An uneventful journey to Heathrow T2; just shows it can be easy if you leave at 5 in the morning! Weather absolutely gorgeous, a crystal-blue dawn and very little breeze. Unfortunately, I already knew it wasn't that nice in the States. As usual, I’d been keeping an eye on the weather over there for a few weeks leading up to the big day. On previous trips, I’d been heading for California or Florida where, frankly, the weather is never a concern. But this time I was heading for the real America, the Heartlands, the Windy City, Tornado Alley – all things that bikers don’t like the sound of. And the forecasts had not looked good. The whole of the central portion of the USA had been suffering an awful spring and this wasn’t abating. My resolve was undimmed though. This was meant to be an adventure and that means stepping outside of comfort zones.

On all previous trips, I’d always meticulously planned my route and booked all my hotels well before departure. This time, I wanted the freedom to decide each day what I wanted to do. To be honest, this had been driven by my usual inability to make decisions and stick to them. I’d pored over my guidebooks for weeks, drawn potential lines all over my map and still couldn’t decide on a route to take. But I had booked my first two nights (Springfield and Memphis), only because I wanted to be in Memphis on the Saturday night of Memorial Weekend. I’d booked my Graceland tickets and that was my target for the Sunday morning. After that it was to be anything goes as I meandered west towards the Pacific. That was the plan.

United check-in was as pointless as all airlines. I’d done the online check-in the day before as their countless emails had implored me to do. At the airport I had to do an electronic check-in that also produced a bag-tag, but of course the machine was so temperamental that a member of their staff had to step in and make it happen. There were a lot of their staff waiting around the machines obviously fully aware that they don’t function for any exasperated passengers who don’t have a degree in computing; the same staff who could have been manning check-in desks if they switched off their daft machines. Then, I still had to queue at the bag drop. All the while those who hadn't bothered with online check-in sailed through a shorter queue for old-fashioned check-in!

I found the Priority Pass lounge in T2 and at this ungodly hour they weren’t turning people away. It was very nice and included cooked breakfast! For those who care about these details, it was nicer than the one in T3.

The flight was not very nice – are they ever? I was stuck next to a largish man who wanted as much space as he could grab. There was no entertainment and mostly awful food. I watched a bit of my iPad and slept. I awoke for the passage over Canada. I always enjoy that bit. No matter how empty I might think parts of the States are, there is nothing in most of Canada. Absolutely nothing. A thousand miles of ice. Could be a trip one day but no idea how.

Chicago airport is huge but better than most American airports. I have no idea who Mr O’Hare was but his name lives on better than JFK’s! The electronic passport checks were really fast - better than any experience I've had before. Anyone who has used ESTA at least once before can use them and they make a big difference. And then suddenly, I was in a taxi with some dubious character who didn't speak English. Five minutes to Eaglerider and $28! I think I should have gone to the official taxi rank. Lesson learnt.

Eaglerider were as efficient as ever. Great guys even though they were really busy. This was the Friday of Memorial Weekend and every biker who could get here was there. I chatted to people from all over the world who were headed down Rt66. I didn’t sneer or condescend any of them even though I knew my plans were better!

When it comes to the bike, I like to think I’m a bit of an expert these days and I think they were impressed but how I'd packed such that I could just load up, plug in the iPhone and go. This was my fourth time on an Electra Glide and apart from the will it/won’t it question around whether it has the satnav fitted, I know them inside out. I know exactly how much luggage I can fit and what bag to put in which compartment. I know how to mount the iphone cradle and connect everything up. I know where all the various adjusters for the ventilation are and I know how to get that amazing stereo up and running. There may be so many great bikes in the world but there is no bike better than an Electra Glide when it comes to a seriously big trip. It’s like its just sitting there waiting for you, ready to go when you are, ready to take you wherever your adventure wants it to. The bike becomes your best friend on trips like this.

Getting out of Chicago was very simple. I don't like big city riding but this was easy. There were the expected miles of suburbs. But they were nice. Chicago has some real money areas; I guess it's a rich city. I saw very little of the seedy side of American cities that I'm used to seeing. There were so many golf courses too. The bank holiday traffic was not an issue and it wasn’t long until I was in the rolling hills of Illinois. Which is quite a lot like England; Green, farmland, villages, pleasant riding. This was all very jolly.

I stopped at the Green Spaceman at Wilmington, a famous Rt66 sight and traditionally the start point of the real route as far as many bikers are concerned. I met some of the same bikers I'd seen earlier at Eaglerider and rode on with them for a while. The next village (Braidwood) had the famous Polka Dot Diner, an old Rt66 landmark where we stopped and I had a cheese dog and a butterscotch shake. A lot of calories for just a quick pit stop! We could see that the weather was starting to change at this point and we knew that the forecast was for storms later. We carried on south on the old road criss-crossing the railroad as we went. But then the rain started. I put the waterproofs on and continued but had to stop at one point when it got really heavy and sheltered under some trees with a couple of other bikers. Locals in their pickups all stopped to check we were ok. I've been to some friendly parts of the US, but Illinois is right up there so far.

I carried on some more when it abated but it wasn’t for long and when I could see lightning striking the ground in front of me, I decided to stop at a service station, where I rang home. Not to say I was frightened but just to calm me down after what felt like some near misses with the weather. The local farmers were all taking cover there, playing cards and drinking coffee. They didn't seem in any hurry to go back to work. I had a strange-flavoured coffee which seemed to be more sugar than coffee and I chatted to the girls on the counter who thought I was Australian.

Once again the rain cleared, and I headed off still keeping my optimism alive. I knew I’d lost a lot of time and still had over 120 miles to do to my pre-booked motel in Springfield. No more than 10 miles and the weather got even worse. I stopped at another coffee house - they drink a lot of awful coffee out here. And I was told there was now a tornado warning for southern Illinois where I was heading. That was it. Torrential rain was bad enough, forked lightning that seemed to be hunting me down was even worse, but tornados? Absolutely no way. I’m happy to just watch them on youtube without experiencing them for real. So onto Expedia for the nearest motel, this was as far as I was going to go and luckily my cancellation deadline for Springfield was 4pm so I just beat that. Isn’t it great that you can cancel most bookings that late these days?

I ended up in the Best Western in Pontiac which is a nice town with some history. Famous for their painted wall murals celebrating Rt66. I was too tired for proper dinner (it was now 11pm on my body clock and I’d been up since 4am UK time), so popped into a nearby Wendy's. I’ve seen them all over the place before but never been in one. Imagine a McDonalds without any decor, or comfort, or service and you'll get the idea. Quite a few local families. Most of them needed two seats each for their bottoms, including the children! I opted for a salad as I couldn't do a burger. The server couldn’t understand why I didn’t want a burger with my salad. It tasted ok.

The storm was now gone and it was a pleasant evening walk back to the hotel passing lots of dog walkers who had probably been waiting for the rain to stop too. Then I started planning the next day with the weather channel on the telly (and believe me, there aren’t any other channels worth watching in America!). And the dawning realisation that I won't be going to Graceland this trip! Severe tornado warnings across the southern plains. Looks like I need to head north west tomorrow, probably towards Minneapolis. I’d wasted a hundred miles of heading southwards when I needed to be going elsewhere. Never mind, I felt like a real adventurer!

Missing Graceland was a real pity. I’d lost my father a few months earlier. He was a big fan – I remember how upset he was the day Elvis died. I was traveling with a favourite picture of my dad and I’d planned how I was going to take him to see Graceland and Elvis’ grave as he had always wanted to go there. But always one to take a positive view, I vowed to plan another trip sometime to make up for it.