The roads you don’t know……………may become the ones you love the most

Decided to scout the Belonga Mick ride in “real” time this trip out, so I set off at 06.30, looking to arrive at the euro tunnel for 11.20, 276 miles and 4 ½ hrs, I’d booked the 12.20 train just in case but would hope to be able to get the 11.20 in October, gives us more time France side to push further south before we have to stop for the night.

Also you may remember from my last trip I’ve been suffering with my knees and wrist so wanted to make sure I could “go the distance”

I just made the tunnel in time to get the 11.20 but to air on the side of caution, think I’ll set off ½ hour earlier in October.

From Calais I was heading down the toll road and towards one of France’s “prettiest villages” France has a little competition and awards winning town with the pretty village mark (in fairness some aren’t so pretty anymore but the Marie must have influence)

Gerberoy

From there to Dreux and my hotel for the night, at £17 I wasn’t expecting much but it was clean and close to a Campanile for dinner, again had it scheduled for 18.30 arrival and got there just before six,, I took my time and enjoyed some nice roads. In October we’ll be meeting with some French riders around the Gerberoy mark and riding with them, this will add time to the trip, shaking hands to say hello and farewell when there’s twenty or so can take time but heck we’re in France what’s half an hour?

Got my usual 9 o’clock call from meJulie, this was not the usual chit chat about our day, this time she had some important news. We put our house on the market a few weeks ago and a couple had come back for a second viewing the day before I left, anyway long one short they put an offer in, 3 actually, until meJulie finally said yes” that’s the figure we’re looking for, we had only chatted the day before about what that figure would be and what it would entail re items left, we were happy to accept.

However, while yes we wanted to sell the house we didn’t expect it to be so quick (within 4 weeks), I had some decisions to make as I took a leisurely ride thru France tomorrow.

When I got up and went out to load the bike I had to do a double take……………..

Hadn’t drunk anything over dinner last night so it couldn’t be the after effects of a good night.

It had been recommended I travel “thru” rather than around some of the towns on my way down, it was just short of two hundred miles, I took my time and did just that, Octobers going to be a great sight seeing tour, beautiful tis all I can say, my fellow Valkers that will be coming down with me then are in for a treat, and you my friends, oh I won’t forget you, I’ll post pics and more then but don’t want to spoil it by doing that before the main event

Passing Blois I was reminded of my last trip and a story I didn’t tell, briefly I filled the tanks in Blois last trip and must have got some bad gas in there as for the next 400 miles the dragon would only run on full choke, problems stated about 5 miles out of Blois and continued, kept topping the tank every 100 and each time it got slightly better, then before I left for home I put about 4 gals in and she once again ran sweat, had me worried I’ll tell you, but that was then, funny how we forget life’s little hiccups, always remember the good time.

Valkyrie 400 mile range

I can now confirm that my Dragon will go 400 miles before I have to put gas in the tank(s). Yes got belly tank and it’s a standard with an interstate tank, but 400 miles and counting is a big ask of a six cylinder being fed by 6 individual carbs.

Way back in 07 I visited Mario moto down in Italy, this guy was modifying the standard gearbox and effectively making fifth gear into an overdrive, short and long, forth gear goes on forever, then whenever you like knock it into fifth and watch them revs drop. I cruise at 70 / 80 and turn 2500 rpm easily achieving over 40 to the gallon, (were talking UK miles and UK gallons so I think 1 UK = 1.2 US GAL).

Admittedly to get the best mileage and when I’m touring I usually meander along at the 60/65 mark, comfortable and economical.

There are a few bikes out there with this mod, some I’ll bet don’t even know they are riding it, maybe they are second owners, it does have it’s down sides and takes time to get used to, sometimes I wish I didn’t have it, especially on the twistyies but as soon as I stop to refuel I’m glad I do.

So you say you’d like a bike with a sixth gear or long fifth, it’s been done, might still be available, maybe someone from Italy could advise, is Mario still working his magic?

Been analyzing why I ride and had a thought was reading on FB or someplace people saying what they’d do if they won the lotto, me I’d ride.

Just ride, not to go anyplace not to see anything just ride, I had a choice this year, (lucky man) I could schedule my season anyway I wanted, rallies meets or just ride, I chose to just ride.

Why not rallies with fiends, they have ride outs, don’t they? Yes sure they do but it’s usually a short blast or parade some place and 2 hrs of sitting telling lies then another ride back to base camp, me? I’d sooner spend the lying time riding. Does that make me a funny bugger? Maybe, I just want to ride.

So if I won the lottery what would I do? Ride, safe in the knowledge that when I got hungry I could eat, when I got tiered I could sleep and when I needed gas I could fill the tanks, all without having to look for a cheap diner, a cheap gas station and a flee pit of a motel, that’s all I want to do, ride.

Was just thinking that’s all, different stroke for different folks, me I like to ride.

So that was my trip south to Belonga Mick, arrived to grass that was ready to cut and weather that was going to allow me to cut it, so I spent a leisurely evening cutting grass and grilling on the BBQ.

