On the Road Again!

Ticket arrived today.  We are currently in climate change meltdown with ridiculously high temperatures in Southern England.  But what's the betting that the "Mediterranean Climate" we were promised as "imminent" in 2005 and thst has finally arrived, will break on Saturday, and it will lash down with rain According to Google maps door to door it's 80.1 miles from home to Southend's ground. They have parking and before I have parked the bike right by their club shop. So it's have V-Strom will go .. Google also reckons 1h 47m for the trip. This discounts the three mile queue for the Dartford Crossing. So for a 3pm kick off I need to leave home at 1pm latest. How about Noon instead? My first game under the Club's new ownership and of course, the first in Tier 5 of the English Football Pyramid.

What can I say about the ride from home to Southend. On Google Maps it shows a distance of 34 miles, as the crow flies. Once it works out the route that changes to more like 81 miles depending on the way you go. Why did I want to go there? Well, to see my football club, Oldham Athletic play Southend United in a League One match.  With a 1945 kick off as the last time I could get there, counting back and allowing for traffic I set off at 1615. Traffic was relatively light on the M20 considering the hour, but as I got nearer  London it started to build. The swoop from M20 to M25 is quite a nice experience as long as there is clear road and Pepe managed it as the legal limit without any trauma.  That’s when I was faced with a four lane wall of traffic crawling along at walking pace. Even filtering through between the outside two lanes I lost over 20 minutes getting from the M20/M25 junction to the tunnel itself.   The last couple of miles had c...