D-5 Trip week

Oh shit. Oh shit. 5 days to go.

I am at the dealer. I’ve picked up my bike all shiny and fixed. It’s got less than 150 miles on the clock. I need to do another 500 miles before Thurs 11am. It’s Monday.

I decide to go and visit my old friend Jake in Cambridge for lunch. He runs the computational biology IT for a world class lab. A far cry from his days as a motorcycle courier in London and making ends meet whilst studying for his PhD in molecular biology. He’s doing something he loves that combines multiple passions into a job that someone pays him to do. Can’t be better than that.

The bike is nearly empty but the dealer shares a driveway with an ESSO station. I push the bike over to a pump, put it on the side stand and realise I don’t know how to open the fuel tank. I pull the tab. Nothing happens. I turn the bike back on. Nothing happens. I walk away and get someone from the dealer to show me what to do. Turns out you need to open the fuel tank within 30 seconds of turning the ignition off. I spent ages faffing around before attempting to open the fuel tank so went past the window of opportunity without even taking a look in. A £20 fill of fuel and I am ready to go.

Wait a second? £20. Is that all it costs to fill up? I spend £70-90 on filling my car and it doesn’t go much further on a tank than this bike will.

I get to Cambridge quickly. Jake eventually leaves his faraday cage of a computer room and messages me just as I arrive at Adenbrookes. Some nervous manoeuvring later I am parked up and Jake runs out. His lunch is getting cold as he didn’t realise I was going to be there that quickly! We talk bikes and catch up but in my mind is just how inexperienced I felt doing this. A far cry from the days when Jake and I had motorbikes, the confidence of youth and a feeling of invulnerability.

The ride back to London is uneventful as I take the motorway. At this point I realise I can’t possibly do the journey as planned. The motorway is mind numbing and I might as well be in a car. Where is the excitement of having a bike?

On the plus side I’ve just added 120 miles to my bike. 380 to go.