InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I had forgotten all about this website that links to Flickr until I got an email when someone had tried to spam one of my pictures. Flickriver

I needed a new pair of bike jeans and as I am once again suffering myself to lose weight with Slimming World, I didn't want to spend too much. My budget was pretty low! I have a pair of black Kevlar lined cargo trousers but they have shrunk a little in the wash. Really.  And I have replaced the metal button already. So a quick search on eBay revealed Oggie76 .  I bought a pair (£39.95) and they arrived in two days. Just in time for British Bike Night . They fitted rather well. Included in the price are hip and knee armour pads that fit into pockets stitched into the jeans.  The Kevlar covers the arse section, down the thigh and around the knee area. The stitching on the seams looks pretty strong too.  Of course, you will only know how good they are when you slide down the road on your butt.   The only bugbear for me, and I have emailed and told them,  is that there is only one belt loop at the back in the middle....

Just a week to go until this year's Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride , I have managed to source a Royal British Legion car-poppy to install on Pepé.  I need to find a space for it now. I might put it on one of the screen brackets. After missing the last two years due to the heart attack and the Somme 100 I am pleased to be able to attend again.   It's usually a nice run up to Cambridge although to get there in good time it it mostly motorway plus the added hassle of the Dartford Crossing through the tunnel. The local RBL Riders group in Kent are setting off a bit too early for me as they are leaving the A2 Services at 0845. I am not planing leaving home until 0900 and the RV is about 45 mins from home! I might catch up with them on the road as I am not planning a stop once I have a full tank of fuel and they have a few meeting points along the way. On the way up I'll see if I can get the 410 to work on the bike! I know where I am going but some assistance with fuel stops w...

Tonight Pepe and I had a ride up to the Wagon and Horses in Charing for the annual bike night. We had a good run up and back in fact. A chance to park on grass and a bit off off roading was enough for me! A walk around the parking and grassy area.  I took a few photos and they can be seen here . For once Pepe and the other Rockets weren't the biggest bike when the Boss Hoss V8 turned up.  Boy is it fugly. More Pix!

The ride home after work was every bit as bad as the way in. In reverse. The ride down from sunny Islington via Hackney to sunny Darenth took over an hour but did include a fuel stop at Sainsbury's near the Millennium Dome. I rolled onto the drive at home two hours after leaving work. This included a nice fast run on the motorway as well as the miles of bumper to bumper traffic basically from Dalston to Kidbrooke.   On the approach to the Blackwall Tunnel I was filtering when the guy in the left lane decided to block me off. Result. My left bar end weight and his mirror interfaced. No damage to me but his mirror knocked back on its hinge. Oh dear. He was effing and blinding at me but maybe next time he'll not deliberately try to block off a filtering biker.  Somehow I think he'll be the same cretin for life. So was it #commutehappy for me. Was it buggery! On the road for the three hours fifty to cover 145 miles. Even with the drive to the station, hanging about a bit and th...

Pepé at work Ride to Work Week UK The idea behind this is to get people out of their cars and onto two-wheels,  It will reduce congestion, save on parking spaces and reduce pollution. As my commuting into London days were over a few years ago, once I came to terms with having to sell an organ to pay for the train fares every month,  it was a bit of a shock to see what the every day motorcycle commuter has to contend with.   Although saying that, the "ride" time is not much different to two years ago when I commuted on  Döra the Explörer . I made pretty good progress at first.   From home to the Darenth Interchange was just shy of 50 minutes. Google maps (below) has the time at 55 mins.  As this bit was pretty much free moving traffic that's no surprise. There was a little congestion where the cars were actually stationery on the M20 by Maidstone but I safely filtered through. Google maps is aimed at cars and not the more traffic slipping motorcycle. At leas...

Another shortish ride out today. It was Meldrews Sunday and also father's day so we had a reduced turnout. Still there were four of us in a pretty deserted Blue and White café. After a chat about their trips last weekend we went our own ways.  I headed back home via a loop across the downs on some roads that seemed new to me. Following signposts I must have ridden further than expected.  With temperatures hovering about 28°C it was great to be wearing my Joe Rocket vented mesh jacket. Stopped however. It was far too hot in Kevlar lined combats. Still nice to be out and about on the bike. My next outing might very well be a ride to work day on Tuesday. Why Tuesday? It's the only day my boss won't be there!!!

Entry to the stadium is with an e-ticket. Having read up on it I spent my lunch hour getting my Ticketmaster US login to sync with a new Orlando City login. Then I could view the tickets. These are by QR code on my phone. On the day they need to be shown and so the LionNation app needed to be downloaded. This uses a different login to the ones above and links to them. Now I can see the QR codes but they are greyed out until 72 hours before the game. It's early but my attention will next be turned to parking. ...

