InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

It's way back in 2004 ( blogged here ) that we last went to Czech to see my friends from the Gymnázium in Zastávka .  We have made plans before and have had to cancel for one reason or another. So here we are again. This time we have the added complication of the world banking system cocking up the lives of millions of us.  As well as visiting friends in and around Brno I want to make the Czech MotoGP my big race of the year.  On the way out towards Czech I have been looking at Youth Hostels ( http://www.djh.de/ ) and budget hotels on the Internet. The first couple of days are about 300 miles, but we have all day to do the mileage and then a load of shorter days. Plan A: Home to Bochum (Germany) and stay in Formule 1 (booked). Bochum to Colditz. Stay two nights in YH (booked) which is actually the famous WW2 Castle. Castle tour in the morning. Colditz to Liberec.  Stay in Hotel Orion (booked). Liberec to Brno via Hradec Kralove where I hope to ...

Me and Bruv are registered on the 1100-1200 slot. Look forward to seeing some of you there. Planning to meet some other club mates at the layby opposite the Oakdene Cafe to leave by 0830 to ride across to Hulvington to make our slot.

A really good day out for a good cause. Come along and bring a present and some cash.

When I saw this gadget/accessory in the Motrax Catalogue it did cross my mind what a pathetic sort of fair weather biker would spend their hard earned cash in this. The answer is me. Not just for me you understand, but to share with Mrs Moto. The seat pad comes with an inline on/off switch, and fuse on the red lead. The lead can be broken apart with a waterproof connector. The leads end with a pair of battery terminals. I chopped these off and fitted a BMW style Hella plug so I can use the power socket on the GS. On the first test the pad warmed up pretty quickly. I The wiring harness is long enough to reach the back seat and the straps that velcro under the seat look a bit short but fit okay and should fit either GS seat. The fuse holder looks a bit flimsy and not particularly watertight. I had thought about shrouding in a piece of bicycle inner tube, but could I find the one I replaced on my cycle recently?  Nope. The other consideration is that the Hella plug is a bit...

Brugse Zot Dubbel. On the Halve Maan website it looks pretty much like a blond beer. But as you can see this bottle is definitely brown or at least a brun. The beer is very malty in taste and at 7.5% ABV it packs a punch, although it doesn't have the accompanying bitter or strong taste of many strong beers.

Another sunny afternoon. Ripe for a ride out. Got all togged up and when I pressed the button. Click. Whirr. Nothing. Looks like a jump job tomorrow.

A really good place for a run out. The Spitfire and Hurricane Museum is a charitable trust that depends on donations to keep going. The cafe is also very good.

Whilst going through some boxes of photographs I came across a folder of photos from a trip I did way back in December 1991 to Miami. Most haven't faired too well despite being crammed with hundreds of others in a shoe box, but I thought these three were pretty good to scan. They were all taken on my Olympus OM10 and on a ride down to Key West from where I was staying in Miami just off Old Cutler.

When I was a kid it was called bonfire night. The main event was the culmination of months of hoarding wood and going on scavenger hunts to find burnable materials. Even the Guy was made from real old clothes, packed with newspaper and if we could get it, horsehair packaging from old sofas. No one thought of the health and safety implications except Dads who kept the fireworks in a biscuit tin and had all the fun of lighting them.  And were bangers louder then that now? Remember remember the 5th of November.