29 May 2020 - White Van Man

Another day driving PPE to Ambulance Station around the south coast for South Central Ambulance Service. I didn't get the extremely comfortable Ford Galaxy, so today was a large Ford Van with only 3500 miles on the clock.


So off we go to Havant, Fareham, Portsmouth, Gosport, Dorking and Eastbourne...  I am so glad that the weather was good and the traffic fairly light.

It was so good to being doing something and feeling needed....  The guys at the Ambulance Stations are so friendly and cheerful.

So, I have no volunteering plans for this weekend, just a little gardening, ironing and a little time in my “man cave” aka the garage.

Thursday - a comfortable cruise

Today was different - instead of the bike I was driving around in a Ford Galaxy delivering lots of boxes full of PPE to Ambulance Stations around the South of England.. Portsmouth, Havant, Southsea and Eastbourne.....  all found through the volunteer site of HireHand....

It was certainly less tiring than the bike, but with a/c, radio and a soft seat....  I'm not complaining ; in fact I'm doing it again tomorrow !!!

I must get a photo tomorrow ....

GOPHR Food Run - Weymouth 27 May 2020 and more ...

Dear reader,

Today a group of us from the Bike Shed Community Motorcycle Volunteers did a food drop for a Young Carers charity in Weymouth. We collected to food at 1100 and then all set off for our designated addresses.. all was delivered by 12:30 then back home. Arrived home and sorted the bike and settled down with a cup of tea when .... ping ping ping the messages started.. it's was an urgent job required to be collected from Salisbury and delivered to Warsash near Southampton. So it was back on the bike and another ride out....

Arrived back home at 6pm. And what do you know .... another message.... this time for another volunteer group.... so I am off to Southampton in the car tomorrow to run PPE to hospitals and ambulance stations (all day)... I promise to be at home on Friday ...

The Bike Shed Motorcycle Community Volunteers

I have done two long runs with PPE over the last week;  Bodmin and Ledbury.

It was great to get out and about but knackering as I am just not used to riding over 300 miles at a go.

I have another trip out tomorrow, delivering shopping to locked down families in Weymouth/Poole area.

Interesting to see if these .png screen shots work...

19 May 2020 - COVID-19

Dear Reader,

What can I say, everything is cancelled, lock down has been in place for weeks, and I am getting a little bit pissed off with it.

I am close to running out of things I want to do, have to do, don't want to do..... I have signed up for various and assorted volunteer groups and with Debs help I have done a few medicine collections and deliveries in the area over the past 4 weeks.

Today was I first run out with the Bike Shed Community Volunteer Motorcyclists. I picked up 3 tasks today - collected all 3 packages of PPE masks from a pickup point in Ilminster - then the plan was to delivered two in the Bodmin area and one in Truro... fortunately I know of another rider in that part of the world and so he rode up to Bodmin and collected the last packet to deliver to Truro. I then rode home along the coast road. I would like to point out that once past Exeter on the way down it got very overcast and cold, so I had to stop and put on my waterproof jacket to cut down the windchill.

I left home at 7:20am and arrived back home at 16:30pm, and that included 2 pee/fuel stops, one handover/coffee break and a further coffee stop at Abbotsbury overlooking Chisel Beach. This side of Exeter the sun came out and it was a glorious ride for the rest of the way home. It has been a long while since I rode over 400 miles in a day...

So back to the planning table for the USA trip.... I have moved my ticket from Overland Expo West in Flagstaff Arizona to Overland Expo East which takes place in Arrington Virginia on 9-11 Oct 2020. If the gods are with me I could fly the bike to LA in September then ride across to Florida and up the coast to the Event and then continue North to Toronto and ship the bike home. Almost the same as before but changing the event from the start of the trip to the end of the trip... just a thought to keep me going.

The only alternative would be to do the whole the same but in 2021 instead of 2020..... or say bollocks to it and ride down to Motocamp Bulgaria when Europe opens up again next year.

The only other thing on my mind at present is that while I was sitting here at Easter, waiting to go - some sneaky bastard has, somehow, used my card details and has stolen over $1400 of my travel money..... the card issuer has been informed and a new card issued but I will have to wait to see if I get my money back ....

Ahh well - life goes on - sort of ......

USA 2020 - Postponed

COVID-19, Mr Trump and Airlines have conspired against us - will now look at visiting the East coast of USA in Aug/Sep....

Back to the planning table....

A weekend to remember...

Herewith a few images from the Overland Winter Warmer Event last weekend

The Overland Winter Warmer 2020

That was a weekend to remember !!

Left home at about 6:30 on Friday and it was very very cold and then foggy.... arrived at Chipping Warden about 9:15.  I helped with setting up the lights and stuff and then at last the sun came out.


Then it was time for the hot stew - absolutely brilliant.  Meet up with Colin and just had to have a beer or two (3)...  Also met up with Michelle Lamphere, Tiffany Coates, Ian Coates, Stace Martin, Sam Manicom and Birgit.  Lots of interesting people to chat to and some great presentations had been put on.

