InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

The final payment has to be made by today so I did it yesterday.  The three of us will have a week holiday in the UK instead of the planned trip to France. Now I have made the payment I have the full address so I can refine the routes I have planned for getting us down there.  Rather than a vague area. I can also see what there is to visit locally. Places where Reggie will be as welcome as we are.  To ensure that we have a good start I have also booked a Days Inn motel part way along the journey.  As the journey takes us on the M25 around the south of London and the nightmare it can be in a car on a Friday morning I decided to book an overnight stop on the Thursday evening at Fleet in Hampshire.   It's not scenic. A chain hotel on a motorway/freeway service area. As long as there is a bed and somewhere for Reggie to pee etc. then that's all we need.  We can set off in the morning and hopefully miss the motorway rush hour. My current route down there in...

The last day of half-term holiday and we decided to go to Sissinghurst Castle Garden.  Usually by now we have been a few times to see the gardens as the planting changes with the season. The gardens now filled with roses and irises. Our first stop was coffee and a scone. A cheese and bacon scone. Very nice. Finally a Claire taken Selfie And then home for lunch.

Almost time to do the Meerkat Shuffle and check potential premiums for the next year. I don't just do "Compare the Market" aka Meerkats but also "MCN Compare".  With a start date of 27/6 I've not had long to get any premiums to check. They only quote 30 days in advance of renewal. Currently I am insured with Just Motorcycle Insurance, their address is the same as Carole Nash in Altrincham. I've not a renewal through yet but on the comparison sites JMI has disappeared from both.   Instead Carole Nash Select has turned up. Same deal as JMI?  I was with Carole Nash for many years and their policies come with included breakdown cover whereas the Select doesn't. But Select is basically very cheap with plenty of add-ons like the breakdown cover. With a car and Claire having a car we already have cover for them too. I emailed JMI and mentioned that they had gone off the comparison sites to see what they say and what my renewal is going to be! Compare the Ma...

Not quite as planned as the extension of a trip to the dentist but as a separate run in its own right. Not that I got away with going to the dentist. That was done in the morning. Four minutes in the chair and £22. Kerrching! As it was sunny, rather than do nothing or watch TV, I got togged up. Changed the route on MyRouteApp to miss out the dentist stop and found that the prospective route became 70.5 miles. I set off in warm sunshine. So I wore my Joe Rocket mesh jacket.  Of course my waterproof jacket and pants were with me. Wrong. The first planned stop for a photo was  Walmer Castle . In the end going through the seaside village of Kingsdown, firstly the narrow road was blocked by a truck delivery beer to the village pub. And then by a huge truck with a digger on the trailer reversing into a new building site. Another load of millionaire homes to be built? By the time my phone recognised my face it was almost done . Through a screen .. Picture of Walmer then?  No...

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Triumph Owners Motorcycle Club. During the year the club is recording and rewarding members that plan and do a 70 mile ride either with a group, or individually.  It might not seem much but the 70 is the important bit. The ride has to be for that purpose and not a bit of another run.  The East Kent group are having an organised run from Laguna Triumph on Sunday June 2nd.  Sunday's tend to be "family" weekends for me with a wife and dog.  So. I have planned my own 70 mile route and I think it is fittingly East Kent based. Proposed Route I planned it on MyRouteApp and fiddled with it to achieve as near 70 miles as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to set off after the dentist (!) on Wednesday and incorporate a couple or three windmills and a Tudor castle or two. Fingers crossed for decent weather.

Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, met the Motorcycle Action Group to discuss transport policy, the environment and the role of motorcycles in reducing emissions. Mr Grayling and MAG met to discuss his position on transport and the environment; and to establish the extent to which he has considered powered two and three wheelers as part of the transport solution, especially in urban areas. His primary environmental focus is CO2 and its impact on climate change.Lembit Öpik, MAG's Director of Communications & Public Affairs, explains: 'MAG has spent much time and effort on the environmental agenda and the Minister seemed impressed with this. We explored the technical aspects and we agreed to send him further information. We also spoke about how motorbikes are part of the micro-mobility option, to encourage travel with the smallest feasible vehicles.' The Minister also understands the need to innovate in the sector. He said: 'th...

Once you get to 60 there are some benefits.  If you live in the UK other than England you get a free bus pass at 60. In England we have to wait to 65 or retirement age.  But whenever you reach 60 you can get a Senior Railcard. It's £30 for a year. It saves about 33% on every off-peak rail fare you buy. Three off-peak trips from home to London would pay for itself and more. So I got one. First use today. It only works for rail fare. You will still be stiffed by Sadiq Khan's TfL for any buses and underground trains. So far saved £11.20. As I bought it with Tesco Clubcard no actual money changed hands...

Claire off there on Friday with her friend Ulrika. Hopefully she'll get to see the marvellous show gardens like we have seen on TV.  She may even get around to updating her own blogspot site with some photos.  I will charge up the power pack charger in case her phone's battery get too low. I will be at home with Reggie.  I have over 7 hours accrued on my flexitime at work and will use 7 of them to have the day off.  I need to think where Reggie and I can go for part of the day! I will be the taxi driver for them to and from the station as it is.  So we can't go far.

