My Travel Adventures, Cars , and Motorcycles: Another day, another adventure!

All packed and setting off on 8 weeks of motorcycle adventure!! :)

Sept. 7th

Dear Family & Friends,

Another great couple of days on our adventure.. Tuesday was a relaxed day. Basically we did a bit of site seeing in London, got caught up on our sleep, and packed our motorcycles for 8 weeks of riding. The day was best described by my riding buddy Duane, so here it is his words:

“Today we took the Underground train to the center of London for some culture shock. It was a rather warm and humid day with lots of humanoid activity all around. We experienced quaint sidewalk cafes, ticky tacky shops in Covent Garden, and upscale boutiques in abundance. From wide boulevards to delightful alleys and small shops, it's a busy and thriving place.

Jason was tired from all the travel and walking so he took a break whilst I entered Westminster Abby, the worlds most exclusive cemetery. Authors, Kings, Queens, nobles galore are buried in the floors and walls of this ginormous Abbey. Queen Liz I is entombed as well as Charles Darwin. All the Kings and Queens since 1308 were coronated there, in the same chair. One wonders how many farted in that chair during extended ceremony. Just sayin.

I think I am finally understanding the options in using the Underground; it's quite efficient. The city would be challenged to function without the Underground, and Taxies.

Tired after all the walking and moving about, we decided to ride our bikes over to the Ace Cafe this evening, somewhere in the urban jungle. This is normally an easy commute but we, being astute travelers, decided to attempt this journey during rush hour. It was as they say, interesting.

In California I am used to lane splitting with my bike when traffic is slow; it's now officially legal. In London the cars do it to the bikes. If you do not have your bike centered in a lane, signifying ownership, a car will stick it's nose up next to you and try and take your lane. (Well hello there! No you can't have my lane) They are all quite polite about it but they are aggressive, and quite skilled at driving briskly, skills honed after years of driving in London.

I must say that Jason is quite good at navigating this seemingly random maize of streets. I don't know how he does it. If I lose visual contact with him I will have hail a cab and come back for the bike another day. There is no discernible pattern to the streets.

When we arrived at the Ace Cafe I was feeling a bit peckish so we ordered food and soaked in the scene from this famous biker hangout. While decompressing I realized that a 35 mile journey in London traffic has a hemorrhoidal equivalency of a 200 mile journey elsewhere. I was knackered. I usually measure my progress in pints per 100 miles. A 200 mile journey on a bike earns me 2 pints to help foster amnesia for the negative parts. So I figure I earned two pints in 35 miles, about 18 miles per pint; not bad.

I have requests to revive my 🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽 for public Loos along the way. In general I will give London a 🚽🚽🚽 rating, nice but not perfect. I would give the coveted 🚽🚽🚽🚽 rating except for the lack of paper towels. All Loos have those high speed dryers with a motor out of a Bell Jet Ranger, blowing the water off your hands. If one needs to wash the dirty city off one's oily face there is no way of drying unless you crouch on the floor and direct your face to the 100+ mph warm wind and risk having your eyeballs blown out of their sockets. The noise to your ears will get you a disability retirement. Ergo, 🚽🚽🚽 not 🚽🚽🚽🚽.

Back at Aubrey's house tonight, a quick pint, a quiet room, and my thoughts to post on email.

Tomorrow is the countryside and a move closer to Goodwood for this coming weekend of Classic car racing.”

Back to me…. Wednesday we set off out of London. Surviving the London traffic was probably the most daunting part of our entire trip. Once we left the M25 freeway and headed out to the country I sighed a bit of relief. We headed down to to the south coast of England to the estate of Lord Montegue, Earl of Beaulie. He has one of the most incredible car collections in the world located on his private estate. (Did you expect us to do something cultural??). Just riding through his estate was worth the trip. An incredible collection of cars and motorcycles. The collection also now features my friends 917 Porsche which was worth the price admission alone. For lots of photos of the museum go to my blog.

From there we rode through the New Forest (not sure why it is named that) and finished off the day staying in the port city of Southhampton. A couple of glasses of good red wine, a delightful dinner and we were all in a happy place.. :)

Tomorrow we head over to the estate of Lord March, Earl of Goodwood for a private tea and Cricket match in his estate. After that we head over to a party / BBQ that our friend Aubrey invited us to. So all and all tomorrow should be a delightful day. Only about an hour of riding and lots of partying.

As some of you may now I am a regular at the Blackhorse Coffee shop where meet a group of car friends almost every day. In my absence Bonnie has taken it upon herself to keep my chair warm. (what a sweetheart). As you may know I also tend to post photos of what I drive or ride that day on FACEBOOK. Bonnie got me today with this incredible car she says she picked up while I am gone. Got to love a women who buys one of these….

What a great wife!! A LaFerrari waiting for me when I return.. :)

Until I get WiFi again signing out and looking forward to more exciting days.

Jason

We met this gentlemen in Leicester Sq. at a model car show I have been going to for the last 40 years. He works there part time and is an actor and acting teacher by trade. We got to talking and found out we have a lot in common, we both love Woody Allen movies, were both car guys, and we are both Jewish. Small world. One of the great things about travel is meeting new people all over the world and making new friends..

The typical iconic London photo..

No trip to London is complete without a photo of Big Ben.. :)

One of my favorite hang outs, the Ace Cafe. A major happening place in London for car and motorcycle people.

Notice I am sticking to my diet,,, so far..Salad for me and burger and fries for Duane. I am doing my best not to gain back any weight on this trip! ;)