InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

In the end real life got in the way so no MAG Demo or Rocket III Run to the Ace Café. I wheeled Pepé out of the garage and fitted up the TomTom with the amended route to AFC Wimbledon ready to rock. Luckily after the hottest and driest day of the year on Thursday  (temp up to 27°C) it was still dry and warm today. With the forecast showing dry all day I pulled the Joe Rocket jacket from the wardrobe and back to kevlar cargo pants. The road into Hythe was a mile long of traffic and so I went out through the country lanes to the motorway. It took a little longer as there were cyclists riding three a breast on a road barely wide enough for two cars to pass. A bip on the horn had them scattered but hurling abuse. Had they met a car coming head on they might have been calling 999/911. Once on the M20 I dialled up to an indicated 75mph that TomTom said was more like 70. TomTom was suggesting 90 minutes for the journey and it seemed to pass pretty easily. Even the M25 was relatively...

Up at 0745. Out by 0845 after breakfast for me and for Reggie. When I was getting my gear together last night I found a pair of cordura trousers I had bought last year and never worn. In fact had forgotten. These replace jeans and over-trousers and are waterproof. They fitted a dream.  Not too expensive and made by ARMR Moto . I was to meet my brother Neill at the lay-by opposite the Oakdene Cafe where the A20 meets the M26 at 0930. A few holdups on the way to the motorway meant that I was a few minutes late. He took a photo of me. I don't have many of me and the bike. The run up to Brands took about ten minutes. This year after all the bad weather and snow even, the usual parking was too wet and so they had a great idea. They opened the GP circuit to bike parking. What a great idea. Except this meant not going near the main entrance but in a side gate on the way from the A20 to the entrance to the Paddock. The day was miserable really, weather-wis...

BSB Round 2 Another chance to score some 5E points in the Challenge and see British Superbikes. It's round two at our local track at Brands Hatch. It is a track we know well. I was corner commander for the marshals there and Neill was the chief flag marshal at Dingle Dell Corner. This is on the long GP circuit. This week's racing is on the short Indy circuit. We are going thanks to complimentary tickets from Suzuki GB. Thanks to Claire for them. She works with Suzuki moving bikes around Europe.

Should be another easy to get 5E for the 50-50 Challenge with this ride. I went last year to the corresponding game and the weather was quite good. Not raining at least. It's too far away at the moment, 8 days, for an accurate forecast. One of my nieces, Eleanor, works at the Met Office and that doesn't help!  I expect some old recluse with a pine cone can predict as well as they can!

I should claim another 50-50 Challenge 5E today as well.  I am writing this in the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais after a 90kms ride from Vimy in drizzle and the occasional proper rain. Presumably mild for the Canadians stoically singing "Oh Canada" at the end of the ceremony in drizzling rain. I did sing "God Save the Queen" but seemed one of the few.  There were quite a few British there and a lot of bikers. I finish it off when I get home and add a bit of detail. Back Home! So to start from the beginning.  I was up at 0645 and by 0720 had got washed etc, togged up and fed the dog. Pepe started without the dbpower unit to give him a jolt.  I had it with me all day and fully charged just in case! I was lucky to get on the 0806 train rather than the 0820 I was booked on and curiously I was loaded in with the cars rather than treated like an inconvenience and tacked in the last carriage. waterproofs went on before I had left the terminal area!...

Today just the 56 miles to get another 50-50 ticked off. Again it needed dbpower to get Pepé fired up. After that no problems.  I had a run to Rye. It was quite empty considering it's still the Easter school holidays.  I had intended a 25 mile ride and then turn around.  As Rye was only 20 I had to think of something. So the return was via Ashford and then the M20 to Cheriton. Tesco had a long queue at the filling station so I stopped for a fuel up in Seabrook instead. Fuelly calculated that one at 43.9 mpg. The best since last July. I'll put together a claim for this later on the 50-50 website. I got back and stashed the bike away. It will need to come out on Saturday for a cat lick wash to get the mud and road shite that has blown up. Pepé needs to be clean for the ride to Vimy on Monday.

The Easter weekend has been pretty much of a washout as far a motorcycling is concerned. The long holiday weekend is 4 days. Friday was raining all day. Saturday was little better and we did manage to get out with the dog for his walks.  Sunday looked better on paper but we had things to do. So it all hinged on Monday. The forecast was for more heavy rain but in the end it turned out warmer. In the morning we did a bit of shopping and then had a walk with Reggie. Warm enough for a coffee outdoors. So. To Challenge 5E. Challenge 5E is for 50 rides of over 50 miles. It should be easy to do but we need to be able to get out and do it. So today was the chance to get a 5E under my belt. It was dry when I set off. Once again the dbpower unit was needed to fire Pepé up. The idea was to go around 25 miles and then turn about. In the end I headed out of Hythe along the M20 and A20 to Dover and then up the A2. No great plan just a ride to get some charge in the battery. As I approache...

It's a charity challenge set up by John Young of the Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 Club. There are 50 challenges to celebrate 50 years of the original triples. One 5P, was doable and it was worth 100 points and concerns "legacy" of those early triples. A common answer is the "ray gun" styled exhaust on the new 1600 BMW.  Luckily my brother just bought one. First 100 points on the board. My first points just in time for the first quarterly table was published. Currently lying 24th!! The leader already on over 700 points. The 5E challenges (50 rides of over 50 miles - one per day) are probably easier to collect points for.....