InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Frank has asked to make an additional stop on the route between Arras and the first stop on the current plan.    His great-uncle is buried in the Serre Road Cemetery No2 and by some luck it is on the D919 route that we will be already on. There are three cemeteries in a very short distance and Serre Road 2 looks enormous. In fact 7127 burials.   http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/67200/SERRE%20ROAD%20CEMETERY%20No.2   I have added it to my master copy on my TomTom and can send it out to anyone that wants an update.

Up early and off to Nell's Cafe to meet Neill, my brother, and Frank from the Kent Centre. I was first to arrive and got myself a mug of tea and a bacon sandwich. Service at Nell's is very quick! Neill arrived and ordered then Frank. By the time we had eaten it was getting on for ten and we set off. Booking in ends at 1130 and we we were well in time. Neill added his friend Bill to the list of riders that have died this year and when it came to Roar of Remembrance, most riders fired u the bikes. The air got a little foggy with all the exhaust. Pano of assemble bikes Me and Dora Rain was forecast for the day and we had avoided it during the day and as we turned into the cemetery it started and by the time we were at the ceremony, it started to rain hard.  We made it though under the thunder to the new visitor centre.  Out of the rain we could check out the displays. Very poignant.  It needs a longer visit to fully appreciate and maybe later in the year...

It's tomorrow and this year as always it will go from Cambridge Services on the A14 into Cambridge and out again to Madingley Cemetery. Madingley is the main cemetery for US Forces in the UK. The walls are covered with the names of 5127 airmen killed in WW2 and that have no known grave. Mostly from the Battle of the North Atlantic and bombing raids over occupied Europe. We owe these men our freedom. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial

MAG 'amazed' at BMF support for 'Killer' Roundabout scheme 26th June 2014 - For immediate use The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has expressed amazement at the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) 'inexplicable' decision to cave in to the Council's proposals to build a dangerous roundabout in the town. MAG Chairman, John Mitchell, has said 'if this insane Bedford scheme goes ahead it strikes a killer blow against motorcyclists' rights to have their safety considered in line with other vulnerable road user groups such as cyclists. I can't understand how a riders' group like the BMF can possibly be supporting it, unless they really have failed to grasp what this scheme is all about – and that it's a potential killer.' The latest plan to introduce what are known as 'turbo roundabout' principles in central Bedford were hastily drawn up by pro-cycling group Sustrans last month, after MAG caused Bedford to abandon two earlier pr...

"Road Tax" as we still call it is one of the bug bears of life. It's not actually a tax for using the roads but just another tax levied by a government wanting to raise more cash. There is no requirement for motorcycle manufacturers to produce carbon emissions for bikes.  The fact that Triumph have and that mine is very low, lower than cars that are paying £0 a year, it bugs me that I have to pay £80!! It is also printed on the "log book" that every vehicle has. I take up less room on the road, no congestion, no damage to the infrastructure and pay loads more than small cars that take up space and are much heavier!! Anyway, it's done. Another year. Now the government has decided to drop the displaying of tax discs this will be the last one that Döra will wear. Another tradition lost to the online world. 

Booked Dora in for a visit to Laguna and after a few weeks of sunny dry weather, you guessed it. It rained. It didn't look like rain at all as I came home from a school. So I decided to wear my mesh jacket. I'd gone a few miles and it started. By the time I got to Laguna I was a little damp! They wheeled her into the workshop and about fifteen minutes later they rode her out and I could go home.  I spent that time looking at jackets and the new Thunderbird LT.  I need a new jacket as my old Frank Thomas, although waterproof still, is shabby looking. This one is called the "Tempest". Of course it rained again.

Everyone that has asked for a copy of the GPS file has been sent one and this is a picture of what they should see when they put it into Tyre. Access from the north will be by the A26 and that's about 75 miles of so from the channel and so everyone needs to have a full tank when we arrive on French soil. I might make a slight change to include a hypermarket in Arras for everyone to fill up.

We've only been back a few weeks and already we have started to consider a return in 2015!! Florida or?

With the panniers fitted I was able to get two three kilo bags in the larger one and one in the smaller one. We also had quite a lot of sachets of cat food that our cat, Hilly, won't eat. The ride up to the meeting place flashed past with the cruise set on the M20. The Kent Riders were there already.  Döra seemed to be running perfectly. Two up I should have faffed with the rear suspension but didn't. Döra didn't seem that badly affected although I noticed the headlights were a bit higher than maybe was right. The only hassle was a nasty pothole that was hideen on the edge of a zebra crossing and hidden. Bang! Felt like a kerb! The ride back from the centre was really good. Warm and dry and the route back was almost the same as the way I came back last week with TomTom "winding roads". I hadn't topped the tank and the four bars quickly became one and the low fuel light came on. I switched the display to ...

Arrived whilst I was on holiday and I will fit it ASAP. Looks a decent bit of kit and the C2 might be a few years old but it is a proper piece of kit. JustHelmets less than happy with my blog post,  as I told a porkie to get them to take it back. Shouldn't have but made it easier to return it. Had so many problems in the past that maybe I shouldn't have thought the worst. Anyway. It's done and can't be undone now. It cost me cash as well as a bit of integrity.  There. In the public domain as they say.

