For safety reasons the R1 was almost empty so when I swung in behind Richard Gordon's X35at 3pm I needed fuel. We headed north in good weather and after 15 miles we eventually managed a petrol station. I could see the animated conversation going on in the car. Around Philadelphia some chap on a fast yellow Suzuki with a girl on the back pulled alongside and waved. A moment later some dingbat using a mobile phone whilst driving cut him off very dangerously. He signalled me to see if I had noticed and with hand-signals we agreed that all car users on mobile phones should be shot on sight. He speeds off. Near the centre of Philadelphia, still on the I95 north, Richard scoots over to take another motorway and as I attempt to follow a woman in a red SUV talking on her MOBILE FLIPPIN' PHONE overtakes me on the inside, nearly sideswipes me and blocks my exit. I watched helpless as they passed over my head on an overpass west. I was pretty annoyed so I rode up to miss clueless on her mobile and banged on the window with my carbon-fibre-knuckled gloves. She looked horrified and literally threw the phone onto the passenger seat and drove on staring straight ahead as if too terrified to move. Mission accomplished. Maybe a life saved. Don't ever drive and use a hand-held mobile. It turns out that the Suzuki rider and his girl saw the whole thing and they laughed and gave me a big thumbs-up for warning that dumb woman.
I thought that maybe Richard knew some cute eating place near the Liberty Bell and that was why he changed motorways but it turned out to be a wise shortcut. I simply rode on to a petrol station, called them and caught up at the Westport Inn 15 minutes behind them. Boy was I glad of the sleep that night after 61/2 hours non-stop riding!
Some nice things happened en route. A chap on a Kawasaki 1400 naked bike rode up beside me and waved. At my first toll booth I was behind him and asked if motorcycles go free as in England. It's such a palaver to get money out when you have gloves and rain gear and helmets that it's not worth the dollar to hold up the cars. Nope. The US of A wants every almighty dollar... suddenly he waves me through the barrier. I hesitate as it looks illegal. The friendly lady at the kiosk said we could both go. I do not know whether he paid for me or just told them that a dumb Brit was with him but he got me through 2 tolls at no charge. Thank you Licence plate number RZL 70!!!
Also some bad things happened en route besides drivers on phones. The roads. Washington DC and New York NY should be made nuclear test sites. The state of the I95 around the George Washington Bridge must make that President turn in his grave. The bumps and pot holes are so violent that they threw my panniers off to one side and nearly made me crash. I pulled over as trucks the size of Trump Towers thundered past and refixed the bags. One minute later I hit a bump so hard it flung my backpack opwards into my helmet driving the helmet over my eyes leaving me blind. THAT freaked me out I can tell you! To replicate my journey, get a very, very fat friend to sit on a see-saw (teeter-totter?) and repeatedly jump on and off their seat for 4-6 hours. As I rolled into the Motel in Westport the rain drops started.
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