Dear Fellow Riders and greetings from Jolly Ol’ England!

If you’ve never toured on two wheels through Europe, you gotta try it! I was stationed in Italy years ago and rode through a number of foreign countries on my motorcycle. Now that I’m in the U.K. on a 17-day training with the Navy Reserves without my wheels in country, I certainly didn’t let that stop me. I rented a Honda 750 for four days and covered a good section of Central England. Honest, all you need is a passport, a valid driver’s license with your motorcycle endorsement and a credit card. I called a place called HGB Motorcycles in Ruislip Manor and secured some wheels and a helmet for about $350. They rent by the weekend, however the helmet I had to buy. The bike goes out at say 10 AM Friday and you bring it back the same time Monday morning and that’s considered the weekend. Extra days on this particular bike is 50 pounds (or $80) a day and there are a variety of bikes for hire including a Gold Wing GL1500 and numerous café-style motor bikes.

Any way to ride over here it’s rather easy. If you get some good weather, there’s nothing like seeing Europe from the seat of a motorcycle! A couple of hints: Obviously if you’re planning to do this you’re going to bring your riding gear, camping gear a few good maps, but no worries mate! You can buy all of the above here. I did bring my sleeping bag and tent though so I dropped another 70 quid on supplies. Backing up to give you a little background - On August 26th I flew into Gatwick International Airport south of London on my Navy Reserve Annual Training and wouldn’t you know it - when I checked in on Tuesday the 26th come Friday I had a four-day weekend over Labor Day so I figured ‘what da heck!’ Might as well see as much of Britain as possible in the time that I have abroad. so I did just that. In 72 hours I rode 680 miles, visited about eight villages and cities, burned about 55 liters of petrol and camped a mere one time!

If you have a few minutes let me tell you about it. On Wednesday I checked on the Internet and found a motorcycle shop that rented bikes, asked about the requirements, costs (135 pounds a day for bike I thought that I’d be most comfortable riding - $210) directions, hours of operation, etc. and went up that Friday morning the required documentation. Truly nice people at the bike shop. Janice helped me with the paperwork and a chap at the retail side me up with a full-face helmet (I really did need one) for 90 quid ($140).

At first when one of the shop’s chaps showed me the bike I thought, “What da heck is this?” It had drag bars, which I wasn’t totally accustomed to and chain drive, but who’s complaining. It was in good running condition and had ample notches and loops to budgie cord a bag, tent and sleeping mat. It also had a luggage rack. Maybe a 1996 or so Shadow Spirit with plenty of ‘get up and go.’ Day 1: With a little bit of confusion, I made it west out of Westminster (NW London), caught the highway around Greater Metropolitan London and headed north on a motorway toward Northern England. First stop Northampton and a meal at “The Giggling Sausage” (I recommend Jam Rolly Polly with hot custard sauce for desert.) Upon chatting with a gent on the best way to go to get to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, I pressed on asking for advice on where to camp out as it started to get late. Kept to mostly the back roads - some of which ran along fantastic scenery. My favorite stretch was near Whipsnade - a hill in the Chitwoods (kind of like our Appalachians) with children flying kites and full-sized gliders.

Toward night fall some road crew members suggested stopping at Donnington Park (I thought at first that they were saying Darlington) so I got on the highway (the English call motorways), hit a spot of rain on the motorway and exited to ask the local constable in Castle Donnington how to get to the camp site. After a half-hour of searching and riding around the track I had to give up and check into the rather expensive hotel (84 pounds! Ouch!? That’s roughly $130!?!?? First stop at about 9 PM after dropping off my gear was the pub. A pair of pints of ‘proper beer’ pronounced ‘cass beer ‘ (It’s a bit warmer than we’re used to, so if you want cold beer here, order a keg beer) and a Cuban cigar, I was feeling better. Planned Saturday’s general routes and chatted with a truck driver who gave me some pointers if heading south.
Day 2: Toured the Formula 1/ motorcycle race track deemed “The Heart of British Motor Sport”, played tourist and snapped a handful of photos, chatted with some of the drivers and mechanics, bought some souvenirs and hit the road around 11:30. Could barely drive 5 miles down the picturesque scenery without stopping, but scampered through Robinhood Country without spotting the scoundrel who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Kept to 2-lane roads, which I must say, were some of the most enjoyable routes I’ve ever ridden upon. One of the most delightful parts of my ‘holiday’ was chatting with the many friendly people I met enroute including a family on a footpath I found myself on as I was trying to get to the Visitor Center. They, it turned out, had seen a lot of motorcyclists around Buxton, which turned out to be a gold mine! I traveled west, northwest on the “Cat ‘n’ Fiddle” - England’s best roadway for bikers. The motorcycle manufacturers actually take off any marking and run their bikes through their paces on the hair-pins turns and winding roads, which run up and down hills, mountains and moors. Passed by England’s highest elevation pub enroute toward Stockport through the Peak District National Park. I gotta warn ya though - take it easy heading into some of these roads as I dragged a peak following some of the locals. I could go on and on, but I’ll suffice it to say that I made it just northeast of Manchester just east of Liverpool and upon asking for directions to the campground got invited to dinner and even put up by this cyclist and her friends. Got a Polaroid with Cora - one I followed to her friend’s flat and Sue Grog - what wonderful people! The only requirement was that I be out at 7 AM as Sue and Nick were off to a “Cab and Boot” (flea market) at 5:30 and Cora had to meet somebody at 8.

Day 3: So took the motorway south into Birmingham and made into the Cotswolds in Southern England by mid-day. A stop in Stratford-Upon-Avon (the birth place of William Shakespeare) and destination for roughly 300 bikers and a lovely “touristy” village, I made my way to Chattenham and pitched my tent, had dinner at an Indian Restaurant (the pubs stop serving food Sunday nights at 6) crashed and woke up with the sun. Broke camp at 6 and was on the road around 6:20 AM. Got back to my flat at 9:15 taking the morning commute with some 50,000 motorists into London and learned a thing or two about swerving (it’s legal here) between cars and trucks while they’re either stationary or rolling down the road. Took the bike back after a cup of Joe and bowl of cereal, filled it up and cashed some travelers checks, as my credit card didn’t go through. It’s ironic I think - if you take a look at the shape of England and Scotland - just draw roughly the same shape in the central part of England and that’s the route I took only covering one roadway twice! A jolly good time of which I experienced a fabulous adventure unlike any ride in American!

Cheers!
Scott Morton
aka Riceburner