Recently the replica of the sound mirror has been painted by some local volunteers.  It looks good in the dark green rather than the flaking and badly applied grey/beige it was before. It's there to show visitors how the mirror works.  From the other side of the canal,  maybe 25 yards away, someone speaks and another person in front of the mirror (the grey bit) can hear it. The original mirror is on the hillside about 200ft above sea level. This technology was invented as early warning of air raids. Reggie left his mark. Read more about the mirrors . My Photos:

The fixtures are out already.  Time to plan which games I will attend and which Alex will go to.

This year's Royal British Legion Riders Non-Attendance Rally will not be held in the Elysian Fields this year. RBLR Website & Shop The money earned after the cost of the badges goes into the Poppy Appeal. I can't remember how many times I've not been to the Rally. It's quite a few now.

Today's run out was a tale of two gravel strewn parking areas/lots. We'd been out in the morning in the car to see the poppy art installation at Shoeburyness.  When I say "we" I mean Claire,  Reggie and me. After lunch I hauled Pepé out of the garage and headed to the bank in Hythe to get some cash. Man can't live by credit card alone. Then I thought of a great photo op. A tribute to British engineering. My Rocket and the WW2 fighter aircraft at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne. Aaarrghh. Turning off the paved roadway entrance onto three or even four inches of grey gravel chips is not to be laughed at. Maybe on a cycle but not on a 700lb heavyweight cruiser. Jesus that was scary as the bars went straight to left lock. Luckily I got a foot down!!! I took a picture (and not the one I wanted) and left.  It's a great cause but that's my lot. I am never going back. From there I went to the White Cliffs. The car park here is a little light gravel...

Today we got up early and went out for a shortish trip across the Thames to Essex and the 14-18 War commemoration. Reggie included. It's about 90 miles each way. Shoeburyness was one of the Ministry of Defence bases along that stretch of the coast. Troops embarked from here to go to France during WW1. The poppies are all hand made and planted here to show like a wave. Other places have different displays like in Derby the poppies flow from a window like a flood of water.

Google Photo Creation Amazing what can be done with very little effort.

We have the dog booked into his favourite kennels for the duration of this weekend away. He goes in there late afternoon on Saturday. We have a dog-free evening. I had thought of going over then but finding a hotel or even a youth hostel in Belgium is like finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Unless you have that gold of course. So back to Plan A. Plan A had alwaya been to cross over on Sunday morning and head generally towards Ypres.  There's a few places I'd like to see again plus some new (to me) sites. Then see what parking is like in Ypres. There's a special ceremony in the Market by the Cloth Hall. It may be that as Plan A dictates that we go to Vlamertinge to the B&B and back out by taxi, we stick to it. Monday morning we have to be in Zonnebeke to park and see the museum and displays there. We have been before a few years ago. It was pre- Meldrews  so must have been the other club we don't mention. On that visit we had to park in the entrance ...

When you own a Rocket keeping a note on fuel consumption isn't really necessary. However, as an exercise I find it quite good to keep a record so I can see what is happening when I am out. A bit of fun.  Oddly, the app that worked on the iPhone doesn't work on the Android, so after ages I found Fuelly. It shares with other users and I need to see if there are other Rockets on there.  So over the coming months I'll be able to track the consumption on trips. Fuelly dashboard

My insurance is due on the 27th June.  Or I should say my current policy runs out at midnight as the clock ticks over from the 26th into the 27th. So as usual I have seen the forums discussing what people are paying and they are generally  less than me.  I guess the risk is supposed to be assessed on a personal basis. However that is too simplistic.  It's computer generated. What is annoying is the price for the same insurance. When I say same I mean the same basic cover, plus any accidents (I have the car one in May 2015) and other elements AND the same insurance company. Once comparison site quoted  £156.52. My renewal arrived at £179.79 and another comparison site at £107.22 although the last one doesn't include any extras like legal cover. When that's added it comes to nearer £140. So what to do?

The last two weekends were crossed off as potential bike runs out as we were on holiday in France and in the car. With such a log gap between rides I begin to feel guilty. Since I stopped commuting on two wheels I haven't even become a regular and fair weather rider. So when I saw on facebook that some Meldrews were having a breakfast run to thr Blue and White I decided to go.  Otherwise I was going for an aimless ride across the marsh. Yesterday I found a bottle of cleaner in the garage I had forgotten I had. The petrol/gas tank was a little dirty. A few squirts of this magic no water needed elixir and a rub over with a microfibre cloth and it was super shiny. So I hauled Pepé out of the garage and headed to the café. Egg sandwich for me. After an hour of chat we went our separate ways. Mine was to Tesco to fill up after the ride to Wimbledon a month ago! Tesco to Tesco was 160.2 miles. I was dreading filling the tank but was surprised at at an average cruising speed of 75mph (cou...