Tonight is the night before departure, I think I’ve got everything sorted, but if I haven’t so be it,! I’ll just have to deal with it later. I have to admit to an amount of trepidation. I’ve not done a trip like this before on my own and, as it was a trip I originally planned to do with Simone, I’m wondering how I will feel about it once I get on the road and how my emotions will affect me. Logic tells me I’ll be fine 99.99% of the time, but there’s still that niggling doubt about how I’ll feel in the circumstances.

Today is my birthday and Adam is going to cook me a meal by way of a birthday present, I’m looking forward to that, and therefore there’s not too much to do tonight as the packing is done (apart form the stuff I need to pack last minute tomorrow morning) so I can have a relaxing night, I hope, as tomorrow will be a long day!

Just a few words about the bike I’ve hired. It’s a Harley Davidson® Electra Glide®, a 103 cu in (1690 cc) V twin motorcycle with all mod cons: screen, leg shields, six gears, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, fitted luggage, comfortable seat, radio and of course a CB radio! It’s not my normal sort of ride, but it would be rude to do Route 66 on anything but a Harley, and this is the model for the job!

I can’t guarantee that ‘mine’ will be blue, but the pic above should give you a general idea of the sort of thing I’ll be getting my leg over for three weeks or so!

It’s been a busy week. On the third ‘phone call I managed to finally get the phone unlock information. It appears that they had a wrong e-mail address for me so eventually texted it to me instead. I had been told that I would be given an unlock code to enter when I put a new SIM in the ‘phone. What actually arrived were instructions to connect to iTunes and do a fresh software install after putting a new SIM in. A bit of a problem as I won’t get a new SIM until I get to the US, and I cant install iTunes on the netbook I taking with me. I ended up cutting down an old standard SIM to iPhone size and then doing the restore (which took hours). The good news is that my ‘phone is now unlocked.

I’ve ordered my new bathroom suite and arranged to have it fitted whilst I’m away, I’ve sorted out the arrangements for Adam’s 21st birthday, which is just after I get back, and generally sorted out the little things necessary to ensure things keep ticking along smoothly whilst I’m away. Today saw me doing the bulk of my packing. I was sure that the British Airways baggage allowance was 2 checked bags, but decided that I should check anyway. It was a good job I did, as the allowance is only 1 bag! After a bit of repacking and cramming and a small rethink on what is REALLY necessary I’m down to one bag. As Sarah said, all I really need in reality is my passport, driving license and a credit card!

I wonder what I’ve forgotten to pack though?

I had a right result yesterday. I’d been thinking about the best way of sorting out my communications. I’d found that using my UK phone in the ‘States was going to cost me £1.35 / min to make a call and £1.00 / min to receive a call with somnthing even more outrageous charged for data. I was trying to work out whether it would be better to have my iPhone unlocked or buy a cheap pay as you go ‘phone in the US. I found that a ‘proper’ unlock of my iPhone was going to cost about £55 but then I realised that (a) My initial contract was over and (b) I’d paid cash for my ‘phone to replace the one I lost, so I called the ‘phone company and they agreed to unlock my ‘phone for free. RESULT! Now I can get a US pay as you go SIM and calls home will be nearer £0.25 / min. Happy days.

After finding out that the hotel chain no longer do the Golden Gate Greeter Program I realised that I didn’t need to book 3 nights in the hotel, so have cancelled the first night. This will give me more flexibility on the road. The new itinerary is therefore:

Also I’ve contacted the bike hire company to see if I can get the route for Route 66 pre loaded into the sat-nav, however they’ve referred me to their self-ride tours in LA. I can’t quite see how people in LA are going to be able to load a route into a sat-nav in Chicago though. The reply e-mail also helpfully pointed out that they have moved location! I wonder if they were planning on telling me before I collected / attempted to collect the bike?

