Where did October go?

Time seems to fly by when you get busy. Just finished a brick effect job on a portable cabin.

www.stonefxwalls.co.uk my new website.

The riding season is coming to a close for the recreational riders of the UK. Despite a bit of a heat wave in early October.The temperatures were strangly high for Autumn, the cooler air though has returned, with rain and high winds over the past few days.

My biking days have included a return trip to London (390 miles) using the motorways. (Freeways), this was a business trip, and as the client was in Chelsea, the thought of trains, cabs or driving was a no no. Stopping often in central London, I found the traffic to be crazy, though the car drivers are very bike aware.

I pulled up next to a Police biker, and asked him how he dealt with this everyday. The reply is not printable, but simple to say he was not a happy chappy.

As my old Transit van is at the end of its usefull life (without a major spend), I have been pootleing around on the GS. I love my bike, and despite the hassle of getting it out of the garage, putting on my gear (15mins) , and always concerned about the weather...... it's all worth it !

No work now, so a bit worried about the pre-Christmas run. Some years I have been mad busy right up to Xmas and beyond, the last two years the cupboard is bare.

I am looking for a proper job, and once again both Shaz and myself consider moving to France or in fact anywhere for a warmer, less costly alternative to the Dark Satanic Mills of norther England.

Big bike show at the NEC Birmingham in November. so something to look forward to.

Novemeber in a few days, so hoping to get out and about as much as possible. During the last few days I have been putting my video clips in order, and today will send them off to be edited. Road2Manchester the movie ...... soon..... maybe.

Man-Lon-Man

Over the past month, bike travel has been interupted again and again by work, holidays, work and weather.
A nice days ride over the Yorkshire Dales with my brother in Law (Arn) was welcome, as he hired a Honda from Hunts in Manchester for the weekend.
For once the weather was in our favor, and the ride over to Settle then towards Ingleboro and Hawes was fast and the quiet roads gave us a chance to take in the great views.
160 miles of 85% small twisty lanes and the rest a mix of motorway and a few towns to get us into the countryside.

I got the opportunity to do a bit of writing, and the book is at least 3000 words in the making. Lots more to go though.

October already, and despite a week of silly high temperatures in the 80's , the 6th (Thursday) returns of high winds and heavy rain makes it feel more like autumn.

Yesterday I went off to London on my trusty GS, to see a new client.
7 am start 196 miles each way, got the deal and back by 5pm without getting wet.
Sore all over, and rode in high winds most of the day.
£40 in petrol, but I did 'get along' at a pace on occasion.
London is a crazy place to ride, but most drivers are very bike aware compared to most roads in the UK. Still mad.... just aware that any gap will be filled with a bike.

Today is the launch of the Ted Simon Foundation at the Coventry National Transport Museum. 6-11pm
6.11.1973 at 6pm Ted started his RTW odyssey that became Jupiter Travels. The rest is history and tonight at 6pm the adventure biker world meet up to launch the foundation.

Am I going? Not 'arf !


www.jupitertravels.org

Facebook/thetedsimonfoundation

see more. www.facebook.com/roadtomanchester

www.twitter.com/road2manchester

HOW FAR?????

The past few days have been a blur. Just one very long day that lasted until Saturday night. On Friday morning 10 June 2011 my odometer read 19460 miles making my total journey 6029 miles in 27 days. Despite 2 days off, I still rode a little bit, just to relax !!!

Today is Sunday 12th and I am having my 3rd 'Day Off ' I have ridden 2333 miles this week and despite missing a whole lot of things, needs must. Deadlines are deadlines. So just a little ride with Jack my host in Manchester Washington. (Facebook friends are great) This is a beautiful place overlooking the sea with Seattle just in view about 10 miles away.The short ferry ride was enough to get back some sanity after all those miles and the Seattle rush hour.

Before I go anywhere though........ odometer reading is now 20650 and my 12 hrs jaunt yesterday from Livingston, Montana through Idaho to Washington clocked off at 748 miles, six tanks of gas (Petrol), and one tired rider..... BUT the beer at the Manchester Pub was cold, the Pizza was incredible and the welcome from everyone was staggering. So...... I am staying again tonight as the good people of Manchester WA, (SSHHH! keep this place a secret !) are expecting some mad guy from England to arrive on a Goldwing this afternoon. Might be worth staying around to meet me, him, I. (4 time zones in 4 weeks...... its 10am here, my watch says 1pm and at home its past 5pm, no wonder I am confused).

