[jamesobrady]

"A Cynic is one who knows the cost of everything, and the value of nothing"

I've no idea who said that, or wrote it, or whatever. I could look it up on google and put the name beside it, and make it look like i was all educated when it comes to philosophy..but i wont. Plain and simple, its a sentace that stuck in my head, and presented itself time and time again when the costs for shipping the bike, plus fuel, plus visa/border crossings plus lodging and food and breakdowns etc etc etc mounted up in my head over the last four months.

"A fool and his money are easily parted"

..also popped in there. So I took things slowly, got loads of shipping quotes, all the advise I could find online and from various shipping agents. The end cost of sending the bike USA bound worked out around a figure i thought it would be...its not over yet so bear with me on the "how much did it cost???" questions and answers.

Now...there is a mile of things to be written about between the time I decided to do this trip, the months preceeding that decision, and today. Theres a reflection on a four week trip around Europe to rear its head at some point.
Im going to be a bit of an arse about it, and start with today. The rest will unfold for you as it unfolds for me...although Im sure it'll be heavily edited and rewritten many many times...so what oyu get probably wont be what i have to struggle with in my head on a daily basis. War for me, entertainment for you. Thats the arrangement...as laid down by everyone else who has tried write about their travels. You can't really ever get anyone's exact experience through their writing i reckon...there are thoughts they will have they wont want to share, and the rest you'll end up filling in yourself in the manner in which your own head pictures tell you to.

To precursor the following picture.... it is not a bike. We will get to the crux of that issue shortly. Or longly. Who knows. I sure dont.



It is a Chevy Camaro. Google now tells me its a V6 300hp sports car. It does 0-60 in 6 seconds on paper. My left foot tells me its similar to the 280ish hp skyline I have/had. The last time I drove a rear wheel car with this many horses I re-modelled a wall and a signpost into some modern art. I did not intend to hire this car...I intended to hire a nice safe Hyundai Accord that I could happoly refuse the extra insurance on as there was very little likelyhood of it being stolen, vandalised, or set on fire...all of which under american rental policies you are liable for without the extra insurance, regardless of fault. Or so 3 hire companies tell me...im still dubious on that. In any case ....I digress..

Im in a town called Needles, staying in the second place I called into. The first was a Best Western they wanted $89 plus taxes for a night(wifi extra). I was going to pay it as I was tired. The breakfast sounded nice. It had scrambled eggs in it.
As per all American transactions so-far, she wanted to see my driving license. I had left it in the car. As i went back to get it I told myself to take a quick gander at the (now charged) gps and see what else was to offer within falling asleep at the wheel distance.
As it turned out, the dodgy looking motel accross the road only wanted 33dollars.....free wifi. fcuk that said I...the extra insurance will cover the theft.
I parked up outside the office...there were two large african-american hookers upstairs. They said hello. I took it as a good omen...with them up there all night nobody would get within spitting distance of the car without being called "sweety" or "sugah" and being asked things like "you want some company honey?" ... this is how my head movies work...I take parts from the many many many many....many....american movies I've seen, and adjust them so they suit my current experience and/or requirements for piece of mind. I currently have the chair propped up under the door handle so no drug assassins get the wrong motel room. That has happened in every mob movie i've seen....i'm not falling for it.

Why am I here ? The simple answer is just that, and will be answered now. The difficult one...i havent figured it out yet.
Simple: The bike is being held in cutoms in Atlanta. Everyone is surprised. Except the cynics. That lot always expect problems and are glad when they are encountered, as it supports their sad narrow minded reasons for not doing anything. There is no reason for it to be held apart from "awaiting inspection"....which could mean anything. 200 phonecalls calls and emails have been made and sent and received. Nothing has changed. Monday might yield an answer.

Wednesday I arrived in LAX and got settled into the travellodge in Torrance in south south LA. Thursday I got confused at customs, disappointed at the Delta office, and dejected at the prospect of not being mobile by the wend. Long story short, I said fcuk it.....Im hitting the road until monday.
Allowing a slight glimmer of hope to hold me close to LAX for a couple more days, I booked into what has got to be the MOST FANTASTIC hostel I have ever stayed at on 2nd street in Santa Monica. Its this one:

Its located here:



Anyway....it had cute girls walking around offering freshly cooked muffins for free, a possibly crazy african-american women in perminant residence(which I thought was very socially responsible as she was likely homeless otherwise), someone always playing a piano very well, and good rooms and showers, with a team of cleaners and staff to rival the best hotels. The really best part though, is that it wasnt just full of fit attractive idealistic 19year olds. Folks of all ages wandered about, knocking laptops into each other. Ah...bliss....im not feeling like old-man baldyfat like i did in the place in Nice. WIth the 4 paraguyan girls. But thats a whole other less interesting story than Im suggesting it is.

