On the Road Again!

So only two days to go, the tache is probably not got much further to go before it will be time to remove it and consign the whole idea to the back burner until 2007! Okay it's not as fantastic as the ones on the TV recently, but they were World Championship level competitors!

Me and my big mouth! Not only have I volunteered to help with a meeting for the IMTC but I stuck my foot in and volunteered to assist the BMW Club as well. So far I’ve not had a lot of help from local members of either club and so it’s a case of check the web for places I know and see what happens… For the BMW Club, I have booked the Liverpool Arms, Baldrine between Onchan and Laxey for the morning of the 7th June 2007 - Thursday. I thought it was best to have it on a day when there was no racing. For the IMTC I've emailed another Commitee member with a place that has been recommended to me the Niarbyl Bay Café.

Tacheback - The Tache so far Originally uploaded by pauldevall . After 19 days of the 30 I am contracted to my sponsors to complete the Tache is actually starting to show up. Okay, it's not quite up to Einstein proportions but it is getting there. So far I have about £60 in sponsorship online and another £60 or so on the paper sheet that circulated at work. Thanks to everyone that has sponsored me so far. I might "out" you all on here afterwards...

After a leisurely breakfast the plan was to go into the town for a look around, then to Vimy and Lille for lunch. As we were very leisurely things changed. Firstly as we left the parking the barrier came down so quick I got left behind as the others shot off. The guy in the control box opened it for me! In town there wasn't much to see on a Sunday morning, and after a walk around to look for a chocolate shop we had a coffee and changed the plan. Still Vimy Ridge but Cassel for lunch rather than Lille. So we set off on Plan B. Betsy was still playing up so it was me to lead again - b*llocks. Despite the criticism of the day before - okay, I did go through a red light, but in mitigation it was as I was on the outside of an old t*sser in a car and saw the pedestrian light go green and shot off. No one got hurt - I led us out of the town, via a petrol station and then on the direct route to the Canadian Monument. I don't accept the criticism that I don't give way at roundabouts...

After a leisurely breakfast the plan was to go into the town for a look around, then to Vimy and Lille for lunch. As we were very leisurely things changed. Firstly as we left the parking the barrier came down so quick I got left behind as the others shot off. The guy in the control box opened it for me! In town there wasn't much to see on a Sunday morning, and after a walk around to look for a chocolate shop we had a coffee and changed the plan. Still Vimy Ridge but Cassel for lunch rather than Lille. So we set off on Plan B. Betsy was still playing up so it was me to lead again - b*llocks. Despite the criticism of the day before - okay, I did go through a red light, but in mitigation it was as I was on the outside of an old t*sser in a car and saw the pedestrian light go green and shot off. No one got hurt - I led us out of the town, via a petrol station and then on the direct route to the Canadian Monument. I don't accept the criticism that I don't give way at roundabouts...

Probably, for the first time ever we arrived with plenty of time to spare at the Shuttle terminal at Cheriton! But, sadly, the recently introduced "self check-in" was defeating the hordes car drivers that were unable to stretch their arms far enough to reach the touch-screens and who had parked too close to get their doors open to get out and do it. It doesn't seem like rocket science to use the stats off the booking system to know the peaks and troughs of travel and to make sure that they have humans working at those times. In the end we made it around to the terminal building where Nigel & Jane (Triumph Sprint) and Simon & Denise (Blackbird) were waiting. For once we managed to avoid the security check and went straight through to the queues to get on the train. In the end, due to some problem that was never defined, the 0828 train was full despite around fifty cars and us with the right letter still waiting in the queue, so we got "priority" on the 08...

Probably, for the first time ever we arrived with plenty of time to spare at the Shuttle terminal at Cheriton! But, sadly, the recently introduced "self check-in" was defeating the hordes car drivers that were unable to stretch their arms far enough to reach the touch-screens and who had parked too close to get their doors open to get out and do it. It doesn't seem like rocket science to use the stats off the booking system to know the peaks and troughs of travel and to make sure that they have humans working at those times. In the end we made it around to the terminal building where Nigel & Jane (Triumph Sprint) and Simon & Denise (Blackbird) were waiting. For once we managed to avoid the security check and went straight through to the queues to get on the train. In the end, due to some problem that was never defined, the 0828 train was full despite around fifty cars and us with the right letter still waiting in the queue, so we got "priority" on the 08...