Whilst I will have a sat-nav whilst I’m over there I’m still going to be mainly relying on maps as you can’t just enter ‘Route 66’ into a sat-nav! I’d planned on taking my tank bag, which has a handy transparent pocket on top where you can put a map, but suddenly started wondering if it would fit on an Electra Glide tank.Therefore during my lunch hour today I popped down to the local Harley dealer to have a look. I think it will fit, so I should be able to keep my chosen route reference handy and in view.

I also took the opportunity to check out the luggage capacity try the seat. The top box is of truly enormous proportions, so I should hopefully be able to find a place for everything and won’t have to start strapping things to the rear seat! As for the seat, it was like an armchair – very comfortable, though I expect I’ll still have the dreaded ‘numb bum’ by the end of a long days ride.

Just over two weeks to go now and the excitement is starting to build!

I became rather dispirited yesterday as I found out that the hotel I’d booked in San Francisco (SF) no longer participated in the ‘Golden Gate Greeter’ program.

When Adam and I visited SF in 2007 we had a personalised tour of SF thrown in as a ‘freebie’ by the hotel chain. The scheme, called ‘Golden Gate Greeters’ was run by the hotel chain and matched guests with volunteer guides of similar interests who then showed the guests around their city. For us it was a highlight of our trip and Bob, our ‘Golden Gate Greeter’, showed us parts of SF that we would never have found ourselves, as well as explaining the culture and history of SF in an enthusiastic and informed way. It was the thought that I’d benefit from this little ‘extra’ that made me book with the same chain again.

Finding out that the hotel chain no longer ran the program was a disappointment, however Adam suggested that I contacted Bob directly, and a Google search showed he was on LinkedIn so I shot of a ‘connect’ request. Within 6 hours Bob got back to me saying he would be delighted to meet again and we have now made arrangements to meet when I get to SF. I hope that Bob will accept a meal this time as thanks for his welcome and introduction to his fine city.

The kindness of people can be wonderful. I was at work this morning and a colleague came up to me proffering a Route 66 guide on loan for the duration of my trip (Drew Knowles’ Route 66 Adventure Handbook). I’d bought this book a couple of years ago when my wife and I had first started planning the trip, but had subsequently ‘misplaced’ it, so the chance to borrow a copy was very welcome. Thanks Tony, a very thoughtful act

On a practical note I’ve finally got round to re-waterproofing (I hope!) my waterproofs (which weren’t on my ride back from the TT last month). As usual I managed to waterproof almost all, but not QUITE all, of my waterproofs before the stuff ran out, so will need to get a second tin to finish off my boots. At least it will give me a chance to give my over-suit a ‘second coat’!

Its all starting to become very real now and I’m starting to get very excited!

Although I’ve been planning this trip in an abstract sort of way since last August the only concrete planning and preparation I’d done was to research Route 66, book the flights, book the motorcycle hire and book hotels for the first and last few days, so today I started thinking about things in earnest.

I started by checking out the Route 66 forum at http://forum.historic66.com/ and making a few notes to go with the others I’ve been making from time to time. It’s a real good source of information with a friendly, and knowledgeable, bunch of regular contributors.

Reading the forum helped me in mapping out a provisional itinerary:

As I’m only going to use this as a rough guide the only things on it set in stone are the flights!

Planning has been going on for about 9 months but I’m starting to panic a bit as there seems so much left to do! However when I sit down and analyse it, there really isn’t much that I can do at this stage. I’ve formulated itineraries, but they’ll prob go out of the window when I get there .I’ve reserved my rental bike, booked my flights and first and last hotels and applied for (and got; after a panic) my ESTA. I have  my airport transfer booked in Chicago, but still haven’t booked my SF transfer. I MAY get round to doing it before I leave!

My wife and I were planning to ride Route 66 in 2011, it had long been her dream, unfortunately that wasn’t to be. In August 2012 I’ll be riding Route 66 on my own on a Harley Davidson® Electra Glide®. I’ll try to keep this blog updated with my progress and adventures on a daily basis as I go, internet connection willing!

Since my Route 66 trip I’ve added blogs from other trips, and will continue to do so, so keep checking back from time to time! Continue reading →