InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

Currently the UK is in the grip of a cold spell.  Winds from the north-west are coming from the pole and bringing icy conditions to the south of England and snow and ice to the more northerly climes. So. The decision whether to go to Belgium will be taken later in the week.  The newspapers are scaremongering about "arctic conditions" being with us for weeks rather than the usual days.   One of the geographical benefits of where we are off the coast of mainland Europe means that we benefit from the jet stream and that generally brings warmer air up from the equator that means we get less snow but we get more rain than the Europeans.  Unfortunately it looks as though we are going to be north of the jet stream this week and in the cold air. It was very cold on Friday when I went on the Ride for Kelly and on Saturday we (Neill, my brother and me)  went to the football (soccer y'all) at Gillingham and even with four layers of clothing, glove...

The RV was supposed  be no later than 0945. So I arrived at 0920 and found one scooter there and John the organiser. I parked up near the church and went into the coffee shop. A couple of skinny latté  later the scooters had begun to multiply and a couple of other bikes had joined in. I was talking to some of the guys when we discovered that the church proceedings started at 1100. At 1045 we were asked to fire-up and give a rev as the hearse passed by. It was getting on for noon when we finally got to move and the escort began. The cremation commitment was private for the family. I carried on from there to get a parcel from the post office and home. It was cold but dry and sunny. https://www.flickr.com/gp/pauldevall/z967Wp

Not quite the "Ride for Kelly" we had hoped to be holding this year or for many years to come. Sadly, Kelly passed away a few weeks ago and this will be the final ride out as we have been asked to provide an escort from the church to the crematorium. The Kelly Turner Foundation founded in her name will continue and the money raised used to help other children in the same predicament. RIP.

It was with some trepidation that once the Remembrance Day Parade had finished on TV that I went to the garage and tried to start Pepé.  Of course I had to press the "go" button and was relieved to hear the "whirr. click" from last week. I then got the power unit out and attached the leads. A few seconds.  Press again. Start. Phew. I left it running whilst I finished togging up. Boy was it cold out of the wintery sun. My phone showing 6°C. The wind chill on the motorway at 70mph... I Googled it and it came out at -2.3°C.  I need Santa to bring me some winter gloves. My usual ones were not that good today. I'll be more specific for him. Not too bulky but waterproof and warm. If anyone knows of a brand/model that fits this bill that won't cost an arm or leg, then tell me. So back to Sunday. I set off about 1145. This is my fifth Ring of Red. In fact I have been going since the first one.  The traffic was light to the...

The blogger app gave up the ghost on the original post only about half way through. After the clunk. I left Pepé in the watery sun on the drive. In the house I called the RAC. Only an hour to wait. Okay. I'll still be able to get down to Dungeness and meet Cal and Ian and see the old bikes.  I let them know by sms. It wasn't 10am yet.  Cal offers to come and bring the jump pack he has in a pannier. I say I can wait for the RAC and not mess their day up. Doh! The RAC call back. Update. About Noon they say. Bugger. Day ruined. I go online to look at power packs that I can carry with me in the pannier. A  note on the Rocket III FB asking for tips boils down to the dbpower 600A portable pack. £69.99 from Amazon Prime.  Tomorrow should be okay for delivery. Fingers crossed. Oh yeah  RAC call back with an update "more like 1pm". I say okay, but then call back and cancel. No point at that time of day. Db power 600A  ...

This is the third autumn since I brought Pepé home. But the first since he has begun to be a little temperamental. We are just at the beginning of a cold snap and today. Press the starter. Whirr. Clunk. I was supposed to be going to a classic bike run. So had to cancel that. Let the other Meldrews know and called the RAC. "About an hour". An hour later an update. "About 1230". Some two hours to wait. If tbis is liable to happen I need to invest in a battery jump tool. Neither of the cars can do it as thru have sealed battery covers. So let's wait.