InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I was sent a link to this site by a biking friend as an idea for routes and places to visit. So I thought it would be only fair to stick one of my own up there. I chose Silnice 23 in the Czech Republic.  A route I have take on two occasions, once in each direction and about a year apart. https://motorcycle-diaries.com/en/roads/silnice-23 I added a couple of pix.  Not that I have many as I never thought I would need them and was always concentrating on riding!   This one from 2004 with Claire and the GS in  Zastávka u Brna or rather on the outside the village by the sign. Update 4th April 2018 Since penning this posting I have visited the site a few times and added a few more routes that I have done and happy to share with others.  Not all of them are seat of the pants jobs but are pretty decent. What would be much easier is if you could import gpx files from the satnavs, or at least have that as an option.   Sometimes if y...

All change. Some small changes to the overnight stays have required a change to the routing.  The Parador de Gredos has been changed to another hotel nearer the main route between Madrid and Extremadura. The changes are really to make the trip a little smoother. This routeing is set to avoid toll roads and highways. As usual I have used Tyre to create the routing. Tyre  Route - avoiding highway & toll routing

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK's leading voice for riders, will be hoping for good weather over the Easter weekend as riders set off on a lengthy fundraising trip. Around twenty intrepid MAG members hope to embark on a week-long adventure entitled 'The Daft Way Up' to raise funds for MAG and Macmillan Cancer Support.  The trip will be self-funded, ridden on 'inappropriate' motorcycles and will take a week to complete. Richard Manton, Yorkshire Regional Rep for MAG said: "We are inviting members to join us along the route on their own motorcycles (inappropriate or not) to support and highlight our efforts.  We will set off each day at 10.00 am from the following venues: Sunday April 1st - Lands' End visitors centre, TR19 7AA Monday April 2nd - Bishops Taejon Road, Barnstaple, EX32 0AX Tuesday April 3rd - The Blacksmiths Arms, Lydney, GL15 6AU Wednesday April 4th - Glossop Travelodge, SK13 8HT Thursday April 5th - Haggs Ban...

Any day now registration for the 2018 Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride will be opening. Hopefully the weather will be as good as it has been in past years with sun and staying clear for the fly past over the cemetery. I've been to six previously since 2010.  This year is the 10th overall!   I missed 2015 as I had had a heart attack and was off the bike and 2016 as it clashed with the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme and we were in France. So with this year 7 out of 10 ain't too bad! And with a bit of luck I won't be Johnny No-Mates this year! http://www.alliedride.org/index.php/uk-home

Kent Big Weekend was today. We were up a little late as the clocks went forward and we lost an hour. We are now on British Summer Time. Yay! Picking my Aunt Yvonne up in Maidstone made for a slight detour and I left it to TomTom to work it. We had a nice trip across and around West Kent to find Ightham Mote. Unexpectedly we arrived from a different direction to the one I thought. Once parked Claire and Yvonne went to have a look around the house and garden and Reggie and I took to one of the estate walks.  Reggie isn't allowed in the garden or the house. Our walk took about 40 minutes of mixed terrain. We met a few other dogs on the walk and only had one small problem when a staffie cross made a few high speed passes all the while growling. Reggie returned the greeting. The woods were full of primroses and we had a photo session by a bench hollowed out to be a bench. After a sit down we navigated a few muddy bits of the path.  ...

For a few years I had been tracking the miles per gallon and fuel usage of my bikes and cars with an app on my iPhones.  Sadly, when I moved to Android from iOS last year I lost that ability. I suppose as I still have the (worthless!) iPhone 5S I could have simply kept it charged and using wifi and the apps. To be honest. I didn't actually think of that until recently. A Doh! moment? But last summer I was googling about and found Fuelly . I saw it online and setup my vehicles and since June 2017 I have recorded all the fuel stops that I have done in the Insignia and also with Red Pepe.  I use it to calculate costs (less obvious) and the over UK mpg. When I say costs it is mostly because since having Pepe, I have had to fill the tank overseas in Europe.  In nearby Europe they use the Euro (€) and in Czechia (I hate that new name!) they use the korunna. Of course at home we still use the pound sterling (£).  But at least fuel is sold in litres in all countries. So in t...

Wow. It's around a year since the Insignia needed new tyres on the front. This time it's the rears that needed replacing. They have been on since I bought the car and in my care have done around 30000 miles. I searched the net again and Asda came out cheapest as before. This time I opted for Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 100Y in the size 245/45R18. At £253 fitted I had the guy put the fronts on the back and the new ones on the front. Immediately the drive and feel is totally different. More confidence inspiring.

Booking.com - if you want to book hotels and aren't already signed up with them, please follow the link and sign up.  It's free to you.

Booking.com - if you want to book hotels and aren't already signed up with them, please follow the link and sign up.  It's free to you.

