InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Not a misprint.  Or a typo. Given the "Wenger Out!" post earlier in the week. We are still going to spend a tenner** each to sit in our grand (cash not surroundings) seats at the Emirates Stadium to watch the second string and yoofs take on League 2 Doncaster Rovers. History is on our side. In 8 meetings since 1901 they have come out on top only once, 115 years ago. More credibly we last played them in 2005 and the game ended 2-2. Given the "sell, sell, sell" attitude of our under-fire manager and the clowns on the board we may see them extend their winning streak to 2 from 9 in 116 years. h ttps://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Doncaster%20Rovers/ Fingers crossed Amugos! ** plus £1.65 charges on top of the ticket!

It's getting on for that time of year again when my car insurance is due. I used to be with Direct Line but the quote gory higher and higher every year and so I started trawling the comparison sites to get a better quote. Last year this turned out to be the insurers that sell under the banner of the RAC motoring organisation.  They had the cover I wanted and although not the cheapest quote, were the cheapest of the companies I had ever heard of. This year my renewal arrived and they quite matter of factly tell me that this year my premium will go up £50.  The car is a year older and therefore less valuable.  The risk hasn't changed much. So it is back to the comparison sites. What has really happened is that premium last year was a new business discounted amount. This year they are trying to get some of it back. Sadly for them I will go elsewhere.

Sunday 27th August 2017.  A day of infamy. Our glorious team of Arsenal Gladiators went out in the Anfield sun to do battle with the Lions of Liverpool and came back battered and bruised.  Humiliated some may say. The lack of fight from highly paid professionals leaves a nasty taste in the mouths of fans. "Wenger Out!" is the cry on those same battered lips.  "Wenger Out!" is the cry from even committed Gooners and ex-players like Ian Wright. The apologists for the French Professor keep repeating the mantra that he has done so much for the club in the 20 years he has been in charge. So many victories. Invincible even. "It's not his fault" they cry in return, but the "Wenger Out!" Cries begin to double, then double again. "How is it nor his fault?" The cry goes up.  His starting eleven contains one of the finest right backs in the country starting on the left. He leaves out a German international cent...

Two different events on the same day at almost the same venue. How could that happen? On the Sunday of August Bank Holiday in the UK an event was organised at Dover on the esplanade in the harbour between the two docks.   The Eastern Docks are primarily for passenger and freight ferries to the France and the Western Docks for cruise liners.  In the middle is a crescent shaped beach and an esplanade.  At the eastern end of the esplanade the owners of the Pebbles Kiosk and Gift Shop had organised "Bikes on the Beach" for a third year. At the Western end. The local sailing and rowing club had organised a fun day with stalls and exhibits.  The exhibits included some local classic car owners and the Dover Transport Museum brought some of their collection along. I was a little late getting up after some overnight dog barking and disruptive sleep because of that.  The Dover event started at 10am and as I rode out of the close I was in two minds whether to actually go....

There are many shoeboxes in the archive.  Like many archives like this a lot of the photos are pretty uninteresting to anyone else. Plus the other problem... Where the heck were they taken!! It's easy to remember who the people are in them. But so many I have no idea where or when they were taken. This couple of scans are places and events I do remember! It's a bit lazy but I have scanned three together! ! First up. A trio of Lisbon photos.  Secondly,  a mixed bag from Rome (top), Murcia, (bottom left) Madonna in procession around the city at Easter and bottom right, me and Andrew Pratt after the National Rally. Lastly a picture of my TDM850 outside the old house in Hythe.

After a look through the Rough Guide to Spain and then TripAdvisor a rough plan was established that we should do a clockwise circuit around the central region of the region. The distances involved in this trip won't be too great so we should have time for a good look around without too much driving about. I have booked another Parador in Trujillo for two nights. On the booking sites there weren't too many hotels available for our dates. I thought about an anti-clockwise trip around the circuit but that didn't help. So a quick trip to the Parador.es website and I signed us in there. I booked another hotel  in Mérida ,  Again for two nights. This one a little less luxurious but it looks very nice. As we have seven nights to play with, the above leaves two to book.   So I have gone ahead and booked a single night in Badajoz and the last night in Cáceres.  These are also decent looking hotels. We will have to get used to the standards after the Paradors.  That wi...

With the Extremadura as the destination for some serious touristing I have booked the first night just short of the border from Castille. A bit of luxury before we enter the "Frying Pan" of Spain.   The Parador at Oropesa. I was looking last night and the Parador site has discounted rates for over 55's and in the Extremadura there are quite a few Paradors in the area. Oddly, booking.com had a much cheaper rate than the official site. Even with the senior citizen discount the cheapest rate is non-refundable and was way more than the booking.com refundable price.  How? I have no idea. The Parador's official booking site used to have a special "bulk" purchase rate. Something like four nights for the price of three or something along those lines.  Worth checking out. I need to get the Rough Guide out to see what we can see in the area. I have also bought a copy of the regional Michelin map #576. It covers Extremadura and across to Madrid and the east. Although I...

