Having gone to bed last night at about 8.30 local time we inevitably rose early at 5am wondering how we were going to fill the next four hours until we picked the bikes up.
After a great deal of procrastination, emailing and showering we eventually found ourselves sitting outside a small restaurant just down the street ordering breakfast, Having passed on the home fries that came with with the eggs Benedict, I was pleased to be offered fruit as an alternative. However it was a little disconcerting to find that it still all came on the same plate. This is definitely the first time I have eaten grapes smothered in hollandaise sauce!
We then took a taxi to Eagle Rider where we picked up the bikes. I found that mine has more gadgets than my car, It also has a larger engine than my car and leather panniers with fringes! It probably also weighs more than my car. It also has white-wall tires, cruise control and “floorboards”, Once you get used to the idea that what you are riding is basically a car with two of its wheels missing It all starts to make sense.
Mark’s bike is perhaps ever so slightly smaller. It also lacks fringes but his panniers do sport tassels, which creates an effect somewhat reminiscent of an elderly exotic dancer.
Once we had packed our wordily belongings into the variously fringed or tasselled panniers we set off up the Interstate heading north through New Hampshire and Maine.
Over the next 240 miles we saw a great deal of trees and more trees and ,,,,,,, well, other trees. In fact it was pretty much wall to wall trees. The main excitement came from the regular “beware of the moose” signs, These feature a graphic of a particularly dim-looking moose which appears to be thinking to itself that it might be a good idea to wander out into the middle of the Interstate to see if there is anything interesting going on. Apparently they do this at regular intervals and given that they weigh over a tonne and don’t have the sense to avoid anything in their way, it generally ends badly both for them and the occupants of any oncoming vehicles. Fortunately there weren’t any around today.
Along the way we had to stop twice to refuel and it was both gratifying and slightly alarming to find that the bikes attract a great deal of interest. It may be that we will have to schedule seminars at each service station that we stop at. Mark is designing the Powerpoint presentation as we speak.
We arrived in Bangor and checked into our hotel about 4pm. We then got a taxi into town, The taxi driver gave us a very detailed insight into the drug culture of Bangor, which appears to be far more vibrant than might have been imagined, Unfortunately, our driver, having got started in the subject, appeared to find it difficult to stop and kept us occupied outside the restaurant for several minutes as we watched at least another 11 people go in ahead of us, However. having finally disengaged we did then have the pleasure of physically dismembering and consuming a large crustacean whilst simultaneously enjoying a light but fresh-tasting local brew with a very satisfying hoppy after-taste.
And that has been our day. Tomorrow we cross the border into Canada.
Over the Hill and Far Away.......... 