MCN report that Hesketh is up for sale for 250k - less than a one-bedroom flat in London. This sounds like a bargain, particularly if I can install Freeview and my espresso machine in a corner of the factory. I think the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Operative (slogan: the revolution will not be motorised) ought to have some competition!
I'm in Richmond making a temporary pause en route South to get some blogging in (I am a slave to my readers ;) As I rode round the highly-slopey parking spaces in the Market Square, I thought, We're not going to be able to stop here. Searching out some flat ground, I squinted at the writing on the space - loading only? disabled? No! M/C :) Many, many thanks to the person in the Council Highways Department who understands the impact of trying to park a bike on a slope...
"I have carefully considered the points you have raised and reviewed the details of the case in full. I can confirm that this PCN has been cancelled.
"I have cancelled this charge on this occasion only. Please be advised that I may be unable to cancel future PCNs issued under the same circumstances.
"You are no longer liable for this charge."
Very exciting post this morning - my T-shirt for the Kill Spills Celebration Ride. Last hurrah through the streets of London! Equally welcome is the good news that we leave the Ace Cafe at 11am, which means I get a little longer to recover from the ceildh I'm going to on Friday night....
If you find yourself with 10 minutes to spare, and fancy a bit of ritual humiliation, see if you can pass the theory test .
I got 42 instead of the necessary 43, and should therefore hang up my helmet :(
Going for a slightly overambitious gap on the A1 this morning, I tipped someone's wing mirror (only a tiny bit - ususally there's tons of room, Ruby's mirrors are well above car height and just below van height. Sadly there's a make of 4x4 whose mirrors are exactly the same level above the tarmac...)
What's the best course of action after such an event? I have been prone to stopping and putting it back, but a very irate man near Finsbury Park gave me the impression that he would much prefer that I ceased adding insult to injury. So this morning I pretended not to noticed and carried serenely on. Which feels a little wrong.
Lots of coverage today of research commissioned by ancestry.com, suggesting that "unfashionable hobbies" are a "genetic inevitability." They cite trainspotting and morris dancing, but I'd like to argue that there must be a biker gene too - I got my licence in 1996, swiftly followed by my sister, and last year my brother also passed his test (in Australia...at least he's getting some sunshine.) Which suggests a new way to increase the numbers of riders in the UK. The French government give tax breaks and rent rebates to couples who have more than three children. So what we need is a programme of incentives to breed the next generation of genetically pre-destined bikers....I'm giving this some thought, there's got to be something more attractive than free maternity leathers...
The weather has finally won. Yesterday shouldn't have been a bad day - to West London, then out to Berkshire, then up the M11. As I got to my first meeting, the rain started, but I escaped it by running inside. While we argued, the sun shone. As we broke out the sandwiches, the sun shone. "You'd better get going now - while it isn't raining," I was told (my reputation in such matters has become well-known). Give it a minute, I said, peeling a banana. Apocalyptic cloud, rainstorm. I foiled it by eating a second smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel and got to ride to Berkshire in the sunshine, which was genuinely lovely, doing the dapply-leaved English shires bit. But revenge was extracted about halfway round the M25. My super-comfy new lid is actually rubbish in the rain, I have a choice of Steamed Up or Leaking, which does rather compromise forward visibility. I try to look on the bright side, I sing little songs of cheerfulness, I say, well, at least it isn't that cold, but in the end I admit that riding 100 motorway miles in heavy rain is just miserable.
I cast myself upon the mercy of friends and arrive unannounced in Letchworth in the hope of a cup of coffee and a tumble drier. Much excitement occasioned among small boys - we sit on the sofa, which is much better than sitting in a puddle of rainwater (serious design flaw in the motorcycle, I feel) and we watch the Transformers movie, which is much better than watching the spray on the motorway, while I await rescue by White Knight. My suggestion for motorcycle recovery operators is this - give everyone an "I'm a Biker, Get Me Out of Here" card that they can use twice a year or so, when the weather is dire or the traffic too much, just to say, I've done my best but I've had enough - please take me home.
Big thanks for the coffee, the sausage and mash, the tumble drier and the garage space :) and for the lift home in a warm,
dry,
car .
I did get one small ride in the sun, back from Cheltenham in August, but this morning the raindrops are once again falling on my head, my anti-fog visor steamed up, my headlight still bust, the Euston Road snarled up, still not allowed in the bus lane.... My one-month free parking permit from Westminster has expired, so I tried to text to pay for my space. I read the sign and text BIKE to the number given, which promises to send me instructions. All I get is "Parking Failed - Credit Card has expired." Which is has, in fairness. But I feel an invitation to text my credit card number and expiry date is a step too far. I could phone the number, but you need to be able to hear the voice prompts and enter numbers at the same time, which is tricky on a mobile. Fortunately for me, the office was 5 minutes walk away so I could log in and change my credit card details. Then I tried texting again and it said, "Parking failed - send Location Duration." So I phoned. God help the innocent visitor.
Catching up with the post that has been building up while I've been 60 degrees North, I find two things....the results for the National Rally, which reveal that Graham and Barry won the prize for Best SideCar - I think you'll agree from the evidence in the photo that there can have been no contest! - and a letter from BMW confirming that Ruby no longer languishes under HP and now wholly belongs to me. Which is good because I am already over my milage allowance for the year, with 4 months to go, and have been falling down badly on the polishing stakes.
Edited to include a better photo sent by Graham.
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