InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

As I am off for a few weeks over the summer I have decided to have a day on the bike.  My vain attempts to ride the bike more and from MoT to MoT and get more miles under the wheels than last year seem to have been somewhat blunted. So later in August I have planned and booked a trip across to France. Although the ferry is cheaper than the Shuttle it is less convenient.  When the Shuttle isn't plagued by delays and cancellations that is! So. The date will be August 21st. Midweek might have less of a crush! I have planned a route that will take me down the motorway as near as possible to Corbie to visit William Devall and then have lunch.   My plan is to ride back via Bazentin le Grand to see where the KSLI 7th Bn attacked and came a cropper on the undamaged wire. I have chosen a no-toll route back  Out via A26 In - no tolls William Devall

The weather this week. The UK ground to a halt with record temperatures on Thursday, and then we have had torrential rain, flooding and thunderstorms. The former curtailed my plans on Thursday for a day on the Somme. Too hot and massive queues of holidaymakers trying to get to the port. France even hotter and dryer. I'll have to plan another day later in August once we get back from Devon. The latter meaning a planned ride to Warwickshire has been changed from a bike trip to a car trip.  No one wants to spend six hours in the saddle in pissing rain. What next?

The run was converted from a run to a poker run and the destination changed.  Instead of along the coast to Capel le Ferne it went only to Dungeness and back towards Sussex. Pepé and I rolled out to meet some other Meldrews, Trevor and Cal. After a bacon baguette and a coffee we heard the column arrive. And I started to take pictures on the Nikon D50. Flickr Album

I was up at 8am. The local Royal British Legion Riders group were meeting on the A2 at 8.30am. Too early for me. I was away about 9am after breakfast and although I had the dbpower booster with me it was unused. I did have to reset the TomTom as it had lost the connection to the phone and also to my LS2 headset. Once fixed I was away. The M20 to Maidstone then up to the M2 to stop in at the service station at Cobham to tank up. Another Rocket was there but we had a nod and he was gone.  The rest of the trip alternated between dull and heavy traffic dull. The ever lasting roadworks on the A14 seem to have taken many years. The Spanish seem to build hundred of miles of their motorways in a short time. Eventually I arrived at 1115am. It usually takes less than two hours even with the petrol stop. I signed in and then went for a coffee and a loo visit. Outside again it was time to do my walk  around the assembled bikes and looked to see how many Rocket...

It's tomorrow.  I'll need to get my gear out tonight and make sure that I have the routes in my TomTom.  I have been so often before but the TomTom is great for the stats of the run and in case you need to make some detours where there might be roadworks or other closures. Make sure the Bluetooth kit in my helmet is charged up. My planned stop on the way back to have a look at the wartime NAAFI buildings might need assistance! When connected to my phone it does pick up information and it will try to offer a reroute.  Of course, when I last did this I had no idea what it meant and ignored the offer of a route change. Doh!  As Homer would say. Looks at the moment that I am Billy No-Mates again but that's okay. The weather is supposed to be good and sunny so it looks like an SPF50 day and a hat.  But what to wear?  Which camera to take?   First world problems.