Those of us born before the digital revolution must have one - a shoebox archive. This one is from way back in 1990!  The campsite is in Tarifa which can claim to the be the southern most tip of Europe in the west of the continent.   From the beach you can clearly see the coast of Africa. Behind the Cade is Audrey's XJ900. The bike we took across to Morocco later that week. It was so hot down there that I had problems with the clutch as the grease on the lever dried out as it was "cold weather" rated and 40ºC temperatures in the day simply reduced it to dust. In Malaga on the way home it rained a little and turned the highway into an ice rink - water on months of rubber.......    As you are braking and sliding with both wheels locked just stopping short of the car in front and then hear the car behind sliding faster than you and then seeing it go past makes you wonder about life..... And here is another from the same trip:

The Tour d'España has come about really because we wanted an early holiday.  Most often we have been to the US in May but with the changes to my contract at work, where I am stuck with school holidays for the bulk of my leave, it has meant that two week trips are out  of the question unless done at Easter or Summer. I would like to have gone  back as we did in August  2014 on the Explorer -  Revisita España 2014 , and on the bike but it is not practical with Claire's hip and her gradual worry about being on the bike! The next best thing is to fly/drive. I have been checking on Skyscanner and the way it works it seems impossible to get the flight out and back into UK when you want them at a reasonable  price.  A quick click to one-way revealed a lot more flights. It also revealed that their website creates round trips groups of flights that when checked as singles come out at a very different (and lower) price.  In the end I booked Iberia out from ...

The Venetian fete is bi-annual in Hythe and uses the Royal Military Canal as the base for a series of free concerts and a river pageant on rafts. The third evening was Abbalicious, an ABBA tribute group but there must have been a falling out as only AA were onstage. What happened to BB we have no idea. When we arrived with Reggie there was plenty of free parking in Waitrose and we walked along just as they came on stage. After a few numbers we set off for a walk around over the bridges that brought us back stage.  My arm got tired waiting for them to turn around and not face front only. A good evening,. And free.

Had a run into Folkestone today as I had a dentist appointment and thought the bike would be better. Nice and sunny. Parked almost outside and was early. Went for a coffee at the cafe over the road. They couldn't make change for a tenner and trusted me to go back. Biker friendly. After the scraping around I had a walk to Debenham's for another drink and make change. Back at the bike I couldn't believe it. Bird shit on the screen and tank. Spattered on the chrome work too. I stopped at the café and paid my £1.30 and rode home to clean the bike. A short ride that would have been longer without those bloody birds.

I have been looking at the smaller flyscreens as the big screen on Pepé can be a bit of a pain in the wet as no matter how much polish it has on it, it still becomes a little hard to see through and you have to look over. I have thought about hydro-dipping but have yet to fnd someone that will reply to an email enquiry or in fact show an example of a Rocket flyscreen suitably decorated. The ones I have contacted can't be short of business as they can't be arsed to come back with a price. I have seen the work from Chris at Custom-Sculpt .  He does all kinds of different work and has a portfolio of bike work and a lot of R3 stuff. You can design your own but I have always liked Iron Maiden's "Eddie".  A quick email confirms that Chris has the mould and can make one. I can decide on any colours I want as the mould starts off plain.  He has work piled up and so I'd have to fit in. That's fine with me. Time to put some pennies away. Update 9/9/2017. After a ...

It kicks off again tonight and Arsenal has the inglorious task of being the first new season to kick off on a Friday evening.  I suppose it means we can have football and a free weekend. http://www.totalpremierleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Arsenal-Vs-Leicester-City.jpg Update: 11/08/17 22:00 Won 4-3.  Supporting Arsenal isn't the easy job it might be if you have a tame billionaire from Russia or a middle east oil state that spends money as though it is going out of fashion. Mr Wenger decided that the potent striker Vardy for Leicester wasn't a threat and chose to play a rookie centre back and no other recognised central defenders.  That proved wrong. As Vardy scored twice. In the end what he will call "mental strength" seemed to work and we came from 2-3 to 4-3 in a two minute spell in the last ten minutes of the game. At least we won it.  Usually, we lose or at best get a draw to start the season.

It's a bit early to be booking bike trips into December. But seeing a special offer where the return fare to France for bike and rider was only £22.50 ($28.50 or so) for what amounts to two 90 minute (not luxurious though) cruises is the cheapest I have seen it for many a good year.  Book now!! Thank you P&O. As every other year since we stopped going for the weekend, the plan will be to go over early but not too early. Fill the tank with slightly cheaper EU benzine and go to Ostend. Check out the chocolate shops and have lunch. See St Nick. Then ride home after a good day in Europe. I'll probably put it on the Meldrews' Facebook page  at some stage in case there are any takers for the trip.  I have been Johnny No-Mates a few times and the last time it was just me and Cal. Still a while to go before December 2nd. Paul Devall shared an album with you from the Flickr app! Take a look: https://flic.kr/s/aHskn4opxt

Another chance to go to Wembley Stadium to watch Arsenal. Once again against Chelsea. Arsenal were in this traditional fixture as Cup Winners and Chelsea as League Champions. Back in May Arsenal had beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup Final also at Wembley Stadium. This stopped them wining the "Double" of League and Cup in one season. Another warm sunny day when we were glad to be in the upper tier and under cover rather than being burned to a crisp in the sun. The view is pretty good from all around the stadium. Before the game there was the usual tedious build up but this was relieved by the Choir for Grenfell coming to sing after the minutes silence for those that died in the terrible tower block fire some weeks ago. The Choir and celebs have made a charity record to raise money for the families that lost everything. I took a short video of it. The game was pretty even although statistics will show that the Arsenal had more possession, 54% to 46%, more ...

We were up early for breakfast. The paperwork said that the parking along Beselarestraat from near Beselare towards Zonnebeke was open until 10am. The first problem was leaving the A19 as instructed that the junction wasn't policed on this section and we took nearly 15 mins to get the left rurn onto the N303 road into solid traffic through the town. Way before the start of the parking we were directed into a field and told to walk up the road. I had put a way marker into the TomTom for the road junction at the bottom of the parking. It was still some 600m to go. We were stopped by police and could see buses up ahead and a queue of people. By the time our column got up to about 200m  long the queue at what was Bus Stop F has disappeared. We were then told buses would come. With the traffic we were far too late to have a look around the museum site and went through accreditation and straight onto buses to Tyne Cot. We eventually arrived there about 11 o'clock. We were supposed to...