InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

A short walk on the beach with Reggie. Need to do exercise to get back to fitness and now I can drive I can take Reggie out. Today was Dymchurch Beach. Parked by the Martello and then had a walk. Hard going as the tide was still going out and the sand was still damp and easy to sink into. This Martello is lived in and we have watched the owners transform it over time into a home. If I won the lottery I might buy one too!! Reggie investigating the shells that wash up. On the tide line today it was crab carnage! Never seen so many dead crabs and the water birds greedily eating them. I had to get a larger leg out of Reggie's mouth! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Well worth a go, win a Yamaha Tracer. Competition ends on April 30th, so must be worth a punt. Got to be in it to win it. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/mcn/2014/november/win-a-yamaha-mt-09-tracer/ I failed to win the Norton on the Bennett's competition, but after winning the scooter I doubt I will ever win anything again!

It's less than a month now until we fly to Tampa to start the two week vacation. I think every base has been covered bar none. Hotels booked. I have checked the car hire repeatedly to see if any offers can beat what I currently have booked through National. With the £ dropping against the $ on the currency markets it looks as though hire will have gone up a few pounds. In fact, everything not already paid for will have crept up a few dollars by the time we get there. Hopefully, the car will be American and not another Japanese or Korean box that most of the rental companies are now putting in their groups online. We are supposedly getting a Ford Fusion as I couldn't find anyone that was doing Chevy or Dodge! At least no one is admitting to it! I liked the look of the 2014 Charger or Impala. The Florida Highway Patrol and State Police seemed to have Chargers, and I guess the bigger engines as they have twin pipes at the back! In the end it looks like a visit to Muscle Car City ...

My brother Neill' s return to Route 66 is the subject of his "Driving Miss Dozey" blog (http://dmd66.blogspot.co.uk) and I am sure that it will be a memorable trip for Neill and Cath. I am also certain that anyone that has input on places to stop off along the way, they are more than welcome to suggest it! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

When the Norway trip was eventually put to bed for this year I started to look for an alternative where we could go in the car, and take Reggie with us. We saw a TV programme where glamping was featured and this led to our first attempt a couple of weeks ago in Essex. The tester overnight at Lee Wick Farm. So, I set about looking for a glampsite and chose the Loch Ness Glamping site near Drumnadrochit in Scotland.  I chose Scotland as it is is still UK and Reggie doesn't need to have a pet passport.   Armadilla Although from where we live, France would be much nearer (about 30 miles and a ferry) but with rabies and other things like tapeworms that we don't get in the UK but the passport is a bit of a pain in the arse. Not so much before we go, but before we come back. Maybe another time. The round trip to Loch Ness is somewhere in the range of 1400 miles round trip before any excursions. So we'll need to plan stops for Reggie as well as some overnights...

A nice sunny day and after a visit to cardiac rehab for my assessment I took the opportunity to drink my free Waitrose coffee and get out the D50 and fire off a few pics of the few tulips we have in the garden that Reggie hasn't ground into the dirt! The "black" tulips are my favourite and these are growing in a pot.

TomTom - car in space It looks as though the crisis over the TomTom has been averted and the problem comes back to it being a problem with the USB cable! Changing the cable, and amazing though it seems, it is working today and happily connected to the phone and the headset. As I am in the UK and the mapping is US, it looks as though our new car logo is hanging in space. What it also means is that I no longer have to contemplate updating to the latest TomTom Rider 400 at the princely sum of £319. Although for that outlay it does come with the powered head for the bike and free for life maps. At the end of the day the new one will pay for itself after a few years as updates for the current TomTom mapping for the Rider can work out at anything between £35 and £50 a year!

When we were in Spain last summer I used my Cardo Scala headset connected to my TomTom Rider everyday.  I did check the law in case it was different to the UK, but although there was something passed in 2003 aimed at the overuse of handheld mobile phones by drivers and drivers using iPod speakers in their ears, it seems it may have covered motorcycle use of the headsets. One of the many other motorcycling blogs I follow on blogspot is Gary France's " Flies in your Teeth " and he also brings up this subject.  Follow the link to see the full story. I have replied with what I had found out from RACE ( Real Automóvil Club de España ) but as yet he's not added my comment. The translation from Jorge at RACE is: "The Rules of the road says in Article 18 Section 2 of the following: "It is forbidden to use headphones or connected to receivers or sound reproducing apparatus, except during the corresponding teaching headphones and conducting try o...

