Rocky Mount to Edison (near New York)
441 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 14,696
Another early start today as we want to get the miles done for an easy day tomorrow. The day started a little wet but the forecast said it would clear later. It’s a lot cooler today, about 15 degrees and only a small amount of moisture in the air. After our first fuel and coffee stop the next destination was Washington DC for a cuppa with Mr President. Unfortunately we couldn’t get very close to his house so no cuppa! We saw a few sights then headed off in the direction of New York. We drove on the New Jersey Turnpike to avoid Philadelphia and we made good progress. The day ended at 6.30pm near Newark (the final destination for the bikes).
Wednesday 12th May 2010
Auburn to Rocky Mount
566 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 14,255
We had an early start this morning, after our breakfast at The Waffle House we were on the road for 7am. Breakfast consisted of eggs, toast and grit, yes grit is actually food. Apparently it’s a southern thing, it looked like watery semolina and tasted of cardboard.
The interstate roads here are excellent, good quality, well sign posted and no traffic jams yet. But they are incredibly boring! Lunch was at a “Wendy’s”, similar to Wimpy. I have felt tired all day, at times struggling to keep my eyes open.
We stopped at about 5.30pm, accommodation is easy to find as it is sign posted at the exits on the interstates. A Days Inn tonight.
Tuesday 11th May 2010
New Orleans to Auburn
350 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 13,689
A late start today because we were waiting for the bikes to be serviced (and we went out on the town last night). Our destination was Atlanta about 450 miles away. Because of the late start and feeling rather tired, not hung over just tired, we only managed 350 miles which got us to a place called Auburn. Martins’ bike has developed a problem with his headlight, the fuse has blown and we’ve not had any time to research why, so we couldn’t ride in the dark.
Monday 10th May 2010
Houston to New Orleans
362 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 13,339
We started from the right side of Houston as we passed through it yesterday. Easy riding again on these long, straight sign posted roads. Our first port of call in New Orleans was Chuck House Motor Sports to get our bikes serviced. We found the place quite easily after only a few wrong turns. We had a good chat with Chuck and agreed that just an oil and filter change would get us to New York. I also had my front tyre changed. We left the bikes with him for us to pick up the next day.
Sunday 9th May 2010
Brownsville to Houston
362 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 12,977
We didn’t start too early today due to the late night last night. Good progress was made on the road, motorways all the way. We ended up riding into the middle of Houston which was a bit of a concern. After asking a cop for directions we were soon on the right road. We stopped in a Comfort Inn on the outskirts of Houston.
Saturday 8th May 2010
Veracruz to Brownsville (USA)
640 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 12,615
We left early just after 6am. The roads are a pain where they go through built up areas because there are speed humps which you really do have to slow down for. We really wanted to get into the USA today so we pushed our selves hard to get to the border. In the afternoon the roads improved so we didn’t have to keep slowing down.
We eventually got to the border at Matamoros at about 8.30pm. We went over the bridge and started the process of getting into the USA. Things didn’t quite go to plan. We hadn’t got the bikes stamped out of Mexico so we had to go back; luckily it was only the other side of the bridge. After being pissed about by the short fat jobs worth in the American customs we were in! We went into town and got the first hotel we could find.
Friday 7th May 2010
Salina Cruz to Veracruz
320 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 11,975
The first day of leaving the group. After getting in very late last night some people had already left in the morning before we got up so we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to many people. It was quite sad to leave the group after nearly 8 weeks. It was a good ride today although very hot again. We got into Veracruz and started the search for a motorbike shop for Martin to get new tyres. We found a few but none of them had the right size. Mission aborted, and the decision was made that his tyres would get him to New York.
Thursday 6th May 2010
Quezaltenango to Salina Cruz (Mexico)
370 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 11,655
Border crossing day. The Mexican border was a nightmare, we had to get all our documents copied and then wait hours for them to process the paperwork. We didn’t leave the border until gone 5pm. With nearly 300 miles to go it was going to be a late night. I still have a problem with my headlight and while fiddling with it I made it worse. At a petrol stop with a lot of sweating and swearing I managed to botch it so that I could see the road in the dark.
We reached the hotel at about midnight. This was the last day of riding with the group.
Wednesday 5th may 2010
Copan Ruinas to Quezaltenango (Guatemala)
275 Miles
Total PanAm Miles 11,285
At the time of writing this (1 week later) I have no recollection of what happened today.
After allot of careful consideration about the trip and the poor organisation of it, I have decided to separate from the group. Tomorrow Martin and I will be going on a different route to New York. Mr Sanders’ plan is to get to Alaska at any cost. The daily mileages will be very high and the routes likely to be extremely boring. Enough is enough! There are other reasons which I won’t go into here.
I’m looking forward to seeing my family who I’ve missed very much.
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