Surreal and exciting

It was quite surreal and exciting, but sad at the same time; my most rewarding two days of the trip. I wasn't riding the whole trip on my own, and had arranged to meet my son Will so that we could ride Route 66 together. Team MCC serviced the Norton while Will got over being six hours behind before we left Chicago one Saturday afternoon. The plan was simple ­ 2500 miles in 14 days, so that's just over 200 a day, right? Well, it didn't work out quite like that, as we spent two nights in St Louis, two in Oklahoma City another two in Springfield, Missouri. This meant some 300-mile days to make up the distance, but we were having so much fun it seemed a shame to move on so quickly. Route 66, by the way, isn't one continuous piece of blacktop. It stops and starts, and uses many other road names and numbers, but we did see a lot of it. The high points were Amarillo, where we met some nice locals who let us use their pool, and of course the desert areas, where you could pay $5.50 for a gallon of fuel and it was hot ­ up to 45°C. Drink lots of water and keep moving and it's fine. Still, it was great to feel a cooler breeze coming off the Pacific as we reached Los Angeles. Like New York and Chicago, the roads were six-lane highways and everyone was in a hurry, so it was nonstop life savers to stay on two wheels. After seeing Will off I was able to contemplate my final leg, 1200 miles north to Seattle. I started on Highway One, the magnificent west coast route that follows the Pacific through Malibu and Santa Barbara. If I'd had more time I would have stuck with it, but my shipping deadline was looming and I had to switch to faster inland roads. I covered 420 miles one day, ending up at the Lake Shasta Motel in northern California. Like most motels, it had a bar diner next door, called Klub Klondike in this case, with last knockings at 2am. In Oregon I became increasingly concerned about fuel.

Will this be your first of many expeditions? Absolutely. I've been planning and dreaming of a long expedition in South America for a while. I'm one of the least experienced riders in the team and really want to develop my skills before attempting a solo journey. It's like my first day at school. What are you looking forward to most? All the riding. It's also my first time in Africa and I'm really looking forward to discovering the local culture. I love travelling in remote areas and feel with the motorbike the experience will be more complete. Spending time with the team and making new friends is also a big part of the appeal for me. You're very young to be involved in large bike adventure riding. How did you get started and how has it impacted on you? I've been riding since I was 16 when Trailquest Expeditions was first set up. Initially, I was just helping out doing whatever was required of me, but I very quickly took to the bike riding/instruction side of things. My first expedition was the same year and involved a double crossing of the interior of Iceland. Since then I've taken every opportunity that has come my way to be involved. I never really think too much about my age. We're all driven by the same passion ­ riding motorbikes and exploring the world. My confidence grows on every trip ­ each throws up its own unique challenges, which allow you to develop both as a rider and a person. There's still a lot of the world out there for me to see. I like to test myself, so the more remote and challenging the terrain, the better.