New York City

Barring an incident on the 70 mile ride from Southampton to my house when Des arrives back in the UK this is officially the finishing post.
So then here I go for the final time. Or maybe not?
As not to spoil my consistency I was the last to leave but actually I was pretty much on time as everyone else had left very early much was their keenness to get to the finish line. So, again over went my right leg and I fired up Des which no doubt woke up anyone within 200 meters! Freshly serviced from the night before he cruised us along a very nice and steady ride to the 'Big Apple.' It's funny, the many big mile days that had gone before made this 140 mile ride seem like my 12 mile commute to work. As the GPS indicated that NY was getting nearer and the traffic increased as it does when nearing all cities my thoughts turned to how I would react to seeing and then getting to Brooklyn Bridge and realising the end of what has of course been an amazing trip and an ambition of mine over many years. Watching 'The Long Way Round' the two guys had admitted to crying in their helmets as they crossed the bridge as their emotions came to the fore so I was interested to see how I felt about it. The imposing NY skyline loomed large on the horizon and I felt a little twinge of something but it was more in awe of the site of the Empire State Building surrounded by loads of other huge buildings than anything else. They got closer and closer until I passed through the Lincoln Tunnel and into NY proper. This was my second time in NY but the first one didn't really count as it was a yellow cab ride between the airports JFK and Newark, in think fog. Anyway, it was just as I thought it would be, full of yellow cabs, police directing the busy traffic at junctions, hot dogs sellers, people everywhere, neon lights and I have to say, one of my most favorite places ever. Brooklyn Bridge. I made it. Stood up on the foot pegs as I crossed the bridge and even opened up Des to drown out a load of noisy demonstrators that were crossing on foot which made me smile. But that was it really. No tears, no emotions. Maybe I am a bit cold (as I've been told) but all this stuff I've read/heared about how this was going to be 'a life changing experience' etc was rubbish. It was just me, doing what I love doing, riding my bike and discovering new places and experiences. Someday I'll do it again...

Catskills

So with the finishing post now in sight I left the Canadian side of Niagra falls later than everyone else and made the 300 mile + ride to a little place in a national park called Catskills. The first 220 miles were all motorway/freeway/interstate or whatever and were of course boring, every one of them. The last 70 miles however were very nice indeed. The roads and landscape were very much like a nice Sunday ride near my home. Twisty quite roads, through forests that were losing their leaves and all in all very pleasant. I even got to see an elusive Amish person, complete with black carriage and horse, hat and silly beard (not worn by the the horse!) So, I made Catskills which in truth was in the middle of absolutely nowhere but no matter as everyone was well and truly thinking about the following days final 140 mile ride to New York's Brooklyn Bridge for photos, then onto the shippers and finally the farewell party.

Baseball in Cleveland and a visit to Niagra Falls

Cleveland. A sort of mini, wanabee Chicago on one of the great lakes but again not a bad looking place. Most of the group and I headed off to see a basaball game between the Cleveland Cheifs and the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately by the time we all got out and in, the game was in the seventh innings of nine! No matter though, it was rubbish. Again, to be fair though if an American came to the UK to watch an equivelant cricket game with an empty stadium I doubt they'd be immpressed either. After that, beer and bed.
Out of bed then and after a quick visit to a proper old school barbers for a much needed haircut it was time to head up to Niagra falls. Only 220 miles but it rained for most of it so not a great ride. Arrived at the hotel near the falls and two big disappointments. The first being that the falls were a bit of let down, not as I'd imagined them to be, (partly made up of memories from the film 'Superman' circa 1978) but even worse was the discovery that I was only 120 miles from Toronto. Where my clubbing friends Sarah and Hani live, currently with tickets for Tiesto in a few days time (I met them at a fantastic Tiesto night in Ibiza). So close! A bike service followed by 330 miles tommorrow to Catskills and no prior planning of this recent re route by me made it not really possible. Enjoy S&H and remember...London early next year, for the Ministry!

Chicago

Before Chicago, Chamberlain and Winona were visited. All I saw of my out of town motel in Chamberlain was the pool, sauna and spa as I arrived so late! Winona though was a nice little town. I joined Tim's Tours for the evening for a few beers although sadly BJ was having to work with mechanic Werner in helping to repair his now paralysed bike. The 'camchain tensioner guide' is broken and without repair it's unridable as further riding could result in catastrophic engine failure. Happily though Stacy 1 along with Stacy 2 and Melissa helped lift our subdued feelings with their drinking song about a body part of theirs! It ended up being a great night but again, I forgot my camera!
So Chicago then. A very nice place, clean, impressive sky scrapers, great food and restaurant's (had a MONSTER steak with a side of much needed veg, in this case a head and a half of broccoli!) Day two saw the group head over to Dental's sisters fantastic penthouse apartment, all $2.5 million's worth for a mini party. Oh and the hired chef cooked up an entree of...get this, a fig sliced in half, stuffed with Gorgonzola, all wrapped up in a bacon rasher and then BBQ'd to perfection. Divine.

