I am not associated with the club other than a member, but a satisfied one. I feel that on behalf of the club I should shout its praises, and in doing so perhaps inspire others to give it a go.

As my son is married and lives in Chicago, I like to go with his mother and visit once a year. However, having traveled that far I feel that I would like to spend half of the holidays with him and the other half seeing some of the country. I have always wanted to see New England in the Autumn. We normally go for 3 - 4 weeks in October to America. Looking at the list of members I found Ted listed in Vermont. I wrote to him, giving him a pen picture of myself and my wife, and sending some photographs of our home and bike asking if it would be possible to borrow his motorcycle. (Most members seem to own BMW bikes) I suppose that it would be about May when I first wrote.

Please, I hope that no one has the idea that once a member of this club it is a simple matter of lifting the phone and saying you will arrive next week and have the bike available please! You will probably, and rightly receive a Churchillian gesture and a two word reply. At anytime a member can say to himself, I don’t like this guy for whatever reason and say sorry, the bike is unavailable. Lets face it, you would be very cautious as to who you let ride your pride and joy. But its a funny thing. Having spoke to a number of people who have swapped they all have the same feelings: being happier to lend their bike than ride, and possibly damage someone elses.

Ted replied by return of post to say that he was unable to accommodate me at the time I wanted, but he had forwarded my letter to someone else who would get in touch with me.

Crist wrote to me from Rhode Island. He told me that he had the previous year swapped with a chap in England and toured Europe. He would be happy to consider my request. More letter and a couple of phone calls ensued and the plans reached fruition.

On 7th October we flew to Boston. Crist and Susan, his wife, made us most welcome. This is not the platform to praise their kindness. Suffice to say that they put their home at our disposal and as the weather on our arrival was a little unsettled they lent us a car for the first couple of days. Crist had also planned a route for our tour.Tthis in itself is a great thing. Having someone show you the way to the best places, rather than waste valuable time searching them out yourself.

For the curious, the bike was a 1977 R100 RS. It was fitted with panniers. We took our own helmets and riding suits. Insurance could not have been simpler. It appears - but you must check this for yourselves - that as long as the bike is insured anyone can ride it as long as they have their own medical insurance and a letter from the bike owner saying that you have his permission to use the machine.

New England consists of the smallest states of the U.S.A. They are situated on the east coast above Boston, which is above New York. They end at the Canadian border. Our tour took us through Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. The Autumn colors in the countryside and mountains took our breath away. The hills were on fire with bronzes, coppers and golds.

As we were setting off on a local holiday weekend, Crist had pre-booked our first three nights. As we checked in at our first night’s accommodation the owner handed me a telephone and said that there was someone to speak to me. Nobody knew I was there, who could it be? It was Ted, the guy I had first written to. He lived nearby, and he and his wife would call for us later and take us out for a meal. During the course of the evening he explained that he had been on a BikeShare that summer in the U.K. and had with his wife visited France, Belgium, England, Wales and Ireland. I have since seen an article he wrote about his trip and naming the people who looked after him - I qoute - "Those wonderful folks put us up, fed us and entertained us like we were family. These two people were so kind and generous to us travelers. I can use thousands (of) pages to describe how delighted... etc.etc." Ted is also famous for his reflective cows. He’s a bit of a big noise in motorcycle circles and he has produced sticky cows which light up at night. If you should ever see a cow glowing in the dark, you will know that Ted has passed by.

I would not like this to turn into a travel log. That is for another forum. However, there are a few highlights which might be of interest, encountered during the 1287 miles trip. The area covered was, in the main countryside and coast. We loved Woodstock (no, not that one!) a bit like Bourton-on-the-Water. I mentioned earlier that it was a holiday weekend and the traffic at the popular haunts was intense. I’m not sure if it is right or wrong, but when I see a line of cars stuck in a queue then it is safe to do so, I move up the side of them in order to progress. I did this in a town called Middlebury and before I knew it there was a siren and lights behind. "Good morning, officer!" He was, after explanation, forgiving and before long I was sitting in his patrol car playing with his toys.

Although we all love motorcycling, it’s not so good an idea to go at it all day, everyday. There has to be "time to stand and stare." Not only that, it’s nice, maybe more so for the ladies to get the head out of the helmet for a while. We stopped for two days at a place called Purity Springs, in the middle of nowhere. In the winter it is a ski resort. But when we were there we spent our two days walking in the woods and canoeing on the lake. The silence, the colours and the reflections. We hoped to see a moose; we did see beavers building a dam!

In the few cities we visited, we found their "downtown" (the city centres) to be sad places. A few offices and banks. Some cafes catering to their needs. Fine buildings, lots of "to let" signs. Everyone moved out to the edge of town and shopping malls. The lovely city centres, once the pride of the town, are now soulless, clinging on to life. The shopping malls are just convenient, but soulless too. Nobody seems to be winning. But, is this not happening in Britain too? Although I do hear voices raised in opposition!

Prices in America are comparable to here, maybe a bit less except petrol which is almost free! We used motels mainly. You get used to bartering for the best price. Bed and breakfast is not what it is here. We sampled it twice. Wonderful if a little expensive. The houses are usually filled with beautiful antiques and the bedrooms with chince, nicky nackies and fal-lals and the bed looks like a wedding cake. The breakfasts are gourmet affairs with home baked bread and muffins and you really have to get the camera out.

We returned to base all in one piece. Our next problem was how to get to Chicago. We enquired about Greyhound buses and it would take 22 hours and cost $122 one way for each of us. We eventually and through our friend’s contacts, purchased a direct flight from Providence, Rhode Island return for $146 each. We did not use the return portion as our plans were to fly back from Chicago direct to the UK.

I have told this tale now to a number of people. Some grasp the concept of BikeShare readily. Others look at me as I am a double-glazing salesman. One comment is: "so your friend in America will come over and borrow your bike?" this need not be so! I hope they will come over so that we can repay their kindness, but he is welcome to look at the list of members and decide this year Alaska or Germany. With T.A.B.S. it seems the world is at your feet.

What a wonderful narrative, not to mention endorsement, Douglas forwarded to us. I always enjoy hearing about what visitors to the U.S. think of the cities, countryside and changes taking place. I about fell out of my bed laughing when Douglas mentioned that a bed in an American bed & breakfast looks like a wedding cake!

His BikeShare partners were Crist and Susan Costa, #K225*