This even was one of the targets I had set for getting the Kettle back on the road. When I set it we were still under the first lockdown but we were hopeful that a year of being in this deep shit pandemic would be enough. I am currently working from home (I have blogged about this already) and the anniversary of my last working day in the office is only 9 days away.
So back to the T and GT Club Nederland 21st Anniversary Rally. I last went with Claire as my pillion in 2004. We actually went for the day from UK. It was a long day in the saddle but was much nearer that the current site.
According to the MyRouteApp route I have planned for the TomTom it looks to be about four and a half hours in the saddle. I intend to use the Beeline as I don't have the kit to fit the TomTom to the Kettle. Importing the route from MyRouteApp as a .gpx file into Beeline Moto App on my phone should allow the chosen route that includes fuel stops as waypoints to appear and take me on the detours into the fuel stop locations.
So with the Kettle under going a few thousand quids worth of restoration it seemed as good a target to get out and on the road as any. But. We are still knee deep in the septic tank of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A happy camper I am not. I used to be as long as it wan't for one night. After almost freezing to death in Andorra on the way to the FIM Rally in Barcelona, I decided a one night camp is not for me. Two or more or a weekend is okay. When there are B&B's and cheap hotels in every town and city why subject yourself to putting up a tent and then taking it down 12 or so hours later?
I think the last time I camped was at a Welsh National Rally. We found a pub with campsite on the Friday near Shrewsbury. Put the tents up. Had a meal and a few beers in the pub. Saturday did the rally and finished late as usual and went back to the tents for the night and rode home Sunday. As usual it was cold and wet.
The last tent I owned was a cheap one I bought as an emergency in case I needed to camp on another Welsh National Rally some nine or ten years ago. Made in Turkey and retailed for the princely sum of £7.50 in a discount goods shop in Ashford. I took it out of its bag once to check that it was all there. Over the years it looks as though mice have nibbled holes in it until the single nylon sheet resembled a doily. It went to the tip...
As a result of the no-camping rule, I decided to look for a hotel as near to the rally site as possible. And what luck it was to find Het Spijkerhuys on booking.com as it is 300 metres away on the same rural road. It's about £60 a night for a double room and private loo and shower.
I haven't done anything with my booking as yet as I wait to hear from the Dutch whether the rally will take place.
By then I hope to have had my second Covid vaccination and if we need to have a "vaccination passport" I will be in the queue to get one, no doubt online as well.
The way we are emerging from the lockdown might mean that June 3rd to 6th is too early for travel to an EU country.
Currently the EU is just getting over the problems with Astra Zeneca's (AZ) vaccine. They were late ordering any, then they threw a hissy fit that the UK was banging it in our arms with gusto. Then they finally authorised it for use and then probably due to Brexit, they decided that it didn't work anyway.
Both the German Chancellor Herr Merkel and French President Macron came out to say the AZ vaccine was basically useless. Science proves otherwise.
Macron in a fit of pique most definitely speaking from a position of not having a clue claimed that the vaccine was "‘quasi-ineffective’ on older people". Unfortunately the science has proved the opposite. Even French scientists have urged him to eat his words. Sadly, Macron suffers from what all poor leaders suffer from in the run up to an election, popular-ism.
Sadly for Napoleon Macron doctors and scientists have said it works and France has finally come to its senses.
So now we wait for the European governments to get their acts together and work together to get us out of this crap hole and bring some unity into when the lockdowns can end and when we can get back to some sense of normality.
It may be too late for me to attend the rally/treffen in 2021.
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