Mount Rushmore and the Badlands

The last of the long open landscape ridden and finally some interesting riding! To be fair, my earlier description of this place was perhaps a little OTT. I've since met some lovely people (not obese) and been to some great places. I guess this was in part due to me starting to fall into 'New York mode,' with thoughts now starting to creep in about the nearing finish line and life returning back to normal. I even began a mileage countdown on the GPS to NY. One of the problems for me has been due to the high milage days that have needed to be ridden. Being 300-400 long I've been opting to take the 'Interstate' for six or seven hours rather than have a ten or twelve hour day on slower roads. Still riding on my own, it has been a little lonely but this day in question was fun as I hooked up with Simon on his BMW 650 Dakar for the following...
Left our 'Super8' (but alas no Tab, Captain) motel and headed up the 20 miles to Mount Rushmore for a quick look and photo. Met Tim's Tours enroute with BJ in the middle of cutting his chain off. It had reached the end of its usable life, come off and damaged his wheel. Could've been very nasty had he not have been going relatively slowly uphill. Simon then turned up also alone and after an early lunch off we went...First up the rollercoaster/scalectrics track of a road called 'The Needles Highway.' This crazy road was 13 miles of shear fun, with very tight hairpin followed by steep climb, drop, tight hairpin, tunnel, hairpin, bridge and so on. Great fun, especially with my bike (now with a round front wheel) so well suited to these types of roads and roaring like a Spitfire past the slow harleys cruising along and unable to corner. So with big grins inside our crash helmets next up was 'The Badlands National Park.' Another great road with amazing views a long long way across the landscape from a canyon like, rocky and mysterious place. If anyone's interested in more about Mount Rushmore or the Badlands then Wikipedia will do a far better job of it than me!

Boredom in Billings and beyond...

I'll start to write this but I doubt there'll be much more to add as things are a little boring right now. Like many I've watched and read Ewan and Charlie's 'Long Way Round' but was surprised and disappointed in that the whole of North America seemed to make up no more than 10% of the trip on TV or book form. I can now see why. The vast open plains of Montana and now Wyoming are pretty featureless and the 350-400 mile days are a drag. Highlights on the road have been non existant. I'd always dreamt of riding the west coast to east coast of America and unless I'm on the wrong road I must have missed something. Everywhere is the same with small pointless settlements, very odd people, nasty food and beer, larger souless towns, and big ugly vehicles. I did go to the 'Battle Of Little Big Horn' monument today though, but even that was a cemetry with some plagues overlooking some fields and hills. General Custer seemed to be the main draw for some uninteresting reason. I'm not that big on American history, or maybe American history just isn't all that big? Mount Rushmoor tomorrow should be worth a photo though at least...

Jasper National Park and Radium Hot Springs

Next up then those two for what looks like the last of any nice riding roads until NY. JNP is a beautiful place no question, with mountains, glaciers, wildlife, lakes and rivers. Having ridden through thousands of miles of this over the past three weeks it did have a 'ruins' feel about it though (as in seen one seen them all). The area within the park where I stayed had a very ski resort feel about it but being out of the summer season and not in the ski season yet things were a bit quiet. Plenty of other bikes around though but Harleys. Oh dear. Generally I've found all riders of any bikes to be interested in bikes as a whole regardless of type (tourer, sports bike, trail etc) but the Harley cruiser genre seems to be very insular. They, no doubt, frown at our dirty, tall bikes with bent wheels (now fixed, thanks Werner) and have no concept of riding on anything other than perfect tarmac, in the US. While we laugh at their leather chaps, Harley Davidson t-shirt, belt buckle, jacket, jeans etc and of course their slow, heavy, chrome plated bikes that only ever see the sun. As for RHS well, again a beautiful place but as the name suggests it has some hot springs. I joined Tim's Tour for the night and visited the large outdoor 'hot spring' although I'm not convinced. It was no different to a normal, chlorine smelling swimming pool albeit shallower and outside. That's not right is it?