The Deluge on day 3...

Our weather sage (Trey) then reads the clouds, the birds circling in the sky licks his lips and declares that rain is on the way, and we should run for the hotel on the interstate rather than the back roads. True, the skys a little dark but heavy rain???We set off and really start to move like rabbits going for the burrow. Not too long and oh boy does it rain! We stop to don the waterproofs and ride on into valhalla where Thor the God of war sends rain, lightning and thunder the likes that neither of us have ever seen. At times we are down to 20 mph and visibility is 20'. Its so bad that some of us ride past the turn to the hotel.

Graham and Trey try using the bikes as waterjets and the water is coming UP out of the drains and is 8'in places. We later hear on the news that over 3" has fallen in an hour in our area and that flash floods have hit town. Not one of us is dry and even some of us who had clothing inside waterproof bags are peeved to find even thats wet! The Hotels washine machines and driers are pressed into overtime after some instruction and guidance from one of our kind ladies. THANK YOU!

We hope tomorrow is kinder, but we fear that having viewed the forecast, its another day of rain.

After lunch its another run along some of ole 66 with the sun blazing and heat rising whilst we ride along soaking up the miles to the Devils Elbow which is a bit of a landmark on 66 where we stop for photos.

This is Eric, known to the rest of us as 'Gringo', he is our Australian member of the group and he is a roadside attraction in his own right!

Day 3 continued...

Onto the bikes and we're off! Some fantastic roads with good turns sees the group making good progressto Cuba, town of murals where we stop for lunch. The locals are friendly with a few cars and bikerswhooping at us as they go by. The local website for Cuba have even put a bit about us on their site... click here

Day 3...

Its a cloudy day, low mist envelops the arch, but we gamely head out for a look. What a fantastic piece of engineering, but undaunted Staffy, Graham and Steve are the first to take a 'pod' to the top. It reminds us of a scene from a Jane Fonda film, Barbarella. At the top the mist lets us see over 600 feet to the bottom and about 2 blocks out. Never mind a few postcards and we're off, only to find that as we get to the bottom, the mist clears and visibility is superb. Bummer!

The arch was built in the 60's out of stainless steel and looks as if it were built last year. The last bit at the very top was put in by the gap being seperated by hydraulic rams, and the 6' section being dropped in.

Day 2 continued...

Plenty of old sights to see along the way, from old vehicle sales to old garages where we stopped for a photo shoot.
Lunch was had at great little diner called Ariston Cafe, where the buffet was awesome. Steve and Alistair had a little battle over who would/could eat the most desserts.........Steve won! - although a mole in the camp claims Trey beat Steve. Any witnesses??
The discussion on the 72oz steak challenge was raised again and we are still looking for anyone who fancies their chances. Graham is a popular choice but as the challenge involves eating fries with it, this will probably exclude Graham on the grounds that they are veg and he's already eaten his five a month portions. Watch this space.

Ever onwards and a trip to see the chain rocks bridge where we were able to cross the state line fron Illinois to Missouri, so we are now one state further away from our starting point.
A brisk ride through the suburbs got us to the Hampton hotel at St Louis via a fuel stop where most of us seemed to wrestle with getting the fuel to pump. Some people opting to pay inside first others paying at the pump with credit cards. The whole process can speed up if a few bikes fill up on one card and then pay the card holder in cash.

A wet day 2...

The first challange of the day was to load all the gear back onto the bike. Although we now know that it does not all fit in the panniers, remembering what I put where yesterday was still beyond me, but after a while I got it all sorted and strapped down ready to go.

It was a dull start to the day and rain was forecast, some people put on their waterproofs but some of us braved it out. As we left the 'Route 66 hotel' we got a large cheer from the large group of bikers getting ready to leave themselves. Hopefully it was a cheer of good wishes and not that they were glad to see the back of us!

The first stop of the day was at Springfield where we saw the statue of Abraham Lincoln, had a history lesson from Trey before a group photo taken before setting off again, however, more people put on their water proofs but I still remained optimistic and stayed in my summer riding gear. (despite Steve telling me to!)
Several miles later I felt something on my chin like needles, it was not bugs but rain! Then within another mile or two it came down harder, so the group pulled over whilst the remainder of us forfeit our optimism and put on our water proofs.
However, it wasn't long before I had that wet feeling inside as my water proof over jacket that came with the airtext jacket proved to be no more than shower proof, and a dry shower at that.
Steve has a similar experience to tell; 'Feeling smug in my nice new all in one didn't cut it when the water pooled in the crease where the zip and velcro was. Why does it always leak there? (If you're a biker, you know where it is!)'.

Day 1 continued...

