On the Road Again!

With the panniers fitted I was able to get two three kilo bags in the larger one and one in the smaller one. We also had quite a lot of sachets of cat food that our cat, Hilly, won't eat. The ride up to the meeting place flashed past with the cruise set on the M20. The Kent Riders were there already.  Döra seemed to be running perfectly. Two up I should have faffed with the rear suspension but didn't. Döra didn't seem that badly affected although I noticed the headlights were a bit higher than maybe was right. The only hassle was a nasty pothole that was hideen on the edge of a zebra crossing and hidden. Bang! Felt like a kerb! The ride back from the centre was really good. Warm and dry and the route back was almost the same as the way I came back last week with TomTom "winding roads". I hadn't topped the tank and the four bars quickly became one and the low fuel light came on. I switched the display to ...

After loads of publicising the run on Facebook, to local clubs and in the SOC magazine, the glorious day arrived and ...... a turnout of ten.  Three from the SOC and six from the Kent Riders plus a new guy that turned up on spec that I most likely signed up for the Kent Riders as he was on a Kawasaki. Pretty typical of the SOC.  "No one organises anything" but when we do they can't be arsed to turn up. The centre had laid on a BBQ and luckily they hadn't invested too much.  And also luckily it meant two burgers each. There are about 40 dogs in residence and a handful of cats. Some are "lifers" that are too old or too cantankerous to be rehomed, but there are so many that need a home. Many Jack Russells and a cute little Chinese Hairless and Yorkie cross. Adrienne from the Centre took some pictures and they are here.    

I loaded up the bike last night with the dog food we had bought earlier in the day at Tesco.  The large back of Wagg (17kgs) went on the back seat and the smaller bags in the System panniers, plus two boxes of cat food that our Hilly has decided she will no longer tolerate in her food bowl that went in the top box.       I was on the road by 1030 and arrived in very good time at the meeting place at Maidstone Service on the M20/A20 junction. One other bike and so I parked nearby to create a space big enough for a lot....   Whilst having a coffee (skinny latte) in Costa I saw another bike arrive. It was club mate Neil Dalton on his XJR1300. He also had a big bag of Wagg on the back seat.  Gradually bikes started riding including regulars from the Kent Riders Club, Bruno from the R1150GS FB Group and Jim Sanderson, a fireman in Kent who started and runs the Fire Bike Service - http://www.kent.fire-uk.org/your_safety/road_safety/fire_b...

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There was suggestion that some people wanted to go on the Shuttle as the price was very similar to the Ferry. Since then, P&O have dropped the ferry fare back to £16! We have two separate groups, Boaters and Shuttlers,  going over who will meet up in Calais. You need to book the crossing for yourself. Times below. The idea is that the Boaters will gorge themselves on a P&O breakfast and the Shuttlers will be far more refined and eat in France (if we haven't pogged out in the Shuttle terminal!) So, it looks as though lunch at lunch time might nor really be needed, hence this change. The plan: Shuttle, meet @ 0815 in Terminal Building for 0850 or P&O Ferry, meet at entrance to Dover Eastern Docks @  0740 for 0825 boat. Both groups meet at Place des Armes in Calais at around 1115 local. Off motorway ride to Eperlecques Blockhaus (Refreshments available on site) Ride cross country to Mimoyecques V3 site. Run to Wimereux and back ...

An update already. The destination is now confirmed as the Blue Cross Animal Rescue Centre   in Northiam, Kent. The date is still the 17th June 2012 . Now that we have a date and destination we have to look for a decent ride out for the riders we intend to invite and therefore a meeting place to accommodate the hundreds that will turn up.

We have a date -  17th June 2012 .  The destination of the run is still TBA as is the start point. The latter depends on the former! Although, I am leaning towards the Blue Cross at Northiam.  When I started organising the runs in the early 90's we went to the Blue Cross Centre at Kimpton in Hertfordshire. I stopped that in 2000 a year after I moved to Kent. Mainly due to the distance from home but also that the Centre Manager was retiring. It seemed like a convenient time to call it a day. Since then I've done a few in Kent to different places but I thought the 20th year should be back at the Blue Cross. I keep saying every year will be my last, but the draw is still there. Maybe 20 years will be enough? As soon as I have tied up the destination and start point I will update the thread on here and post to the various websites and forums to which I belong.

Claire picking up the Pillion Award in the Kent Centre Mileage Trophy. She has won this five times since it was created in 2004.

The Suzuki Owners Club and Kent Riders arrive at the Last Chance Animal Rescue Fun Day on May 22nd for the Kent Pet Food Run. After twenty years of organising pet runs in Bedfordshire and Kent this was my last. Luckily, it turned out to be a success.  Thanks to everyone that came. Sadly, the 300D went to sleep just as they arrived and I missed off Tony Young who was the leader!!!

