Driving South...Day 1: Seattle to South Bend

The main/only advantage of being all over the place sleep-wise, was being awake by 5am and able to start pedalling at last...well, at least as soon as sunrise anyway!

Can't put this off any longer!

It was an eye-opener cycling with the panniers loaded again: not least because Seattle ain't flat, hah-hah! Anyway, it was good to get on with this at last and leave Sea Tac and Condé Nasty's Crossroads Motel behind.

Today's tour opener!

The weather can change quick like you wouldn't believe.

The other bonus of starting early on a Sunday was that the roads were a lot quieter: I still got my first shout of encouragement though, from some bloke in a SUV. Cheers! I had forgotten how something so trivial can give you a wee boost: got a few more today too.

Not unhappy to get through Tacoma with only a minor nav-pfaff...

Bob: perhaps if you hadn't have used a tea-pot things might've turned out differently.

Good old creepy perv-bear, hah-hah!

I had to do a double-take.

"Naa-naa-naa, na-na-na-naa!"

 And after 25 miles I spied those welcoming golden arches and thus it was breakfast time. Excellent!

Other fast food outlets are available. But I wouldn't bother!

 Part of the route called for a few miles on the interstate before getting to and through Olympus: it was okay and no flats were caused by the inevitable debris. Believe it or not, there were the remnants of a fridge on the shoulder. Incredable scenes!

Was okay, to be fair...

Onwards through Olympia, crossing Capitol Lake and then onto Highway 101 and all points west! Well, except when it morphed into Highway 8, then 12, then 107 and then 101, but you get the gist.

As seen in Olympia.

Capitol Lake.

There were a few stretches of up-and-down nonsense too but the best bit was that I had some kind of shoulder of proper bike lane all to myself: takes away a ton of stress!

Water never far away.

That's about 5 episodes at the rate I pedal. Sorry!

Diggin' my unintentional colour-coordination.

At about 70 miles in, I stopped for a sandwich and a tin of Starbucks' finest chilled Mocha: you need a bit of a pick-me-up sometimes. Then this gem rumbled in...ace!

Made a terrific racket- looked in great condition too.

 That left around 45 miles to go and there was a lovely flat section: I definitely zoned-out a couple of times but it wasn't long before quite a few slow drags did their damage towards the end. Nothing above 7% and all doable but just slooooow...

Never saw any elk, but would a couple of deer do the trick instead?

 Bit of a coincidence after seeing that immaculate SS396 Chevelle, as there were around 50 custom cars cruising along over the course of the nest 30 mins or so: they looked and sounded the business!

Cool as...

Sure, it's no Focus Tdci but pretty stylish nonetheless.

My final stop at 95 miles was just to slap-on a bit more suntan stuff: it was beautiful now and *almost* a pleasure to be out there, hah-hah!

A short break at 90 miles to put a bit more sunblock on, and snaffle a McDs porridge!

From there it was a case of just seeing out the last few drags of climbs before a decent downhill to Raymond and then to South Bend. I also saw my first pair of cyclists doing the same thing as me, only in the opposite direction: a big hello was shouted!

A) top of the climb, hurrah B) cool sounding county, yesh?

I found tonight's acco no problem and wow, what a difference from last night's dump! Nice one, South Bend...

Oh alright then, if you insist.

That's about all there is to the place.

Must be true, right?

Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant and was fine: well, I'm not hungry yet, at any rate...

And goodnight to you too, South Bend!

As tour openers go, that wasn't too bad: maybe not quite at the standards of The Stones who opened their latest cash-grab tour in Hamburg last night. Played a blinder too, apparently...right Mike? Right!

Okay, so we're up-and-running..the donations have passed £1K which is fantastic. If you want to help Bloodwise and The Royal British Legion, then please click below:

ONE CLICK WILL DO THE CLICK...thank you!

 Now it seems that I can't get a YouTube vid for today's incendiary live number, *but* this will do alright!

The Jimi Hendrix Experience play 'Driving South'. Immense!

And for any Strava Louts, you can laugh at my meagre efforts by clicking HERE!

Gonna Fly Now

Taxi at 3am? Check. Manch Airport looking unbelievably busy even at that ridiculous hour? Check. Total foul-up with trying to get my bike through Security? Er, un-check.

Do. Not. Lose. Or. Damage. This. Please!

Super value at only £380.

Bit grim out there.

Cue 'Eastenders' drum-thuds: duh, duh, duh-duh-duh-duh x 12

I was thirsty alright?

The flight from Heathrow was chocka, but the BA staff were very cheery sorts thankfully and another small/major mercy was that they had a couple of tins of 'Austell IPA' and episodes of 'Curb...' on the terrific IFE. Could have been a lot worse!

In-flight ents are sorted.

Er, Canada.

Spent a fair amount of time here: rehydration & stretching as recommended...

So the moment of truth in Seattle Airport arrives and you loiter around the 'Oversize Baggage' area to see if the bike has made the connection against all the odds.

