Sean Drysdale
Sean Drysdale criss-crossed North America on a motorbike he’s owned since 1978
Most people who had just travelled across Africa on a motorbike they have owned since the 1970s would sit back, put their feet up and enjoy a long and well-earned break.
For Sean Drysdale, who has set himself the goal of visiting all the world’s Belfasts, that was not an option.
The County Antrim man has now completed the second part of his epic journey, taking in 19 Belfasts across North America.
That followed his ride to Belfast in South Africa, taking him through the likes of Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.
Sean Drysdale
There wasn’t much left of some of the Belfasts Sean visited
The North American tour started in Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada.
From there, a “wiggly” route took him across the continent, including the north-eastern US states of Maine, New Hampshire and New York, the Midwest with Ohio, Minnesota and Nebraska, the south-east with Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, before riding to the west coast via Wyoming and Montana to Washington state and ending his trip in California.
He crossed back into Canada a few times along the way.
He said while some Belfasts, like those in Maine and New York, were decent sized towns “some of them were no more than crossroads, but there was a sign there saying Belfast and people that I spoke to locally knew it as Belfast”.
“There turned out to be three in Ohio,” he said.
“One of them was still obviously a Belfast, another one was nothing at all really and the third one had two churches called Belfast.
“The other thing about these Belfasts – every one had a church, it wouldn’t be Belfast without a church.”
Sean Drysdale
Sean enjoyed some stunning vistas during his American journey
News of his quest sometimes arrived before he did.
“I arrived at this place, the Belfast Feed Store which is the only thing left of Belfast really in Washington state,” Sean said.
“I introduced myself to the woman in there and she said ‘you’re the guy riding to every Belfast in America’.
“I said ‘how did you know that?’ and apparently somebody I met in Tennessee had called her and told her to expect me.”
Sean Drysdale
Other Belfasts were still busy small towns
‘Wild Atlantic Way on steroids’
The 67-year-old, who is from Glengormley, said the parts that stuck out most in his mind were the Pacific north-west and the state of Montana.
He described the north-west Pacific coast as “like the Wild Atlantic Way on steroids”.
“The road was just fantastic to ride along – every bend there was another vista along the rugged coastline with the heaving swell of the Pacific – it was stunning,” he said.
“Then in Montana, it was just the size and majesty of the mountains – you just ride along thinking ‘wow’, there’s no other word for it.”
Sean Drysdale
Sean avoided big cities and freeways. staying off the beaten track for most of his journey
Derry and Londonderry
He said the vastness of the terrain could be breath-taking.
“When I was crossing Nebraska you can go long stretches without seeing anyone,” he said.
But other aspects of the trip reminded him of his birthplace.
“In New Hampshire there are two towns within five miles of each other, one’s called Derry and the other’s called Londonderry,” he said.
“In Derry, the first pastor there was allegedly the lad who raised the alarm when the Siege of Derry was lifted – he fired the cannon on the wall to signify the lifting of the siege.”
The Belfast in Nebraska was mainly ruins and foundations “in the middle of nowhere”.
“But the nearby town is called Greeley and they have very much embraced their Irish heritage – they have lampposts painted green, white and orange, the names of all the streets are named after counties in Ireland,” he said.
“The interesting thing was that was one of the few places where the majority were Catholic – in most of the other places it was Presbyterian churches.”
Sean Drysdale
There were some other familiar place names along the way
Sean avoided freeways and big cities on his journey staying “off the beaten track” for most of it.
He said he “couldn’t think of having met anyone who was unpleasant or anything other than helpful, welcoming, generous”.
Sean Drysdale
Local people were often eager to help tell the history of the Belfasts Sean visited
Sean admitted the distances he had to travel and niggling problems with his bike began to wear on him towards the end of the trip.
“Once you got further west the distances were greater, there were fewer Belfasts to go to, therefore the aim was just to cover the ground,” he said.
He left his bike, if not his heart, in San Francisco, ready to be shipped to New Zealand and the next leg of his Belfast quest Down Under in January.
“It’s summer down there so it made sense to keep going,” he said.
“In some ways once you start it you just have to do it and get it over with, although that makes it sound like a chore rather than something you really want to do.
“It certainly has been an experience.”
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Publish date : 2024-12-25 17:59:00
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