There and Back Again to See How Far It Is

What on earth possesses a man who has no sense of direction, and enough trouble walking down the high street without tripping up, to go out and buy an enormous Harley-Davidson, saddle up and head out through the  backwaters of small-town America? Tim Watson. a middle-aged man at a crossroads in life, did just that and here is his extraordinary account of what happened.

After 28 years of corporate life in the automotive industry, latterly as managing director of a luxury car maker, Tim had seen a lot of the 1, world, albeit often through the windows of a top hotel or a chauffeur-driven limo taking him to yet another motor show or Formula 1 race. But eventually the high life took its toll. There were only so many budget and managerial processes that the human mind could deal with and he'd had enough.

So he left and - living the dream of many an armchair adventurer - took up motorcycling full-time for six months to make a series of trips of some 8,000 miles around the US. It was a bold move. With precious little motorcycle experience but armed with an amateur's passion for bikes and a fascination to find out what lay beyond the bright lights of the major cities, he rode into a whole new world quite unlike anything he had ever encountered before.

In a country so huge it boggles the mind - 3.79 million square miles, 50 states, 309 million people - he took the small roads to places most visitors never see and witnessed the off-duty side of 'the most powerful nation on earth'. There were times when he wanted to get off the bike and simply walk home. But throughout the trip he was spurred on by the warmth and interest of the obliging American people who were curious about what the hell an Englishman was doing riding through their country so far and so badly on a Harley-Davidson.

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