Andy & Steven - Motorbikin' USA

The End Of The Ride

2009-06-25T13:41:00.001-07:00

We delivered the bikes to Vancouver airport this morning - so no more
riding :-( Just a day and a half to do some tourist bits in Vancouver
before flying home on Saturday.

The picture is of the bikes strapped down on a pallet ready to be
loaded onto a plane bound for Gatwick. The bikes actually leave a few
days after us.

Nearin' Vancouver

2009-06-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last 2 hours of the ride as we head through Seattle toward the Canadian border. We stop for a coffee then back on the freeway and... disaster.
My bike throws up a warning triangle and flashes the rear tyre pressure. Its dropping. Its unbelievable!!! Another puncture in the rear tyre. I must be jinxed.
Steven follows and check out the tyre and thinks he can see a problem. We exist the freeway to the nearest fuel station. There is a nail in the tyre. We inflate and head for the BMW dealer.
Another $270 and new tyre for me and we once again head for Vancouver as the weather close in and it starts to rain.

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More pictures

2009-06-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

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North of San Francisco

2009-06-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

Up California and into Oregon. We stop at a small cafe, climb steep roads along this coast and travel through Redwood forests.

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West Coast from San Fran

2009-06-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

we have done the West Coast section of our trip north of San Fran without posting to the blog. The coverage for mobile phones was patchy at best and O2 doesn't seem to have agreements with those that do provide service. So, I have a few pictures of some of the sights we have seen. I will post a couple at a time with notes if needed.
In the mean time here are some photos on the coast as we near SF.

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San Francisco

2009-06-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Is great. Steven and I had a walk around town, took in some sights and met up with some friends who live here now (hi again Simon and Sarah). Simon took us up to a local hi point Mt Diablo. Didn't see the devil but the views were spectacular. Thanks again Simon.

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More soon...

2009-06-23T21:09:00.001-07:00

We've had no wifi and sometimes even no mobile phone coverage to blog
from! Today is.... errrr.... Tuesday so lots to blog about. Stay tuned!

Saturday

2009-06-20T09:31:00.001-07:00

We set off at 8am. Its cold this morning at only 14 deg C. (Just when we were starting to get used to the heat). Steven has even re-inserted his jacket liner and is wearing a long sleeve shirt and his double skinned socks for extra warmth!
I am sure it will heat up as the day progresses.
As we drive past the smaller towns all te kids are out on there sports fields. Mom Dad and all cheering on.

Will make SF today. We stopped at a Starbucks and Steven has booked a hotel in center of town for two nights - much better rates by internet than just turning up.

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Grrrrrr - More problems with Steven's Bike

2009-06-19T19:49:00.001-07:00

The clutch is working fine, but now there seems to be a problem with the front tyre. When pulling away from traffic lights or accelerating hard in 1st 2nd and sometimes 3rd the front tyre looses contact with the road preferring to travel some inches above the road surface! Maybe its a fault with the bike design because mine has started to show similar symptoms!!!!!
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Friday; the start of Hwy 1 to Vancouver

2009-06-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

LA is overcast warm with a fresh breeze off the Pacific. A local we chatted to called it the 'June Gloom' when the hot air from the desert meets the moisture laden Pacific air and hazes. Have a look at the photos.
We have had a great ride up the coast using the coast road (or when that is not available Interstate101). There are plenty of long and tight curves and a fair bit of traffic to enjoy the bikes. The views are great.
We have taken a motel in Lompoc, doing the washing and will head out for a meal and a beer a bit later - looking forward to tomorrows ride and those long bends. Should make San Francisco.

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Friday; the end of Route 66

2009-06-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Up for an early start to miss the desert heat. As we travel west the desert starts to break up and the ground starts to turn green.
We pass through the mountain ranges and head down R66 towards LA. The traffic gets heavier and heavier, we pass down Sunset Bvd and then Santa Monica Bvd. Its overcast here and temperatures are about 25 deg C but it feels hot in the bike gear as we slow to a crawl.
The last 10 miles have taken an hour and we approach the end on Route66.

The official end of the road is a crossroads over Hwy1. There is no marker, no sign, nothing to show the end of this great road.
The ultimate anti climax.

So we move to the end of Colorado Ave where we see the Pier and the Pacific Ocean.

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Thursday Night

2009-06-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Haulled up in Barstow, CA for the night. Barstow is your typical
desert town. God only knows why someone would want to live in the
desert. The locals say "it's a different kinda heat". But in my book
it's still hot!. We should make LA and the end of Route 66 tomorrow.
Gonna try and start early to aviod the savage desert heat of the day.