MAG welcomes GLA Transport Committee bike safety report but slams 'Third World roads in a First World capital' The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has praised the Greater London Authority (GLA) Transport Committee for their intelligent assessment of the shortcomings in London Mayor Sadiq Khan's attitude towards motorcycle safety in the city. London's Regional Representative for MAG, Tim Fawthrop, clarifies the riding community's concerns: 'MAG has actively worked with Transport for London (TfL) and the GLA to assist with creating a coherent safety agenda for motorcycle and scooter riders. While some of the recommendations have been accepted, others have been either ignored or apparently agreed to but subsequently not actioned. 'For instance, the Urban Motorcycle Design Handbook, which was a great piece of work to which MAG actively contributed, appears to have created no urgency amongst TfL officers. In addition, the opening of all bus lanes to bi...

Probably not the cheapest way to buy beer, but it does give the opportunity to try beers that are not generally available in shops and supermarkets. I cancelled the February delivery as I was way behind with the December and January packs.  They have all gone and so now we are expecting March to arrive any day now. Looks like another international batch! Beer52 ​

So with the car-hire dilemma sorted.  I went for the no-excess plan instead of the low rate and potential hassle route of the cheap hire and massive insurance risk. So back to the route.  As usual I have used Tyre to plan a route between the various stops and the airport. Having this in the TomTom doesn't preclude from going off-piste to look at things in the Rough Guide or on the hoof.   I know there are people that think that a paper map is all you need and technology only ruins the trip. Good luck to them.  Finding a hotel in a huge city and arriving right outside the front door is preferable to riding around for hours.  I have done both other the last 40 years of touring and believe me. The TomTom way is way preferable. So this is the base route: Anti-clockwise at the top from the airport to the Parador de Gredos and then clockwise around the Extremadura cities. There will be some autostrada as well.  Not all of it on ordinary highways.  I ca...

Please help us get the Government get a better deal regarding lowering emissions. Dear FairFuelUK Supporter Why is the Dept of Environment and Department for Transport ignoring and not recommending, or even putting into legislation, the implementation of effective proven ways to lower vehicle emissions. These practical solutions are here now. Favouring instead, hitting hard working families, motorists, van drivers and the haulage industry harshly with a quick and easy cash grab. Please complete our critical driver's poll. The results of this poll and its magnitude of response will be delivered to the salient Government Ministers and the media. It really is time to stand up for drivers across the UK, before more draconian policies are inflicted on all of us for the sake of 'looking green' but at the same time not improving air quality. If you want to first read our background t...

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – " Ban the sale of puppies by pet shops & all commercial 3rd party dealers. ". Government responded: The Government has published wide reaching reforms of the controls on pet selling which includes a call for evidence on a ban on all commercial third party sales of puppies and kittens in England. New controls on dog breeding and pet selling in England require all licensed dog breeders and licensed sellers of all pet animals, including sellers who are not also breeders, to adhere to enhanced strict statutory minimum welfare standards linked to the animals' welfare needs set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006.  The controls prohibit the sale of puppies, kittens, ferrets or rabbits below eight weeks of age. This is also supported by changes to Defra's statutory Dog Welfare Code which provides guidance aimed at dog owners. The controls require any licensed pet seller advertising pets fo...

It's been a while since I updated this trip. Everything has been in place for quite a while and there was nothing much to do, apart from make sure the Advanced Passenger Information (API) was completed for both of us. Then as I was looking through the folder in my Yahoo email I to check dates and make sure that my Tripit itinerary was up to date (it feeds into Google Calendar!) I noticed that although I had a few car hire emails, I hadn't booked any. Car hire is always one of the biggest bugbears for me.  Flights are easy to book. They give you a price and you accept that and then check for the add-ons (rip offs?) such as baggage check and reserving a seat and you get a price.   But with car hire.  There are so many "insurances".  Very annoying.  I ran through a few of the online booking agencies and there are quotes as low as €40/£35/$50 for a week's hire for a small car like a FIAT 500 "Cinquecento". This includes legal insurance cover.  Then you se...

Every year as a way of increasing tourism in Kent, the tourist authorities organise the Kent Big Weekend. Attractions from stately homes to zoo park to heritage railways are all available with free entry for the weekend.  Each available by ballot. Some of the places would usually cost good money and others only a few pounds. Plus some have very few tickets like Port Lympne Animal Park and others loads.  In typical human avarice the "expensive" sites are very over subscribed and others have just about got all their tickets taken. I tried for quite a few across a range. Mostly places we've never been before. Last year neither Claire or I were successful. This time I got an email to say we had tickets for Ightham Mote. We are members of the National Trust already and so free tickets for two people  to one of the sites isn't that big a deal. There is an option to return the tickets and dip into the returns bin for an alternative but by the ti...

Saturday we had more snow. Although we didn't get too much but what we did have froze overnight before it got topped up. On top of that I had an overnight pukathon that left me feeling pretty shoddy. So I didn't go. The run actually went ahead with a vastly reduced turnout due to the awful weather. At least today I should have lost weight (!) as I have not eaten.