As a fall back, mostly for the UK and Europe, I got Claire's TomTom XL out of the bureau. It hasn't been used for a good while but once connected to the laptop it fired up okay. We decided to take their kind offer of £19.95 for a year's new maps and the download failed a few times as it claimed I had cancelled the download, more than once. Testing the XL gave the same result as we had a few weeks ago with the Rider, where it won't route on the unit. I fixed it (?) by deleting and reinstalling the application. We'll see! I thought it might be the USB port on the laptop, but trying that had no effect. So I did what all good computer blokes did and I replaced the cable as well......  It well went smooth after that. I decided to logon to my account on the laptop and see if the Rider worked.  Gulp!  It fired up and started to do the upgrade on the files since the USA maps got installed last week!  It also seems to be holding a charge as well. Could i...

Walking. No sitting about for months waiting for the heart to get better! Hythe Seafront Hythe Seafront So tonight a short walk along the seafront. Freezing though. I'm supposed to work up to 200 yards and I did that easily but about 75 on that shingle was a bit knackering. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Location: Twiss Road,Hythe,United Kingdom

After downloading the US maps from TomTom and even paying for the year's updates to bring them up to date, everything was working well. The waypoints for the places we are staying in loaded from Tyre okay and I checked the unit would route between them. I turned it on a few days later and nothing. Dead as the proverbial dodo. With the power connected it cycles through the start screen and some error messages and won't connect to TomTom Home. I've had to log a call with TomTom as there seems to be nothing to be done without assistance. A month before we go away. Fingers crossed!! http://youtu.be/XKhXynOoTA8 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Another hotel. This time the night before we fly. With security etc we need to be at the airport around 0830 at the latest to check in and get through the passport messing about. As this will mean a very early start we decided to stay overnight locally. It will save a lot of hassle.

Following the heart problems we had a sit and think and we have now made a few changes. We decided to cut out a lot of the driving and opt for relaxation instead. So rather than visits to Orlando and Canaveral we have opted for another apartment but this time in Venice Beach, the Florida one! The touring element will have to be another year.

So Arsenal have made it to record 19th FA Cup Final and of the previous 18, 11 have been won. A record currently shared with Manchester United. As last year we were drawn against a club from the lower division and it proved to to be slightly different as we won in extra time rather than penalties like last year. Although I won a ticket in the ballot, I had to sell it to Alex as I am only two weeks on from the heart attack and simply not fit enough to go. So I watched on TV instead. Nerve wracking? Yes!    Today, Sunday, was the second semi-final and that went against the odds with Aston Villa beating Liverpool 2-1.

Just over a month to go. The heart problem of Easter Saturday is now behind me and apart from having to take a pile of different drugs for life, there were a few things to sort out about the holiday. As well as the already mentioned travel insurance cover, there was a requirement to call the airline. Luckily BA haven't buggered about with the flight times unlike Air Canada last year. I logged on and filled in a form. Within a couple of hours they got back to me to say that as long as the doc's had cleared me to fly, they were okay with it. So at the moment, things are looking up. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

After fifteen months and hardly any mileage put on her clock, Rosie was finally sold to a new owner.

Didn't go.  The heart attack on Easter Saturday put paid to that. I provided as much information as I could and the rest of the party went anyway and had a good day. I was hoping that they might have sent some details of what they got up to, but I've not heard back from them. Some photos even.... I had planned a lunch break near Souchez for everyone but have no idea if they made it. Luckily, I covered my ass by emailing the proprietor and telling him I had had a heart-attack and wasn't going to be there....

Have a mild heart problem and want cover for the U.S? Shop around and hope to find two weeks cover for about the same price as an airfare.... And take it!!

