InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Blimey. Ordered late on Tuesday. Arrived today. The helmet is very light and once I had got the box out of the thick plastic packaging courtesy of Fat Skeleton (http://www.fat-skeleton.co.uk) I couldn't wait to try it on. With Claire measuring my head at 59.5cms the large size is a perfect fit. Large is down as 59-60cms. The box contained a few goodies as well. Bottles of helmet cleaner,  a neck tube, a pair of riding glasses, their LS2 version of Pinlock, they even give stickers for France, plus the charging cable and an assortment of breath deflectors. I couldn't wait to turn it on and it spoke to me. In English. Phew.

Dogs love to walk. A universal truth that sadly seems not to apply to the dog that fills our lives with his love and habits. When "experts", usually ones that talk through a part of their anatomy that is for sitting on, tell you how it will change your life having a dog, then maybe for once they are right. It's no secret amongst friends and neighbours that we went to the Dog's Trust,  to get a small tank-bag dog. One that wouldn't mind going on the bike for a ride somewhere.  Instead, we got Reggie. As soon as we saw his face and the way he looked at us, we were hooked. Despite some of his published  (and soon to be discovered unpublished) foibles and traits, he is a great dog.  At 20kgs he is far too big for the bike. Even a Rocket. Reggie Recently though, he has shown a reluctance to walk. it starts with him hiding when the lead is brought out; in a corner or under the dining table.  Show him the harness, so that we can attach him to the seat ...

Not a celebrity wedding but my eldest niece, Jennifer,  is tying the knot down in Wales, to her long time partner Chris.  In Cardiff to be exact. I booked us into a hotel months ago and time seems to be flying.   The perennial "what to wear" question arises. At work I wear a logo'd polo shirt in summer and a long sleeve variant in winter, with a v-neck similarly logo'd on the chest, and jeans.  The dress code is quite lax here as long as we are clean and tidy. The whole idea of uniform. We decided to make a weekend of it. The wedding is Friday afternoon, and so Reggie will go with us. The hotel is dog friendly so that's okay for two nights.  Jennifer's dog will be in the local kennel and so for the wedding day I booked Reggie in too. Drop him off in the morning and collect him next morning. Then we are off a few hours north to the Brecon Beacons, and area of outstanding beauty and fresh air.   What could be simpler? Food for Reggie? ...

For anyone that has read my " Don't Ride Angry " post will know of the events of last Saturday.  What they won't know is that what added to that sense of annoyance and frustration was that when we arrived in Hythe, I found my head was black. Not the black you get from Grecian 2000, a men's hair dye, but from the inside of my Caberg J1S that had finally given up the ghost.  Not the tough shock absorbing liner but the nylon foam padded liner. The foam backing had disintegrated into a lot of black grit!  The liner was dropping out as it no longer fitted and I rode back from Folkestone whilst transferring this grit into my sweaty hair and scalp. As we had a coffee on the field at the food and drink festival, I had a look and it was beyond repair. It went in the bin when I got home.   I then started looking for a replacement. I know it is a luxury to have more than one helmet on the go, but I am used to a few in the cupboard.  The past lame ducks (Sc...

All captured on the joint blog that I started and then got Neill to co-author -  https://devallboys.blogspot.com/ But before this happens we have to get over Neill's "Bank of Dad" for his daughter and naturally my niece's wedding at the beginning of August.

A lot of pictures taken on Route 66 this summer. I have saved them to Flickr where they can be seen by eveyone. Click here.

Getting to see your Doctor is almost as difficult as getting to have tea with the Queen. In the end I wrote a letter and posted it through the door.  Monday that was. That said, Tuesday,  a phone call to the surgery, after 1030am, elicited a response that they hadn't heard from the hospitals about my echocardiogram nor about my hearing test and MRI. Nothing arrived here or the surgery. As the latter was in May I was a bit pissed. I called the hospital and eventually got though to audiology. They were closed all day but call back between 10 and 12 or 14 and 16 hours. I did. Wednesday.  The lady said that they had written to the surgery, cc me, on 17th May. Before the MRI. I said I was still deaf in that ear and needed the device fitted. Now booked in on August 16th. She'll write to me. Don't know if that will ever arrive but have it in my Google calendar. As for MRI? Who knows. They didn't have the result two months after it was done.

Never ride angry. It leads to mistakes. For some unknown reason people in England have this urge to travel. That's not a problem. What is the problem is that no sooner has the final bell of the summer term/semester rung,  like lemmings they are in their cars and motorhomes  (RV) and heading on their summer holiday. Why? Most kids won't be back in their classrooms until September 6th or even 7th!! To coincide with this exodus, small 'e' as the waves don't part for them , after some terrorist activity in France (not to mention our vote to leave the European Union) the French boeufed up their ridiculously slap dash border control. Traffic was queued back on the M20 for about 15 miles. Three lanes and then two.... The A2 into the port two lanes for about 7 miles. Add to that both roads closed due to the inevitable accidents and a rare truck fire, and you have CHAOS. People trapped for upto 14 hours.  It later turned out that for a few hours one single lone French douan...

