InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

After a disjointed trip across Europe to get to the Czech SOC “Invader Rally”, finally everything is coming together, or is it? Saturday 29th May Our day is going to be very different. Our ride alongside Brno Lake reveals a few changes to landmarks I have been to and wanted to share with Claire. The castle at Veveri is now open to the public, and the nearby bridge destroyed by the Germans to halt the Russian advance in 1944 has been replaced with a new pedestrian suspension bridge. But the lake hasn’t changed and in the sunshine it looks very inviting. This weekend there is a huge festival on in Brno to celebrate the CR joining the EU and also Brno’s place at the centre of Europe, and the city end of the lake has roads closed and we have to divert all over the place to get into the city centre itself. Amazingly it all comes back to me and I can remember where I am. I have arranged to meet an old teaching colleague at her flat about 2pm and that gives us the morning to do a bit of touri...

After a disjointed trip across Europe to get to the Czech SOC “Invader Rally”, finally everything is coming together, or is it? Saturday 29th May We get up quite late, or later than 50% of the other rallyists staying in the rally-inn “Pod Horkou” and in time to have breakfast. The other British members are still recovering from their 4am finish. After breakfast I have to work out how to let my good friend Ivan (the organiser) know that we will be out most of the day and that we won’t be on the organised ride-out to wherever. Ivan, as a former racing champion in his younger days, likes to include an old road circuit into his runs. Some of these are frightening enough on your own but with 50 Czech lunatics all “going for it” well worth taking a back seat for, especially with 1000 mile ride home afterwards! Our day is going to be very different. Our ride alongside Brno Lake reveals a few changes to landmarks I have been to and wanted to share with Claire. The castle at Veveri is now op...

There’s a saying about the best-laid plans of mice and men… I have no idea from the mouse’s perspective, but planning this trip seems to have taken longer than my usual time, and from the human angle! It turned out to be more than poring over maps, both paper and electronic (MS Autoroute and www.viamichelin.co.uk ). Firstly, it was to be a weekend dash to join the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Czech Suzuki Owners Club, with friends and fellow club members. Then it became a long weekend to accommodate my wife, Claire, on the trip and then a full blown week and the trip grew and grew. A week before the off, she found she had a business meeting with her company’s partners in Paris. The meeting date? The same day we were to begin our holiday! Plans changed again. Another days holiday booked for me and a change to the Shuttle booking. Luckily the fare was flexible and I was able to change without charge. And so… Tuesday 25th May My plan was to be away early and to meander down to ...

There’s a saying about the best-laid plans of mice and men… I have no idea from the mouse’s perspective, but planning this trip seems to have taken longer than my usual time, and from the human angle! It turned out to be more than poring over maps, both paper and electronic (MS Autoroute and www.viamichelin.co.uk ). Firstly, it was to be a weekend dash to join the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Czech Suzuki Owners Club, with friends and fellow club members. Then it became a long weekend to accommodate my wife, Claire, on the trip and then a full blown week and the trip grew and grew. A week before the off, she found she had a business meeting with her company’s partners in Paris. The meeting date? The same day we were to begin our holiday! Plans changed again. Another days holiday booked for me and a change to the Shuttle booking. Luckily the fare was flexible and I was able to change without charge. And so… Tuesday 25th May My plan was to be away early and to ...