Driving on the left, I must admit, took a lot of concentration. When on the road following cars it was just a little strange. It was when cars weren't around that things got confusing, like when pulling back onto a road after stopping to take pictures or a leak. I didn't make any mistakes, but it was clear a major catastrophe could easily result from a lapse in mental acuity.
I had no idea where I was going when I got off the ferry, but followed signs to Canterbury (an homage to Chaucer). But instead of traveling from Southwark to the St. Thomas Becket's shrine at the Canterbury Cathedral, I just wanted a SIM card so I could navigate. Parked my bike (above) and wandered into the marketplace surrounding the Cathedral:
Downside of traveling 'my way'? Wandering around in full leathers with 50lbs of gear, a tank bag in one hand and a helmet in the other hardly permits much off-the-bike exploration. That hard lockable storage on an R1200 is a luxury that allows logging a lot more miles on foot than permitted by my setup.
In any case, got hooked up with a SIM card at Vodafone, headed back to my bike and towards London (via signs, as my card was still trying to activate itself). Spent some time after that getting lost, not on purpose.
Pulled into a gas station and nothing...still no signal. In the midst of calling Vodafone thrice, while semi trucks pounded by and while a guy operating a forklift tried to remove my head, a guy in a Smart car approached. Screw the need to get my Vodafone card working, the guy offered a place for my bike, directions, recommendations for food, you name it.
I would have liked to take him up on it, but I still had a few hours of light and wanted to get some miles behind me. A stupid idea, in retrospect. Should have just had a few beers and crashed wherever he could have found a place for me to crash.
Instead, I headed out into a storm during London rush hour traffic.
It POURED. And the semi-trucks seemed taller, wider and longer than the ones I'm used to. You know that feeling of riding between 10-story tall buildings on a 3' wide, 29-mile long alley while it pours down rain, don't ya? Well, neither did I until that day. But that's what it was like. Only one slide and I'd get sucked underneath 18 very heavy wheels.
Aerial perspective:
Made it to some roadside motel. Goes without saying that I was fairly hungry. A mall-like food court, along with a couple of convenience stores, was in the same roadside stop. Food was plentiful, if unhealthy. Oh and yes, I found a safe parking spot and experienced the first of several properly snobbish English glares as I rumbled my way up to the front of the building.
I'll take glares, fist fights or even the dreaded 'clobberings by purse' over waking up to no bike, though.
