Where do i start

We start heading West away from the tourist areas and expensive hotels of New York and Washington DC, and we are on our own….free from the familiar routines, our comfort zone……..but still with a plan and restricticted Russian visa’s that mean we have got to keep pushing West, each day, every day, weekdays, weekends, wet days…just keep pushing……

At first we were firing on one cylinder, starting late finishing late, making daft mistakes, going off the planned route spending too much time  looking for somewhere to stay….

Slowly the machine gets slicker, we start early and finish early (well most of the time) most nights we sleep well and are done by 10pm (real hard core rock and roll lifestyle eh?)

Were on Mountain time…

I have been blown away by the kindness and generosity of the people of America we have met so far,

different people in different States, different backgrounds, many have gone out of there way to help us with somewhere to stay, give us directions, make donations to the Charity and all are just generally interested in what we are doing and how far we have come….

….one lady warned me “not all Americans are good you know” which is of course true, but the people we have met so far have been amazing…

Thank you America:-)

Husky 701

This is a bike that can do it all, keep up with the traffic on the Highway, very good on the trails, very good on fuel, the perfect bike then…so far so good. We still debate this on evenings ( Gary would have liked a BMW)..

..but for me this bike is perfect and i am getting to know it and its limits as I learn different surfaces in different weather conditions. 

Need a diet..

Well the 701 would be if it was not so overloaded, most days we look at what we have on board and find it hard to get rid of equipment, when your on the road for this long you do need a lot of stuff, different stuff for different seasons.

However there is little point struggling and not enjoying the ride, in fact its is not safe….as we head further West the trails are starting to get more demanding and we need to sort the weight issue out once and for all (again)

Today I dropped the bike on a steep trail just because of its sheer mass and lack of momentum (plus limited technique of course)

Crunch time then, and its the clothes that have to go….

Camping is cool…

We did a lot or research on equipment over the last year, took advice from experianced travellers etc.

As a result i have never been more happy camping. Its like an insurance policy, you may stay in a Motel but if you are in a really remote area you still have something, we have an MSR tent that is quick to put up even if its raining and we are getting better and better at setting up camp. We have stayed in some totally amazing places, and wake up to breathtaking sunrises…..excellent.

This also keeps the cost down as America is not cheap.

Trans American Trail

The TAT starts in a town called Damascus, VA right next to a Subway would you believe….

….and they dont even know. We are on the trail now and will be for the next five weeks.

The trail is marketed as an off road route across America, this might have been true in the past and still might be true ahead of us, so far its been a 50/50 mixture of paved and unpaved roads…BUT I am not bothered by this, it kind of misses the point….the route takes you through back country America where tourist dont often go and British Tourist even less so. This is the real America folks and I love it!

This did not hit home till we went into Little Rock for tyres…Little Rock is not little any more, it is HUGE….(seems bigger than Bristol) after all that time in rural America it was a little overwhelming! Great then next day to be back on our familiar trails.

We use the roll maps from Sam, it seems to work well, maybe not as easy as GPX files for the SAT NAV but we both work well as a team and after a slow start some weeks ago we dont go “off track” that ofter now.

The trails are on occasions stunning and as we head West the geography is changing, the trails are becoming more remote, this means we need to be more prepared when it comes to Gas (sorry Petrol) and Food, distances are huge here and its easy to get caught out.

We saw a Rattler

I dont think so said Mike, I have walked these hills for 40 years and not seen one, Gary said “oh well we took a picture”, he showed Mike. “Well blow me down thats certainly a Rattle Snake”

Gary spots stuff all the time, and I would probably be riding totally unaware but fear not as he rides up front a hand points and directs my eyes! And its mostly snakes guys…..loads of them!!