Short Rides

Two short rides today to Folkestone get get bread and seafood cocktails for lunch from Dockers.

Lean it like MM93!!!

Who would have thought on an afternoon ride I would get to lean the Rocket over further than Mark Marquez, the MotoGP World Champion does week in week out, lap after lap!!!

Yep. Truly unbelievable.

And of course bollocks. 

The Yamaha My Ride app was running and in the same pocket as every other time. How it got my usual 20° or thereabouts totally wrong,  I have no idea.

Anyway, today up through Hythe, Sene Valley up to Alkham Valley to Whitfield. Fuelled up at Tesco and then down the A2 to the Duke of Yorks, down past Dover Castle and back home up the A20 and then off to the Battle of Britain Memorial but it was closed so I went past without stopping.

Down through Folkestone and the coast home.

No photos today.

Only My Ride.

And that's it for today.

Unplanned Rides Out

The problem with the pandemic is that for 4 months I have been working from home. To the day.  In that time I have had hardly had the chance to get out on Pepe. And when I have the lockdown restrictions have meant not actually going anywhere.

So when I finish for the summer on July 21st I am hoping to get a few days a week out for a ride.

But where to?

One day I need to go to the office. We are being evicted at some stage and moved to some shitty place up town. I want to get my personal stuff from my locker before it all gets lost or dumped.

So that will be a nasty surprise riding into central London.

To H's and beyond...

Another nice summer morning. I pulled Pepé out of the garage and tried to set the Yamaha My Ride app working.

Since last time it lost my login details and I couldn't be bothered to mess about.

H's cafe is near Lydden on the A2 between Canterbury and Dover. H's is alongside the Kent Motorcycles Honda dealership. Out back is a former Little Chef restaurant that Kent use a a rider training centre. 

I was going to meet fellow Meldrews MCC member Cal there. And of course any others that made it. Today none did.

My outward journey was up over Sandling onto the A20 where I was left for dead by Marc Marquez and his brother, or what passed for them in this part of Kent.

The A20 between the turning by the High Speed Rail link and the M20 J11 as far as the J12 junction is a "bikers road". It can be fun. Some guys ride like they are the aforementioned MM93.

I split off as the first junction through Postling, Lyminge and Elham Valley. All very relaxed and groups of bikes coming the other way. A couple even returned my greetings nod. 

Once on the "old" A2 that still follows alongside the "new" A2 dual carriageway highway the junction comes up after a short distance. Past "Arters" garage, that I was amazed was still. In open after all these years.

H's in on the left of the southbound carriageway. So it needs a bit of 180° turn to head back that way.  

I almost overshot as I was behind a truck and didn't see the off ramp. Luckily nothing behind me to almost stop and get around the kerb!

Cal was already there on his F800 BMW.  

Social distancing means it is takeaway only. The door to the cafe is blocked with a plastic screen with a slot. All food and drink sold in disposable containers. The coffee/tea cups are biodegradable. 

They take contactless cards but over the top for a (molten rock hot) coffee costing a quid. Paid cash.

I just had a coffee. Cash accepted. 

Whilst we chatted on some plastic chairs,  Cal by the top box end of his bike and me at the front wheel end, bikes came and went  Some exhausts so loud we had to pause speaking as they deafened everyone.

One guy came on a nicely restored GT750. From the tank I guess an L or M model. Maybe next year I will be on mine? 

We chatted about an hour and then made tracks. I tried to login to Yamaha My Ride but despite me logging a few rides recently, it said I had no account. I created a new one using my Google username. 

Set it to run and came home. A quick WhatsApp to Claire to say I was leaving. I have Google location shared with her anyway so in case of any mishap she can see where I am. Roughly. Result above.

I decided to go towards Dover, U-turn at the lights and head back past Kents and go back on the old road. As I approached Hawkinge I saw a sign to the right to Elham. I took it. That was the last I saw of it mentioned. I eventually popped out about a mile further down the same old road!!

I came back along the A20 and down through Enbrook Valley to Sandgate and along the coast and home. The beach and Prince's Parade looked very busy.

My Ride worked but it in Kms.

A nice ride out. Must make more of these rides and with my long summer holiday at home looming... Get Claire back on the back.

Once again the lean angles are really in the MM93 bracket!!! Er perhaps not.

Paint bubble

After taking the panniers off I saw this but of bubbling on the rear drive. 

Five and a half years old. 

Not the best finish but then again some of the chrome is hardly world beating quality.