Rewind over three weeks.... (sound effect of tape rewinding) The wound in my foot seemed to be getting worse. So tonight after work I headed back to Folkestone and the Royal Victoria minor injuries clinic. A short wait and I was in. The nurse checked the x-ray and there was another piece in there. Fifteen minutes later and a bit of scalpel to enlarge the hole and it's out. The piece is actually bigger than the bit I pulled out. Hopefully now it will heal. Phew.

The day to ride home. Once again it was Shuttle-One returning together. The rest of the Meldrews were going to scatter. One group going to Oradour sur Glane ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane_massacre ) and the U-boat pens at Lorient. Another going solo to Normandy and others to the east. We had a leisurely breakfast and then said our goodbyes and set off. Firstly for petrol as we all needed some and then to Corbie. There we had a quick stop to place a Somme 100 poppy cross on the grave of William Devall who was killed on July 16th a hundred years ago. From there we had a cross country journey towards Arras. The rain came and we had to stop so I could get my waterproofs on and effectively they never came off until I was on the Shuttle. We were in need of a break and it may not have been my greatest decision to take us into Arras on a Saturday afternoon. We had enough time for a coffee and then away again as time seemed to disappear. We head...

Just a short run today.  A week since we got back from the Somme and Pepe  needed a wash'n'brush up. I togged up and with a plasttic bottle of cleaner  bungeed on the rack I headed for the jet wash. The idea was to get the worst of the French crud off from under the engine, mudguards and if course the easy-corrode wheels that Triumph preferred to fit. The wash machine has changed and takes £1 coins and you get three minutes. There are six options from jet to wax and rinsing. In the end and £2 later it all looked good.  Ten minutes later I knew I had to do it by hand again when it was cold! At least the mud and crud was gone. As it was sunny the wax rinse dried in streaks.   I had a ride to Tesco to fill up with their 3p a litre cheaper 95 unleaded, then a tour around Folkestone to check out the football ground for the next home game and then home along the coast drive. It was some two hours later when I  went out with a  bucket and some ...

Oops. Posted on another of my blogs and here are some posts.  http://devalltravel.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/some-trip-reports-somme-2016.html

I sent these to the wrong blog and rather than re-type or cut and paste.... here are the links. http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/fwd-somme-commemorations-day-one.html http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-somme-commemorations-day-two.html

The day of the commemorations started early for three of the Ferry Crew. They had tickets to the Thiepval event and needed to be away about 5am for the park and ride by Albert Airport.   This made the decision to go to the Ulster Tower for the majority of us seem the best option. We could have breakfast in the hotel and then walk over to the station and get the train to Albert, where our shuttle buses would be waiting. No need for the park and ride. It would be less hassle for men but we had Claire and Elaine Constable in our team.  Ladies are less likely to be enamored changing in a field. As it was We got our tickets and the 0837 train to Albert.  Strangely there wasn't another train until 1137 and that was cutting it fine to get the shuttles as they finished at 1200. We had a few hours to kill before the first bus and there was plenty to do with displays etc. Plus the famous gilded tower that acted as a target for the German gunners and as a...

Even though we didn't have to be at the Shuttle terminal for our train to France until 1015 or so we still had to have an early start. I had to take Reggie off to his weekend away at Wyncot Kennels. Once again he was excited as I turned into the drive and he positively ran off with the kennel lady, again without a backward glance to his Dad standing in the reception area. Back at the house Claire was doing the last minute packing. The new Saddlemen FTB3600 bag was getting filled with our "duds" that we would need for the ceremony.  The waterproof bags that I bought last year would have other stuff for two days and two evenings in Amiens.  They fit snugly in the panniers as long as they aren't overfilled. With rain looking highly likely I fitted the Saddlemen with its supplied waterproof cover. It's bright yellow to help other road users see us in the spray and gloom! Saddlemen FTB We were away via a petrol stop to top off t...

Profligate that I am I decided the used bag wasn't going to work properly as it is simply too soft and doesn't hold its shape. Looked at a few Saddlemen options and with my refund from British Airways I bought a new bag. The quality is instantly evident. It came from a UK Harley dealer and luckily isn't badged HD at all. It had its first outing on the Somme trip and was perfect  it swallowed all our "duds" for the Ceremony and more. Saddlemen FTB3600 with waterproof cover The bright yellow waterproof cover came in handy in some terrible weather and no water got in. The cover is big enough to fit over the main bag and the top bag. It looks a bit flimsy but worked well. At £138 inc taxes and delivery it's not cheap but you'd have to pay more for hard luggage and a rack to mount it. The standard setup was the right size for my sissy bar pad and I used two other supplied straps to keep it tightly in place on the little rack, should it try to get off on its own...

It rained. It was sunny. But it was a great day at the Ulster Tower for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Some pictures.