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Up at 7am, only I wasn’t up, and took another 15min to actually get out of bed. Dressed and over to the main building for breakfast at $4.95, cereal and yoghurt, the usual fare and still delicious. While eating, thunder has descended on the Hotel… no, just the Harleys already leaving around 8am.

I take longer to get ready, finally departing rather late at 9.30am. The gas station was a little further up the road than I thought it would be, but still well within range. Once ...

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Alarm at 7.30am, and a slightly more leisurely start for Murray and I. He’d had a long previous day, and I simply liked sleeping, bit of a late starter etc.

The Humboldt had a complimentary breakfast, so across to the room for that, more cereal, orange juice, yoghurt etc. The rest of the bikes were away early again, I took my sweet time, Murray even had a quick 20 winks in full gear on his bed (minus helmet and gloves).

Heading towards the freeway for the gas station ...

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Originally Posted by Hanne

To most people, ‘Germany’ plus ‘bikes’ equals ‘BMW’, no questions asked. While BMW is currently the only motorcycle manufacturer in Germany, this has not always been the case. Back in the heyday of German motorcycle production during the 1920s there were 260 independent brands being made in the country. A visit to the the ‘Zweirad Museum’ in Werder, Germany provided me with the opportunity to see some of these machines first hand and to trace the history of German engineering back to its roots.

The next few blogs at least are going to be a bit shorter… time seems to disappear faster than I can count, and now I am a few days behind (still posting them on the correct dates though). I’ve also decided to abandon the idea of videoing pieces of the route with a camera I borrowed from GiJoe. I spend all the time photographing, blogging and actually enjoying the holiday, without more top.

Anyway, onward with the blog.

7am, the usual bloody alarm. Reached for ...

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The signs were there. The sharp intake of breath by the Polish mechanic servicing the bike in Lublin, “ You are going where?” Then there was the three hour wait at the Polish border while they “fixed” the computor.

After that it was the Ukrainians pushing us forward in the line. Like lambs to the slaughter perhaps? At the border I met a Norwegian on a Harley. His name was something like Mogturd Mogturdson so I called him... Mog. He told me he was a Philosophy Lecturer ...

The alarm rings at 8am. It’s a lay day in San Francisco. Those that are hiring bikes are collecting them today, the rest of us can do anything we like. A few of us have booked Alcatraz Cruises, I have as well (couldn’t pass up the chance to visit the iconic island). I booked weeks ago, but still couldn’t get anything earlier than 11.30am.

Murray is sharing my room, and he hasn’t booked anything, but reckons a harbour cruise would suit him. I mention my preference ...

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I wasted far too much time the previous evening watching movies I didn’t need to watch. Braveheart from end to end, probably for the first time along with a series of other stuff. This meant I didn’t get nearly as much sleep as I should have, so when the alarm went off at 7am… I didn’t want to get up.

Rolling over, I lost a few minutes, but got up anyway, jumping into the shower to wake up. I didn’t know what time the group was leaving, but presumed the ...

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The tour proper gets underway today, heading north from Los Angeles to a little town called Morro Bay.

The debacle last night didn’t assist in getting an early night’s sleep, getting to bed around midnight, after re-packing things where they were supposed to be. Nevertheless, the alarm rang at 7am, and Murray was already up and showering.

Had a quick breakfast, again of cereal, milk and yoghurt. If anything, their supply had grown since the previous day, so ...

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