Monday and SOUTH, to my final Manchester, Port Arena, California.
Happy to be heading home, missing my wife, daughter and dogs, but boy do I have a tale to tell.

Highway 1 down the Pacific coast.......... what a way to finish.

NB: Anyone anywhere in the world thinking that the Honda Goldwing is a poor bike...... Wrong. 7209 miles without a hitch, murmer or issue. 120mph in total silence (Ssssh, someone told me that !), comfort and load capacity second to few. Big? , Yes, Heavy ?, Yes, but so am I.

QED.

Michigan 'In a great State'

The Tour Bus.

Party time in Michigan with Missy Covill

Singer songwriter and all round mate.
www.ironcowgirl.com

Michigan gave a double whammy. After leaving my host John in Manchester Michigan, I was just a few miles down the road for Saturday

night at another facebook friend Missy Covill (See Facebook/missycovill)

Missy and I had been chatting for months about bikes, music, theme songs for my up and coming video stuff etc: the invite to come over was in the diary. Even her Mun arrived on a Harley.

Late into the night the 20-30 guests ate great food, drank more than enough beer, argued about game shooting and even had the odd wrestling match. Once I had answered questions about what we hunt in the UK (Nothing !), A ten gauge shot gun was thrust into my hand and I was sending beer cans to a better place. Add a bit of a jamming session on the old harmonica & guitar, seeing lightning bugs, hearing bull frogs and watching Chip Monks playing in the yard, I took to the 'Tour Bus' for a hot and very dark night down in the dell . Leaving Missy and her family in peace I thank here for a great experience and friendly stay that will remain a fond memory for ever.

I left after a great hot breakfast heading for an old coal fired ferry that would save me a 300 mile slog through Chicago. The SS Badger runs a 60 mile trip across lake Michigan and was around 80 miles north of my unique hotel at Missy's.

On the way I stopped for a Dune Buggy ride on the massive dunes that line the shore. The best $16 I have spent, the 45 minute tour in a massive open top 16 seater truck. (Note to self; Southport Beach???)

Ludington overnite as the ferry left at 8am, and then a quiet 4 hours on the ship. Good news I had time to sort out the massive amount of photo & video files and found my DEALS¬GAP (Dragons Tail) vid hiding in a picture file. Way Hey 80)

More pics at facebook/roadtomanchester and facebook/bennetts_bike.

Arrived in Manitowoc, Wisconsin at mid-day where it had been raining hard and 72F (seemed really cold after 85F the day before). 2 miles in land....... 85F again.
Next stop another facebook invite from Cory Clark in Fond Du Lac.

Next blog, Chicken wings, Turbo bikes, Throwing Horse Shoes, Manc' Wisconsin and 105 degrees + 35MPH side winds. (Fun in the sun.....not !).

More Manchesters

It's been a couple of days since I have had internet access, so here goes.
Running out of man#2 New Hampshire, I went via Portmouth and Route 1 along the coast, North. Antique shops, fish restaurants, forests and great roads. Still raining though, I was aiming to get to Man#3 (Maine) 161 miles away in good time. As`I passed the above antique shop I turned around to take a closer look. Part shop part museum, Bill Johnson (no relation), colleccts anything old and has even bought complete buildings and relocated them on his plot. Signing his guest book, Bill played an original 78rpm record of King Edwards (Mrs Simpson) speech on a wind up gramophone. complete with large brass horn speaker. A great 30 minute break.

Manc#3 had little to offer so with a bag of nuts and a coffee, I retired to bed at 10pm after a quick photo.

Golf course,lake, petrol station....... rain.

Next day and a 7am start to get over to Vermont. The plan was to get to Mount Washington ride the road to the top (As recommended by Ben Slavin of NH)

The weather once again dropped a few millions of gallons on me, and getting nearer to the turn off, I stopped for fuel and breakfast to be told the road was closed. Had a nice chat with an avid MAN UTD fan. (can't go anywhere without footy being mentioned).

This was a long day with almost 300 miles covered . damp but not tired (Liar), I arrived at the MANCHESTER BAR & GRILL on the outskirts on Man #4 Vermont, at around 5.30pm. With a motel just across the road, Ben, Hank and a few customers enjoyed my tales, as I enjoyed Jerk Chicken and a few beers.

Bed` by 10pm. (Thanks to the above for the excellent time and MB&G hoody).