After some thought about a venue for the 2011 run I have decided on Last Chance Animal Rescue in Edenbridge, Kent. The meeting place will be the Roadchef Maidstone Services on the M20/A20 intersection to the south of Maidstone.   Departure time is 1100. We will be using the drop-off system to keep everyone together and the route will avoid the centre of maidstone. Please bring dog or cat food with you and of course your wallets for donate to this very worthwhile local charity.

The Kent Centre AGM is going to be held at the Britannia PH at Dungeness on Sunday 20th June. We kick-off at Noon and have lunch before getting down to the nitty gritty of electing the new committee. I am looking forward to standing down this year and letting other capable people take on the Centre and take it into the next decade.

It may have been a bit of a rush, but in less than two weeks we have managed to get a large rectangle of land at Detling and some stuff and bikes to display on it. GEMS here we come. The Kent Centre "Regulars" have risen the the challenge and will man the stand.  It's going to be hard work as there are only three people each day to keep awake (!) and welcome visitors to the stand. Due to other commitments Claire and I will make an appearance on Sunday.

Canadian Memorial - Vimy Ridge , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . I was a bit slow writing up this trip but I have it on my Everytrail and Flickr pages. UPDATE - Since this was written, like many good ideas and free internet sites Everytrail has gone tits up. All the work that people put in lost.  At least the site owners probably got a pay off to  f*ck off.

Ready for the next days trip to Arras with the other members of the Kent Centre Suzuki Owners Club.

On the "Wipers 2" trip our first stop was ostensibly for a coffee and this extended to frites for lunch and then a walk up to Mont Cassel to walk off a few of the calories. The steps up to the heights above the town are a bit overgrown and in UK with our greater "Elf and safety" culture they would have been closed years ago. The French get on with it and even let their dogs crap on them too. Talking of closed. At the top is huge hotel building boarded up and decaying. The Mont is in fact a narrow ridge, no more than 100 metres across at the top. On both sides are panorama tables pointing out places locally and fancifully, places further afield like New York, London and Leeds. There is also a windmill that judging by the electric sound was not being powered by the wind any more. The plain below is littered with mills. During WW1, Cassel was the HQ of the British Army fighting in the Flanders area. The statue is to Marshal Foch, who took over Supreme Commander of the ...

Not a theme park, although it sounds like it may be, but actually a recently rediscovered (in the 1970's) formation of trenches from WW1. These are around Messines Ridge to the south of Ypres. The trenches point northwards as this area was part of the bulge to the south the city. Entry is supposed to cost €1.50 per person but when we got there the gate had been wedged open and there were some other people already inside. The GPS location for the site is N50.80135 E2.87708. More reading http://bujold.co.uk/html/bayernwald.html

The plan for the run back was to set off after breakfast and head towards the Afsluitsdijk and then south past Amsterdam, rejoining the route up around Utrecht. After petrol and a detour around Sneek we eventually found the top of the dijk. The reason for the detour was one of mapping and roadworks. I took a wrong turn at a newish roundabout that was shown on the Garmin but not with as many of the exits as exist now. In the end our position was shown with our marker in the middle of a blank area. After a few detours we got back to the A7 and headed off without any further mishap. The first stop to have a look and take a drink at Breezanddijk. Amazingly here, less than halfway across the dyke was a caravan park to go with the small harbours housing a load of pleasure boats. From that point it was all plain sailing (as it were) via the Amsterdam ring, then Utrecht, Breda, Antwerp and Gent. We had a few stops for petrol and water intake arriving back at Calais with an hour or ...

I managed to get the latest upgrade of Mapsource to work on the new laptop and work through all the Garmin files to get a better route. A week to go and the excitement builds...

It's over a year away but now is the time to pick a date and stick with it and so we have. We will be going to the Retired Greyhound Trust again and as we evolve the run we will have more than one meet and ride-in. Watch this space.

When we arrived at the Stop 24 services there were three bikes waiting for us, Steve (VFR750), Brian (Bandit 1250) and Mark (BMW R1100S). We were soon joined by Neil on his XJR. At least there was one Suzuki present for the Suzuki Owners Club run! On the way to the meeting Claire and I had been most of the way to the kennels to check the road closure on Stone Street. As it was we would be turning left about 50 metres before the barriers and the diversion. Kent Pet Run , originally uploaded by Getzgirl . Me and Cee-Cee. Kent Pet Run , originally uploaded by Getzgirl . Me and Cee-Cee. I called run leader Graham to tell him and caught them as they left the first meeting place at the Oakdene Cafe. Kent Pet Run , originally uploaded by Getzgirl . Me coughing up into the collection box! After some of the group porked their way through a breakfast we adjourned outside to wait for the Oakdene group. Our six people on five bike...