We decided to have breakfast in the hotel and then leave. It wasn't cheap but you could eat enough to make sure that lunch wasn't needed. Over breakfast a couple of other guys said that there had been an accident after the racing and they couldn't get on the D338 from the Le Mans ring road.  It must have been behind us as we had no problems getting back to the hotel. Can only hope the riders are all okay. We left at a few minutes to 10am.TomTom decided to come back a different way to the one we went out. The N12 and N154 instead of the variants of the 138/338/438 that was formerly simply the N138. The route includes some sections of dual carriageway and single. The limit goes up and down depending on whether there's a "median" or not. The blanket 80kph limit outside towns stretched to 90 on some sections where they have a passing lane. Usually these were less than a kilometre! Must be fun on busy days stuck behind a truck! We made good progress to Rouen and on...

Moto2 was the first of a Marquez brothers benefit day.  British interest was minimal with Jake Dixon on the Angel Nieto team Triumph. In the end there was a three Spanish rider podium. I was down behind the VR46 grandstand at the end of the start/finish, queuing for the chance too pee up a wall in the official pissoir, when Marquez was on the podium. Suddenly loads of them in the grandstand starting booing and stamping their feet. Not very sporting. Back in position and before the MotoGP race there were speeches (in French) and then La Marseillaise. Hardly a whisper from the French. WTF? Tune into a rugby international and especially in Paris the French blow the roof off the stadium with their singing! Our interest was in Cal Crutchlow who had qualified 15th. And a second choice of Jack Miller from Australia. And of course Valentino. In the end Miller briefly took the lead in front of us before   Mark Marquez cleared off. Jack eventually dropping to 4th behind the two wor...

Started off badly!! We loaded the bikes and Neill set off and I went to follow. CLUNK!! In all the messing about I had set off with the bright yellow disc lock still in the front wheel and we took a tumble in the car park.  Luckily I had my left foot on the ground but Pepé is a heavy bastard and my leg crumbled and I had to lay it down.  It looked as though it rested on the left pannier. One of the French guys ran over to help. Filled will embarrassment I had it on two wheels without much help. Adrenaline I guess! The only damage was to the lock itself in that the key wouldn't unlock. It turned part way but the lock body itself was a bit skew-wiff in the casing.. Luckily another  French guy (GS1200 owner)  with an adjustable grip wrench broke the casing to get the key to turn. Otherwise I'd not be going anywhere. Phew. Modified Lock After that the ride down was a little odd as I was picking up every noise and weave in any uneven road surface as a problem of the tumbl...

With subsonic speeds the order of the weekend I had hoped the miles per gallon would improve greatly.  In the end it showed a superb reduction in fuel usage but the 50mpg is still a dream! I will have plenty of fuel for tomorrow with a full tank. Fill it again at Total near the hotel in time for the ride home on Monday. Can I better the last two?

Up early and breakfast taken in the hotel. We were away by about 0845 and the non toll road route took us the best part of 50 minutes. In the Rouge car-park they check the bike and with a log book put a sticker on the headlight and matching receipt for you. As we didnt have log books with us we ended up with wrist bands. Then we were off with our chairs and waterproof trousers. It drizzled all-day. At least with somewhere to sit it was less miserable between practice and qualifying. We'll a bit nearer the Dunlop bridge tomorrow. On the way back we stopped at a war memorial to Leclerc's armoured division that battles locally after D-Day to capture Alençon. Some shopping at Lidl and then dinner at Buffalo Grill again. Tonight was Caesar salad night. Up earlier tomorrow.

As usual the Shuttle was late leaving the UK end. Only 40 minutes so not long. Quiet if long no toll ride down. Made longer by blanket 80km speed limit outside towns. And innumerable roadworks and long detours or deviations as our French friends call them. Does that make us deviants!? Neill led us up what looked like a farm track and back again when Wailly Beaucamp had the high street dug up. The detour seemed about 10 miles to cover 1 mile of work. The wonders of France. PS, no bugger working though.  First stop in the Rouen ring at a McD for WiFi and lunch. Second stop for petrol. With the low speed limits Pepé managed 181.3 miles with loads to spare in the tank. Averaging over 46mpg. Neill's BMW 1600 was even  better. Just short of Alençon we stopped in "biker rest" stop organised by the local FFMC group. Free coffee etc but donations accepted.  And then to the hotel. We were later than anticipated but have room 6. Not very big but will do as we expect to be out in the...

When we went in 2012 it was pretty miserable and it rained nearly all the time.  We hardly had chance to get out of our waterproofs the entire weekend. The weather forecast id looking better this year - but do we trust weather forecasters at all? So what to pack? And more importantly what to wear on the ride down? And what to pack it in?  I have the Klicbag panniers but they are rather small for a long weekend away and need something extra.  Okay, four days and three nights away. When Claire and I went  to the Somme for the centenary I bought the Saddlemen sissy bar bag. It is enormous. Superb for two of us for a long weekend including dress-up suits and dresses. Later the same summer I used it for Czech for the GP in 2016 and It was great for a longer trip and I was able to stash some wine bottles in it.  So I need to find space for pants/socks/.t-shirts for three days, jeans and trainers (that take up a lot of space), hoodie, light w...

