The Decision

Monday 16 April 2012

The three of us meet for a meal most Monday nights. The venue: Wests in Lambton. The food: simple, cheap. The conversation: usually centred around motorcycles. Riding, racing and restoring all get a look in.

Of course, other topics take the spotlight at times. On this Monday night, Scott was holding the floor given his shock announcement: "I've had enough of the construction industry. I've resigned. Not sure what I want to do next. Maybe drive trains? Maybe ride a Postie bike? Maybe just do up my house."

We were shocked. But in a way, envious. And then an idea came to me: "You know that motorcycle trip in the USA we talked about a year or so ago? It'd be a good time to take that now, wouldn't it?"

It was. We looked at Jimmy. "I'm in!"

And with that, the trip was born.

We agreed a few key things that night:

• Three weeks from start to finish.
• The less time planning, the better.
• No itinerary - just a few key places we'd like to see (Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Pike's Peak in Colorado, the aliens in Roswell New Mexico and the Grand Canyon in Arizona).
• We'd fly in to either San Francisco or Los Angeles, and do a loop. Which city depended on flight availability and motorcycle hire options.