Saturday the weather turned sour and by Sunday it was horrendous.  Lots a hardy bikers packed up on Saturday to miss the Sunday storm.   Saturday night was the full storm,  and by the morning there was many a tent lying flat and lots of bodies sleeping in the bar and the other rooms...   it was sad the watch Colin's Khyam Biker tent having an epileptic attack and writhing on the floor with a broken pole...  (photo are on the other camera so they will follow later).   Poor Tiffany had a spill on her bike Thelma and had to be recovered.  Best of luck for your trip home Tiff.

Sunday morning was time to start clearing up and recover all the lighting.  Then, time to watch Michelle's and Tiffany's presentations... Very good.  By this time the rain had joined in with the high winds which made packing up the tent very interesting, but I managed it and decided that this was a good time to leave.

I rode to the M40, and that was horrid... I got as far as Family Farm on the A34 for a cuppa and decided that it was silly to ride much further...  so I booked into a pub some 30 miles South.   This turned out to be too far really and that 30 miles was ever worse with gusts and more rain....

I am now sitting in a warm room having dried out most of my clothing... and now a very heavy rain storm outside .... loverly.

Hopefully the weather will be better in the morning..    Night night

Wet and windy ride today... Tisbury, Wiltshire

Here we go again...

It’s on - now booked into Overland Expo 2020 in Flagstaff Arizona.

I am so looking forward to it...

The outlined plan is the fly to LA, then ride to Flagstaff via Route 66.  Whilst there I intend to visit the Overland Expo show, the Grand Canyon, Phoenix, ride the Apache Trail, and visit Tombstone.    Further north is the Valley of the Gods, Moab, Monument Valley and Arches National Park.

Later the outline plan is to ride down to Texas, New Mexico and ride the Natchez Trace from Natchez to Nashville.  I would like to take in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and possibly Florida.  Then Georgia, Tennessee and the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway through Virginia followed by Pennsylvania and New York State to Niagara and finish at Toronto before shipping the bike back home in late June.

To follow my progress starting in May 2020:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0QNBPpXhTe29VveaFrWCmdpqeBV9sDP7i

Visit to Overland 2019 and Sammy Millers Museum

Ian Coates and his Africa Twin RD04

Ted Simon and Paddy Tyson

Greg Turp meets Sammy Miller himself

Welcome home... all fixed ... ready for the Overland Event

Adventure before dementia.... I think !

It’s still in the Workshop - a bit of major surgery...

Just enjoying the ride......

14 July - War Graves at Englefontaine

14 July - France and UK

Good evening dear reader - if your still there...

Slept well last night and woke at 6am and after a good cup of coffee I was on the road by 7:30... from Soissons, and within 20 minutes I had to stop and put on a thermal layer and off we rode again.... An hour later down came rain, which lasted for about an hour....

It was about an hour later that I arrived at Englefontaine and after a little riding around I finally found the British War Graves I had been looking for. Paid my respects and took a few photos.... the miniature pony was guarding the path leading to the site.....

On the road again towards Belgium .... as my friend David would say "a plan is a basis for change", and so it was today. I saw the signs for Calais and thought why ride to Belgium, camp over night and then ride to the Chunnel.... stop Gerty, head for Calais ....

Arrived at the Tunnel, got a ticket, bought some perfume for Debs, and a well deserved sandwich for me....

Then onto the metal rabbit and hey presto popped out at Folkstone... and spent another two hours riding home....

The bikes is now in the garage and I won't unpack until the morrow.... a cup of tea in the garden and an ice cream and then a long soak in a hot bath ... arhhhhhh that's better...

5400 miles.....

Journey done

ENDEX

13 July - Soissons France

Dear reader,

Next time I am offered the choice of pitches, remind me to check them out before picking one. Although the pitch was OK, it was on a slope and behind the hedge was a waterfall - you can only appreciate the silence when you are at the other end of the site....

This morning as I was packing the tent at 8:45 the new occupants for the pitch arrived !!! They will just have to wait I'm afraid ...

The chap next door in a french registered VW camper called in. He was Greg an retired American from Washington DC US of A... what a nice chap and we talked a while as I packed. The van was 35 years old and I was invited to look inside.... the chap was a "hoarder" but in a van ... you just could not get much more in .... he admitted that he had stuff in there that he has not used since 1986....

I eventually got going at about 9:45... heading for Soissons about 5 hours away.... a very pleasant ride up through the hills for the couple of hours then we hopped on the motorway towards Nancy and then Reims....for the last 2 times I have got to Reims we, (that is Gerty Garmin and I) have always missed the turn and have ended up riding through the middle of town ... this time we avoided Nancy and Reims.... yippee

We stopped a couple of times for fuel and something to eat and arrived here about 4pm.... tomorrow I will be mostly riding North, first to visit a great great uncle of mine, he died just 2 days before armistice day in 1918, and his grave is at the Commonwealth War Graves site at Englefontaine. Then I will ride up to the first campsite I stayed at on the night of the 20th June when I set out on this trip.... just to sort out kit and reflect a while on the trip, before riding to Calais and the Chunnel on Monday.....

