We're Doing it Live! Landing in London and I don't know what!

[Autocracy]

I'm at my office, and my flight to London leaves in four hours. I definitely started off packing for my trip the wrong way, asking at 18:30, "Where the hell is my passport?" I did the important part first: Plan B and made an emergency appointment with the passport office for 10 the next morning, and five minutes later found the damn thing. Then I went to San Francisco to hang out, and started packing this morning.

I've checked into my flight, just Skyped with my friend so I have her phone number and address written down, and checked in for my flight like I tried to do last night before realizing I didn't know where my passport was.

So what happens now? ADVrider, motorcycle! I don't know where or what (hopefully a DL650 with bags) but I'm renting one for a week and change. I was planning on doing a Wales, Ireland, Scotland loop, but the weather looks coldish and wet and I don't trust that my passenger will be able to cope. So, we're now thinking about France, Spain, and Portugal. All I have to do is get back to London before my flight. A real No Reservations ride? It's no BAM road, but it's a good adventure for me and a nice follow-up to moving from Maine to the SF Bay back in August by riding. Updates on the fly!

PS: If anybody would like to rent me a bike in London at market rate, drop a PM before I find a regular rental dealer. I'm sure I'll be looking for crash space outside in France, Spain, and Portugal too... if I go that way. We'll see what happens. I could end up anywhere in Western Europe this week!

[Gregg Wannabe]

Originally Posted by Autocracy

I'm at my office, and my flight to London leaves in four hours. I definitely started off packing for my trip the wrong way, asking at 18:30, "Where the hell is my passport?" I did the important part first: Plan B and made an emergency appointment with the passport office for 10 the next morning, and five minutes later found the damn thing. Then I went to San Francisco to hang out, and started packing this morning.

I've checked into my flight, just Skyped with my friend so I have her phone number and address written down, and checked in for my flight like I tried to do last night before realizing I didn't know where my passport was.

So what happens now? ADVrider, motorcycle! I don't know where or what (hopefully a DL650 with bags) but I'm renting one for a week and change. I was planning on doing a Wales, Ireland, Scotland loop, but the weather looks coldish and wet and I don't trust that my passenger will be able to cope. So, we're now thinking about France, Spain, and Portugal. All I have to do is get back to London before my flight. A real No Reservations ride? It's no BAM road, but it's a good adventure for me and a nice follow-up to moving from Maine to the SF Bay back in August by riding. Updates on the fly!

PS: If anybody would like to rent me a bike in London at market rate, drop a PM before I find a regular rental dealer. I'm sure I'll be looking for crash space outside in France, Spain, and Portugal too... if I go that way. We'll see what happens. I could end up anywhere in Western Europe this week!

Fantastic. This is how I like to travel, no plans, no idea, no kidding! Have fun!

[Autocracy]

I'm on the ground! Wheels down in London yesterday and a day of exhaustion from it.

When I landed, I couldn't find my 5'8" red-headed friend anywhere. I figured she'd stick out in a crowd, but no luck. Since I couldn't find another carrier's sim in the micro size test my phone to ensure it was sim unlocked (a great FYYFF to AT&T for refusing to give me to code) after trying my own method of breaking it, I was reluctant to spend £20 for a card that wouldn't work outside the UK and might not work at all. They said once it was put in my card they wouldn't be able to refund it even if it didn't work. I then paid £3.95 for Boingo wifi access to send a Facebook message. No reply. I was walking my way down to the Tube when I ran into her. Yay no crossed-path traveling issues.

We jaunted around parts of the West / Southwest London as Gaby did errands. I learned that the Underground is a rattly mess and the adjacent South West Trains are a very smooth ride. I was very tired and nearly falling over around 16:00 local time, but a bit of time in the bouldering gym brought me back to life. Gaby refused to let me sleep except for a power nap around 7. I completely collapsed at 11. She kicked me awake at 9.

I refused to move anywhere for about 30 minutes while I read some random crap on the Internet until I reached a point where both eyes agreed to stay open at once for more than a minute. When I was finally ambulatory, I made myself some poached eggs, ham, and cheese on an English muffin. Ahhh, home-cooked food. Not sure I'll see that again for a week.

We made it into the city for the bike shop. There was some confusion at first with rental. Initially I had to go the other location and get a 650 because I was age-restricted (had to be 30?!) for the Bandit 1200. I looked at the sign while waiting for them to sort things out between locations and noted that it said 25/30. Knowing what I do about the UK graduated bike licensing and comparing that I'd never seen any other place in my searches that had restricted anything for somebody over 25 with riding experience, I asked what the 25/30 requirement was. He checked with the insurance and I was good to take the 1200. Then I found out I misunderstood the pricing and thought it was £295 for the week, but that was the weekend rate. It would be £395. For the £100, I said I'd head back to the other location and grab the 650.

We walked a few blocks to the train when the guy called and said he'd cleared it with his boss. I'd be able to rent for £295. Since I'm crossing to mainland Europe, there was about another £115 in insurance and breakdown coverage fees on top of it, and about 50 quid for Gaby's gear rental. Expensive as hell, but here we go... all told with currency conversion and fees, I think I may have paid as much for the bike as for my plane ticket. At least she's agreeing to cover every other expense for our trip.

I rode it back to the apartment and holy crap people were coming at me the wrong damn way! It may take a while to feel natural about seeing traffic on my right-hand side. I definitely didn't appreciate how automatic my left / right checks were for traffic until getting here. It doesn't help any that the bike has previously been ridden in a very straight line with the current tires, so turn-in is a bit lousy. Adjustment time...



Gas price conversion for those back home: 4.6 gallons for $36.05.

Over the past hour we've firmed up our plans a bit. I still haven't found a map yet and need to go buy 2 high-vis vests for France and... a breathalyzer? http://shop.theaa.com/content/driving-in-europe This place be strange.

Given the lack of planning and a place to stay yet, we've opted to leave at 6am tomorrow. That gives us the ability to book a Chunnel train ticket at a relatively reasonable £37. 7am because tickets jumped from £37 to £64 while I was trying to book them, so we took a later slot. We're shooting for Le Mans as a target, so I'm looking for a place to stay there now. May the weather be in our favor!

The current tentative plan: Su: Le Mans, Mo: ???, Tu: Lisbon, W: Still chilling in Lisbon. Th: ?? Fr: ?? Sa: London. Now to figure where in these places I can stay at.

[Autocracy]

Some fun vocabulary since I've been here:

• You don't rent an apartment, you find a flat that was for let.
• It's not gas, it's petrol
• My motorbike has a 1200cc lump
• A divided highway is a dual carriageway
• MIND THE GAP. There are times when the space between the train and the platform will accomodate your entire body if you're not Santa.
• Trains don't make stops so much as they call on stations.
• Exit here? Alight here.
• This is a Picadilly line train to Cockfosters.
• Tariff, VAT, etc.

That character of Rose's mom from Doctor Who? She's everywhere . London has its own prolific version of Valley Girls. Oi.

[CrazyBiker]

Jeff, Good luck and have a great trip!

[BayRocket]

What's the name of the company you rented the bike from?