InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK’s leading voice for riders’ rights, held a joint session with the Chair of the Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group (MCRG), Kevin Howells, at MAG’s National Committee meeting on 11th February, 2017, in Warwickshire. Mr Howells talked about the shocking crime statistics affecting biking. ‘There are over 26,000 bike thefts a year in this country,’ he explained.  ‘That means that during my presentation three or four bikes will have been taken in the UK.  What the MCRG does is find ways to put people off stealing bikes.   Tagging them is the most important one, and it’s got a good track record.  With a system like Datatag your bike is 60% less likely to be stolen, and the recovery rates are a lot better. That’s one thing we can do and the industry has taken that up.’ The meeting looked at what can most effectively reduce crime for bikers.  MAG’s London Representative, Tim Fawthrop, reported that the Mayor of London, Sad...

If Arsenal don't get to the FA Cup Final this year and stake a claim on a record breaking 13th victory it won't be for the want of trying or the draw. Preston North End from the Championship - level 2 in the pyramid Southampton from the Premier League - level 1 in the pyramid Sutton United from the Natinal League - level 5 in the pyramid All defeated, and all away from home on the opponents grounds. All beaten with various amounts of difficulty and the usual heart stopping moments for us paid up members at Arsenal FC. Next on the horizon are giant killers Lincoln City. Currently the runaway leaders of the National League (5th tier of the English pyramid) and already the giant killers of three Premier League clubs.   At least we are at home. Day and date to be decided after TV divvy up the Quarter Final (Last 8 left in it) games. COYG.

Yesterday was the first decent weather day for weeks and weeks.  The last time I had Pepé out of the garage was over a month ago and then for a ride to the January Meldrew's Monthly meeting at the Blue and White. That day it was cold.  Very cold in fact. Since then, although we haven't had any decent snowfall nor any appreciable rain we have those horrible damp days where the air seems to consist of water just waiting to make itself into rain.  The roads are damp.  Occasional overnight frosts have the local gritters out coating the "major routes" with a mixture and gritty sand and salt. It's the salt that plays havoc with bikes.  Over the years car manufacturers have got wise to this and use galvanised metal. Even the traditional rust-buckets from southern Europe are made of it.  Hence no more rusty two year old FIAT cars on the road... But. Motorcycle manufacturers may have caught up with this for the frames and stuff like petrol/gas tanks but not wheels! ...

Routes not Roots. Clearing loads of old files off my H-Drive at work revealed some stuff going back to 2003. It is amazing how much you accumulate and just leave there. A folder here or there that probably not even been looked at for over a decade. In the personal files section I found a load of tomtom and earlier garmin routes for trips long gone and several never actually undertaken. Reminders of the past planning and aspirations.  Delete?

Vets in France! It seemed much easier for the FR16 trip.  The vets in Abbeville had a website and an email address.  I made an appointment by email and we turned up at the allotted time and it was all very easy. Even though the Dordogne region must be home to thousands upon thousands of ex-pat British, locating a veterinary surgery that can dose Reggie with the worming pill designed to kill the usual tapeworms and a few that Europe keeps to itself, is proving plus difficile. As they say over there. I put a note on Tripadvisor and also an email to the tourist board and the results seem to have led me to MC-Vet in Sarlat itself.  An email and we have a dialogue to book Reggie in there towards the end of the week we are there. Sarlat is only 7 miles from the campsite. There is a particular tapeworm that we don't have in the UK, and that they have in Europe that we need to kill before it comes over to us. So the rules are that the treatment needs to be administered and the Pe...

Well that was easy.  Very easy in fact.  The final balance paid on the Dordogne week online on Eurocamp's website. Whether Reggie comes with us or not we are now paid up.  We had to pay for him as an extra to the normal rental so that they can clean the place. I'd expect that they would be efficient with their cleaning anyway and as they are "dog friendly" they would have certain units that would be let for dogs and others that were for humans only. Although having camped early and late season with Eurocamp and Canvas Holidays in the past, but in large frame tents rather than mobile homes, I have to say that the human visitors aren't all working to the same standards of cleanliness and decency as me.  Some of the damage to fabric of the tents looked to be ignorance rather than just accidental. I have ordered the Tesco vouchers to cover the cost of the Eurotunnel crossing.  As usual we'll have to pay cash for Reggie to have his passport checked. But it still me...

After five years of service, I have invested in a new TomTom GPS.  It's not the latest model but was at a decent price and comes with the car mount as well as the bike mounting. The Urban Rider I have had for five years has been reliable most of the time but the mapping limitations have gradually got to annoy me. No, annoy is the wrong word, frustrating. I will reset it back to factory settings and see if I can sell it on eBay. Getting the new one to work with my phone has been a little fraught as I had no signal. So I have reverted to USB cable and the laptop.  At least now it up to date.  Once the weather improves I'll get the bike fittings sorted. More to follow........

The run this year is on July 1st. I missed the 2015 run as I was recovering from my heart attack and again in 2016 as it clashed with the Somme Centenary. Prior to that I had been from 2010 to 2014 inclusive. Hopefully I'll get back on plan and be there this year again. http://www.alliedride.org/index.php/uk-home/uk-ride By now it is usually all settled. But with some major road works in the area the route from the service area on the A14 is still to be decided. Run reports from the 2017 run