Steve and I start near the back of the pack getting the feel for our bikes, happy to just
sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. It wasn't long before a few of us the back were
separated from the main group by a railroad crossing. Boy, oh boy are the freight trains
long here, by the time it had passed and we got going again the others were well out of
sight. Trey, our American guide who was riding as the tailman takes over the lead oand
guides us to the lunch stop at the historic cafe, 'The Launching Pad' where a large fibre
glass figure of the 'Gemini Giant' stands outside. After something to eat and drink we all
set off as one group again.
The next few hours take us on and off the original Route 66 seeing various original
attractions along the way. As Steve and I get more familiar with our bikes, the pace picks
up and riders start to string out with the faster riders moving towards the front. At another stop, where this time we see another large fibre glass figure called,'Bunyon's
Statue' we realize that the pack is divided again. Apparently, a few riders never came off
the interstate and rode on past with Trey at the rear ready to guide them back on the right
route.
Eventually we all meet up again at our end point of the day, 'The Route 66 Hotel' where we
will be staying the night.

Shouldn't that side salad come with the meal?.

This is Trey, our American guide who will be assisting Alastair with managing the ride.

It is Trey who has the GPS tracker attached to his bike so you can see where we are along the way.

Day 1 - Route 66 here we come...

After breakfast we finished packing our bags and checked out of our room ready for Alastair
to take us to collect our bikes for the trip.
As we arrived at Eagle Rider, we could see all the bikes lined up outside, a fine site that
was. We went inside to sign the papers etc. then one of the Eagle Rider chaps took each of
us to our bikes and went through all the controls etc, before checking round the bike for
previous damage that was noted so that we don't get accused of that when we return the bikes
at LA.
As he handed me the keys to my Low Rider a sense of excitement came over me, this trip of a
life time was about to start. However, a few minutes later and the excitement was replaced
by worry, as I soon realised that the two leather panniers that were on the bike were no
where near large enough to take all the gear I had brought with me. OK, plan B, will have to
tie something to the bike. They do kindly do provide a luggage rack on the bikes, just big enough for a sandwich box!
So my large yellow bag that I thought I would be empting the contents of into my panniers
was now going to have the majority of my clothes in strapped to the rear seat & luggage
rack. With a few bungie cords and a cargo net the bag was tied down and everything ready to
go.
Time ticks by as nearly everyone faces the same problem of cramming their luggage onto the
bikes. Finally when everyone is done, we have a group photo, then climbed on our bikes and
the guys at Eagle Rider hold up the traffic while our 18 bikes with 21 people aboard, turn left and start our 2500 mile journey heading to the west coast.

Easy day today, nothing planned, so after a long breakfast where we met another two new guys doing the tour we got a taxi to the local HD dealership and bike rental place here in Chicago.

It was quite an impressive show room with lots of bikes and clothing etc. to look at. Steve was looking closely at the chrome accessories that he could get for his Road King but resisted temptation and we both came out without spending anything!

Tonight we have a meeting at 7pm to discuss the tour starting tomorrow and a ride briefing as to what the traffic laws and recommended procedures are for riding over here.

As I sit on the bed typing this, I find it hard to believe that our first day here has been one so full of doing things. We set off this morning after breakfast of crispy card that the Americans call bacon, (tastes ok though) plus the usual toast & eggs etc.

A drive in the van that Alastair had hired took us to the Harley Davidson museum where all of us had a great time checking out HD's past and present plus a few iconic ones like those used in the film 'Easy Rider', and the Evel Knievil ones. This was followed by a visit to the museum shop where wallets were lightened of their load after a few trinkets purchased.

A trip into Chicago town to find the start and end of Route 66 ended up with a visit to the Sears Tower (now owned by the British Group Wallis and renamed the Wallis Tower) where we experienced walking out of the 103rd floor onto a glass platfrom overthe city! cool, scary and fun!
Unfortunatly, we didnt keep an eye on the time and collected a ticket for a parking violation!

The trip back to the hotel was a bit of a rollercoaster ride, and Steve ended up a bit travel sick and declined to join the group for dinner!

A big thank you to Alastair & Fiona for taking the time to show us these great sites today which was not part of the planned tour.

Check out the photos for an insight into the days events.

Our first beer of the trip with Alastair (tour manager), but not the last!

Arrived in Chicago

View from hotel room...

We arrived safely and ahead of schedule at Chicago Ohio aiport where Alastair and Fionna picked us up.

Now sitting in our room at the Double Tree hotel using the free Wi-Fi access to update this blog.

The journey has started...

Well so far all is going well, got the 8:25 train and now sitting in terminal 5 at Heathrow.
Thankfully Steve woke me up so that I didn't travel all the way back to Kings Cross!

Just about to board so will update when we land in Chicargo!

Less than 24 hours to go.

Have got most of my work done and even started on the packing!

With just over a week to go time is running out to get everything sorted for the trip.
Went and done some more shopping this weekend so nearly there, just got to sort out a bag to put it all in.
Still got a lot of reading to do and clothes to sort out. Still cannot decide on which ipod to get and not finished configuring the netbook either.
So much to do, so little time...

oooh, just thought of something else to order, must go and do that now.

Well this trip has been booked for quite some time now and what seemed to be a very long time away has come round fast. With just over two weeks to go I had better start getting my gear ready!

MCi Tours have sent the tour pack through with the route plan and lots of other information that I need to have a read of.