InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

The trauma of the flights getting changed so dramatically has had a knock on effect. The need to book an overnight hotel in Toronto, plus a day less at our first resort. That was the biggest problem that was left. The resort. Finally the office at fishville.com came back to confirm what I told them that we will arrive later than booked and that they are expecting us on the Sunday instead of Saturday. Phew. Next,  to get folding dosh. We'll need C$ as well as US$!   All that then remains is to bug Thrifty for an American car rather than some bland Japanese creation.

The drive up proved pretty pain free. The TomTom took us to Beth Chatto without any problems and we had a really good morning walking about and looking at the different gardens.   Photos from  Beth Chatto. Once away from there we had a relatively simple run back to the A12 and down a few junctions to where the stadium can be found.  A nice small ground with parking and not hemmed in by the city and housing. At least, not until they build thousands of homes nearby!! The car-park ticket I had bought allowed us to drive in and park easily enough. We were probably the only car with an Oldham Athletic window sticker though.    The "away" supporter entrances are across the other side of the ground from the parking, but unlike some grounds, the banter was not too offensive between locals and me in the Latics away shirt for that season.  See selfie! Selfie! For some reason away fans are in this end of one of the stands at the side and ...

I had had this helmet seven years.   I know this as I just clicked on the C2 link over on the right of the blogger screen and it grouped all the C2 posts together.   Quite a variety of posts.  I never did get the the left side lock fixed. Oxprod wanted £75 to look at it and fix it and if the parts needed came to more than that then I would have to pay the extra.  So I make do with flicking the hooked piece with my fingertip before putting it back on. I recently bought a new visor for it as the other had a rather irritating scratch on the front, courtesy of walking into the garage with the front flipped and scraping it on the bottom of the metal door.   It wasn't too bad but did refract light from the sun and headlights a little. The new one arrived yesterday and so I need to get if fitted ASAP. Although it has the locking problem, it is still very quiet. It has a wide face opening that gives plenty of view around.  Let's see how it goes on ...

Sunday 13th April.   This was the 30th Anniversary run organised by the Whitstable Toy Run Association.  And it was another good turnout. Both for the WTRA and also for the Kent Centre. The Kent Centre was possibly due to the NC making an appearance at the Blue & White, and also due to some new members of the SOC coming along to meet us. We set off later from the B&W than usual, and had only gone a mile or so when the "drop off" system had been forgotten.  I was playing tail-end Charlie and caught up with Norman and James (from Dorset) at Ashford's "magic roundabout", where traffic lanes change from traffic lights to traffic lights and no one makes much progress. I slipped to the front and led them up the A251 towards Faversham and then down the little spurt on the Thanet Way into Whitstable and the Gorrell Tank Car-Park. The rest of the group were already there by the time we turned up. Not all of us were goin...

Wembley pano! The pitch isn't actually a curve! After labouring about as if they had all been on the piss until 4am the Arsenal finally roused themselves after a penalty had given Wigan a pretty much deserved (on willingness to play alone) lead. The debate will surround the injury to Monreal that left him in a heap and the perp was then upended by the BFG. It was late into the final throes of the game before the BFG made amends and equalised. To be honest the Arsenal keeper, Fabianski, hardly had a save to make all game. Whereas we hit both posts with the keeper well beaten. Firstly from a Sanogo header and the second, an Oxlade Chamberlain pile driver. Fabianski then saved the first two Wigan penalties and when Cazorla slotted our fourth of the regulation five Wigan had lost 4-2. Losing on penalties is never the best way to lose, cruel on fact, but at least it wasn't our turn. To get to the Final we have had to beat three of the Premier League top...

A tale of up-cocks and the need to buy a map. What could possibly go wrong? No satnav and no paper map? Nothing of course. Once I was on the A26, cruise set to 110kph, plain sailing.  Junction 6 for Béthune is soon passed. I had expected 6.1 to be close by. It isn't. Doubt sets in. Next is the A21 signed to Lens and Douai  (pron doo-eye) and yes a D road as well.  Souchez is on the right of the A26. So track right on a new road. No signs of life, no signage... Not good. Arrive Barlin. New supermarket. No maps. Ask idiot-villageur for directions. Follow them and find myself in Mont St Eloi where the abbey was shelled and the structure remains. A sort of bombed shell. No access though. Not today anyway. Head off towards Arras expecting to see a signpost. None. Enter Arras and buy a map at Auchun. It seems that at Mont St Eloi I was about 4 miles away as I stood in the sun. By now the hour I was ahead is now about an hour the other way. I fly up the old N17, now bypasse...

It seems that the trust relationship between customer and business in the US works differently than in Europe. If I go on booking.com and book a hotel in Spain or Germany and it has "free cancellation" as one of the booking terms and conditions, then that is all. No charge up front. Both the hotels I have booked in Florida were also "free cancellation" up to the day before arrival, but both have charged my credit card for a night's stay already.  Refundable. But that's not the point. Both have had my money in their bank account for months when truly the product or service I have bought isn't used until late May.   Hopefully I won't need to cancel either of them and never have to see whether the money comes back!

Up early courtesy of the cat. Washed and out about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Sunny but a little chilly around the legs. Good job I am wearing two jumpers! I was going to be half an hour ahead of the RAT Pack anyway so when I accepted an earlier crossing it put me an hour ahead. Leisurely breakfast then. On arrival I pulled into the fuel stop for a coffee. "Desolé, machine en panne" said shrugging Gallic lady. I togged up and headed down the A26 to the Aire de Rely, where we have stopped before. Breakfast. And all ordered in French.... I'll carry in to ND de Lorette and meet the others there. As I write they must just be exiting the port.