I then have to get the bike sorted before taking it for an extended visit to the Honda garage... new drive shaft, new sprockets, new tyres..... and a service... whoops....
I think I will have done about 7800kms from setting out.....

Now to cook and wash.

Nite nite

13 July - France

That’s all folks

12 July - Germany and France

All is well - that ends well.

Big thanks to the guys at Carol Nash Insurance and Breakdown.... after a little wait at the Shell Gas Station, Dieter arrived with his big truck.... he did some testing and took things apart and put them back together again and hey presto the battery was Buggered (no German translation available for that....)

We managed to get the bike started and I followed him 20kms to a Moto shop ... no luck there ... he gave me the address of a large moto shop in Frieberg... as long as I kept the engine running I would be OK!!! The town traffic was awful but I found the shop and they had a battery.., Yippee - I pull up on the pavement and installed the new battery ... and after much chat about Brexit and the lunatics in our parliament, all was fixed and working... Nice guys in the shop - very helpful...

So back on the road and headed for Keyserberg near Colmar, by this time it was gone 7pm - I thought I would try my luck at a road side hotel (getting soft I am). €68 per night - are they mad... rode on for another 20mins and found the municipal campsite for €12..

Tent up, tomorrow's route sorted, supper cooked (pasta and Chilli Von Carne). and now to wash up and have a read in bed as it's now nearly 9pm... it's been a long and interesting day...

PS. Thanks to all the bikers that checked if I was OK at the garage ..,,

Nite nite

12 July - whoops

12 Jul - Shell Gas Station near Breitnau Germany

Dear reader,

The day started in a thunder storm and the bike sounded odd when starting... we rode in the storm for about 2 hours then stopped for fuel - again she didn't like starting but eventually she did. We rode another couple of hours in the rain until more fuel was needed.... but this time she was having none of it.... just clicking and eventually all the lights went out .....

I think it is the electrics and probably the starter Relay/Solenoid thing. Contacted Carol Nash in the UK and they are dealing.

Good job I am under cover as the rain stops and starts. Just awaiting some sort of recovery from Freiburg....... there is a Honda Dealership at Mulhouse....

All good fun.....

N

10 July - Memmeringberg

11 July - Slovenia,Austria and Germany

Dear reader,

Violent storm hits Greece https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48950755

Just reading about the storm that hit northern Greece and killed 7 people ... so sad... and I was there just about a week or so ago, one night in a tent and another at a motel.... shit weather usually follows me but this time I appear to be ahead of it.....

Anyway... I set off this morning early at 7:40am only to find that a couple of idiot Germans on GS's had put up their tent right across my down hill exit from my pitch... so I had to nervously navigate a steep downhill bank to get out ... ah well Tossers.....

It was overcast as I slipped out the back roads from Bled... but soon the weather closed in a the rain started... I stopped for fuel and purchased an Austrian Vigette (sounds like lunch doesn't it)... onwards into Austria - then it brightened up as a passed through some very dramatic landscapes and around and through mountain tunnels... one was about 8kms long ....maybe the Austrian could be asked to dig one under Stone Henge!!!!

Started raining and so I decided that it was better to ride on rather than head for an early campsite... putting up a tent and then sitting in it for the rest of the day did not appeal at all.... so I set Gertie Garmin to a distant destination and would ride until I had had enough for the day, which turned out to be about 3pm... the rain was getting heavier now and I had had enough. I located a near by Hotel in Memmingerburg and headed for it. I pulled in with 512kms on the clock.... the hotel was very good and used to be the hospital when this was a Luftwaffe Airbase... well appointed and very clean and I parked the bike in a large garage for the night. Had some strange pizza-like dish and now it's time to kip.... The forecast for tomorrow is no good so it will be the waterproof socks again tomorrow....

But for now it's under a duvet and sleep ...

Nite nite

10 July - Croatia and Slovenia

Dear reader,

Well it rained and thundered most of the day yesterday and all of the night... but still it was good not to be riding in it...

I hit the showers early, mainly due to a foreign lady having a very load telephone conversation just outside my tent...., turn the f**** speaker off and put it next to your ear !!! That way you won't have to shout....

On the road at 7:30.... and it was still pouring with rain.... crossed through the border into Slovenia and onto Lake Bled.... "everyone and his dog is at Lake Bled this time of year darling"... she was heard to say.... I was here some 6 years ago and it was a quiet place then ...now it's like Blackpool without the lights....

The campsite was full but they were able to squeeze in a solo biker with a small tent....
Tomorrow we are into Austria and camping somewhere : Gertie knows where.....

I am getting a little worried about the vibration from the engine and I am hoping that the weld in still holding. I will be taking it easier on the speeds and will be riding a shortened route home - even if that means arriving home earlier than planned - I could take more non-riding days but that just mean paying a camp site so I can sit on my arse and wait a day....

I am now back at the tent and the tourists are still at the waters edge or in town. I will wander down later for supper or just a beer maybe...

Nite nite

10 July - Croatia and Slovenia

Supper sorted - nite nite