Getting Under Way

Monday morning I woke up at some ridiculous hour at Badger's place but managed to get back to sleep. I was up at 7am trying to fathom out how to work the shower. Badger phoned as I was getting dressed to say that he and Kate were stuck in the traffic en route back from Brighton - they should get back by lunch-time. I headed off to Bristol to get my International Driving Permit for Morocco but very quickly got lost. After a few unplanned detours I eventually found the Gallery shopping centre and a free parking spot.

Much to my amazement the Post Office in Bristol was a pleasant experience in fact they couldn't have been nicer or more helpful, they even provided comfy couches to sit on while you waited for your turn in the queue. However it was in the post office that I was reminded of one of the joys of biking - trying to fill in a form whilst holding a helmet and gloves and juggling 2 pairs of glasses all while wearing very heavy and hot biker gear in a sun-lit and very warm building. The driving permit procedure seemed to have been designed by Heath Robinson and involved, scissors, rubber stamps, a pen and glue. However the young lad behind the counter said it was his favourite Post Office task and 10 minutes or so later I was the proud bearer of an Internation Driving Permit.

Back at the bike I decided to go look for some motorcycle trousers or kevlar jeans for the trip and the guy I was parked next to was kind enough to lead me out to Fowlers to look for some. I had no luck in Fowlers but bumped into a guy who had been to Spain and back on a 125cc learner bike and had just taken possesion of his first big bike - an 800cc Harley. Like everyone else I met in Bristol he was extremely friendly and we ended up have a good blether.

I managed to get lost again on my way back to Badger's place, but ended up going through Keynsham, which has always been an ambition of mine - weird I know, but blame the Bonzos! Kate and Badger were back home by the time I got there and after a quick catch-up and lunch it was time to pack, get dressed and finally set off. Badger as usual had packed far too much into his weekend and had left his packing until the last possible moment. He somehow managed to bungee about half-a-dozen bags and panniers onto his Triumph Daytona 900 and it was finally time to set off proper.

Kate with My Pan European

Badger

Badger's Triumph Daytone

We headed off to Bath to meet up with Eddy our other companion on the trip. In complete contrast to Badger and me, he was packed and waiting for us. A seasoned tourer he had packed everything he needed into the panniers of his immaculate 1300 Pan European and was using his a large Givi topbox purely as a place to store helmets during pit-stops. With Eddy leading the way we headed off towards Portsmouth and the overnight ferry to St Malo. We hadn't gone 20 miles before Badger discovered his right-hand fork seal had gone and was leaking oil onto his radiator. Fortunately it didn't seem to hamper him too much and we pressed on to Portsmouth.

We arrived in good time and got straight on to the ferry. I then discovered that my packing and preparation was less that perfect. With my laptop in the top box it weighed a ton and I had no idea where I had packed all the items I needed for overnight. Luckily Eddy was on hand to help me lug stuff around and I had time to get back to the car deck to swap items around. I still couldn't find find everything I needed but decided not to worry about it for now. The crossing was relatively painless apart from watching Sunderland getting beaten 6-1 by Aston Villa and by 8am we arrived in St Malo ready to start riding on France - hurray!