Back on R66

2009-06-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

The scenery on 66 was good today. As well as the long desert strips we had mountain passes (great on the bikes) and a hill top mining town with donkeys, gunslingers and Swedish Harley riders(!) roaming the streets. Note to other bikers; donkey poo is slippery.
Also went passed 'Roys' a famous and 'very old' (1959) iconic sign from R66.

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Thursday - No Way Through?

2009-06-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

One of the problems following "Historic 66" is that parts of the old
road are no longer maintained or used. So... following our SatNav
blindly we ended up here (see photo). Washed away by a flood some
years ago, the the road just ends with a 10ft drop to the dried up
river bed. Time to go OFF ROAD!

Thursday - Leaving Vegas

2009-06-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Up a bit late and nursing a hangover we leave Vegas and head for the Hoover Dam.
Yes the roads quickly turn to long tarmac strips crossing the desert. Nothing new there then.
The weather has also decide to pick the temperature up to a more seasonal level today. Just when I have a hangover the temperature tops 42 deg C (that's 107 deg F) and I am wearing full bike gear.
A couple of hours on from the dam and we rejoin R66.

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Wednesday - Morning

2009-06-17T15:48:00.001-07:00

Grrrrrr... Still having some clutch problems! Yesterday I had no
clutch for a while!!!! Had to "pump" it to get any response. Early
this morning (after a few hands of Black Jack at 7am) I headed to the
BMW Motorrad dealer in Vegas. They slotted me in and (much to my
horror) told me the bike had the wrong cluch fluid. He thought it had
DOT 4 brake fluid and not BMW mineral fluid!!! Even more worrying is
that the fluids are apparentley pre loaded at the BMW factory! Note:
Danny at Bahnstomers I'll be down to see you when I get back to try
and sort out my repair bill with BMW! Anyway... fluid change and
ready to rock!

Tuesday Vegas

2009-06-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

From Death Valley we ride South East to Vegas two and a half hours of nothing but huge plains between mountain ranges.
We have a day of rest Wed and a chance to look at Steven's clutch that has been playing up for some time now. There is a BMW dealer in Vegas.
We arrive in town and get checked in to New York New York, shower and crash till about 9 then we head out to look at the town...
and perhaps a little go on 'the tables'.
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Death Valley

2009-06-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Was hot! The ride past Vegas seemed to go on and on and there was just nothing but a road that lasted for 3 hours and had 3 bends in it. Then we got to the valley and wound down from about 2500 ft to 270 ft below sea level. By the time we stopped to take a look at the visitor centre the temperature had increased from 28 deg C to over 39 deg C. As I said we are in unusually cool weather at the moment - Death Valley has recorded up to 57 deg C!
There is no water in the valley now, it all dried up some millennia ago and left the worlds largest salt deposits. See the white in the photos, it covers large areas and is up to 6 feet thick. The Borax was mined from the 1860s until it became uneconomic.
On the way out it started to rain!!!
By the way try to spot Steven with the bikes.
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Grand Canyon - south rim to north rim

2009-06-17T15:23:00.001-07:00

Now here's a problem! From the south rim on the canyon to the north
rim of the canyon is about 10 miles as the crow flys. We had two choices

A) trek into the canyon on foot all the way to the bottom and back out
the other side! eeerrrrr - that's a "no" for plan a; or

B) take the senic road route (about 350 miles) to the closest easterly
crossing point the Navajo Bridges.

We obviously took plan B and it was a lovely ride. Traffic free roads
with twists and turns rising and falling.

OMG! We crossed over the Navajo Bridges, stopped to take some pictures
and the got on the bikes. A quick check on the fuel situation showed
only 50 miles of furl remaing on Andys bike and 60 on Stevens.
Checking on the SatNav for the nearest petrol station shows a Shell
garage 65 miles away (in a direct line - about 75 miles by road - and
all up hill) Oh no!!!!!!!

Cautiously we drive out of the car park and 50 yards around the corner
there's a gas station :-))))))) Relieved, we brimmed the tanks and
head on!

Made good time across the open roads of the North rim and stayed the
night in a tiny town across the state line into Utah (where everything
seems twice as expensive as Arizona)

Monday - Grand Canyon

2009-06-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

After seeing the Meteor Crater we are back on the road. Its hot and getting hotter as we rejoin R66 for Flagstaff, AZ.
We leave R66 at Flagstaff and head north for the Grand Canyon National Park. We start rising in altitude, the scenery changes and evergreen firs start to fill the landscape.
The Canyon is impressive and your mind cannot get the scale of the drops or distances. Obviously the photos don't do it justice. Its one of those things you just have to see for real.
On the picture note the dear in the trees - not really bothered by the cars or our bikes.

