Monday 4th June 2001, Boston MA

The morning was grey and overcast, but otherwise dry. It had obviously rained overnight, as the ground was damp. There was a delicious smell of pine woodland in the air as we walked down the hill to find breakfast.

Montpelier is the capital of Vermont, but equally seems to be a ‘New Age’ Mecca. Every other store advertised ‘alternative’ clothing, therapies and jewellery. It seems the City got left behind in some 70’s time-warp! Having said that, it is a pretty place, surrounded by forested hills, and within a short distance of Killington and Stowe ski resorts.

It was now time to hit I-89 again, and return to Boston, where we were to stay with Deborah Valianti, a playwright friend of Brigid’s mother. It was thanks to Deborah that we were able to purchase the motorcycles at all, as it was she to ‘loaned’ us her Brighton address for the registration.

The sun had dried out Brigid’s electrics, and within a few miles, the speedo, tachometer and LCD displays had come back to life. Apart from the appearance of a rogue oil warning light they gave no further trouble.

We hit Boston at about 3.30pm, stopping once to ask directions to Brighton. We pulled into a gas station, where building work was in progress. We were heading in the right direction, but within ½ mile, John suddenly stopped at the side of the road realising he had a flat tyre. The nearby tyre station didn’t do bikes.  So, half an hour and many phone calls later, we eventually located a dealer in Framingham who could sort us out.

Anderson Cycle Works of Framingham proved to be some 15-20 miles away, and our trip was slow and tortuous (we had to stop several times for air and directions) – and not entirely good-humoured.

The people at Anderson’s were friendly and efficient. While the engineers worked, Jay Tonry pressed a couple of very welcome cold beers into our hands. He spotted Brigid’s Ogri T-shirt, and surprisingly turned out to be a keen collector of British bike mags– including Bike – and Hell’s Angels memorabilia! Within the hour, we were back on the road – albeit arriving at Deborah’s several hours later than we intended.


Sunday 3rd June 2001, Montpelier VT

We awoke to glorious sunshine, and were pleased to have had the opportunity to dry off our soaking clothes in the motel’s laundry. After a light breakfast of coffee and doughnuts, we packed the bikes and hit the road. B*ll*cks! Just as we turned on to I-89, the heavens opened. For 50 miles, we endured the driving rain, until Brigid signalled that she had had enough and pulled off at the next exit – Montpelier.

Until she applied the brakes, Brigid had been quietly pleased that she had been able to maintain a steady 60 mph in such conditions. As the bike slowed, she understandably concerned to see that the speedo had obviously been stuck at that speed for some considerable distance. The LCD displays for the clock and trip meter were blank, and the tachometer was stuck at 4000 rpm. The BMW was obviously designed for fair-weather cycling only!

We stayed overnight at a convenient motel, about ½ mile out of town, and attempted to dry out our rain-drenched gear by hanging it over the bath. The sun came out (briefly) and we were (at last) able to relax in the sunshine for a few minutes. Alas, the sun didn’t last so we threw on the (by now) wind-torn ponchos for protection, and wandered into town for dinner.


Saturday 2nd June 2001, Lebanon NH

Having spent a comfortable night in the Holiday Inn in Brockton, we awoke early, keen to put some miles on the clocks. A weekend trip to Burlington, Vermont, would easily cover the 600 miles, necessary to get the bikes serviced before our departure for Chicago on Wednesday. Horror of horrors, yesterday’s warm sunshine had been replaced with torrential rain – a quick re-think was in order.

We had no waterproof clothing, and no tarpaulins to keep our luggage dry. On top of this Brigid had only an open-face, half-helmet – and no goggles! (She stopped using open-face helmets years ago, when she switched from soft contact lenses to gas-permeables. But we figured this helmet would do until we were able to find a decent accessory shop to buy her a new full-face one.)

We literally ran from the hotel to the local Decathlon sports store, where we picked up two cheap PVC ponchos, which we used to cover the luggage. We then quickly located an excellent accessory shop and bought a new Shoei helmet.

By the time we were ready to head for Vermont, it had stopped raining, but it was already lunchtime. We were not going to be able to make Burlington, so (when it started to rain again) we stopped at Lebanon, New Hampshire, for the night.


Friday 1st June 2001, Boston

Arrived Boston aka “The Big Dig” in blazing sunshine. If you think roadworks in London are bad, you should see Boston. The centre of Boston is being ‘developed’, and the foundations have (so far) taken 5 years to build. Locals joke that they never know whether the road they used to leave the city will still be there when they return. The work is scheduled to continue well into the foreseeable future. We took a shuttle van from the airport, which we shared with an elderly (and slightly confused) Bostonian lady.

The motorcycle dealers, Dunbar Eurosports, who (on the Internet) appeared to be based in Boston, turned out to be some 23 miles south of the City – much to the dismay of both the shuttle driver … and our elderly companion!

Thanks to the efficiency of Cathy and Tom at Dunbar Eurosports, the bikes were ready and waiting for us when we eventually arrived in Brockton. Martin Conboy, of Conboy and Lynch, took care of the registration and insurance for us, and by 6.30pm we were ready to ride off into the sunset in search of a hotel.