On the Road Again!

It does seem strange to have put that in print. It is still actually over two years away but it hasn't stopped me thinking about what I'd like to do. For Claire's landmark we are off to Florida for two weeks in May '14. I guess to international jet setters it's a little "provincial" to be planning a transatlantic trip.  Hell,  I know people that go every year to Orlando, sometimes twice; never tiring of going to theme parks. So special then for me is not so special for others On a biking trip. Route 66? PCH? Or maybe further afield.  Or away from biking altogether and enjoy a cruise? On the biking front I looked at a few websites that hire bikes, and others that do tours, both fully organised or self-guided.  The PCH on self guided is £1950 per person, and that includes booked hotels, hire of a Harley and some basic insurances and a road book. On top of that we have about £400 to increase insurance to...

Donations have started to come in for Movember. My personal Mo Space is mobro.co/invictamoto Tache growing starts with it all off on Thursday night ready for 0000h growth start.

Another early date for the diary. The AMRR will be on June 28th 2014 and as usual the meeting place will be the Cambridge  Service area on the A14, to the west of this famous University city. Our local group plan to meet as usual at Nell's Café on the A2 at Swanscombe near Gravesend to leave about 0930 or so.  Depending on the traffic through the Dartford Crossing it only takes about an hour to cruise up there. The last couple of years have seen plenty of hot dry weather. Let's hope for more of the same in 2014. Compared to the Ride of Respect, the AMRR is a more intimate affair. Having done the first three ROR's at Wootton Bassett, I much prefer the smaller run to Cambridge. Same idea though to raise money for our ex-servicemen and to pay respects for their sacrifice. It's NOT about glorifying war at all. 

I am hoping that the weather behaves itself this year. last year there was snow that ended a lot of biking activities, and put paid to any ideas I had of riding 40 miles across the county in the cold and slippery white stuff..... Anyway, this year the run is the 30th Anniversary Run. It should be a bumper occasion and I am hoping that more people make the effort. It is certainly impressive to see the 300 plus bike, trikes and out fits hit the road. The Kent Centre will meet for brunch at the Blue & White Cafe (our usual monthly meeting place) and then motor over to Whitstable. If you see this and want to come, look out for the odd Suzuki and loads of other makes outside the cafe. We'll be there from about 11am and leaving the cafe about Noon for the ride over.

A little more successful retail therapy, the tank pad.  Fitted on easily once the Triumph warning decals were removed. Looks good. eBay - Triumph-Explorer-1200-2012-Black-White-Tank-Pad

The plan was to meet outside the Armoury at about 4pm. There was quite a group there already and I had that dread feeling as I was not only the oldest there but was one of the few not recruited from fairs in University Freshers Week! The organiser, John, led us round to the Learning Centre,  that in Islington ICT we know as Arsenal Red Zone. The first hour was taken up with John outlining the different schemes that AitC run. All of them ally learning with football. At 58 (soon) a career in football coaching might be a tad too late.  I did it for a while. I learned that parents are terrible and even the worst player gets a game if his dad has a car for away games... I'llbe more suites to literacy but a bit off footie as well? Why not. We had to fill in the DBS firm so they can check with the police that we are safe to work with children. I have a brand new one at work as I visit schools all the time, but Arsenal require their own. Once the options w...

I have planned the route in Tyre. To get to the Somme area in reasonable time, I have planned to use the A26 in both directions. There is a small toll free payable for bikes at either end at Arras and again at Ardres. There will be those that don't like autoroutes. I have done the trip to Thiepval several times using the N and D roads and the time taken in traffic and in villages wastes so much of the day.  Ideally, we could go N43 and N19 to Arras but time is important. I will provide the route to everyone that wants to go, both in GPX and ITN formats, so Garmin and TomTom satellite navigation systems are catered for.