A lifetime ago, in a momentary gap in negotiations with Seattle about Nick's wobbling bottom, I apparently exhorted him to press for a replacement on the grounds that '...this is the trip of a lifetime: you can't have a bike that's less than perfect.'
Well, now it's just about over, how did the TOAL shape up? On the face of it, driving down some safely tarmaced roads in a country that more or less speaks your langage with a reassuring wodge of credit cards in one's back pocket doesn't obviously contain all the elements of deprivation and life-threatening challenge that make up yer typical odyssey. However, against that must be set the undeniable fact that travelling with Nick involves a large element of uncertainty and, like Don Quixote before him, one never knows when adventure will strike.
On our first day out of Seattle, you will remember that the Don and Big Sophie assumed a horizontal position together, It was the work of a moment's inattention and, afterwards, I was keen to find out what happened. 'Well, I was struggling to see the satnav through these sunglasses and didn't spot the gravel' said he by way of explanation. Our helmets both have an inbuilt (and very effective) sun visor, so I asked why he was wearing shades rather than use this. 'Oh I can't see through that visor properly,' came the rather puzzling reply. Some hours later I heard a rather sheepish voice through the intercom admitting that vision was much improved since he had just removed the protective film that had been stuck on the visor since he had bought it...about nine months before!
Roger has been gently quizzing us to come clean on 'the best bits' and we're both agreed that Yosemite was the most dramatic, memorable bit of scenery of our trip. That will certainly stay with me but so will the whole experience of travelling with Nick: seeing how he effortlessly breezes through the most awkward and difficult scrapes, armed with nothing more than a wodge of cash and bags of natural charm has been a continual source of amazement and amusement.
Of course, travelling with Nick has also been a pain in the arse: particularly his annoying habit of getting into awkward scrapes in the first place, not to mention his super-cautious riding, his selective hearing and his constant quest to meet up with his fellow human beings of whatever background, rev them up a bit, and generally shoot the breeze - all these have ensured that the past two weeks have not contained a dull moment.
A second example. Somewhere in northern California, we encountered a giant Sequoia one could drive through. Hundreds of tourists do it every day. We did too. But having taken the picture, Nick prepared to depart and, in the nanosecond while my attention was elsewhere, he managed to lose his glove. Five times a day I am faced with this highly paid, successful professional anxiously tearing apart his luggage to find his phone, his glasses, his satnav. Had it a second ago; now it's completely disappeared etc. On this memorable occasion, I saw a slightly absurd figure wandered towards me across the car park, helmet and one glove on, angrily complaining that his other bloody glove had gone missing. There had been a pack of Japanese tourists who were photographing everything in sight and I assumed he had been hamming it up for them. But no. He genuinely did not realise that the missing glove was sitting on top of his head, neatly balanced on his helmet! I wish I'd had my camera to hand!
In a couple of days we will be heading back to the UK, putting some lovely people, the Big Sur, the PCH, Highways 101 & 1 and the mighty Half Dome of Yosemite behind us. Together they've been awesome, challenging, occasionally uncomfortable and often fun. But, however good the american scenery and however friendly the natives, the good news is that more fun lies ahead.
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