completely relaxed and enjoyed the scenery because I trusted Paul as a rider. 

I hope you go out and enjoy the world by whatever means is right for you, I intend to do just that !!”

[donvulpes]

It going to get windy again

Sadly the blog post after Punxsutawney got lost in the ether somehow. It’s a real shame as it was full of wit, excellent social commentary and took you on a real rollercoaster of emotions.

Seeing as that’s not going to happen again here, I’ll just keep it brief.

Punxy was a disappointment as there really wasn’t much to see, but Pennsylvania as a state was lovely. We saw so many trees and gorgeous topography, but that also meant we saw more roadkill than a redneck BBQ.

We’ve had two really hot days, but despite that we managed to cover over 600 miles and take a slight detour to Port Clinton on Lake Erie for some cooler air and fresh shrimp.

Having put so many miles behind us, we’re luckily going to get to Chicago early, so we have a couple of extra days in our favourite North American city :)

Total miles so far : 3096.2

[donvulpes]

Trip milestone reached at the hotel for tonight

[donvulpes]

Two get hot in Connecticut

Ah Holiday Inn. Having been relieved at checking in and getting off the road, things went downhill very rapidly. After unpacking, showering and generally chilling out for a bit, Claire went to jump into bed only to be greeted by four dirty tissues and a set of earplugs. Not the sort of thing you expect from a high end budget hotel, so you can imagine our mood. The Night Manager was called, who offered a fresh room, but if you'll remember we don't pack light, so the idea of moving wasn't taken. We settled for having the bedding changed and settled in for the night. Holiday Inn Customer Services were called the next day ( the manager had said they would have 'comped' the room, but we paid through Booking.com, so I wanted to enquire about a free stay at another hotel later in the trip ), but the whole call was just met with indifference and a total lack of any attempt to compensate us as we hadn't booked through HI themselves. Maybe I'm asking too much, but the least I would expect is clean linen at a hotel when we check in. It's worth noting that tonight we're in a cheap and cheerful motel which is spotless, so it can be done ! We managed to find the last of the Leicesters for our trip today too. Taking a slight detour from the interstate we stopped for a much needed brunch at a lovely diner called B-Laws where we had a wonderful meal and excellent service. Another thumbs up from us, but soon it was time to leave and as soon as we stepped outside we could feel the heat building and already making us uncomfortable :/ That set the tone for the rest of the daylight hours really. As usual, around the large cities, the interstate and roads alongside were choked and we ended up crawling across Connecticut until we'd finally had enough and decided to pull off and let the traffic and heat abate. After a break in a nearby McDonalds and a session on their free wi-fi ( still not a patch on Starbucks though ) we headed off again towards Dunmore where our motel awaited. Having let the rush hour traffic scurry off home, we found the roads much cooler and clearer so the ride through the last of Connecticut and into New York and Pennsylvania was a lot more enjoyable. We were both surprised at how much forest there is and it would definitely be a lovely place to ride through in the autumn. Despite the hammering from the roads, heat and my ham-fisted control, the bike is fantastic. It never missed a beat again today and even with all the shit we endured we managed a 300 mile day. Nice one Hobbes :) Tomorrow we head off to Punxsutawney and the last few days before Chicago. Total miles 2496.4

[donvulpes]

Bye bye Maine :(

Sadly today we finally said goodbye to Maine, for now. We delayed the inevitable by staying at a gorgeous little B&B in Ogunquit. Moon over Maine is just what you need after a day on the road and our hosts couldn't have been more charming and helpful. They steered us towards the Marginal Way walk along the Ogunquit coastline, which was stunning, especially at dusk. After a lovely night's sleep we enjoyed a breakfast of fresh fruit salad and home-made scones. What a great way to start the day :) After a slight detour to Mount Agamenticus and Nubble Lighthouse we finally accepted the inevitable and headed towards Massachusetts again as we start the run back to Chicago. A couple of hot and sweaty hours later, fighting the choked interstates and drivers clearly more interested in their WhatsApp feeds than what was going on on the roads around them, we decided enough was enough. Luckily a Holiday Inn was close by so we booked in, left our faithful Tiger Explorer cooling in the car park and headed for a much need respite. No idea on the mileage. I'd guess about 2200 :/

[donvulpes]

When can we move here ?