Next day it was decision time, I had booked to stay 14 days but now with the house sale I couldn’t afford to be away that long so had to return to the UK and start house hunting, we literally didn’t know what we were going to do, another adventure meJulie calls it, but we’ll still need a base.

I spent the next couple of days finishing the plastering in the end house and not a bad job it was when finished, then a quick visit to Paul and Rose to collect the van and I returned to the UK less than 6 days after going out to France, a flying visit.

Now where we at,

This weekend is East meets West, hope the rain stays off for that, got some friends staying at ours and will be picking some riders up along the way, be nice if we could see the 20 valk mark at a northern meeting reached. We only started organising local events three years ago, from a usual 2 of us on a meet at the barn, we can now sometimes get into double figures, important to know your fellow enthusiast, especially when the bikes are getting old, we can poll knowledge and resources should we ever have a problem, with continuing support the northern arm of the VRCC-UK will go from strength to strength.

First week of July it’s our annual holiday and although again we have cut it short we will still be touring thru France and northern Italy,

More to come, aint life interesting, been thinking about facebook as well lately, (too much time in the saddle), I think it will be the death of social groups, too many people across to many groups, spreads it all a bit thin, maybe I’ll explain more another time, but for now from a VRCC perspective I think the main boards, US and UK need our support, along with others more permanent sites such as VOAI, http://valkyrie-owners.com/SMFORUM/index.php

 And wolf clan,  http://www.timbrwolf.websitetoolbox.com/

 but I’ll save all that for another day, sure I’ve bored you enough for now, check back soon, you never know when I might have something else to share.

And remember

The roads you don’t know……………may become the ones you love the most

Just an update June 2013

Been neglecting me story telling so I’ve been told, so I thought I’d catch up.

So the year so far, as everyone knows the winter just dragged on and not just for me and my fellow island inhibiters here in the UK, it was just as slow to start stateside so I hear, but that’s behind us now and summer has finally shown its hand and it’s looking good.

My riding started if you remember back in March in the snow scouting the northern meet up in the Lake District and very successful meet it was, every year it gets bigger,

I got out to Belonga Mick in April on the bike, it was itching to get some good wind and I found it.

We had a VRCC event in London, guided ride around our capital by no other than our very own DaveMac, his day job is a London cabbie, you want to see London? They’re the best guides. We’d stayed the night before at a hotel just north of the capital with some of the guys before setting off on the Saturday on the tour

By about 12 ish it was time for me to drop meJulie off at Euston station for her train home, me I was off to France, after I’d had a quick ride back to the guys at the Ace café, was hoping to grab a bite to eat and chill for an hour before I had to go to the tunnel and the train to France.

But no, about a mile after dropping meJulie off the GPS went off, stopped, checked power, none, popped seat, melted wires, shoot, middle of London, no map, oh well lets see how we do. I headed off in the direction I was travelling prior to loss of GPS. Traffic was building up by this time and I made slow progress, I’d love to say I was guided by my navigational skill and sun position but, well put simply I don’t know how but I found my way to the Ace  and met up with the guys. With a little help we got power to the GPS and system working again, just in time for me to leave and head for the train south.

With temps in the low 60’s, steady ride south to the tunnel and a very enjoyable crossing, I found one of the quickest crossings I’ve had due to another fellow rider and the stories we exchanged. Arrived Calais and temps down to 50 F and I’m looking at a night of riding thru France.

I intended to part scout the ride for this years VRCC Belonga Mick ride in October, I got as far as Amiens and had to accept that at 53 though not old, with the punishment I’ve given my body over the years it wasn’t going to make it thru the night, already my left knee was aching and my right wrist was starting to burn, checked the temp gauge on the bars and it was now below the 50 and sure to get lower, I booked into a flee pit and got my head down for the night, sure tomorrow will be warmer and the ride more enjoyable.

Is that a big deal? Yes suppose it is for me, not that I’ve been beat or even that I have to admit defeat, it’s not a battle riding a bike, for me it was/still is the feeling of oneness, man and machine chopping thru the night, watching the sunrise, smelling the morning after a night ride is an experience,,,,,,,,,,, well it’s like the dog sticking it’s head out of the car window, if you don’t ride you wouldn’t understand, I hope you do.

I like to think/hope my discomfort was as much temperature related, maybe I was over tired, after all we had spent the morning touring London, whatever, I made the call and stopped.

The next morning I was up and back on the road by 7.30 and although the temperature was now only 38 F I knew it would be getting warmer as I headed south. Sure enough I arrived at the house mid afternoon, wall to wall sunshine and grass that wasn’t too long.

I had taken the opportunity to ride part of the planned October route and thoroughly enjoyed it, beautiful French country side and historic villages and no other better way of seeing them than from a bike.

I’d only been out 3 weeks earlier in the van to deliver some materials so had given it its first trim of the year then. Now that trip was another story I should have told you, stuck in a snow drift just north of Paris, cold? Boy it was so cold my camping gas froze, another lesson learnt. Will be sorting snow chains and other essentials for the van before next winter, cuda died.