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Monday - Meteor Crater

2009-06-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Arizona has one of the best preserved meteor impact sites in the
world. This giant "hole in the ground" is about 40 mile south east of
Flagstaff. Caused by a meteor measuring about 150ft across, when it
hit the ground it left a dent in the earth nearly 4,000 ft wide and
750 ft deep. Maybe that's because it was traveling at about 40,000
mph! At that speed you could get from Paris to New York on 5 mins.
Check it out on Google Earth to get a birds eye view of the hole.

Sunday - New Mexico

2009-06-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

We are pushing on well and covering a lot of ground. Well there is a lot of ground to cover and there is not a lot in or on it!
NM is hot (although cool for the time of the year) so we are quite lucky.
The roads here are straight dusty and there is very little to photograph, we are looking forward the Arizona where we have a few things we want to see.

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Blog updates on the way

2009-06-17T14:29:00.001-07:00

I know our blogging has been poor in the last few days - but we're
been busy and / or in places with no WiFi to blog from. Having the
first "non-riding" day today so gonna catch up with the blog!

Texas

2009-06-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

We rode across the "pan handle" of Texas today. As I was riding I
dicovered some facts about the "lone star state"

1) it's very big
2) it's very flat
3) and the roads are "arrow straight"
4) no... I can't think of a fourth one! Oh yes I can... It's bloody
hot!!!

Stopped for late lunch in Adrian, TX at the "mid point cafe". As the
name suggests it's half way along 66.

Texas

2009-06-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

We made the Texas state line today.
We need to cross the 'pan handle' before entering New Mexico. The Texas section will include a fair amount of inter state as Route66 and IS40 are in effect the same road although some older sections of 66 do exist. There are even some dirt sections although I am not sure if we will attempt these today.
The landscape here provides some BIG views!

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Friday Night

2009-06-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Stopped early tonight to get some laundry done! Another week of riding
in the heat makes smelly socks and T's mount up. Stopped at the most
luxurious "Super 8" where the only channels on TV seem to be "home
shopping". Made reasonable time today considering we hit the mother of
all storms with wind and rain like you've never seen. Fotunatley a
local guy at a gas station had give us the heads up, so we drove an
addition 10 mins in sunshine to the local BMW Motorad dealer in Tulsa,
he put the bikes under cover for us an within 2 mins the storm hit! 5
miles away there were hail stones the size of cricket balls dropping
from the sky. Nice!

Where are we?

2009-06-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

We seem to have been riding for ages but don't seem to have got too far!

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For Jack and Ben

2009-06-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

By special request some pictures of the bikes...

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Thursday - Kansas

2009-06-11T23:59:00.001-07:00

Been there, survived it, left there. Route 66 just clips Kansas. In
the words of Mr Gump "...that's all I have to say about that"

Oh... I do have something else to say. We got some tornado advice from
a local - as we are in tornado season and in tornado alley. Top tip is
to ride hard the opposite direct and avoid anything big falling from
the sky - like a combine harvester or a house.

Tomorrow we cross Oklahoma. Famous for being the No 1 state for the
incarceration of women; No 1 for child abuse but only No 6 for women
murdered by their male partners! 2 outta 3 ain't bad I guess!!!!

Thursday

2009-06-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Got up late today and left Springfield feeling refreshed and ready to cover some miles.

The weather was warm and a bit too humid; ok once we were moving on the bikes though.

Disaster! About and hour or so on the road and just outside Gay Parito - population 20 (yes that's 20) I got a puncture in the rear tyre. AAA would take about 2 days and the nearest BMW dealer is 150 miles.

What's a guy to do but find a Route 66 collectors garage owned by Gary who looked after us, provided ice cold soda and called some favours (thanks Gary).

Curtis (Harley man and certified 'Big Dog Engineer') tried to use his tyre 'plug kit' (thanks Curtis) but in the end the bike was hitched to a trailer (thanks Stan) and taken to a bike dealer. (thanks Ken) the only one with a tyre that fits (yes turns out the BMW tyre size is not easy to get in the US).

So 5 hours and $370 later we are back on 66 and heading for Kansas.

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Wednesday

2009-06-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Giant Alert.

