A woman's perspective of the trip...

Hi everybody, Lyndis here, pillion to Chris riding R66. Ive been asked to add to the blog with a female view point on this trip. Hi Jen and Jacs I think this may be my 15 minutes of fame at last.

Our day begins with what I call the motor bike dash. This is twenty odd people running out of the hotel to pack their crap, no, sorry i mean personnel possessions on to their bike, no mean feat for the two ups. We have designer luggage, black bin liners. Having watched this event for the last 10 days I think it would make a great TV game show, so any program produces out there get in touch. Despite this daily trauma ever body smiles and looks happy, my guess is that we are all insane. Who but a mad person would ride 2 to 3 hundred miles a day on a hard motor bike seat, on the wrong side of the road and pay money to do it.

Next comes the petrol stop, this is quite an event trying to fill up all the bikes. We have tried using credit cards but as we have no zip code they don’t work so we pay up, fill up, then collect our change. People from all over the place ride this route, so when will it occur to someone to get a better system.

The route is fun to follow, with lots to see and interesting places to go. We are travelling with a great bunch of people, who have mixed well and been fun to be with. We have Brits, Scots, Welsh, American and Australian. Everybody eats too much and we seem to have a daily stop for coffee and pie. Graham the person responsible for this blog is one of the fastest eaters i have ever met, a few days ago his buddy Steve announced he had beaten Graham in a pie eating competition, using unfair tactics and failing to tell Graham they were racing , all is fair in love and war.

We have a couple along with us and guess what they are on honey moon. No sun kissed beaches, no romantic dinners, just a bike and a bunch of miss-fits. I am sure everybody wishes them a long and happy life together.
We have visited lots of different stores on our travels and you can buy almost anything. On this trip there are only three females, so shopping is of low priority. One day we went to a jewellery shop a few of the guys bought gifts for their loved ones, but mostly the men were out of the place quicker than a rat up a drain pipe. Had it been a bike shop they would have had to be pried out with a crow bar.

For the ladies out there trying to decide if they should accompany their man, go for it. My only tip would be to bring a gel seat to aid your comfort on the road. We spend a long time in the saddle. I paid 106 dollars out here for one and that was with 15% discount , a high price to pay for comfort. The good side to this is the vast amount of interest in my butt that my complaining created. At my age any interest is greatly received .

Doing laundry on these travels is a challenge, some of the guys don’t have a clue about using a washing machine, at least that’s what they claim. I have just dyed all my whites pale green, my hubby said there was no time for separate loads, put them in all together on a cold wash to save time. Oh well a good excuse to buy new when I get my hands on a suit case at the end of this trip
We have visited some great places on out travels especially the Grand Canyon.

There are two guys here who will remain nameless, but i am sure they know who they are, who decided to torture me cos I am afraid of heights. They climbed into trees and laid over barriers at the edge of the canyon, they have scared me for live, but I don’t think they feel even a bit guilty.

All in all it really is a great experience, but I need a holiday after this!