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John Mitchell settles down for a good read of one man and his wife’s trek across America

Click here for more info or to order this book I don’t normally read books, never mind review them, but this book was different. Tom Cunliffe’s Good Vibrations is a true-life story of an English couple riding across America on a pair of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles.

The story highlights the problems encountered with insurance and customs, even before the journey has begun. Their epic journey is steeped in history, and full of colourful people that the husband and wife duo meet, eat, drink and stay with along the way. After reading this book, I came to the conclusion that most Americans speak English, but the similarity ends there. Tom meets and describes wonderfully the diversification of the different characters that he meets, from the soft-spoken farmer, to the chemically powered drug dealer trying to sell Tom his wares.

I recognise the name of most of the places they visit, and his description of them is all I imagined, but then I do have a good imagination though. Riding some of those long lonely US roads on a hot sunny day would be my idea of heaven, but it wasn’t always like that.

Sometimes they were riding the tail end of a hurricane – but that is what this journey was about. A mixture of good, bad and indifferent roads, and some of the towns and Cities were much the same. Tom tries to steer clear of the tourist spots, and is constantly trying to find the “Real America” and in doing so, “Real Americans”.

It was quite sad finishing the book, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a couple of old friends.

Did Tom, his wife and the Harleys make the journey trouble free? Well you will have to buy the book to find out. But it does make for compulsive reading… and the fact that I bought a Japanese Cruiser for myself recently shortly after reading this book is totally unconnected, honest!

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