This gets you this: Just a bit of fun!

Vimy on 2017 Time has moved on since the last update on this potential run and I have heard back from the Vimy people in France. As with most years that aren't a big anniversary there will be the usual smaller scale commemoration at the Memorial. So I expect  numbers will be back into the hurdreds if not tens as previous years. The ceremony itself usually takes place on the other side of the memorial itself to that in the picture, although this side allows for a far larger flat space for the visitors! Last year there were many thousands and thousands of people. Mostly Canadian to celebrate a date that many see as "the birth of a nation". In 2014 there were maybe 100 people, no more than 150. So the plan. Unlike 2014 I will entrust my route to a TomTom. Which one I haven't decided but I have yet to try the 410 on the bike.  Once one gets used to it, it is a better piece of kit than the old Rider. I have fitted a new Bosch style plug to the end of the OEM wiring loom a...

I connected the TomTom for the first time in a few months and it said there were three updates to install. Two of them were map sets, Europe v10.05 and USA v10.05 plus the little fixes that are the community fixes. I let it download all of them and that came to about 12gb. That bit took about an hour with a few hiccups with the internet dropping out.  And then it seems to have ground to a halt.  At 100% download it sat for over an hour "checking". In the end I stopped it and started it again and it started to do the updates. This time I was able to untick the USA maps update as they aren't going to be needed this year. The update of just Europe and the fixes came up to take about an hour. Then it came up to say there were two updates, another community jobbie and the USA still outstanding from the earlier run through. I ticked that as well and it took another hour, at least it had the USA maps already downloaded. So after abo...

The inaugural meeting of a new branch of the Triumph Owners MCC. It's been a while in gestation and tonight was the date chosen for the first meeting. Luckily last week's snow had gone but the roads were still pretty away with accumulated grit and muck in the middle. And I chose to take Pepé. What's that sound on game shows when the contestants get an answer wrong? Uh-uh? After getting Pepé out of the garage and booting it up with the dbpower unit,  cleaned off some muck, it was ready. It was only 5 miles to the Drum Inn but it was horrible. Dark and wet road. Crap everywhere. It was getting cold so I stayed about 45 minutes, had a coffee. And as the only one that had gone by bike (!) I left.  It was worse on the way back. Fogged visor.  Cold and still damp road. Some pix taken during fettling time:

The Motorcycle Action Group calls on riders to use National Pothole Day on March 8th 2018 to get local authorities to fill holes and save lives. MAG is inviting all riders to highlight holes in the road on National Pothole Day: March 8th 2018. MAG's Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, asks bikers to 'make a simple call to the Council or send an email about the road damage you've noticed – and which could cost lives.' Colin is determined to hold local authorities accountable for providing safe road surfaces: 'bikers are a hardy lot, but that won't prevent dangerous accidents because of holes in the road. Hospital treatment is far more costly than fixing a pothole. We're determined to work with the authorities to ensure road-related accidents are prevented before they happen.' It's worth noting that adverse weather conditions wreck badly repaired potholes, making the investment pointless and the repair potentially more da...

I know it was a little impersonal buying stuff for Claire's birthday from Amazon. My standard present is earrings.  When you do use a company like Amazon, you trust that what you have bought arrives when they say and actually does arrive. So imagine my horror (Yes I am traumatised - not really) and angered to find that when the delivery made it through the snow and not quite next day or the one after with Amazon Prime, that someone had stolen the earrings! The packaging was the standard folded over cardboard with two fold-in flaps at each end. Neither of these flaps are secured but are superb for trapping a CD/DVD case or a standard paperback, but not a small jewellery box.   I was out at the time of delivery and so was Claire, so it was delivered to my next door neighbour who takes in all kinds of stuff for us.  We are very much the cause of local shops going bust.... Guilty as charged. She noticed that one of the flaps looked flattened down and ...

So after last week's debacle and gutless performance against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley and the follow up Premier League game with the same opposition, and the same 3-0 scoreline, I had expected that when Sunday came around again and Arsenal were playing away on the south coast against lowly (!) Brighton and Hove Albion, that there would be a sea change in the performance. HOW DELUDED I WAS! It was a case of  "same shit, different day". Gutless and outplayed by Brighton. They deserved what they got and I feel for the travelling supporters that went down there for the game. Two-nil down after 25 minutes due to terrible defending and ineffective slow build up in attack/offence. Whatever the Brighton game plan was it was working. Some glimmer of hope when Aubamayang flicked the ball into the Brighton net after 42 minutes was soon extinguished when the second half followed the same script. Our venerable manager was rooted fo...

The run this year is on July 7th. Will probably ride up there again this year and join in the run again. Have put it on the Meldrews' FB page and maybe some of them will come this time. http://www.alliedride.org/index.php/uk-home/uk-ride https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/cambridge-american-cemetery