InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Fitted earlier today at FWR Tyres in Kennington at about 5pm. The mileage on the odometer is 73241 miles. The worn one that came off went on at 60825.  A mileage of 12416. Pictured after I got home with 62 miles on it....

Claire picking up the Pillion Award in the Kent Centre Mileage Trophy. She has won this five times since it was created in 2004.

There's nothing like an aerobic warm up in the morning. Attempting to get Shawnetta here back in her field by Westenhanger defeated me after ten minutes of waving my arms and jumping up and down like a pillock. At least it got the blood pumping and well as boiling with anger! Where's the ginger bloke off Countryfile when you need him? Farmers moan about the public, but how about having signs with a contact number on your field gates? I had to leave her frightened and in the road to get my train as I couldn't miss it ans wait another half an hour for the next one.

Not all that graceful in reality.

Only a couple of weeks away from the 2011 'Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride' from Cambridge Services on the A14. This area used to be awash with US Air Force bases and it is to the memorial and cemetery for the airmen that we ride. Last year our local SOC group had a good turnout, this year, only two of us.  Disappointing. http://www.alliedride.org/

I suppose as we didn't go that it should have a different title. With only the headliners on my radar we decided to come home as a drive home at 10pm would be far too late. After breakfast we set off. The Hogs Head is really worth the stay. The staff are very friendly and the puppy that greats you really cute. With various special offers they offer at weekends we had to pay £25 B&B. I'll do a write up for Tripadvisor soon. The journey took 5 hours including a coffee break at Toddington and a quick shop in Sainsbury's. Rain all the way from Nottinghamshire to Kent and even the roadworks weren't to bad. Only the five mile tailback to pay the pirates at the Dartford Crossing caused any hassle. Half an hour of crawling was almost enough to make my blood begin to boil. No tolls no hold ups.

Day 2 and up early for breakfast so that we could be out nice and early. In the end we had the full English to set us up for the day. First stop B&Q to buy some camping chairs! There are hundreds on the hillside overlooking each stage. Once bought we dropped in at Decathlon and had a browse about abs Claire bought a new fleece. Then into Trowell services for a Costa and to buy lunch at M&S! Salad and some mini shortbreads. Then on to Donington. Light traffic and an enlightened parking person that pointed us to a tarmac parking area nearer the entrance. Once in we set up camp slightly to the left if the stage in front of one of the screens. Today's bands were: Rise to Reason Bosshoss Rock Sugar Dan Reed Clutch Dio Disciples Mr Big Cheap Trick Twisted Sister Alice Cooper I liked all of them but Claire less enthusiastic about R2R and DD. Tomorrow we gave decided less of them in the day interest us so we'll drive home. If it takes as long to get home as i...

Very Rock'n'Roll , originally uploaded by Vioz RuBoK .

Dan Reed on Stage 2.

Download wristband. Entry to all areas as a VIP.

Sun. Yes. Sun. The forecast is good. Not especially warm at 12 degrees average but no rain. We'll see. Froze last night. God knows how the skimpy dressed yoof made it through the night.

Where to start? In the end set a leaving time of 10am as we couldn't book into the B&B until 2pm. That had to be done before going to the festival site. Roadworks? Had I realised there would be so many I would have taken odometer readings! Firstly traffic queued into Dartford tunnels. No reason given but later Radio 2 Said one tunnel had been closed. Then roadworks from practically the tunnel mouth to the the A127. More at the A1 all the way to the M1, then M1 from J9 to J13... Britain is up to its neck in debt so why waste money on road building? Job creation? Or wealth creation for the knobs that own the construction companies and their shareholders? Then the M1 was closed south from J21 to J20 due to a major accident. Cue five mile tailback northbound so we could rubberneck. When say we I don't mean me as I deliberate don't look. Finally arrived at Hogs Head in Awsworth about 1530!!! Booked in and straight out to Donington. No problems getting in but so ...

In between bands you can enjoy all the fun of the fair.

Just downloaded the Download app so we can see who is on and when. Going through I recognised more bands! Looks like Stage 2 more to our liking!!! Neighbour ready to feed the cat so need to chuck some stuff in a bag, take waterproofs and warm gear as well. And go!

Rather than be a mere spectator, watching life pass me by through the window of a train I decided to ride-in today. I was hoping it wouldn't rain, and as luck would have it, the rain held off until I arrived at work. When I say I usually use the train, other riders/bikers guffaw at my lack of "real bikerness".  To be honest, I've been there and done it.  Also, most of them don't have 160 mile round trip every day. I do. First stop was Stop 24 to fill the tank with unleaded.  After a few years or decades of using my Shell card I had finally got lucky with a £3.50 voucher off the fuel!  Not to be sneezed at and as Stop 24 are the cheapest station in the area, a bit of a bonus.  When I set off from home the GS's fuel gauge was showing 5 bars lit.  After 3 miles as I peeled into the station there were 3 bars!  How does that work then?  In the end I squeezed 14.19 litres in the tank and dribbled in to make sure it was filled to the top. Afte...

The Suzuki Owners Club and Kent Riders arrive at the Last Chance Animal Rescue Fun Day on May 22nd for the Kent Pet Food Run. After twenty years of organising pet runs in Bedfordshire and Kent this was my last. Luckily, it turned out to be a success.  Thanks to everyone that came. Sadly, the 300D went to sleep just as they arrived and I missed off Tony Young who was the leader!!!

One day on the high speed train after this trip, then two days on the bike and then we're off. I have to admit I haven't even heard of 75% of the bands! Of the other 25% I have heard of, I don't know most of their output. Okay! So I know Def Leppard and Alice Cooper! Heard of others inc Rob Zombie....

Only 4 days to go and the stuff has arrived. Two wristbands each and a car park ticket to hang from the car mirror.

Guy Martin! Go big chief!

Not all of this trip will be about eating and drinking and watching bike racing.  There will be local sights, folklore and culture!!! On the way home from Brno we have a stop in Prague . As it is really about 160 miles that day we have a stop in Prague . I have two cultural stops on the way back. The first at Žďár nad Sázavou to pay a visit to the Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk on Zelena hora Hill. This was built in the shape of a star in 1719. More info on the Church  - http://www.santini.cz/zdar-nad-sazavou-en.html The other place on the Brno-Prague route is the Church of Bones at Kutna Hora.  I first saw it in a travel book many years ago and then it was featured in the "Long Way Round" TV series with celeb actor luvvies Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. This is a bizarre church where skeletons of the long deceased are used as decorative materials!  It must be worth a half hour to visit. More info on Church of Bones - http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

One of my favourite photos of any subject I have taken recently. This one was taken with my old Coolpix 8700 that I dug out of the cupboard and partly charged the battery. It was evening but I was amazed at the lighting on the subjects. This pic has not been tweaked or otherwise buggered about with using any photo hacking software!!! WYSIWIT - what you see is what I took.