Didn't go. The heart attack on Easter Saturday put paid to that. I provided as much information as I could and the rest of the party went anyway and had a good day.
A tale of up-cocks and the need to buy a map. What could possibly go wrong? No satnav and no paper map? Nothing of course. Once I was on the A26, cruise set to 110kph, plain sailing. Junction 6 for Béthune is soon passed. I had expected 6.1 to be close by. It isn't. Doubt sets in. Next is the A21 signed to Lens and Douai (pron doo-eye) and yes a D road as well. Souchez is on the right of the A26. So track right on a new road. No signs of life, no signage... Not good. Arrive Barlin. New supermarket. No maps. Ask idiot-villageur for directions. Follow them and find myself in Mont St Eloi where the abbey was shelled and the structure remains. A sort of bombed shell. No access though. Not today anyway. Head off towards Arras expecting to see a signpost. None. Enter Arras and buy a map at Auchun. It seems that at Mont St Eloi I was about 4 miles away as I stood in the sun. By now the hour ...
Once Mr Dale had sorted Döra's earth lead, I togged up and set off about three hours later than planned. The TomTom fastest route was M20 and M25 then A-roads to Edenbridge. On google maps the Last Chance is shown but the waypoint isn't quite right. In the end it is about fifty yards away. I turned in and took a couple of pix. I arrived after they had closed unfortunately. I had no idea how to mark the car-park as the waypoint on the TomTom. On the old Garmin Quest there is a simple "where am I" button and you can give the waypoint a reference. I set it to record route, and then set a route for home. So at least the exact waypoint will be marked. No cockups next week I hope. Until recently I didn't realise I had more options for planning routes. I now seem to have wonders like "winding road" as well as bicycle and walking! Before I had only fastest and shortest! The run home was the shorter "winding road" an...
I currently use an Oxford magnetic tank bag. It's a small enough for those days when you just need somewhere for your spare specs and wallet but it also expands. But it is the magnets that are my concern. No matter how much you wipe the base of the bag, the magnets will start to scratch the paint. So before the Spain trip last summer, I started to look at the Givi tank-lock system. In the end I shelved that as I had only recently bought the new top box and and inner bag! So with Spring approaching (sometime any way!) I decided to have another look. Prices don't seem to have changed much, and when Googling, the overseas shops seem to have prices about 20% cheaper than here. With postage taken into account they are still cheaper. So, I ordered the Givi 3D604 bag from Motocard . Delivery takes about a week and that's okay as I don't intend to use it for a while.
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