Author Archives: Sean Drysdale

Today is exactly 6 weeks since my accident and it has been a frustrating and somewhat depressing period, seemingly peaking or rather touching its nadir today. Immediately post accident, I thought it would be a quick repair, both to me and the bike, and back on the road within a week, at most. This optimismContinueContinue reading “2/27 – Frustrations and Delays – 23 July 2024”

I have to admit here, that during my stay in St Ferriol and Glengormley, my enthusiasm for completing the trip waned somewhat. The drive and sense of achievement that I felt in Africa was missing, maybe because everything was so ‘civilised’ and invariable. Whatever the reason, I recalled something I had read that said, “IfContinueContinue reading “2/26 – Going back, for better or for worse – 17/18 July”

The journey back to St Ferriol was to take a little longer than I had planned. Firstly, a flight from Dulles airport in DC would be twice the price of one from JFK in New York – both to Manchester in England. So, although JFK was much farther away from Greencastle, I opted for theContinueContinue reading “2/25 – A Musical(?) Journey -22/24 Jun”

With the paperwork done, all (haha!) that remained was to get things back together – myself included – and get back on the road. Let’s start with me. My injuries were fairly minor – just a gash on my knee – or so I thought. The first treatment I had was a fairly rudimentary clean,ContinueContinue reading “2/24 – Getting It Back Together – 15-21 June 2024”

So yesterday ended with my bike being written off by the insurance assessor. Ron, a biker himself, was very understanding about my reluctance to lose this machine that I had had for nearly 46 years, and which meant so much to me. He went the extra mile to find out the possible options, and, sinceContinueContinue reading “2/23 – The Clouds Part – 13/14 June 2024”

My initial research revealed two places in Ohio called Belfast, one in Clermont County and the other in Highland County. Then during my time in Belfast, Maine I was told of another in Licking County, so I went looking for all three. I’ll relate the story in order of my success in finding them. Belfast,ContinueContinue reading “2/21 – Ohio’s Disappearing Belfasts – 08-10 June 2024”

The plan has changed! After much hmm-ing and haa-ing, I decided that I really needed to get my camping kit completed. The decision had much to do with the difficulties and hassle I had and was experiencing in finding suitable accommodation.  I was spending ridiculous amounts of time trying to find something on or nearContinueContinue reading “2/20 – Getting to Ohio – 06/07 June 2024”

Gettysburg With the weekend out of the way, it was time to get back to the job on hand. I had always had the intention of visiting the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, which many consider to be the turning point in the American Civil War. After some earlier successes, the Confederate Army underContinueContinue reading “2/19 – Gettysburg and Belfast, Fulton County, PA – 04-05 June 2024”

Almost the last day of May and I leave Hampstead headed for Waynesboro in Pennsylvania where I have booked a hotel room for the night. It’s not a long ride so I left late afternoon and arrived without incident. At the hotel reception I was asked fro my credit card and when I queried thisContinueContinue reading “2/18 – Back to Pennsylvania – 30 May – 04 June 2024”