Claire's ESTA done and so all it needs now is to cross off the days on the calendar.  I have everything that needed booking booked and travel  insurances sorted for both of us. We have even bought some new lighter cases to take to save some weight. What have I forgotten?

Registration opened the evening and so I booked my brother "Woody" and me in.  It costs £5 a head and the funds raised go to Royal British Legion in the UK. The various US groups direct their funds to US charities. If you live near one of the Rides, sign up and go along. UK Registration Main Site

Vimy Ridge Doh!  How many times have I been on Eurotunnel? Answer? Lots! So I must have misread the original instructions and I booked the train for 0850. Actually, a little later than my usual crossings. To maximise time over "on the otherside" I usually like the earlier 0820 crossing. The joining instructions arrived in the email from Jack, the RAT leader for this jaunt. It's supposed to be 0815 to depart the fuel stop on the motorway by J11, then to check in way before 0850 and then the 0920 train! Oops. I might go a bit earlier still and get some brekkie Frogside and then be ready when they come past. Once I have downed a pain chocolat and a coffee..... In reality I'll miss them pass and have to get a move on to catch them up at the toll ticket collection booth at Ardres.  As it is France I'll wear the Schuberth with it's very law abiding reflective stickers in place. I don't need the TomTom. The plan is A26 to J6 then the huge cemetery at Notre Dame d...

By the time we had done the days chores it was a bit late when I finally got out for a test ride with the TomTom fitted on the new Fred Carno's outfit of a RAM mount and dumbbell setup. Amazingly, TomTom had forgotten that the Cardo Scala existed and I had a little faff about to get it all sorted setup.   It was gone 1730 by the time I set off. I wanted a little run to get the kit settled in and set the TomTom for the Western Heights at Dover.  There are forts all around Dover marking its significance as a major port, and one only 22 miles from France. The Castle was started by the Normans on about 1080 but there is actually a Roman lighthouse on the site. Apart from a refugee and illegal immigrant centre, I couldn't actually find the defences. Maybe I didn't look hard enough as Tom wanted me to enter a housing estate that looked wrong. In the end I did go up to the Castle to find a parking spot overlooking the Castle, and found the coach park. The sky was so grey that I al...

Cheapest Seats April will be a good football month for me or at least the middle weeks will be. Firstly, we'll be off to Wembley to see Arsenal play in the FA Cup Semi-Final against the Cup Holders, Wigan Athletic. A game that even Wenger and the players can't throw away. My trips to the new Wembley haven't so far been that successful, losing on both occasions. Firstly to Chelsea in 2009 after being a goal up early on and then letting it slip near the end and even worse, the 2011 League Cup Final when a cock up between defenders and keeper left us conceding against lower opposition in the form of (to be) relegated Birmingham City. So another Wembley occasion against a lower league side can't be allowed to go the same way. If we don't get to the Final in May, then I think Wenger needs to pack his bags! 2009 FA Cup Semi-Final - http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/171363/first-team/chelsea-v-arsenal 2011 League Cup Final - http://en.wikipedia.or...

New Lenovo L430 At last we have moved into the 21st Century with the Council furnishing us with Win 7 Lenovo laptops. Only days before Microsoft cease updates for XP and support is switched off - not that you would notice as Microsoft support is non-existent in any case. On the surface it is a nice looking piece of kit. Physically it is the same over dimension as my old Dell. The wide bezel means that the useable screen size is actually less than the Dell. It comes with the Intel Core i5 processors, and the cheaper option 500gb hard drive and only 4gb of RAM. The L430 is about £600 on the Lenovo website, variable prices from resellers. But there is one flaw.... There's no caps lock indicator......

North entrance to the Islington Tunnel Artistic Wreck? Barges A short walk along the Regent's Canal. There are lots of the barges that never move and also another group that are visiting from around the country.  It looks as though someone has been at work as the usual crap like McDonald's packaging and Coke cans seems to have been cleaned away! Some other pictures from my walk along the canal and then through Islington to the office. More boats on the canal. Another pub closed down and being developed.  The Albany pub on Thornhill Road. A little up itself but used to be a good pub where we had drinks after work for birthdays etc. One of the "dwellings" near work. There are lots of these trust buildings. Benefactors from the 19th and early 20th century that provided housing for the working classes. When I worked next door this was a wallpaper factory. All hand printed and very expensive. Now, named after the wallpaper factory!

Swan and her nest With all the hustle and bustle at St Pancras and Kings Cross, building everywhere, the oasis of calm ought to be the Regent's Canal. At least that's what this swan and her mate must have thought when they built this massive nest of sticks. The building above is the Filling Station café/bar, on the site of a real petrol station.  I hope that the birds don't get disturbed by the barfly clientele.

Sometimes there have to be trade-offs.  I want to go to the football at the new Weston Homes Stadium at Colchester, but as it is Good Friday it needs the trade. Claire comes with me to the football and then she gets to choose something.  She did.  Beth Chatto's Garden, luckily not far from Colchester so we have a double-header. The gardens open at 9am and so with 127 miles to drive, we need to be away from home pretty quick pronto, as it were. The football kicks off at 3pm, so we need to be a little earlier to get parked.  With a new out of town stadium there is parking. Incredibly the club website says 700 spaces!  OMG! I ordered the game tickets from the eticket website from Oldham Athletic. And that brought me to parking. The Colchester United website wasn't very helpful saying that away supporters had to call and see what spaces were available. But, better still, on their ticketing site there it is, the parking space can be booked sepa...