The worlds largest rocking chair as certified by Guinness...

Note Stevens bike parked at foot of chair for scale.

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Wednesday Night

2009-06-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Stayed Wednesday night in Springfield, MO. Not sure if this is the
same Springfield where the Simpsons come from, but people here did
look a little yellow :-)

Giant Alert

2009-06-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

A giant with hot dog! The old dinner has moved to the other side of the street but the giant is still here.

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A Restored Filling Station

2009-06-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is the only one left...

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Crossing the Mississippi

2009-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Good run through the rest of Illinois and past another giant then into Missouri.

The famous Chain of Rocks bridge is now closed to traffic - so we took the new one and then stopped for the photo op but forgot to use the phone for the picture so no bridge picture for the blog sorry!

Instead I have added some general pics as we have been travelling along.

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Start of '66'

2009-06-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Chicago centre and we start 66.

Chicago centre very nice but getting in, and out on 66, we went thro' some pretty rough areas.

On the open road now and a lot of small single carriage way. We have made good time up to now and can relax a bit, kick back and enjoy the scenery.

A couple of hours out of Chicago and we are at our first 'giant alert' the Gemini Giant, (there will be a lot of these, see picture) at the 'Launch Pad' burger bar and steven and I stop for lunch.

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Monday

2009-06-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Left Sheboygan in the rain and its 8 deg C! And following a night of heavy rain and thunders storms.

As u have just read I had to pick Steven up from the local sheriff office but we are on the road again.

Heading to Chicago next via a BMW dealer so we can sort out Stevens clutch.

Got to Chicago the temp is now 30 deg C and we are stripping off gear to keep cool. Stevens clutch is good and we are starting Route 66!

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Sunday. It was inevitable!

2009-06-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

I told Steven to keep the speed down but would he listen... Errr no! After riding though a fairly residential area a local Sheboygan Police Office "blue lighted" him. Not sure what he said to her but his English charm definitely didn't work. Next thing we know the hand cuffs were out. Not sure when he will be released!!
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The rest of Sunday

2009-06-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

...was a wet and cold ride. The rain kept up most of the way to Sheboygan. We gave up on the long ride to the tip of Green Bay and cut across country to get to Dee and Bobs early.

The rest of the day we chilled out with Dee, Bob, Tam and Rob. They were all great hosts and also treated us to an evening meal at the Yatch Club. Really great.

By the evening the weather had picked up and Bob took both Steven and I for a blast in his 1963 Corvette Stingray. ( And annoyed a local dog walker - opps)

Bob took us to his local Sunday night bar where we met the local musicians and some fellow bikers and listened to some great live music.

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Starting Sunday

2009-06-07T03:50:00.001-07:00

I think we are going to get wet!!!

We start our ride down the west coast of Lake Michigan in earnest today and its raining quite hard...

This lake is massive with a surface area of 22,400 sq miles (that's larger than Croatia).

We will follow the lake road for about 4-5 hours today and will need a big towel when we stop at Sheboygan to meet up with friends of Steven.

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Early Start Sat

2009-06-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

We were up early and straight on the road, not even time for a drink.

We made good progress and after a couple of hours stopped at Oscars for breakfast. This place was middle of nowhere - not even a mobile signal!

The scenery is breath taking and the distances between any sort of human development take hours to ride. The terrain looks impossible to traverse even on foot. Lucky someone built a road!
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Update

2009-06-06T17:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry if I was a little vague with our exact location earlier. We are in the smallest town in the world called Manistique. No bars, no shops, but they do have a horse!

Saturday

2009-06-06T16:53:00.001-07:00

Wow! A marathon ride today (to catch up on some time). Covered about
500 miles. Kept speed under 55 all the way (that coment was for my
Mum). The Canadian countryside to the North and East of Lake Hutton is
truely spectacular and BIG.
Made it back into the USA late afternoon without any problems, even
though we forgot to surrender of Green Visa Waiver cards when we came
into Canada - ooops.
Staying the night in a motel on the northern shores of Lake Michigan.
Will try and blog some pictures from the motel later.

Friday Riding

2009-06-05T18:12:00.001-07:00

Stats: Police - zero; road kill - zero; falling off - zero; steven going the wrong way up a one way street - 1. Doh

So we had an early start with a quick walk up the gorge at Watkins Glen (also famous for its street racing circuit) before getting on the road to Niagara via a dam.

Niagara, had a lot of water falling a great distance and LOTS of tourists...

