BRITTOUR 2001

The AMA UK/Isle of Man Tour (25 Aug - 6 Sep)

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This tour was a tour of England, Wales and the Isle of Man (IOM) in the British Isles. The tour was sponsored by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original plan was to spend time on the Isle of Man to watch the motorcycle races there but the races this year were cancelled due to an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in England.� The tour still went to the IOM but apart from a race by antique bikes, there were no races.

I think we all still had a great time, thanks to the two tour leaders, Bruce and Brenda Preston (seen here, with me on the far right).� Bruce has written extensively in the motorcycle press and led a number of tours in Europe and New Zealand.� If you have a chance to hook up with them on a tour, you won't be disappointed!� Brenda is a hoot to be around.� She musta been a cheerleader at some point in time, the way she was ALWAYS "on".� Sometimes it was hard to tell who was running the tour - Bruce or Brenda.

On the tour, we could ride with the 'herd' or go off on our own as long as we made it to our destination hotel for the night.� We had maps and advice on things to see, places to stop for lunch, hazards - the whole nine yards.� If we had any problems, we had a laminated card with the phone numbers for the bike rental place, Bruce, and each of our hotels.� Typically, a bunch would ride with the tour leader and a few bikes (including mine) would strike off alone or in smaller groups.� We encountered 3 types of roads throughout the tour: motorways (limited access, multi-lane like US Interstates), primary roads (usually one, sometimes two lanes per side), and secondary roads (the big ones were maybe as wide as one and a half full-sized US cars).� Driving, of course, was on the "wrong" side (to us), the left side of the road.� On some of the secondary roads and town roads, there was often very little room for one car, much less two.� We had a scrape or two when traveling the secondary roads and some of roads in small towns.� But the views on those roads and in the little towns was really worth the trip!

I arrived early and spent a few days seeing the sights of London.� Then 14 other Yanks and I converged on the western suburb of Windsor (home of Windsor castle, the Queen's home) and we went to another suburb, Ruislip, to get our bikes from HGB cycles.� They rent bikes and took really good care of me, as you will see below.

Saturday (25 Aug) we gathered in the parking lot of our hotel, the Royal Adelaide, and got organized for our first ride - to Stratford-on-Avon, the home of playwright William Shakespeare, on the edge of the Cotswolds region.� I wanted to ride a Honda 750cc but drew instead a Kawasaki 750cc ZR-7, another UJM (Universal Japanese M/C). Others rode Beemers, a Shadow, some crotch rockets ...� Some rode two-up, some solo.� There were no chase vehicles to haul our gear. Anything we needed we had to haul on our own. Not too hard for us single guys (and Dottie, who managed to forget to bring her hubby along). Some of the married couples, though, had to put gear for two people on one bike. Yet they still managed to look good (well, better than me, at least)! We had time at some of our hotels to send out laundry, so we didn't need two weeks of clothing. My roommate Ed even managed to wash his undies in the sink from time to time

I took the long way to Stratford - via secondary roads. While some went straight to Stratford, I went to the National Motorcycle Museum just east of Birmingham.� There are about 600 bikes there, all made in the UK (I think), built between 1900 and the '80s.� One thing shown here is that virtually every idea about what makes a good bike can be seen in bikes made in the early years of this century.� (see the museum page for examples)� As I headed toward Stratford-on-Avon, I passed through a little village, Kenilworth, that had its own castle, ravaged by time.��

We had a layover in Stratford and on Sunday the 26th, many of our mob went on a tour of the Cotswold region, led by a friend of Bruce's who really gave them a great ride. The Cotswolds region is hilly, wooded, and has many small towns.� I went off on my own ride and tried to stick to the smaller secondary roads.� This weekend was part of a three-day holiday for the Brits - Monday was Bank Holiday (last one of the summer, like Labor Day in the US).� There were a lot people in the towns and on the roads, but the TV news showed incredible crowds along the coast, so we didn't have too much to gripe about.� Weather was in the high seventies, sunny, almost no wind.

Monday (27th) we left for Llangollen, a town in northern Wales.� Instead of heading there on a direct route, I went west from Stratford and then ran north in Wales on route A483. The roads were nice primary roads with really great views - reminded me of riding, say, US 11 or US 340 through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.� The temps didn't seem to get above the mid-70s and the sky was bright and clear for this leg.

We left Llangollen on Monday the 27th and drove to Liverpool, a major city on the west coast of England.� From there we went by a huge catamaran (twin-hull) to Douglas on the Isle of Man.� The two-hour crossing was pretty nice - flat seas, no wind, lots of sun.� From Douglas, our mob headed to the south end of the island to stay in the town of Port Erin.� From there, we roamed the island from the 27th until Saturday the 1st of September.� I thought I'd be bored out of my skull (brought along a Tom Clancy novel to read just for this segment) but the roads and castles were too numerous and attractive to stay away from.� Interesting place. The "squids" in our herd were chompin' at the bit to ride the TT course. I think Ed made half a dozen loops around the circuit. I wonder how many tickets he'll get from the ubiquitous "speed cameras" (apparently along many roads in the UK there are cameras that take photos of speeders).

