Bikers

“Chris isn’t it”? Said the big motorcycle guy at breakfast in the ferry’s restaurant.

“Brian actually. John isn’t it”?

“Rob actually”

We both laughed.

The thing with bikers is that we frequently end up chatting about our mutual hobbies and I briefly met Rob and his wife at our hotel in Saumur. I obviously mistook his name for a couple I’d met elsewhere, and he likewise. They invited me to sit with them over breakfast (as we were about to depart from St Malo) and we continued Thursday’s biking conversation.

You will notice an absence of Nige, Sue, Ernie and Jenny. We had said our farewells two hours previously back in Fougeres, they are destined for the afternoon ferry from Caen, which I originally was, until Nige decided that after nearly three weeks of my company he couldn’t stand any more! Well that’s not strictly true, or at least I don’t think so. 🤔

My concerns were travelling back to Carlisle on Sunday, as you know I’m not a fan of night-time riding but really want to be home to see all the family in good time, and with our original ferry not docking until 9.15pm it was going to make the ride north a tad arduous. Last night I changed the booking so now arrive at 6.30pm which will give me more flexibility.

As I zipped on my motorcycle boots in the bedroom of our hotel in Fougeres, I thought ‘this is the last time I will do this for the foreseeable future’, certainly abroad. I have no future trips planned, which is often the case when I’m coming to the end of one, but will sit down at home during the long, dark and cold winter nights, take stock and prioritise for next year.

Saying goodbye to my four travel buddies had more meaning to it than just a ‘goodbye’. Many many months ago Nige and Sue had invited me to make the four a five, my initial thought was that I didn’t want to be the gooseberry, and certainly didn’t need to be invited out of sympathy. Nige and Sue knew that, as they’d followed me virtually on my solo travels, so they knew that I didn’t need travelling companions. We discussed the idea and a possible route and despite never having met Ernie and Jenny I thought it had legs.

Nige and I plotted a route based on experiences we’d both had biking across northern Spain, Portugal and France, once that was set we booked ferries. I remember Nige sitting in my lounge with two credit cards rattling through them to secure all the hotels. After my solo trips it was a relief for somebody else to do the accommodation searches and so Nige would just say to me “I’ve found this place” and I’d inevitably respond “Yeah great”, and that’s how they all turned out to be!

We’d sorted and booked the whole trip in two short meetings and hoped that it would give Ernie a Jenny a variety of roads, scenery and cultures that they would enjoy.

The trip ran like clockwork, Ernie and I bounced off each other with humour, which I think reflected our characters, Jenny’s love for crafts resulted in her connecting with my friend Yvonne back in England and the two of them now seem to be craft buddies. 

I had over an hour to ponder life as a solo biker again as I headed north through rural France towards my port destination. It felt different than travelling with two other bikes despite the fact that I’m always riding my bike solo. Maybe because I’m not checking my mirrors to make sure we’re all ‘as one’, maybe because I don’t have that next coffee stop niggling away at the back of my mind and wondering if they are ready for a break, maybe just the lack of considering anybody else other than myself and how I feel? Whatever the reason it is different, or at least it makes me feel differently. 

I seem to have more time to contemplate, to ponder what I’m doing with my life. To think of my family and friends, my hobbies, the house and how I will fill my life with the vast amount of things I would still love to do. And whilst all this is going through my head I’m checking the road surface, calculating a safe speed, lean angle, which gear I should be in, making a smooth gear change and trying to keep the ‘correct line’ as well as planning the overtakes. Who said men can’t multi-task?!

As I approach the last few miles I decide that I cannot pass St Jouan without calling in to see Yann’s folks, it really is the briefest of visits, only time for Luc to open the door to me and do a double take on who is standing in front of him! Servane recognises the voice and comes out, I take a quick selfie of us all before I have to leave for the last check in time with ten minutes to spare.

In three months I have ridden 12,000 miles across France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, most on Reg the Rocket but this last trip on ‘The Panzer’, yes it’s built like a tank. If I add spring’s trip to the Canaries then that takes it to about 17,000 miles.

Travelling by bike still works for me, I won’t do so much now until late spring next year, but whenever I return to the road you’ll be the first to know.

Thanks again for keeping me company.