On the Road Again!

I had the day off leave today to take Claire to the hospital as she is on the waiting list for a total hip replacement operation. That appointment was at 1215 and we had to get up there in enough time for the traffic etc.   Before that I had to take the car to a body shop to get an estimate on all the damage to the front and rear left corners. None of it my fault.  All three "damages" were done by what I can only call "arseholes" that have run into it and then driven off leaving my car damaged. No note of course. Estimate was £250 for the lot.  Need to see when I can book it in. Anyway once back from the hospital and lunch Claire went back to work and I was free to either watch the World Cup on TV or get out on the bike. I chose the latter. I decided to have a run up to Maidstone to J&S to have a look for a new summer jacket.  My Joe Rocket is mostly mesh and I wanted something a little more like Claire's RST with more material and less mesh.  In the en...

After a drive out to Biddenden Vineyard for their open day with Claire and Reggie followed by a stop at Sissinghurst Castle Garden I took the chance to get out on Pepé. The original plan was to just go out for a short run to make sure it was running. In the end I went for another 5E. Firstly, I thought I'd head up to Canterbury and fill the tank with their cheaper ASDA unleaded. Then out towards the Sarre Windmill. I didn't get there as the fork I took missed it. In the end I turned off the A28 and went cross country via Preston to Wingham, then down through Elham Valley and home. The end picture shows 52 miles. The Rocket odometer deals only in whole miles. The trips are better and at least have tenths. posted from Bloggeroid

In the end real life got in the way so no MAG Demo or Rocket III Run to the Ace Café. I wheeled Pepé out of the garage and fitted up the TomTom with the amended route to AFC Wimbledon ready to rock. Luckily after the hottest and driest day of the year on Thursday  (temp up to 27°C) it was still dry and warm today. With the forecast showing dry all day I pulled the Joe Rocket jacket from the wardrobe and back to kevlar cargo pants. The road into Hythe was a mile long of traffic and so I went out through the country lanes to the motorway. It took a little longer as there were cyclists riding three a breast on a road barely wide enough for two cars to pass. A bip on the horn had them scattered but hurling abuse. Had they met a car coming head on they might have been calling 999/911. Once on the M20 I dialled up to an indicated 75mph that TomTom said was more like 70. TomTom was suggesting 90 minutes for the journey and it seemed to pass pretty easily. Even the M25 was relatively clear...