After loads of publicising the run on Facebook, to local clubs and in the SOC magazine, the glorious day arrived and ...... a turnout of ten.  Three from the SOC and six from the Kent Riders plus a new guy that turned up on spec that I most likely signed up for the Kent Riders as he was on a Kawasaki. Pretty typical of the SOC.  "No one organises anything" but when we do they can't be arsed to turn up. The centre had laid on a BBQ and luckily they hadn't invested too much.  And also luckily it meant two burgers each. There are about 40 dogs in residence and a handful of cats. Some are "lifers" that are too old or too cantankerous to be rehomed, but there are so many that need a home. Many Jack Russells and a cute little Chinese Hairless and Yorkie cross. Adrienne from the Centre took some pictures and they are here.    

Once Mr Dale had sorted Döra's earth lead, I togged up and set off about three hours later than planned. The TomTom fastest route was M20 and M25 then A-roads to Edenbridge. On google maps the Last Chance is shown but the waypoint isn't quite right. In the end it is about fifty yards away. I turned in and took a couple of pix. I arrived after they had closed unfortunately. I had no idea how to mark the car-park as the waypoint on the TomTom. On the old Garmin Quest there is a simple "where am I" button and you can give the waypoint a reference. I set it to record route, and then set a route for home. So at least the exact waypoint will be marked. No cockups next week I hope. Until recently I didn't realise I had more options for planning routes. I now seem to have wonders like "winding road" as well as bicycle and walking!  Before I had only fastest and shortest! The run home was the shorter "winding road" and it was pretty scenic passing some ...

Came out to go on a ride to make sure my Pet Food Run route was okay. Dead. Döra just clicking. Check the isolator in the side stand, click kill switch.  Nothing. Called the Triumph Rider Assist outfit and 45 minutes later Mr Dale the RAC Man arrived. Meters everything. Relays all working. Power to the starter motor. Dead. Put a the fiddly panels and covers back on. Earth the battery to his power lead and the engine. Vroom. Search with keyhole surgery precision to find the other end of the earth lead. Just visible and bolt almost out.  What luck I wasn't riding along! Tightened the bolt up. All okay. This looks like when the engine was out for the new head that the Hinckley tech missed it. I repeat. Effing good job that it didn't happen on the road!

No words can do justice to the memory of what the men of the Allied armies and navies did on this day in 1944.

Not a lot to add. Cal will send out a reminder in a few weeks of the ferry reservations. I have sent everyone that asked for the satnav file to everyone that asked. So.  What else?

Whilst tinkering with the route I made a change to the hotel in Burgos for what will be our last night. And the knock on to that is a change in the route out of Madrid that will allow a visit to Segovia. Döra needs to be safe on the rest days and the boutique people would have had her in the street and not in a proper parking area. No way José! Enter a Parador.

The flight from Fort Myers to Toronto and then the in-airport transfer at Pearson went off really well. After the luggage problems on the way out we had a few jitters. In the end Pearson has a luxury that most airports don't offer - free wifi. Usually they make sure that on top of the expensive food and drink that they fleece you for internet. The flight was delayed a little on the way in and so we had an extra hour or so in the lounge. Then of course the allotted gate changed and there was a huge movement of people. We arrived London about 90 minutes late. Home.

Since the scare stories about hours to wait to fly anywhere I have always been a little paranoid about turning up late to the airport. So we were up at 7am a full five and a half hours before our first flight from Fort Myers to Toronto.  I packed the car. The Mustang is a fine car but luggage capacity is not good.  The overall mpg, titchy US gallon was 24.6 on the onboard computer with a high of 30.4 on a long boring 55mph limit zones. Not bad for a big engine. In fact it was more economical at 50 than 35. Both popular limits in Florida. We stopped for breakfast at a Denny's on Gladiolus Drive.  This is a nice chrome jobbie. Nice not belly busting breakfast and then off again. Next stop to fill the car. Guessed at $35 since Weston. Took $23.11! Then TomTom took us to the airport and we waved goodbye to Sally. Back in the hands of Alamo. With all insurances she cost us $800 for 16 days. GULP!!!! And now enjoying a Dunkin Donuts coffee (too bloody hot!! Take note UK coffee ...

We checked out with a couple of minutes to spare. TomTom had decided that the best off motorway and therefore toll free route was the northerly route rather than US41 we came on. So we headed to US27 again this time turned right and right again into the gas station. The cafe alongside had a loads of bikes outside including a fetching pink and white HD.  US27 is almost as featureless as SR997. Same dead trees, same dead straight and no towns until South Bay; 45 miles of nothing but straight road. As we approached Lake Okeechobee we expected to see it lapping gently alongside the road. We never saw it as it is behind a twenty foot or more high levee! We had a coffee stop in Clewiston at Dunkin Donuts before the last leg of the journey to Fort Myers Beach on slightly more interesting SR80... We arrived a little too early and the room wasn't ready. The Beach Shell Inn is another traditional style motel. Quirky. They have beach stuff you can take so we got something to eat from the supe...