I like watching it because I like looking at the scenery etc but as a presenter I / we find Henry Cole highly irritating,although I am sure that he is a very pleasant in person .
He mostly seems to pick the most inappropriate bikes for each trip and then moans about their handling,lack of tank range or getting more wet than normal because it has no mudguards.
He constantly says things like"the road beckons" refers to the views as Vista's,' Gassing up' when putting in petrol and distances as 'Clicks'. He has had a dig at Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman for having a huge entourage on their trips yet has a follow up camera car and consequently never has to carry any of his own luggage....................I could go on but I won't.
Anyway,what better excuse than to put some pics up of our trip (I did threaten that I would do this quite some time ago) across the United States.
It was back in about 2008 that we shipped our two Guzzi's to New Jersey for a short 3 weeks and a few days trip (you can knock off the few days due to a hold up with getting Customs clearance)
There was no properly planned route and so no booked in advance hotels. To keep a long story very short we had a vague idea encompassing a few bits of Route 66 and ending up in California due in part to the bikes being shipped back from the Long Beach area.
When we finally set off,on a Friday afternoon, we headed down towards Maryland where we stayed the night and the next day went through West Virginia into Kentucky for our second nights stop. Then from there we found all back roads into 'Dexter' Missouri
That night we had a very heavy storm and although dry the next morning the forecast wasn't good (we had been weather watching on the news all the time because of the amount of Tornadoes hitting a lot of areas but in particular Oklahoma) Rather than continue West we decided that a little further South into Arkansas was the best idea. We were lucky as even as we rode on dry roads it was like a corridor of blackness on either side of us. We went past the city of Little Rock and a little further on turned right into and through 'Hot Springs National Park' After we had been riding for quite some while and I'd already gone onto reserve some 20mls previous I started to get a little concerned as all we could still see was endless trees.
Luckily we came out into a clearing and a petrol station and then half a mile further a small town and hotel.
Enough of my ramblings for now,here are some pics.
A weirdo in New York
Oh no,it's just Tony !
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| Fairly sure this is in West Virginia |
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| In Kentucky ? All I remember is being on small back roads and just before pulling up to a T junction happened to look to our right |
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| Now I would have said that this was definitely Kentucky though I would have thought this pic should be before the one above...........I'm confused ! I reckon it's after leaving the Louisville area on state highway 60 |
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| Fuel stop and this might already be in Arkansas. Definitely after leaving Dexter Missouri and on our way to Little Rock/Hot Springs |
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| This was opposite out hotel where we stayed (Heavener,Oklahoma)after coming through Hot Springs. Sadly it wasn't open for breakfast We'd had another proper downpour overnight and it was still raining lightly. The only morning that we put our waterproof's on |
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| Next door to the hotel |
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| Same street and just down the road from the hotel and the Sonic burger place. We walked past it the night before on our quest for food. There were no lights on but the front door was open and all you could see was a pair of white legs sitting in a chair in the hallway. |
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| So you think your house is small This was next door to the one in the previous picture |
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| Good food! Already in Oklahoma and the waterproofs were already off and not needed again. We were just leaving here but upon going in a cowboy was leaving............well he had the boots,hat and jeans on but no horse. |
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| Maysville Oklahoma |
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| Somewhere in Oklahoma. Everywhere had been fairly quiet because it was Veterans weekend. Why everywhere looks to be closed on what must be a Tuesday is anybody's guess |
Bet you can't wait for the next instalment eh ?
Texas and our first bit of Route 66.............whoo hoo !