Turns out I'm not the only eejit in town today: I say hello to Charlie from Manchester, who is also cycling the West Coast too. Sensible bloke though...doing it in a group and taking er, 6 weeks! No wonder he was smiling, hah-hah!

Quick selfie nonsense afore the photo Stasi steamed-in.

Well, well...the bikes duly arrived! Mine in slightly more minimal packaging than anyone else's: think 'the photographic negative of Amazon'...still it did the trick.

After a quick bit of reassembly, it was off down to Crossroads Motel, Sea Tac-style. Dear oh dear, will I never learn? That's rhetorical, before any wise-acre chimes in!

Although one was a tad jaded, it was still only 2pm local time, so I decided to wedge into town via their Light Rail System. Alright Seattle, it's a small, frequent train. Nothing more, hah-hah!

Seeing as how time was tight, I really only wanted to see the Experience Music Project, which was founded by Microsoft co-founder-uber-nerd Mr. Paul Allen, back in 2000.

Back then it focussed on Hendrix but it has expanded quite a bit since then and has now re-branded itself as 'MoPOP': the Museum of Popular Culture. Bit surprised that you had to ask, if I'm honest.

MoPOP baby!

Electric Lady console.

Er, we're only 47 years late.

He & The Experience were all that.

Hellfire! That's a line-up.

 As well as Hendrix guff, there was a Mick Rock exhibition and although I had seen some of the prints previously in Manchester, there was plenty to enjoy.

Gotta be a top three DB shot. Ronno ruled!

 And then there was also a guitar fandango-thingy too...

Never heard of him. Wholigan!

Good. Lord. As played on 'Layla'.

Good. Lord. Pt.2!

There was one more surprise after that...a Jim Henson-fest! Everyone was shuffling around with superbly dumb and happy grins...excellent!

If you're not saying "Gee, Bert" to yourself now, then please leave.

A mover & a Grover!

Possibly my favourite 'Pets. Class!

Quality control slid a little/lot in later shows.

After that I had only one more target...

Get used to that outfit: that's as good etc.!

Actually, not quite 100% true...I needed grub pronto and after sampling the still-excellent Seattle Light Railway, I was back near to Crossroads and in Sharps Roasthouse and on the right-end of 3500 calories!

First course: fish-cakes. Standard.

Okay then, the real thing starts tomorrow so please keep your fingers crossed...cheers!

John & Tom's bro done good here...

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO HELP THE LEGION & BLOODWISE...thanks!

Street Life

A bunch of us from work were able to take part again in Blackpool's 'Ride The Lights' evening last Tuesday: you get to share The Promenade with thousands of other eejits on two wheels (although there were a few on unicycles bombing along!) and see the World Famous Illuminations* up close.

(*That's what it says here, honest.)

Blackpool's North Pier ahoy.

I was just glad to stay upright during the event, what with all the stopping and starting and the odd random manoeuvre!

Although you take your life in your hands, it is a unique experience.

It was both sobering and inspiring to see quite a few amputees taking part too which brought me to mind of the help that your donations give to ex-service men and women. Good on you...

The equally-world famous Big One!

The other Good Cause that we're helping is Bloodwise, and they've designated September as 'Blood Cancer Awareness Month'. Yeah I know- it doesn't sound like a bunch of laughs but the idea is to make people realise what it is and also how treatable it is.

Nope, I didn't know either.

Bloodwise's site has a load of case-studies and patient stories: I don't want to start and cherry-pick from people's real-life experiences, but it is beyond doubt that the money raised does real good.

They put it a little better than I can.

As the time to crack on with this malarkey is almost here, I dropped my bike off with local maestro-mechanic Mr Colin Gardner, who used to look after Bradley Wiggins' bikes once upon a time. Wonder whatever happened to him, then? Oh aye, he got himself a Skoda.

At least Colin is still going strong!

Anyway, my bike is pretty much exactly the same as it was for last year's US trek, save for a new saddle which was a necessary change as I managed to break the existing one a couple of weeks ago. I *am* a bit lighter, honest...em, are you gonna finish that pie?

Six years on and a few trips later, the only original parts left on it are the seat post, collar and shifters. Oh, and the frame. But apart from that...

Lairy bar tape. Will be grey after a day or two!

Funnily enough, my packing list is almost exactly the same too: just take the gels out of this photo and swap out the Combat Stress jersey for a Royal British Legion number and we're all set!

Always that nagging feeling: what have I forgotten/why did I pack so much?

In other (good) news: a few years back I cycled across the US in a supported ride organised by the splendid folks at America By Bicycle, and was thrilled to learn that there is a decent chance that our paths will cross again on this trek. They are doing a similar trip to mine, so I'm looking forward to catching-up somewhere in Oregon. There, that's nailed-down then, hah-hah!

Yep, these panniers add 15kgs, easy!

Okey-dokey, I think we're all set. Your sponsorship has been bang-on yet again, and I hope that we can ease the total north as I go south! See you in a bit...

ONE CLICK WILL DO THE TRICK!

A belting number: Ferry's vocals in the last verse kill me, hah-hah!