23 July 2007 The Start

Lots of stuff to do, Lard picked up his bike, the camera crew bought all the goodies they needed while I got the temporary rego sorted. That was the most painless process I ever had with American bureaucrats !! The lady was extremely friendly and the process was done quickly (no waiting whatsoever) and for practically nothing (USD 25) I was all ready to go!

Petra took me to Starbucks (can live without my White Chocolate Mocha for too long J) and some very nice bagels. Then I got my gear on the bike to ride out to Christophes place for the start. Man was it hot, it is amazing how hot it feels out here. Of course I am wearing my full gear (MJK cool leathers does help !!) because these Houstonians are lousy, stupid, dangerous drivers mate ! They cut in left and right, tailgating like they are qualifying for the Indy 500, they don’t need the death penalty over here, they are killing themselves already!

Getting ready to go was an interesting procedure with a film crew around !! It was nice to get a few takes before we had to do the real stuff. We were sweating like crazy by that time though so getting more and more water in was vital! My little water backpack was doing a good job !

We finally went off to do some shots around downtown Houston and I bet they will be great as we had some awesome views of the city. Traffic was getting very heavy (evening rush hour was starting) so we decided to get going. A few close calls in the mad rush hour traffic, again shows it HOUSTONIANS can’t drive if their bloody life depends on it, they are actually trying to end it as fast as they can………

Once out on the road, the traffic thinned out and the weather cooled down as well. Going east on the I10 is not one of the prettiest roads in the world but some of the views were still awesome, especially crossing a bridge at 30 meters gives you a pretty cool view of the estuary ;)

Pulling into the parking lot at a motel 6 in Beaumont Texas, resulted in an interesting evening with a lot of interesting people J. Texans, Cajuns, an Ohio trucky and a dating lady made for interesting conversation. Then of to Hooters for dinner, we couldn’t let poor Lard in suspense for too long to see what it was like, we found his eyes rolling on the floor before someone stepped on it though J. After that, of to bed !!!