So...Santa Monica was nice, the homeless guys were mad but kept to themselves. The grocery store is 6 blocks away on broadway and lincoln...see..its easy after a few days-the lingo in the towns. CVP is on lincoln too...but the guy in Vons told me it was take a left, go up two blocks and it would be on my right. By the time i reached Performance Bikes on 4th and broadway, I knew I had gone wrong. Anyway....the lingo is settling in nicely thanks.
And i know now you can turn right on red. That took a bit of getting used to.....ITS A RED LIGHT FFS.

It was nice, the beach was nice, the pier was nice, and yadda yadda....boring. No bike news on friday so a resolution was made. ARIZONA.
Booked a standard car on the net, and went to pick it up early. I was presented with this monstrosity of a horsebox. Its not a bad car...it's just feckin HUGE.
It goes like stink...but its an automatic..so its no fun really. There is a manual mode, but its paddles, and it changes gear when it thinks it should anyway...so its not really manual..just a psuedo manual. It actually denies a downchange if you're revving too high....pfft
Anyway..a sportscar without a stick shift is a waste of time in my opinion....whats the point? Point push and go...
How the fcuk do you get an automatic to do a doughnut? There is no clutch to dump. Ill see if i can figure it out tomorrow.
Back to today:


Escaped the sprawl of LA and its associates after an hour or two of driving...jesus the distances are vast. fcuk you google maps and you damn lies. 6 hours to Phoenix my cock.

I wanted mountains and desolation...I got it..mostly. Still no joshua trees or cactus though.






Right...Im wrecked...theres so much detail to try and convey that im finding it hard to wallow through it and present it. I still havent actually reached Arizona, havent told you about the rickety old lady running the motel and the internet problem, the crazy young guy in the gas station over the road who for no reason whatsoever started telling me about his street bike ambitions, the guy at the traffic lights shouting at cars, the advertising guy doing somersaults with the sign, the harley shop i was in, the walmarts today and yesterday looking for road maps and the difference therein....there is interesting siht here to tell folks about...crazy mad stuff....and im finding it hard to type away at it. I give up for tonight...I need a camera man. Where's Zou when ya need him ?

Like this..it freaked me the fcuk out. I had pulled in to take a picture of an abandoned Fallout-esque restaurant for Junkers.



Ok...eyes letting me down here...goodnight

This post has been edited by jamesobrady: 14 November 2010 - 06:21 AM

[Linda]

Sure Og is just starting to try and finish his blog from the Gambia trip. You come back with the best of intentions but life gets in the way.

[The Greek AKA The cat]

jamesobrady, on 21 January 2012 - 09:50 PM, said:

Hey all. Thread was in editing for a bit...but of course life didn't deem it necessary to give me time to do a few rewrites I wanted to do, so it hasn't changed yet.
As most of you will know...Im back since July 2011. There's still the trip from Guatemala to Peru to write about,the boat ride from Panama to Colombia, and the entering into a coma of the bike in Lima and all that entailed.

So hopefully will find the time to add to it here and there. Maybe even with pics.

Jeez James, I completely forgot about the accident.
Still great to re-read it.

You should think about writing for the mags. Try submitting a few articles.

The attention to detail is excellent.

And deffo a real thread of the year contender.

[steophilis]

hey james, did you used to read dan walsh or what ??

i've just re-read a little bit and it's really entertaining.i like the way you put the story together, the greek is right, you could easily put this into instalments and it would make a great monthly read. imo that's what's missing from mags like BBG.

[Kelpie]

You should be writing a book

[jamesobrady]

The Greek AKA The cat, on 24 January 2012 - 09:55 AM, said:

You should think about writing for the mags. Try submitting a few articles.

The attention to detail is excellent.

steophilis, on 24 January 2012 - 07:22 PM, said:

i've just re-read a little bit and it's really entertaining.i like the way you put the story together, the greek is right, you could easily put this into instalments and it would make a great monthly read. imo that's what's missing from mags like BBG.

Kelpie, on 24 January 2012 - 07:28 PM, said:

You should be writing a book

Cheers for the very generous compliments folks. Careful now or you'll get me all enthusiastic only to be shot down by some publisher

[Chippy]

fantastic reading james, i'm glad you have shared your journey. some fantastic qoutes like this one myself 'watched the ball meet the mountain, and leave its blood all over the sky'

keep writing.

[Hanna]

Kelpie, on 24 January 2012 - 07:28 PM, said:

You should be writing a book

I keep telling him that