Project Kettle was endangered again!   Having a heart attack does tend to change things about a bit.  I was planning to ride up on Dora to have a chat about the job with Chris, but being off the bike for a while might put paid to that. Maybe I can persuade Claire to drive up there in a dew weekends? Exhaust gaskets The collection of bits that will see her (like ships they are always female!) back on the road has continued.  A quick look around the garage revealed that the engine gasket set I had bought, a while back as a standby, had disappeared or at least been put away somewhere.  Where? I have no idea. So, I bought another set off eBay and it came from Poland;  a Vesrah set, so not too unheard of. Despite owning her since 1984 she has never had name. But with help from fellow Meldrew MCC mate, Norman, plans are being made to pack her up in his van, and get her up to Saffron Walden. It Is about 90 miles to the restoration g...

Having a heart attack does tend to change things about a bit.  I was planning to ride up on Döra to have a chat about the job with Chris in Essex, but being off the bike for a while put paid to that.  Maybe I can persuade Claire to drive up there in a few weekends? Exhaust gaskets The collection of bits that will see her (like ships they are always female!) back on the road has continued.  A quick look around the garage revealed that the engine gasket set I had bought, a while back as a standby, had disappeared or at least been put away somewhere. Where? I have no idea. So, I bought another set off eBay and it came from Poland;  a Vesrah set, so not too unheard of. Despite owning her since 1984 she has never had name. But with help from fellow Meldrew MCC mate, Norman, plans are being made to pack her up in his van, and get her up to Saffron Walden. It is about 90 miles to the restoration garage. Luckily, even though I was in hospital last weekend, Norman and Cal cam...

That's how I felt last Saturday. Easter Saturday exactly. There I was blissfully in the land of nod. And Reggie jumped on the bed to wake me. I awoke with a crushing pain in my chest. I got up and went to find Claire. Then came on a cold sweat. HEART ATTACK. That's what I thought. The paramedic arrived quickly and then the ambulance. By 0930 we were headed to the hospital. I was rushed into the OR, time only to sign a consent form, and then the angioplasty took place. A single stent in one vein and by 1100 I was in the Cardiac Care Unit. I felt immediately better. After four days I was allowed home. I have 4 weeks or so to get fit again. A life on hold until I am back to full fitness. Thanks to Reggie for waking me up. The paramedic and ambulance team and the entire medical staff at the William Harvey Hospital. Without all these people I most likely would not be here.

Sadly all ideas of a trip to Norway aboard Döra with Claire on the back has had to be cancelled.   Why? Last week I had a small heart attack. I was rushed to the local ER complete with sirens and blue lights and had a stent fitted in one of my arteries and the others spring cleaned. So I am not going to be fit enough to ride to Scandinavia for two weeks with a pillion. Hopefully, some time in the future, heart and Claire's hip allowing, we can try again.   I had thought about simply re-planning it and taking the car and maybe even the dog.  Norway doesn't seem all that dog friendly.  Instead we will have to have something more local. Or a "staycation" as it is now called. Bummer!!!

Yesterday I suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital. Today I am sitting up in hospital and have taken a photo on my phone and sent this epistle to Blogger. I will expand on this when I get home later in the week. I expect to be here until Wednesday or so.  I think more accurately the heart attack began as I walked the dog with my wife Claire along the military road in Hythe. I felt I had indigestion and slowed down a lot and made it home, I felt okay once at home.  But it was early yesterday that I felt a pain in my chest, then was very week. Embarrassingly I was on the loo when the paramedic arrived. I simply couldn't get off and felt I was going to die. Just like Elvis!!!! But here I am.

April 9th 2015.  The 98th anniversary of the Battle of Arras on the Western Front and the anniversary of the day that forces, mostly from Canada, climbed from their trenches and battled their way up the slope to capture and hold the enemy trenches on the high ground near Vimy to the north west of Arras. Dora and I went last year with the Laguna RAT Pack and I decided to have another visit with the Kent Centre and The Meldrews. I have the route planned form the Shuttle calling in at the Loos battlefield and lunch in Lens before we arrive in time for a look around the visitor centre at Vimy and then walk across to the ceremony under the imposing twin towers of the Vimy Monument. Hopefully, the weather will be good and the twelve riders and passengers coming along will have a good day out. Report to follow.

After several months of planning the next "adventure" for Dora, Claire and me, to Norway, the project has gone on hold.  I am hoping to revive it in May and/or June 2016. I have the "Rough Guide", a road map plus a route or two safely stored in Tyre.