InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

William Devall For most of this years battlefield visitors the date they will be heading to the Somme will be July 1st.  This is the 95th anniversary of the first battle of the Somme back in 1916. My visit is slightly different. I will be making the trip to visit the grave of my Grandfather's cousin William Devall.  Although born in London, William was sent to the Kings Own Shropshire Light Infantry.  This regiment is better known as the posting of the war poet Sigfried Sassoon. The KSLI missed the opening day of the slaughter and arrived to take up their position as part of the second wave.  We don't know where William was wounded but he died of his wounds on July 16th 1916. He is buried in the Extension for the Corbie Communal Cemetery.

For most of this years battlefield visitors the date they will be heading to the Somme will be July 1st.  This is the 95th anniversary of the first battle of the Somme back in 1916. William Devall My visit is slightly different. I will be making the trip to visit the grave of my Grandfather's cousin William Devall.  Although born in London, William was sent to the Kings Own Shropshire Light Infantry.  This regiment is better known as the posting of the war poet Sigfried Sassoon. The KSLI missed the opening day of the slaughter and arrived to take up their position as part of the second wave.  We don't know where William was wounded but he died of his wounds on July 16th 1916. He is buried in the Extension for the Corbie Communal Cemetery.

The choices for crossing Germany were the "A4" route or the "A3" route. The former being the run across East Germany and entering Czech from the north, or the latter, the route across Germany from Koln to Nurnberg and across the border in the west. When I saw that you could stay in Colditz Castle, and that part of the infamous PoW site was now a German Youth Hostel I was quickly on the email, booking two nights.   In their paperwork I saw that there are tours of the remainder of the castle as well.  After an exchange of emails I have booked us on the "standard" tour and then we can have the afternoon to maybe have run out locally to Leipzig or Dresden. Info: "Extended Tour:  10.30 am  and  02.00 pm which is showing you all places possible to go to, lasts about 2 hours and costs 15,00€ per person. Standard Tour:  10.30 am  ,  01.00 pm  and  03.00 pm  which is showing you the main places, lasts about 1 hour and costs 7,00€ pe...

Sharp's Doom Bar , originally uploaded by Vioz RuBoK . At The Providence in Sandgate

Original planning for this trip started back in the autumn of last year.  It's seven years since we last went to Brno and the Czech Republic and I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate a trip to the MotoGP as well as see friends. We had been to the Dutch TT two years running and wanted another MotoGP visit.  I thought about Cataluña but as it clashed with the TT on the Isle of Man I decided to look at Czech. Tickets went on sale in December and the English version of the official website was easy to follow and I booked two general admission tickets for around €45 each for the weekend.  The weekend ticket covers Friday to Sunday practice and race days. The original plan was to go to by bike of course. All the initial planning, route and stops etc, was based on a bike day in the saddle.  Then Claire's hip decided to get involved and it has become far too painful for her to pillion anywhere, so we decided to bite the bullet and go by car.  Luckily, ...

I am planning a day trip on the bike across to France to visit the war grave of one of our family that died from wounds during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. This year will be the 95th Anniversary. I expect to leave early on the ferry or Shuttle to get to Corbie before lunch. We are a small family and someone has to remember the sacrifice.

Peugeot 207CC , originally uploaded by Vioz RuBoK . Claire's car. The picture taken at quite long range with the Nikon 8300 with an added star filter.

My rally weekend started on Friday. I packed my stuff and then had l lunch with Claire, at home, before setting out on the run up to the Youth Hostel in Coalport, near Ironbridge in Shropshire. The weather was hot and I was wearing my new cordura trousers for the first time.  I had removed the quilted lining for both comfort and to avoid death by over heating.  The run up was pretty straightforward with the satnav deciding on the M1/M6 route. As it turned out this was a bad idea as apart from the road works plaguing the M25, the M1 was dug up from Luton Airport to past the Bedford junction, with two lanes chocked full of trucks. Whatever happened to the railway for heavy loads. I stopped for a break and a coffee at the Watford Gap services before continuing.  Petrol seemed to be lasting okay and it was only at Birmingham did I need the first top up.  Managing just over 204 miles for 16.5 litres.  A tip here.  If you are on the M6, avoid the services ...

On way home , originally uploaded by Vioz RuBoK . Mr Baloo dirty but smiling