InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Tonight.  What was once a "banker" or should be. See what team Unai "Dick" Emery puts out tonight.  Hopefully at least one of the creative players!!! And he did. Mesut Özil lined up. Arsenal took the bull by the horns. Completely on top most of the game but one error led to Bournemouth's goal. But it finished. The Arsenal by far the better team for all but 2 minutes of the game when some complacent play resulted in Bournemouth getting their goal, making it 2-1.

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is participating in a one-day event for road safety professionals to consider ways to reduce collisions and casualties among young, less experienced bikers. The event, organised by Road Safety GB, will take place on Wednesday, 6th March, 2019 at the Aston Villa football grounds in Birmingham. Lembit Öpik, MAG's Director of Communications & Public Affairs, and Colin Brown, MAG's Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, will both be contributing to the event. Sessions will cover the extent of the safety issue regarding younger riders, the primary causes of motorcycle crashes, the business case for motorcycling, training, commuting, engagement with younger riders and the approach being taken by the industry and Highways England towards the issues. 'MAG recognises this important initiative as one that we should be involved with,' says Lembit. 'MAG activists and riders in general would find it int...

Anyone see anything odd about this clock? http://www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk/artist/ruth-ewan/

A bit off my usual post. Sofas. The old ones were getting a bit tatty and although only 18 years old they needed to go. Since we had Reggie both have been covered with throws but both finally had to go. These are the new ones. Both already covered with throws to save them from Reggie hair! Update 25/2/19 He is already comfortable.

The tyre arrived yesterday lunchtime with courier DPD. When I got home I pulled the invoice from the plastic wrapping and found it was all in German. Further reading showed that it had come from Bydgoszcz in Poland. Now I thought that Avon bike tyres were made in Melksham in UK. Looking on Avon's website shows that they were bought out in 1997 by a US company called Cooper Tire and in 2018 production was moved for most of the Avon range to European factories.  Although motorcycle tyres were supposed to stay in UK. Given the lack of riding I have been managing of late, the journey from Avon to Bydgoszcz and back would be about 1700 miles.  More that I did in the MoT year 2018/19! Carbon mileage? Update 22/2/19 Emailed Avon. Yes. The Cobra and Cobra Chrome are made in UK. Update 25/2/19 Booked for ride in and ride out at Laguna Triumph in Ashford for 0900 March 9th.

Stop Trophy Hunting

Incredibly it was on 21st October 2018! Without the Fuelly app I wouldn't have remembered. Planned to get out early on Friday 22nd to book Pepé in for the tyre fitting, but.... fair weather biker that I am, I was put off by the thick freezing fog.

Some photos from the past. All of them taken in the 1990's at Czech SOC "Invader Rally" events. The first is my DR800SL in May 1992. I had been made redundant in December 1991 but to get our payoffs we had to stay until then. I trained to Teach English as a Foreign Language to Adults (CTEFLA) and was looking for jobs. The Czech Republic was a good choice.  I went to the Invader Rally in Chudčice near Brno. Taking the overnight ferry from Felixstowe to Zeebrugge I rode non-stop on rhe A4 route via Dresden and Prague. When I say nonstop that included petrol stops. When I got to Pod Horkou I could barely get off the bike.  All the photos are taken from the galleries of the Czech Centre SOC. We move forward to 1998. A group of us went together. I was on a relatively new to me GSXR750.  I hadn't had it long and had traded my 90000 mile Yamaha XJ900F for it. I had been working at SIMS in Bedford and wanted something newer. By May 1998 I had moved to ...

Claire was asking what seats we had on the pane on the long leg of the journey from Dublin to Miami and the reverse leg. We have seats at the front of the economy cabin going. It means we won't have any dickhead reclining their seat under your chin. Like we had last time.  Personally seats should have a restriction on the amount they can be reclined. If you want to recline go business class. But. Coming back we have seats at the back. The "free" or standard seats. With Claire having a back problem,   I tried to change the reservation today. Online was hopeless. In the  end I called the airline and got the corresponding seats in the rear cabin for a supplement. Even with that added the fare is still £250 each less than Virgin or BA.