Tomorrow, Connecticut 127 miles if I go the right way !!!!

Wednesday: 5.45 am.

had a message from the Manchester Journal in VT, so went off into town for some breakfast. Up For Breakfast a great cafe fed me with a fry up (naughty but nice), coffee and pancakes. My savory tooth, can not handle sweet at that time in the morning, so i had a nibble then called it a day.

9am and a visit to the MJ office for interview and photos (see facebook).then off to Connecticut , in the rain.

The roads in this area are hit by frost in the winter, and a good pounding by the logging trucks and hold a few humps, bumps and potholes for the unwary biker. Wet, windy and slower than I would of liked, I arrived in CT (Man#5) at around 2pm, and met the Town Clerk and staff, the local Fire Chief popped over and a few photos and gifts changed hands. Great people and just another friendly welcome (Videos to follow). What a nice Manchester.

After a few pictures outside, I decided to carry on towards Man#6 New York 305 miles away. The rain had stopped and it was warmer and more humid, so I could take a layer off, and open the air vents on the jacket.

Managed to stay alive around Springfield in the rush hour / highway / nutter combination stakes.

Hitting the Turnpike to get some miles under the wheels, I headed north on R90 for about 100 miles and hit fog, rain and cold around 4.30pm. (Great, layer back on). Still managed a good turn of speed (only keeping up with the locals officer !), and arrived in Albany NY at around 7pm.That was a long day with about 300 miles done, which put some of my 400+ targets into perspective.

Its only 200 to Manchester, New York (before breakfast.)

Now 8.45 pm I need food, and sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

PS: Thanks to to 5000 visitors here on my blogette. Enjoy and see more at

facebook.com/roadtomanchester

I'm singing in the rain

Wet Wet Wet, thats my weather report for today.

Started the day with a 2nd shower as a big 4x4 hit a "road-lake" just beside me, and manage to send 40 gallons of water straight at me. That was 1 mile from the hotel, so add wet roads, and fully 10 gauge rain by 3pm, it was a great start.

Despite the overnight rain, I left Boston at 7am and was in Man#1 by 8am. Manchester-By-The-Sea. Breakfast of easy over eggs, bacon and coffee for $7.94 cheered me up, and a long chat with a local chap, made my breakfast an interesting one.

M-B-T-S as the locals call it, had the "by the Sea" title added to make sure the town was not confused with the New Hampshire , Manchester. I am not sure when this happened, but I bet it was when Sateleite Navigation Units became available. (Tee Hee)

This part of Massachusetts is fantastic and shows signs of a certain 'wealth' within the North East. Some of the best houses I have ever seen..... ever. And I have seen some nice ones.

Here are` some pics taken today, but my battery went early on. (the only one I didn't charge).

Between Manc #1 and #2 in New Hampshire, I set the Goldwing sat nav to 'avoid highways', which I took for meaning Freeways ...... oops !

The advantage, some great backroads, but the rain was getting heavier by the hour, and by 2pm total deluge, so on the outskirts of Manc' New Hamps, I pulled into the Best Western, (I know , getting soft !). Tomorrow a skip around the town, more photos and video, and then off to Manc#3 Maine.

Thanks to all invites from www.advrider.com forum (Brit Passin Thru).

And if you find youself in Boston...... go see..... by the sea.

More stuff on my facebook/roadtomanchester page.

(Missing Shaz, Lexi,Harley & Ruby XXX)

Goooooood Morning USA

http://youtu.be/5GClZJ5looY

Friday 13th 9am Manchester UK


Hello from Boston Massachusetts.
Well what a shock the last 48 hours have been. TV and Radio interviews, Newspaper stories. Over 3000 extra 'Red Dot' hits on my Revolver Globe. (see below right). Twitter followers up t0 1100. The Bennetts Biker Dream machine is really getting started.

After 21 hours on the go yesterday, I arrived in Boston around 10 pm local time (3am in my head).
I am collecting the bike today from Boston Honda, and starting the search for Manchesters just 30 miles down the road in Manchester-by-the Sea. (MA). New Hampshire, Maine then Vermont.

Over the next few days I will be adding photos, video and comments that can be seen here,or facebook/roadtomanchester or twitter/road2manchester or on facebook/bennetts

Thanks to all at then office for their help and support, and a quick hello to my friends and family back home.

LATER DUDES.... as no one has said around here. (yet !)