We have passed into Canada and continued North. The lakes here are beautiful and MASSIVE. Have a look at the map and the scale marker!

The traffic has been really heavy. We caught the Friday evening traffic that seemed to last all afternoon.

We have arrived at Barrie(?) and as I type this Steven (still with flu and dosed on neurofen) has stuffed two crab cakes from the 'crab shake'... By the way, excellent service here - just in case you ever come to town!

Time to sign off finish the beers and get an early night - yes my bum is sore!!!
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Day 1 of Riding

2009-06-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

Well... It's only really half a day of riding. Left our hotel in
Newark at about 4:30pm. Very successfully managed to navigate out of
the city - thanks to the SatNav. Blatted down the interstate for a few
hours before turning off on to a very minor road for Watkins Glenn
(famous for Class car racing and some very nice waterfalls -go google
it) Met up with a State Trooper who very kindly showed us his red and
blue "christmas light" on the roof of his patrol car. We chatted for a
while, but he really just wanted to remind us what the speed limit
is! Apparently you cannot do 85 in a 55 limit.... oooops. Resting
here for the night before heading to Niagara tomorrow.

At last some good news...

2009-06-04T07:21:00.001-07:00

We've just been told that the bikes have, at last, cleared customs.
We're just waiting on some paperwork but will have the bikes
today :-)))))

Killing Time - Steven

2009-06-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Steven found the bar facilities; working hard to break his two year abstinence.

Killing Time - Andy

2009-06-03T10:01:00.001-07:00

Andy found the laundry facilities

From frustrated of New Jersey!

2009-06-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

Well... It's Wednesday lunch time and we still have no bikes!
Grrrrrrrrr. Trying to keep busy by checking our trans America route
and wondering where we can shave some time off the route. Think well
just have to ride a bit longer each day.

Andy Blogging at Last

2009-06-02T13:14:00.001-07:00

At last Steven has let me add to the blog by adding me as a member of the account. All this technology is a bit baffling to me so I am glad the acting IT manager (that will be Steven again) came along to sort it all out. To be fair we did have a busy run up to the leaving date, but with the spare time we have waiting for the bikes we can get all these bits sorted out.

So, there is still no word from customs on the status of the bikes!!! But, hopefully as soon as the agent is notified it will be a quick process to get them released packed and on the go.

Just want to get on the road now! Came out for a road trip and spent three days on foot. agghhh

Still In NY

2009-06-02T08:10:00.001-07:00

Grrrrrr... it's still fairly early here (Tuesday 11am) but the bikes
are not through customs yet :-( Site seeing in NY was fun but we came
to ride! We are both keen to get on the road. Should have more news
midday today. Fingers crossed

Monday

2009-06-01T09:37:00.001-07:00

Still in NY. Visiting ground zero and enjoying the relaxed atmospere around the quay side. Not sure when bikes will be through customs. When we spoke with the import agent this morning she thought it might be Wednesday!!! Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Downtown NY

2009-05-31T07:05:00.001-07:00

Enjoying a relaxed Sunday morning in Times Square and able to blog thanks to free WiFi

The adventure has started!

2009-05-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

We have arrived in New York. The flight was very straight forward - if not a little long - and i was most surprised that Lufthansa didn't even bat an eye lid when i checked in with my 35kg of luggage! Got a couple of days here in NY site seeing :-) Bikes should come out of customs on Monday pm or Tuesday am. We are both ready to ride!

No more planning!

2009-05-29T14:01:00.001-07:00

With only 12 hours untill we fly off to New York I am all packed and ready. If I've forgotten anything now - it's too late! Just a few hours left to relax before my 5am taxi

A Quiet Week

2009-05-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well... a quiet week as far as this blog goes! I've spent a very enjoyable extended weekend away with my wife and youngest daughter - having some quality family time - before disappearing for a month! So... two days left in the UK and SO MUCH to do. I will be burning the midnight oil for the next few nights to get everything ready.

One Week To Go

2009-05-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

With only one week to go, we are building our list of 'sights to see' along our route. We have most of the obvious ones, but if anyone has a 'must see' place to visit please let us know. The more obscure the better!

Route Planning - Part 3

2009-05-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

The final leg of our journey is to continue north from San Francisco, along Highway 1, following the Pacific coast line all the way to the Canadian boarder and our exit point Vancouver (1,666km). Although - if we are getting short on time we can always hop on the Interstate and 'ride hard'.

