I was well taken care of on the flight back to Heathrow. We were met with a wheelchair by a friendly attendant. She whisked our small group through the airport and to a special line for folks with a handicap. I guess a wheelchair and crutches fill the bill. From there immigration was a snap. A very formal officer asked a few suspicious questions and poof. We were through. Kinga hailed an Uber to go pick up her loaner bike from BMW and we Ubered to MotoFrieght where our little donkey was patiently waiting.
Our friendly, chatty driver from Afghanistan safely navigated the way to MotoFrieght. As we entered the building we were greeted by two smiling faces. Our friends David and Emy Woodburn were there from America picking up their bike. They were also over to ride around England and attend the Overland Event. They, like us, are presenting at this event, my favorite event. David was working a paper clip to death. Seems a fuse on his bike had blown and he didn’t have a spare. I unpacked my tool kit and low and behold, I had the needed fuse. They were riding to Somerset that afternoon. All they had for navigation were some directions written on a piece of paper. No GPS to get out of London. You see, they rode around the world 35 years ago without anything but a map and some direction scribbled on a piece of paper. Quite different times. We invited them to follow us out of town for the first hour. We stopped for a tea. I showed them a route from there that would take them directly to where they were headed. We then turned north.
The first night we stayed in Swindon. I was in need of an oil change and found a motorcycle repair shop just to the north of town. We arrived to Steve Lynham Motorcycle Repair Just after they opened. They were great. Apologizing for a 5 minute delay they moved a motorcycle off the lift to put mine up on the lift. We chatted with both guys, one working on my bike, the other doing an MOT on another bike. within 30 minutes my bike was finished and pushed back out front. For barely over the expected cost of new oil and a filter, we were on our way again. Thanks, guys!
This ride was going to be the test. Had I healed enough to continue for a few months riding east? Or would I be pausing this leg to fly home and get my hip fixed? These next few days would answer that question, The intended route was towards a favorite place in Wales, Elon Valley. The first couple days were tough. By the third day I realized I wasn’t better. This difficult realization meant that the ride was over. The ride to Eryra National Park (Snowdonia), and MotoCamp Wales again had to be abandoned. The best thing would be to hobble home and get in to see my Orthopedic. It would either be R&R or surgery. But first, the Overland Event.
We found a hotel just outside of Elon Valley and rested for a couple days before turning back south. Some good friends of our, Charlie and Linda Pierce, live in a small village in Somerset. They had invited us to come down and spend a few days recovering before Overland. Our friends David and Emy were already there. Linda is one of the coordinators of Horizon’s Unlimited Virginia. We first met them years ago at HUBB, Horizon’s Unlimited UK. She was also one of the coordinators of that event. We would take a few days to get there and just relax and visit with other travelers that would be filtering in for the Overland Event.
We would be traveling on a bank holiday. But it seems nobody know exactly what the holiday is for. The closest thing we can figure is that it’s the last three day weekend of their month of August holiday. The kids would all be returning to school the following week. This meant that Friday and Saturday would be travel days. Ridiculously busy travel days. And everyone headed to the coast and beaches for what was to be a glorious weekend with warm temperatures. What it also meant were LONG queues of traffic. The road south from Elon Valley went through the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (Brecon Beacons). We had cruised through this area a couple years earlier. But this time we were on a motorcycle. The last time was at 3 mph in a 44 foot narrow boat through the canal and lock systems. It is a beautiful area either way. There was barely any traffic. The morning had a slight chill in the air. The skies were a crisp blue you see in early fall. The smell of drying leaves was in the air. Yes, autumn is just around the corner. We stopped after an hour for a coffee at a information center in the middle of the park.
Back on the bike and the traffic started to pick up. We joined the M road headed from Wales toward Bristol. After five minutes all we could see were brake lights. Fortunately, most countries out of the US know how good filtering can be, if done right. As we moved into the correct outside lane position and started the cars just move aside. Think of the tale of Moses and the Red Sea. We proceeded slowly through the very slow, or stopped traffic for the next 15 miles. No one angry, most very courteous. A thank you wave was our passing gesture. Not even one one-fingered gesture in return. We finally made it to our exit and some more one lane, grass in the middle of the lane, tall hedge butt puckering corners. We only met one fast moving car coming at us. We were in the middle of the corner. Not really any time to stop, just slow to a bush crashing pace. Both our eyes widened to show the whites of our eyes. Somehow we both managed to avoid each other. He dove to the left. Me, my left. My wheel in the bushes for a swerve. My panniers just missed his car by a hair. Any closer and we would have been pushed straight into the tangled bramble we had been avoiding. We may both need to find in laundry to clean of skivvies.
We finally found our hotel, the George and Dragon. This beautiful Inn got us right in to our downstairs room. We got out of our gear and back out to the outdoor seating of the pub. A brilliant location with a raised deck complete with tables, chairs and umbrellas. To the back was a green area for relaxing and walking. There was a gently blowing breeze keeping the heat of the day manageable. The stone walls of the old historic pub were just beside us and the sweet waitress greeted us warmly and kept the drinks flowing throughout the afternoon. As the sun was setting the food truck with an inside pizza oven served us a fine pepperoni pizza. A fantastic end to the day. The next day we would be riding south to Somerset for a few days of relaxation with friends. This is also where our motorcycle would be spending a few months as we would be attending the Overland Event the following weekend. After we would be flying home to recover from my injury.
Nastravia,
2WANDRRs
2WANDRRs 
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