Atlas mountains (Shutterstock)
This is a trip I have been thinking about for a while. But I didn’t just want to drive to an airport and fly to Morocco. I wanted to use my favourite transport mode - my beloved motorcycle. And the KTM Super Adventure is well up for the task.
I have only made a very approximate plan of my route but it would basically look something like this: ride to Folkestone, Channel Tunnel to Calais, then ride through France but not planning to stop much.
Westfield London (Shepherds Bush) Every so often I do need to get to London but I have been warned by other motorcycle riders to be VERY careful when riding in the big smoke. They can quite easily pinch your bike when you are on it. Now a few years ago I found parking at the Westfield shopping centre car park very handy and relatively cheap when using a car. But did you know you could park your motorcycle there as well?
I sat there on a warm sunny Tuesday, early afternoon, and my examiner just left. I sat there holding a card. A card that said
Congratulations on becoming an IAM RoadSmart Master.
In their own words this is the “highest UK civilian riding standard”. Quite an honour.
How did I get here?
Me on a bike between Bromyard and Worcester (Biker Pics)
It started in 2019 when I decided to join the IAM and the local riding group.
I had a bit of an eventful day today. Set of to hike up Pen y fan , had to find a way out of town as there were was a road closure and ended up going a way I don’t usually use. Somewhere on that trip I must have ridden over something sharp. By the time I got to Leominster about 20 minutes away I felt the bike being unstable.
Moving to Herefordshire was one of the more challenging things to do but its lovely to see how beautiful the countryside can be.
All Saints’ Church, Brockhampton
Near Bromyard
Malvern Hills, Ragged Stone
Had a great trip to the Algarve recently and rented a Honda Shadow motorcycle for a week. On one of the last few days of my stay there I planned a trip to the south-western tip of Portugal - Cabo de São Vicente and Sagres. However all did not go well from my start in Albufeira. As I knew I was going to be on the road for at least an hour, perhaps 1.
As the year has been coming to an end and winter seems just round the corner I decided to fill some of my inter-locuming days with a bit of biking. Hired a bike but this time something a little more comfy for the longer journeys - a proper touring bike with heated arm rests and seats would you believe it!! This time I rented a touring bike from the same Manchester rental company I used before .
Map of everywhere I stopped or slept. Don’t have a full record of every road I took as Google Maps didn’t have that feature working very well back then.
I would admit the headline is a little sensational but at the time of driving through Oregon I did think there was something odd about the Beaver state. In my many years of driving round Europe and now the USA I have found that all petrol stations have turned into self-service affairs. You get there, you you fill up your tank, you pay and then you drive off.
But in Oregon - oh nooooo.
End of the trip in Chicago, Illinois
Today marked the first week since I hit the road. It seems like ages since I departed Chicago and I must say the trip has given me the desired effect and changed my perspective on biking and bikers. Long I thought them to be criminal gang associated thugs. But the truth really is far faaar from that misconception. They are a really friendly bunch of people that will always help each-other in trouble.
