In June 2007 a father and his son from North Wales began a 10 month motorcycle journey around the American continent. It was the stuff of dreams, an experience second to none, at least it was supposed to be. Tragically the son was killed in a freak road accident, after only 32 miles. This is an account of the father continuing the journey for 16,000 miles alone, his struggle to come to terms with the tragic events, and the solace he finds between man, machine and nature.
Saturday 30 June 2007
Cali-foorn-ii-A!
It was amazing how well I managed to perk up on arrival. I'd only had about four hours sleep in over 48 hrs, yet when we finally got the hire car I was feeling excited, alert, and raring to go. I only felt slightly let down when we were given a damned Ford Focus as our hire car; all the way to the States and get a boring car like that. Though it was cool having completely empty roads, being so early in the morning; it made navigating out of LA really easy. I could just swing across any number of lanes to take the right route. I even swung a great U-turn on Lincoln Bld. We got to Ojai by 6.30 am, absolutely knackered. Cai grabbed some sleep but I hung on till evening to give myself the best chance of getting over jet lag.
Being welcomed into someone's family home like one of their close friends is such a nice experience. We're staying with Al and his family, even though we've never meet them before. Lovely prople and such a great little spot they have in the reaches of the Ojia (pronounced O-hi) valley. We've been given the guest quarters (doesn't that sound grand?), an old second world war Nissan hut. As you can see its a nice wee pad! They used to live in it themselves until they built their earthquake and fire resistant house.
Oh boy, is it hot here or what? And that's me saying that; the sun king, god of the tan. Its actually a pleasure to get up at 5.30-6.00 am to get some things done; even if it is only poring through motor trade mags for motorbikes. Though we feel we need to take things easy it isn't possible to leave searching for bikes till later. Its the most important aspect of our journey, so it takes priority over everything else. Even if we have to undertake the arduous task of reading bike adverts while resting in the shade.
Monday 25 June 2007
Leaving Party
Our appreciation to all who attended and the effort they all put in. Marilyn was on form and all our friends definately showed clearly what Hollywoood should be all about. Johnny Depp was such a nice guy, even if he did appear to be a bit effeminine. And I don't know what was going on between him and Velma, it all looked a bit dodgey from where I was; but oh, so sweet!
There was an abundance of Cleopatras and definatley not enough milk to go around. Despite the fear and loathing and there being more Kong than dong it went very well. A very well celebrated end of an era, thank you all and good luck.
There is now only two days left and so much still to sort out. Was it really wise to put my house on the market just before leaving? Who cares, I won't be here!
Saturday 23 June 2007
Introduction
Hi, I’m Les Kay and my travelling partner is Cai, my 18yr old son. We live in a small village in North Wales,
I’ve ridden bikes for thirty years. Mostly for the enjoyment but also as in instructor, this eventually detracted from my enjoyment. Cai’s early experiences never progressed beyond sitting on bikes under someone else’s control. That all changed a few months before his 17th birthday when he got an early Christmas/birthday present, a cheap and nasty Chinese copy of the XL125. But hey, it did the trick! We’d take it round the fields at a friend’s, playing at locking the rear wheel under control, falling off and slow delicate stuff. By his 18th birthday he’d passed his test and gone onto an old CB250 RSA, then a Cagiva 500 Canyon. The progression was timed to bring his riding standard and confidence up to scratch for starting this trip.
There is so much behind organising a long distance journey on a bike. It’s generally believed the better organised, the less that can go wrong; yet often it’s the things going wrong that make a journey more memorable. I find the unexpected generally provides more variety in life than the expected; it’s less tainted with your own preconceptions. By far the better way to ride is to keep your eyes and mind open; its not that you look for the obscure or profound experiences, just be aware of them when they occur. And boy do they occur!
The intention is to start in LA and head north along the coast road, Highway 1. Somewhere between
We’ve planned this for the last eighteen months. With only one week to go now it still doesn’t seem very real. There’s too much to get our heads round and too many people who want to know everything we plan to do. How do we know what we’re going to do? We won’t get bikes till we reach LA; which ones, we don’t know. We have our luggage and all the equipment we’re taking packed! Now all there is left to do is pack the rest of my household goods away and throw a massive party to say cheerio to all our friends. Aren’t all trips started with a healthy hangover? I hope not!