In a flurry of Valentine's Day media, Sadiq Khan announced that he plans to double his "Scrap for Cash" polluting vehicle fund, stating that the "£48 million combined scheme will help scrap older vans for the capital's micro-business owners and help low-income Londoners scrap older cars".  MAG asks "Will the Mayor extend the love by confirming that the fund will also assist the owners of older motorcycles?" The announcement was formally made at the National Clean Air Summit, organised in partnership with UK100 and Unicef UK, where attendees discussed their concerns directly with the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, and the Health Secretary, Matthew Hancock. The proposed new £25m fund will be included in the Mayor's Final Budget, due to be presented at a meeting of the London Assembly on February 25th. MAG's Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, commented:  "It is, of course, admirable that...

Yes. They are pre-shaped. It's not that I have deformed arms and have bent them into that shape. Looking back through the blog I was surprised to see that I had bought them back in November 2017! Worn for the first time for a whole ride today. They are the most expensive gloves I have ever bought and they were warm and very comfortable. Until today they have been either in the cupboard with my other gear or in the pannier "just in case". Had it rained; I am sure the Goretex liner would have ensured dry hands. Updates to follow. posted from Bloggeroid

At the MoT a few weeks back although a pass again,  Pepé was marked as needing a new front tyre at some stage. It's about a mm above the wear blocks in the tread. So I have ordered a new Cobra. There is a new Cobra Chrome (AV91) on the market but at 20% more expensive than the standard Cobra (AV71) to stay Chrome-free. It should arrive later this week so I need to get it booked in at Laguna to get it fitted. Update 19/02/2019   Tyre has been despatched.  Have to see how long it takes to arrive. Update 20/02/2019 Tyre arrived.

Although having a day off work today I was up reasonably early to let Reggie out. They were shooting on the Ranges over the coast road and driving Reggie mad. Once off. First stop McDonalds for a sausage and egg mcmuffin. Once before they put the second patty in a box rather than on the bun for Reggie. No luck this time. I drove and parked by The Grand on the Leas and we had breakfast. McMuffin for me and the extra sausage patty for Reggie. Once finished we had a walk along The Leas towards the bandstand before he turned around and decided he'd had enough. Walk over. Mundane shopping for bird feeders and a visit to Pets at Home for Reggie to browse their latest wares.

Whatever happens this year you have to hand it to Vale! (If anyone knows who took the photo I'd like to credit them. I saw it on the internet and it wasn't credited)

In France there is a move towards reducing the level of congestion in the city and on the périphique and as a product of this to reduce pollution. The system is called Crit'Air . The movement is spreading to other areas of the country with major cities and départments signing up to the "lower emissions zones" (LEZ) idea. Essentially the idea is that when the air becomes bad, and it is usually in summer when the warmer air holds the smog in the air, that they can close areas of the city, and open them to lower emissions classes of vehicles.  And that is determined by the CO2 output of the vehicle. Every vehicle accessing the city must carry the crit-air sticker on the windscreen/shield on the right side lower. On the bike it goes on the upper right of the fork leg.  They even produced a video on how to affix it! Pepé is Cat 2.   As we intend to go to France in the summer, I have applied for a sticker at a cost of €4.21 including postage.   There is also an ...

Once the widened and more comfortable seat comes back we can get some longer trips under our belts to get Claire back into the swing of being on the bike. It's a few years since she last had a longish journey when we went to France for the Somme Centenary in July 2016. Three years is a long time away. But planning goes ahead. Ideally for the bike or failing that in the car. I am planning it as a bike trip but the posts are on the Devall Travel blog that we both contribute too.   That blog can be linked here :   The target area is the Vercors region to the south-east of Lyon and north of the Cote d'Azur. It is an area of some dramatic scenery and some rather odd roads, many of which are on the  bucket list of many riders, such as  Combe Laval and Petits and Grands Goulets .

Update. I messaged Else to see if my seat had arrived as I had heard nothing from Hermes Parcels and when I went on line to track the parcel they had delivered. it. Adrian got back t me with a simple thumbs-up.   So I asked for progress.  My seat is 34th in line to be worked on....   So it is a matter of wait and see....

A really superb second half performance from Latics.  Both teams quite poor in the first forty-five with passing to a team mate at a premium. Well worth the 160 mile round trip from home to Crawley via my brother's place. Video

Superb again. The Illegal Eagles - six piece tribute band don't try and look like The Eagles but the sound.  Wow. Close your eyes and it could be the real thing from those far off days of the 70's and 80's.

Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World by Elspeth Beard My rating: 5 of 5 stars Brilliant Not just a travelogue but an emotive story of travel and the hardships and feelings. Another review said that with all the hassles it doesn't seem enjoyable. I guess not every experience that shapes a life is going to be enjoyable. Very sad at the end with Robert and how that ended. I guess as she couldn't commit to him that he simply took that decision to let her go. The lack of interest in her trip is quite appalling from the motorcycling press. But I guess we all do it. As soon as the holiday photo album comes out, then the dread starts..... it seems that was par for the course for her parents though. Friends? After a while the tedium of your own life means that you don't want to listen to the excited tales of the travellers after they come back. Having had to sit through a photo show of a friend that went to India and Nepal ...

Today "Ride", a magazine I used to subscribe to, posted on their Facebook page about jackets. Asking us for opinions. I estimate that this jacket has easily done 50000 miles plus. And all for £99.99 less 20% discount... Ten and a half years later. Still waterproof. I have to chuckle when a guy says his £825 Rukka Armaxis was superb for four years.

With two overnights planned for the Hotel des Sports in Chapelle en Vercors. I have planned a run out around the Vercors park for the main day we will be there. Fitting in so much into a short time means that there will inevitably be some things that get missed. I have called this day "Route des Gats", although it takes in quite a few different cols and scenic areas. As usual the planing is set to "no tolls".

Bummocks!!! Next Monday's Ozzy Osbourne concert at the O2 has been cancelled as Mr Osbourne has been taken sick.  As yet there are no details on ticket refunds or re-arranged dates.

Why do I need a new pair when I have a perfectly serviceable pair of Oakley's?  The reason is that I like to have what I call "car specs" - a pair in the car so that I always have a pair to hand, and also as backup when I go on holiday. I already have a £10 sunglasses pair in the car and decided to match them with a pair of clear ones. Clear are £6.  Cheap.   With holidays coming up they are useful in the luggage "just in case".  A few years ago I did manage to sit on the only pair I had with me! So I went to Selectspecs again.  Now I have to wait for the post.

I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than read anything E L James "writes". 

Whoever stiffed me today with a quarter in my change,  thanks. The US 25c coin is similar in size to a UK 10p.  But at today's exchange rate worth 19p. Now that is a fantastic return on investment!!! 😁😁😁😁

A walkabout today just me and Reggie. Along the Leas and into  St Mary and St Eanswythe's churchyard. Claire was at Specsavers to get her glasses repaired and maybe get a new pair!  Reggie not too good in crowds, especially when people walk to close and almost knee him in the face!   There are so many old gravestones in there that now are indecipherable that unless the church has records who knows who is buried where. They are hundreds of years in the ground. On the way back we stopped to look at the sea and the beach by the Lower Leas and the memorial arch.

Tickets arrived...

This will have to stop with the new sofas!!

Another email from Aer Lingus confirming our flights.  As they didn't say that anything had changed I had a quick look against the previous email to see and there's nothing changed. The re-timing of the Dublin to Miami flight in December might actually be a benefit as the US Immigration is done in Dublin and a bit longer might aid getting through there and maybe be a boon in Miami.  There are scare stories about Miami and the massive queues of foreigners trying to get in, whether with ESTA or Visa. On the car-hire front I cancelled the National booking and have a new one with Dollar at a lower rate for an "intermediate" car.  The example is a Nissan Sentra. I don't tend to look at Nissan at home or away and so have little idea what one looks like.  I Googled it and this is a  Sentra

The current ones are needing replacing and so on a visit to John Lewis we bought two new ones. This one times two! The next job is to try and stop Reggie from sleeping on them all day and all night rather than in his bed.  I expect we'll get to see them like this for a few minutes before they are swathed in throws and anti-dog hair (and mud)  covers... .

Snow was forecast for our area last night with it causing disruption to traffic and transport in general. In the end it snowed briefly in Hythe for a few hours and by about 2am it was raining and continued right up to my leaving for work at 7.30am. Even heavy as I drove to the station. There was a little at the station but as Hythe is a few feet above sea level there is an altitude difference. Folkestone West Station parking Folkestone West Station On the way in on the higher ground on the downs there was more but not really enough for the train companies to plan and run reduced services to and from London. Of course everyone of a certain age harks back to the winters we used to have in the 1950's and 1960's.  (See pix below).  In UK winters have become milder and we do have snow, but not on the same scale. Those harking back (to the good old days?)  talk of walking waist deep to school and to work.  Here in the south of England things...