Route Planning - Part 2

2009-05-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

Once we reach LA (at the end of Historic 66) we will be heading north to San Francisco along Pacific Coast Highway 1. This is a spectacular scenic route. Another 725km

Route Planning

2009-05-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

Traveling along historic Route 66 is only part of our 'Trans America' trip. Whilst we have a defined route for 66, the rest of the journey until now has remained fairly loose. So... with only a 12 days left before we go, we thought it would be a good time to plan some of the loose parts!

We have found an interesting route from Niagra to Sheboygan (1481km). First traveling north into Canada, following the shore line of Lake Hutton / Georgian Bay, turning West and riding along the North shore of the North Channel, dropping back into the USA and heading South along the West shore of Lake Michigan and finally into Sheboygan. Most of the roads should be quiet as we've tried to to avoid the Interstates and Freeways.

We had a quick look on Google earth and it looks like there will be plenty of photographic opportunities on this route.

Bon Voyage

2009-05-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

It may be 2 weeks until the start of our Trans America trip, but for our bikes the journey started today! Andy and I both rode down to Southampton docks where the bikes will be loaded onto a Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship for their 9 day journey to New York.

Mad Maps

2009-05-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Jenny (the Chief MAD Hatter) at Mad Maps Inc for emailing me a turn-by-turn guide for Historic Route 66 for my Garmin :-) As some of you may know - the original Route 66 is not indicated on maps nowadays and many parts of it are in disrepair. So a good guide is essential if you are to accurately travel 'Historic 66'.

Navigation...

2009-05-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Trying to navigate in a foreign country can be hard enough at the best of times, but on a bike it's not like you can just ask the passenger "which way next" nor keep a street atlas open on your lap! So... I have invested in a bike GPS - a Garmin Zumo 550. Fully waterproof and with all the main finger controls on the left - perfect for mounting above the main instrument cluster. Powered from the bike and plugged into the bike's coms system - I'll even hear the turn by turn directions in my helmet. And just to top it all - my iPhone even bluetooths with it, so I can make phone calls whilst riding. NOTE TO OFFICE: That does not mean you can call me everyday :-)

Size is everything...

2009-05-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

Touring for 4 weeks with only a couple of panniers and a roll bag to store everything does create some logistical issues. We will have to be minimalist packers, only taking the essential items. Not only that, we aren't allowed to ship any personal possessions with the bike - like tents, bike gear, clothes etc (some silly customs rules). Everything we want to take has to fly out with us and we don't wanna be paying and 'excess baggage charges'. So... size and weight is VERY important. Queue the sleeping bag... and yes it does roll out to be full! Small is most definitely beautiful.

Mission Accomplished

2009-05-06T00:33:00.000-07:00

What a day! The weather was VERY changeable (rain / sun / mist / wind) so we managed to try out a variety of equipment. The BMW jackets are nice and snug and DON'T let the rain in. The heated handle bar grips are perfect for those chilly moments and the extra driving lamps let people know you are coming when the mist and fog decends over the Brecon Beacons. We had to cut the route short so we didn't make it to the Elan Valley, but the ride back was a blast. A quick mileage check shows 610 miles completed - bike run in and ready for it's first service - mission accomplished :-)

Tuesday...

2009-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

All ready for a day out in Wales. Decided to put the waterproof and thermal lining in the jacket - just in case!

Running In...

2009-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

We were told by Danny at Bahnstomer to get between 600 and 1,000 miles on the bikes before their first services. Sadly, with work pressure both Andy and I have struggled to get any where close to that many miles done. So... here's the plan. The weather for Tuesday is looking fair to good - and that calls for a day trip out. Going to head off to Touratech in South Wales (to buy those last minute essentials), over the Brecon Beacons to Aberystwyth, turning back to home and hopefully (weather permitting) have a glorious ride back through the Elan Valley. That should stick another 500 miles on the bikes :-)

Route Update...

2009-05-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hummmm... we've had a few problems getting our bikes shipped back from the west coast - so we are moving to plan B. Instead of shipping out of San Francisco, we are gonna keep heading north along highway 1 - all the way to Vancouver! Yes... Vancouver Canada! It adds about 1,000 miles to the trip but we found a cracking deal on air freight back from Vancouver to London, Gatwick. So... to all our friends in Vancouver (you know who you are) see you at the end of June!

The blog is active!

2009-05-01T05:36:00.001-07:00

So... With one month to go untill we are off, the blog is now active. Panic has just started to set in as we realize how much we have left to do. And squeezing it around work time is gonna be tough.

Don't forget to visit our charity fund raising page and make a donation for a very worthwhile cause. Thank you.