I was hoping on this trip to get the plastering done in the new house, but I had managed to bring finish over last trip instead of basecoat plaster, so that was a non starter, however I did build the fire base up ready for the stove to be installed later this year. Also I picked up Neil (master chief and stone mason) who apart from his many other skills is a very good random stone pointer, he spent a day pointing the stone work either side of the fireplace and an excellent job he did.

Pic after

Pic (will get one next visit and post)

Can’t remember what else I did that trip, general tidy and ride, I did discuss with Paul the options for the new door in the end house, old opening is very small and a standard door wouldn’t fit, I could get one made but at over £1000 ($1540) I felt it a bit expensive. Paul suggested we make the opening fit a standard door, assured me it was a cheaper option and would work ????????? I had my doubts; you have to remember these cottages are over 2 to 300 years old if not older, and built from random stone held together with nothing more that mud, walls 3 ft thick and in filled with rubble and all sorts. No he insisted it would be fine, Paul is one of the few builders I would trust. I again put my trust in him and we ordered a standard door from suppliers and made arrangements for Paul (and Neil) to call on our next visit and do the deed, that was going to be in May, when I’d be accompanied by meJulie, her first trip out since Christmas.

I had to cut my trip short by a couple of days and return to the UK, decided to split the trip into two and stop at Abbeville, maybe when the weather warms I’ll be able to spend more time in the saddle before stopping, but in the damp and cold no, just not worth it.

I picked up a new GPS for this year TOMTOM Pro Euro, I like my TomTom, had experience of other systems and find TomTom the most reliable and this new system had a new feature “winding roads” oh yes, set your destination, then set the degree of “bendy roads” you want and set off, I did this a s I left Abbeville that morning heading to Calais, travelled some great roads, just have to put your trust in the GPS and go, I seem to remember it rained some of the way but when you’re enjoying the ride as much as I was that don’t matter, I’m glad I updated the system, (even more so when the next time I used the old one in the car back home it stopped working and hasn’t worked since) that was it for April.

Loaded the van again in May for another trip out, this time with the right plaster and well loads of stuff, every time I take the van out it’s fully loaded, in fact I’d say over loaded, back axle nearly on the floor, my old trafic has had some punishment and it just keeps on going.

This trip the weather was…bad….rain and cold and this was May, like I said winter dragged on this year, just when we thought it was all over it returned with a vengeance. We made the most of our time out there, me plastering and Julie cleaning, we did manage to spark up the BBQ a couple of time and had some exceptionally nice sirloin I’d bought back home, nice strip I cut myself, gave me 20 pieces of steak, not huge but boy were they tender, that’s what we’ll be putting on the menu in October.

Friday and Paul arrives to “make the opening fit the door”, he sent us off to collect the new door from Limoges, didn’t think my heart would cope with the stress, these things can and sometimes do go wrong, random stone is unpredictable, Julie and me, we enjoyed the drive south for the door, stopped off for lunch and made a trip out of it. When we got back they were just putting the finishing touches to the inner skin of stonework, and a very nice job they had done of it, they packed up about 6 and went on there way, now all I had to do was fit the door and light the BBQ.

Fitting doors in France isn’t a hard job, they come pre mounted in a frame, as long as the opening is square and the right size you can’t go wrong, and opening was bang on, raised door up ½ inch to allow for new floor clearance and I had it fitted and sealed within the hour, BBQ smoking we ate more steak at 7.30, life’s good.

Couple of days gardening and tidying and we were on our way home, via Paul’s new park and fly service, we'd decided to fly back and Paul was allowing us to park the van at his place, and Paul’s wife Rose would take us to the airport and we would fly back to Liverpool.

2 reasons, well maybe three for leaving the van in France, first it’s cheaper to fly than drive, flight tickets £28 each, with train ticket this end (UK) for £6.50, so 35 as near as dammit, where as to drive, train is £35 plus diesel at about£80. next reason we didn’t want the van on the drive at home as we have the house on the market so want it looking it’s best and although I love old faithful it’s not everyone’s cup of tea parked on the drive, can make the place look untidy.

And third, was there a third? Oh maybe yes next trip over I’m on the bike and have decided to bring it back in the van as I need to bring some other stuff back so makes sense that way, wrong I know, only time a bike should move is when it’s wheels are in contact with the road, but sure the Dragon will forgive me this once.

So that’s where we’re at, away again on the 13 June, I’ll be stopping at Dreux  scouting accommodation for Belonga Mick in October (someone has to do it) then scouting the ride proper, with coffee stops and site seeing down to the house, where I’ll be spending a week plastering, gardening and riding, oh yes plenty of enjoying that warm French wind.

Got to get back for the midsummer gathering another of our VRCC events up north,

just a days riding with friends, nothing much, no life doesn’t get much better than that, really.

This years road trip, July, we are off (that’s me and meJulie) to France then down to Italy and around to Nice, then along the coast to Spain and back into France, we will be avoiding tolls and using old mountain passes, pictures and story promised, keep watching.

I know I’ve said it before but I’ll do my best to post an update when I get back end of June, till then, this is where I am, can’t think of a better place, hope you’re in the right place also, enjoy

Mick

If you’ve got this far and found a link that isn’t working, let me know, thanks.