We had our only casualty on the 28th when Ned and Patty challenged a Range Rover and lost (so did the Rover).� They pulled out of a gas station onto the RIGHT side of the road (and plowed head-on into the Rover).� Fortunately, they suffered only minor broken bones and contusions, but the bike (another Kawasaki ZR-7 - and they rode it two up!!!) was totalled.� An article in one of the island's papers headlined "American Biker in Accident"!� They stayed in Port Erin and rejoined us on the last day (6 Sep) in Windsor.� They became "locals" after their long stay in Port Erin and the people there were tremendous help for them.� When we finally left Man, we went by a regular ferry to Heysham, north of Liverpool.� This trip took over 3 hours since the ship didn't have the speed of the cat.

We made a short ride up the west coast, then inland to the town of Keswick (pronounced Kez-ick) in the Lake District.� Boy, is that name misleading.� It has lakes, but it also has some very tall mountains and very twisty roads.� Again, Bruce got one of his buddies who lives near Keswick to take us on a tour of the Lake District.� I went off alone again but you can download a copy of the route and its attractions on the Lake District page.� I was told that there were some fantastic mountain passes (you can see a bit of the ride on my Lake District page).� I rode part of the route, then headed north into Scotland to see some of the countryside up there.� Also quite hilly, but a nice ride nonetheless.� One couple pushed way northeast from Keswick to check out "Hadrian's Wall".� Roman emperor Hadrian built a wall across the northern border of England to keep the warlike Scots out of England.� Bits of the wall and an exhibit of the Roman forts and life in the forts can be found northeast of Carlisle (about 50 miles northeast of Keswick).

On Monday the 3d we headed off toward York in the north-central part of England.� Our route took us through the Yorkshire moors, a desolate area inhabited mostly by sheep.� I had my second mishap on this leg - I stopped for gas and accidentally put diesel fuel in the bike.� The pumps were poorly marked.� I got about 14 miles and the bike died.� Fortunately, I was able to drift to a phone in West Tanfield.� I called HGB and told them of my problem.� They sent out a recovery crew (sorta like the emergency services we can get from the AMA) who took me back to their garage, drained the tank and carbs, gave me real gas, and sent me on my way.� HGB also called Bruce (who, as it turns out, was on the other side of West Tanfield having lunch!!) and he and Brenda came back and stayed with me until the recovery vehicle arrived.� They later escorted me to York.� My bike was a mess - low power, spewing clouds of stinky blue smoke for the next 200 miles!!

The next day, while most of the crew toured the ancient city of York, I went about 40 miles northeast to Eden Camp.� It's a former World War II prisoner of war camp that has been converted to a museum of Britain in World War II.� There are some 30 prisoner huts and each covers a different perspective on the war, including a simulation of being bombed by Germans, life in Britain during the 1940s, women at war, and other stuff too numerous to mention.� The weather was turning bad - very windy, cloudy, threats of rain, and temps in the low 60s but I still spent several hours touring the camp.

On Wednesday the 5th, in an off-an-on rain and temps in the low 60s again, we headed south to Peterborough, our last base.� The rain stopped around mid-day and warmed up a bit.� We just had one night there so we didn't see more than a little of the town.� We went out to an Irish pub but it was closed - they were not going to show the England vs. Albania soccer match so why bother staying open?� So we went down the block to a packed pub full of fans cheering the British team (they beat the Albanians 2 - 1).� No soccer hooligans.

On the last day, as the rest of the mob headed back to London to turn in the bikes, I veered off to Duxford, south of Cambridge.� The British Imperial War Museum has a huge facility at an old World War II airfield there.� The place has four hangers with British warplanes, the story of the Battle of Britain (between Britain and Germany in 1940 - 43), a huge museum of American aircraft, and a museum of the British and German guns and vehicles, mostly from WWII.

I left Duxford and headed back toward London to turn in the Kaw and I'd just gotten on the M25, a motorway which circles London like Washington's Beltway or Dallas' LBJ Freeway, was doin' about 70 in the slow lane, when THE BIKE DIED!!� Electrical problems, probably due to the diesel fuel.� Once again, I managed to get to a phone (at a McDonald's, no less), called HGB, and they sent out a truck for me.� I was taken back to our base in Windsor at the Royal Adelaide Hotel and the bike went back to HGB.� I hope I won't lose my deposit for trashing their bike!� From the time I picked up the Kawa until it died on the M25, I racked up 1,183 miles.� That's about how far I travel in two days when I take my Gold Wing on interstate highways in the US when I head away from my home outside Washington, D.C.

Anyway, we had a last meal at the Adelaide, then everyone went home on Friday the 7th.� I went back to London for a last bit of looking around the city, and finally left the country on the 8th.� All in all, it was a great experience, a tour I recommend to anyone (especially if you get BrucenBrenda!!!).

My review of the tour is here. My overall impression? - I'm goin' back!

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