The Jade Mongoose

Ok, i'm off Thursday 24th April, so IF the weather is good, i'm gonna stretch the bandit's legs on a ride into Yorkshire. Initial planned route is Kendal - Harrogate - Masham - Hawes - Sedbergh - Kendal. Anyone who fancies coming along or meeting for a brew on the way - just let me know! Obviously if it's lashing it down, i ain't going anywhere, but short of that i'll be out. Jadey

Yeah, Barrow to Carlisle is 86 miles avoiding motorways, and to Blackburn 76 miles.

There is a mass protest ride taking place in Barrow-In-Furness (Cumbria) on 11th May, to object to the closure of the DSA Motorbike Test Centre there and in Kendal, our two local centres (I did my test in Kendal). Anyone wanting to take their bike test who lives in Cumbria will have to ride to either Carlisle or Blackburn, up to a 160 miles round trip for some. There will be petitions being signed and local press at the starting point in Barrow at 9.30am, followed by a ride through Cumbria to the Test Centre at Carlisle. I'll be there myself with a few mates for the petition signing, and will follow part of the route then peel off and go to work I know there's not a lot of people on here from this area, but just putting it out there. All are welcome. Plus if anyone follows me to work there's free brews Jadey. http://www.crooks-suzuki.com/index.php?p=326

.....which brings me onto my pet-licence-hate: How come someone decided that with no additional training than me, someone who passed their car test 2 years before me can drive a van up to 7.5 tonnes as opposed to my 3.5, a minibus with 16 passengers as opposed to my 8, and tow a caravan as opposed to my helium-filled ferret?!? Whinge over

Had a job in France driving kids around in a minibus on an adventure centre. The minibus had a trailer hooked up to it with 5 huge white-water rafts on it, each capable of holding 10 people. Unbeknownst to me or the Centre, due to the date i passed my test the max trailer weight i could tow was 500kg, which would just about allow me to tow an anemic ferret full of helium. That's about it really. Ok officer, i'll come quietly

Sorry we missed you Jonesey. We'll catch you next time though. We were joined by a mate of mine at Devils on a Katana that is older than me, and extendede the ride to Lancaster and then back to Kendal. A good day. Voodoo and Dragolith with our bikes at Devils. http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/203/devilsvoodoovq4.jpg

Yep, i'm in too, setting off in about an hour. Will be there before 11.

P.S. That roundabout is the roundabout for the Rheged Discovery Centre and there's a petrol station there!!!!!!!

Mint! It's gonna be dry til at least tomorrow evening, we'll see you all at 11 at that junction near Rheged mateys!

Yeah. PM'd you. Is anyone meeting me and Drago at Kendal before progressing up to Penrith? We'll probably be going up the A6.

Hi matey, I'm well up for that, been dying to get out for a while! Plus, I love that road!

Provisionally....i can't do it But if i can get someone to cover me at work that day then i'm there. JM

The 23rd, 24th and 25th (sat, sun, mon) is a bank holiday weekend and i'm off those three days, (if thats any good?!?). Would love to join in the leg from JOG to the Lakes.

I know the Thatched House in stockport, is that the place? Do you guys have a myspace/web site? If that is the place i've played there myself, i'm the drummer in a rock/metal band called Jusure. Will see if i can make it!

Just got back, rode from kendal to rheged, then to hawes then devils then back to kendal. i think it was about 100-120 miles. Very cold on the old fingers, but was wrapped up warm so the rest of me was ok. There was me, drago and chic with his daughter on pillion. On the twisties there was a bit of ice about, including one corner where it was frozen right across the road. Scary stuff for about 2 seconds, but that was the only real problem. Really enjoyed the day and i'm knackered now. Cheers chic for coming out and keeping us company!

Im there! Haha, i knew it! You just needed an incentive!

Ok, if anyone else is interested in a bimble out, me, drago and chic are meeting at Rheged filling station at approx 11am tomorrow. Possible destinations are hartside cafe, tann hill, hawes and devils. All are welcome. P.S. I am excited but also dubious - excited because it's my first rideout on the bandit, and dubious because last time i rode to hartside, i got attacked by a buzzard.

Yeah, it'd be nice to travel up there with a couple of people. Anyone coming up the M6 i could meet up with. If it's a time of year when the weather's not naff i could go for camping n'all.

Good plan, that! Just spoken to Dave and we can be up there at about 11. Do you wanna meet at the petrol station at Rheged? Then we can decide where to go from there. That'll give us a good 4 hours daylight riding. Matt

Hell no we don't feel the cold. We get too cold to feel anything

Nice one!

Me and Dragolith are gonna be venturing out for what will probably be the last ride til next summer. Weather's gonna be nice, so who fancies a bit of a ride on the twisties? Probably Devils, Tann Hill, Hawes, Hartside, any other suggestions? P.S. This is my first daylight ride on the big bike, so come on, who's up for it?

Put yer bike in a van then.................. lol

Sounds like fun. Anyone done this length of ride before? RAC routeplanner says 18 hours of solid chugging. Drove 12 hours once (Kendal to London and back) in a day and was knackered. Maybe 2 days for the actual ride? The only drawback for me is that from mine to JOG, to LE then back to mine would cost about £250 just in fuel.