SidecarJohn

Little doubt that amongst many memorable sidecar adventures throughout Europe and the UK, our trips to the USA have been the most significant. What began in 1998 as a one off "Holiday of a Lifetime" was destined to turn into something more than anyone could have expected.

The first trip followed repeated suggestions from our good friend, Doug Bingham, the stateside "Mr Sidecar". We had met during his visits to the UK, first a rally, then at the Jumbo GB ride for handicapped kids. The descriptive eventually morphed into "disabilities and special needs". The friendship grew when Doug became involved with the Watsonian sidecars business.

1998 saw us staying with Doug for some days before venturing on a round trip through California, Nevada, and Arizona. We hired a car for our travels, probably the most sensible to fit in all the tourist things on a 4000 mile circuit back to Doug's in Los Angeles. Doug introduced a sidecar buddy, Pete Bollier, who lived in San Francsco.

Pete provided lodging and acted as a great host guiding us around his home city. He also took us for a ride on his Goldwing outfit. Pete also provided invaluable guidance for the next stage of our tour, including Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Sequoia National Park, and Kings Canyon National Park. We returned to Doug's prior to our flight home after what was seen as a one off "holiday of a lifetime".

However, we were hooked and returned in 2001. This time with a trip that started in Denver and ultimately concluded back in Los Angeles for a few memorable days at Doug's. This time though turned out to be something sepcial because Mr Bingham provided an introduction to a "sidecar buddy" based in Colorado.

The introduction to Doyne and Darlene Bruner proved to be a memorable for the two of us. Our initial weekend visit ultimately led to a friendship that has continued far beyond what we could have imagined was possible from that early encounter. Consequently, we have been extremely fortunate to spend time with our "buddies" in Colorado a few times since.

Significantly, the joint enthusiasm for motorcycles and sidecars has meant opportunities for ourselves we could have only dreamed about. Great, shared trips and enjoying rides on outfits throughout Colorado.