Well today was another hot ( albeit shorter ) ride, but well worth every drop of sweat to get here. Maine is seeing some very hot weather and we seem to be travelling during most of it, but today brought us through the lovely Camden and on to the frankly stunning Bar Harbor. This town might be set up to capture the tourist dollar, but we fell for it completely. The whole feel of the place is much like Stowe in that the pace is much slower, people friendlier and the whole mood so much happier. We stopped off in Camden for lunch, courtesy of sandwiches from French and Brawn. Then short hop later and we're arriving in Bar Harbor. Our delightful hotel ( the Castlemain Inn ) is just off the main street and after getting showered and changed, we headed into town. There are loads of lovely little features, like an old 1930's cinema frontage as well as the usual eateries and bars. One of these was the Finback Ale House and the food is there was excellent. We've had time to have a wander round the evening streets and already checked out house prices !! It's fair to say we won't want to leave tomorrow. Current mileage 1870

[donvulpes]

Seafood ahoy !

We desperately needed to get back to the good times of this trip, so we decided to take a day off and head to Portland for a ‘down day’ and enjoy time off the bike.

The trip was just what we needed ( although the England result could have made our stop in the RiRa bar a lot nicer ) with shrimp wraps for lunch and a clam bake ( for Claire ) and lobster green curry ( for me ) for dinner. The whole pace and general feel of Portland was much more to our liking and gave us a chance to re-charge a bit.

This morning we head to Bar Harbor as the northern most point of our trip, then tomorrow we start heading back to Chicago for Claire’s flight home

I’ve been a bit lax with the mileage updates lately. We’re currently sitting at about 1750 for the trip so far

[donvulpes]

Boston  ?? Nah !!

Sadly things didn’t improve in Boston. I’m sure it has much much more to offer, but neither Claire or I clicked with Boston at all. We had a lovely time while we were there, but only when we weren’t actually in Boston itself.

We stayed in a small suburb called Medford as part of an AirBnB booking and the family we stayed with were great. We had to visit Riverside Motorsport too, to get the pannier looked at. The guys there were really friendly and helped get us back on the road.

We tried to give Boston another chance, but it wasn’t long before we were heading out of the city on the way to Salem. The witch trial museum was interesting and worth a visit. This was much more our style and a great afternoon was had. We finally managed to find some lovely seafood chowder too.

The next day, we headed off to Boston again, but this time we used the ‘T’ system which is the Boston underground. We were only going through Boston to get to the harbour as we were joining Boston Harbor Cruises for a trip to see some whales. To be fair to Boston, not fighting the ridiculous amount of traffic lights, poor roads and rude/pushy drivers made a big difference and the afternoon turned out to be the best of the trip so far.

That wasn’t thanks to Boston though. Our best day of the trip so far was courtesy of approximately 20 Humpback whales we were lucky enough to have around the boat, once we got to the reserve. The naturalist onboard was very excited, so you could tell this was something special. We saw a lot of whales feeding ( using different methods too ), breaching and fin slapping. We even had an adult Humpback swim up close to the boat and under it. With the glorious sunshine we got a great view of the whale from tip to tail as it passed by. I have to admit to getting a bit emotional at seeing these wondrous animals, up close and in their natural environment. Claire and I were absolutely enthralled by the whole event and can whole heartedly recommend the whale watching tour ( be warned though, some days you can draw a blank or only see one of two whales. We really were very lucky ).

This morning saw us leaving Boston and heading north into Maine. Almost the minute we crossed the bridge into Maine, things changed for the better. Everything became more visually appealing and the temperature dropped to a much more comfortable level. We peeled off the interstate and enjoyed a slower ride through some lovely little villages before arriving at our motel just outside Freeport. Tomorrow is a day of exploring Portland at a very casual pace and then on Tuesday we head to Bar Harbor. 

Finally we have a state to rival Vermont ;-)