Category Archives: Part 2 – Canada & USA

Well after all those delays, the day finally dawned when I got back on the road. A sunny Saturday morning, with the temperature hitting 24ºC by 0830. Before setting out, I have to mention Mr Bishop of Bishop’s Tailoring in Waynesboro. This delightful older (than me) man, who has a passion for Irish and BluegrassContinueContinue reading “2/29 – At last: back on the road! – 27/28 June 2024”

Health Warning: This post will probably be of interest to those with a bent towards biking and bike repairs. Thurs 18 July: I started this on the afternoon I arrived, Thursday. I started to remove only the essentials, but then decided that, in the long run, it would probably be quicker to remove all theContinueContinue reading “2/28 – Repairing the bike – 18/22 July 2024”

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”