The beast is back

Ginny's back. Hooray! After two weeks in Battersea having her service, I got her back yesterday. Stress levels have now dropped a bit, especially as they took £250 off the bill because they'd had her so long. 😁

As I speak, I have just finished updating my TomTom with the latest European map, so that is nearly ready to go on tour. I shall need to download the routes now, no small task, given how many there are. I had a little accident the other week with the cable and the plug that plugs into the power supply on the bike. I'd taken it out of its socket and when I turned the handlebars it got crushed, so I had to get a new plug to put on the end of the cable. That's fitted now and I'm going to test it now the TomTom is updated to make sure the connection works ok. 

I've started some of my packing already and discovered things that I would normally take on tour are not in the house, so presumably locked up in storage somewhere, i.e. my tablet, which is what I usually do the blogs on. A trip to the storage place proved a waste of time, so I'm having to improvise. I was also looking for a windproof inner jacket which I thought I might take with me as one of my layers now I'm layer aware but I couldn't find that either.🙁

 Not much else to report at the moment.

Ciao

Not long now

 Less than 3 weeks to go now. I have to say that I have been less 'stressed' for previous tours than for this one. I'm not entirely sure why. Stressed may not be the right word, less prepared might be more accurate, though I have got most things sorted, I still have a couple of things unplanned, which is very unusual for me with so little time till the off.  I'm sure it will all come good over the next week or so though. 🤞

Ginny is currently spending time in Battersea. She needed a service before the tour and Arden in Tunbridge Wells weren't able to book her in until the 8th June, the day we leave. The next nearest dealer is Park Lane Motorrad in London, so I had no choice but to book her in with them. I'd planned to leave her and pop over to the Imperial War Museum for the day but the 24k service is a big one, and as it turns out, bigger than I thought. Bobbie informed me that it would involve valve clearance checking and that it wouldn't be finished in a day. I therefore had to have a loan bike. When I say bike, it is actually a c400x scooter! Long story short, they have now had Ginny for 9 days and are awaiting parts from Germany. Maybe I am stressed. 😟 Hopefully, I'll have her back this coming week. On the 31st, I have her booked in at Ryder M/Cs in Sittingbourne to have some new boots fitted. The current set are probably only half worn, if that but with 4500 miles planned in a month, I daren't risk them becoming threadbare whilst away. They might make it but then again, they might not. Best to just get them changed.

Grizzly has treated himself to a new set of waterproofs and a new helmet. The helmet is quite appropriate I think. No, it's not got a big penis on top, 😂 it's the colour scheme.

Grizzly's New Helmet

I've been thinking of renewing my waterproofs, so might be making a purchase in that area myself. I've also got my eyes on some new biking socks. Before that though, I've been buying some layers. After 40+ years of biking, I've recently become enlightened on bike clothing. T-shirts and a thin woolen jumper aren't any good for keeping warm or keeping one dry (not sweaty) in the hot temps, so I've got a couple of merino base layers and a down filled gilet. By sensible layering, I should be equally well prep'd for the Alps, as for the hot plains of Sicily. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

On the planning side, most 'sights/activities' that can be pre-booked have been, just the sightseeing of Palermo and Rome that need to be sorted and possibly a trip up Mt. Etna.

That's all for now I think.

Ciao!