At last! I chased up Else Made last week as it was a month since he had told me that I was up to 8th in the queue.  He replied to say that I was very near now..... so I was amazed over the weekend to find that it was done and ready to come back.  I paid by bank transfer.  It should be dispatched today and will arrive midweek.  He hasn't sent a photo of it so I'll have to wait and see.

Had a shakedown run to the Dover Transport Museum for the classic show.  As expected Pepé needed the dbpower booster to fire up in the garage and then at the Museum to come back home it started on its own battery.  Some nice old stuff and also some new bikes that the punters have brought along. The mint 1972 CB750 was probably my favourite Japanese of the day. As for the old British it has to be this Vincent. It's quite ugly in reality. Remember this was a premium buy back in the 50's  As for modern! This CCM is odd. Not my cup of tea but looks a great engineering job. Of course, Pepé was there. Comedy picture? And the local R3 Club shared a stand area with the local TOMCC. There was no one about when I went over and so I took a picture or two.  And then homeward bound. As a   shakedown run it was okay. Stopped to fill the tank up at Seabrook BP so on Friday I start the run to Le Mans full.

Second leg. Away in sunny Spain. If only I could have been there.  The Arsenal going there with a 3-1 lead but both clubs earlier in the week in the Champions League with a lead, had lost over two games ... When Valencia scored early it looked as though they could comeback. But two Aubameyang goals put using the driving seat. Then they equalised.  Game on. Firstly Lacazette scored to 3-2 and Aubameyang got his third and it was 4-2 and 7-3 over the two games. In the other Semi, Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt after a penalty shootout. Off to Baku Azerbaijan in three weeks for the Final. For me. TV supporter.

Planning a route is the easiest bit.  After all when you have a TomTom (other GPS systems are available) you simply type into it where you want to go and eh voila! It takes you there. Magic. Of course there are some settings and preferred roads you might want to set. For me it is no tolls. I don't mind highways but prefer them to be free. And so that was entered into the mix. Another consideration are fuel stops.  I didn't used to bother as I kept an eye on the trip counter and in conjunction with the fuel gauge decided when to stop when it looked likely that fuel was needed. Pepé has a sensible operating range of about 180 miles.  The buttock clenching stomach lurching maximum is about 200.  I try to never get anywhere near that far on a tank with 189 being the furthest I have risked in the past.  For this trip I looked for hypermarket fuel stops at around the 160-170 mile mark.  The home to hotel and hotel to home distance is around 230 miles. It does mea...

"It's only a game!" Why do we do it? Why do we invest so much in a sports team that ultimately takes your support and sometimes fanatical support, and who then throws it in your face.  And that's the polite way to say it. Another poor laboured performance confirming that Arsenal are only good enough to finish 5th or 6th this year. A 1-1 draw with a poor team like Brighton sums up a really crap April and May in the league. But thousands of us will be back to get kicked in the teeth next year.

I like this style. Material with Velcro closure. Fits snugly in a pocket and is not too bulky. This one half price at £4 in the Arsenal shop on Drayton Park. It will do.

Europa League semi-final this evening and we once again get to play against a Spanish La Liga side in CF Valencia. We reached this stage last year and were beaten by Athletico Madrid so we need to be at the top of our game at home to win tonight.   After a very disappointing April where there were more games lost than won, we go into the last few weeks of the normal season hoping to get to another Final.   Supporter confidence is low!  See what happens? Update 10.36pm Won. 3-1. Incredibly should have been more. Two goals from Lacazette and one from Aubameyang. Laca had two sitters get away...  Off to Spain a week tonight.

Only a fortnight to go and we will be off on the short run down through France to Alençon  and our hotel for the MotoGP weekend in Le Mans. I had a look at some routes to put into my TomTom. I copied them from Neill's MyRouteApp and then renamed them for my TomTom (with the AFR19 from end)  and added a fuel stop. Home to Hotel Hotel back home With no tolls specified on the unit and in MyRouteApp it looks about 226 miles each way.  At cruising speed of say 70mph I'd expect the Rocket to need a fuel stop at around 170 miles, so I needed to add one stop.  This is based on me having a full tank before getting on the Eurotunnel train at the UK end and filling up at the Carrefour in  Alençon after Sunday's racing. The no tolls route still uses sections of Autoroutes between Calais and Rouen but these are the free sections and then national roads thereafter.  With speed limits vastly reduced on national and departmental roads that should do wonders for f...

View an online version of this email. Dear Mr & Mrs Devall, I've recently sent you a letter in the post which highlights the dark journey poor Lola experienced when she was smuggled across Europe and into the country in a van. If you haven't already received it, I hope it will arrive soon. Wedged behind a secret panel, Lola was smuggled in complete darkness with little food or water and no toilet breaks. Worse still, she was in the final stages of pregnancy – an illegal time to transport any dog. Sadly, her story is all too common and we're taking a stand against this cruel trade. Donate now ...