Throttled

After an interesting chat about possible future ways of doing the rally, the final bill for this years rally was; Camping (including Thursday night, so three nights) £24. Fuel bill (which covers around 600 miles plus the ride out) £60.11 Food and drink (everything from snacks on the way down and back to coffees, lunch on the ride out and the bar bill. I did not eat in the hotel) £94.54 I also spend £17.00 on Trekmates heat packs to cook my food and a broken tent pole has cost £29 to replace. The total of all that is £224.65.

Attending this years rally meant riding 450 motorway miles in total, there and back on the M74, M6, M60 and M61. A few observations. - I sat at 80ish and was regularly overtaken by other bikes. I hardly over took any bikers, so why so fast? Is it because most looked uncomfortable and they just wanted to get the trip over and done with asap? - a big tank and a comfy seat helps. I stopped twice on each motorway part, so the longest I did in the saddle was 112 miles and about 1 hour 45 mins from the Southwaite services at Carlisle to the M8 where I leave for home. I could do the 225 miles of motorway riding on one refill with enough to spare for the ends of the trip home and to the rally. I definitely went quicker than others doing the same route, but who had to stop more often, even though my top speed was lower. - middle lane hoggers mean most motorways are more like dual carriageways and the queues of cars overtaking could be very long and dangerous as tail gating is common. More needs to be done to deter hogging. - filtering, my bike is wide and I could not get through some gaps. I would pull over for other bikes which filtered up behind me, but at one point I was stuck and had to stop. The bikes behind me then turned, went through gaps between cars and filtered between another lane. Some filtering speeds I saw left no room for error at all.

Did you not go on any major dual carriageways? The A2 is a four-lane road between Greenhithe and the M2 but I have been up and down that section countless time on just a CBT. Plenty of motorway-like A-roads. Apart from one random remaining roundabout the A3 is uninterrupted from Kingston until about seven miles north of Portsmouth, where it becomes the A3(M) and, I guess, far more dangerous. Heading east out of Portsmouth the A27 goes to four lanes, and you need to get into the third one to stay on the road rather than end up on the A3(M) slip road. (Although there is a slip road coming off that slip road for a roundabout, so you could stay left and come off and rejoin if you are unable to change lanes.) It makes me wonder if the fetishization of motorway partially intimidates new drivers, rather than just seeing them just as major A-roads with different colour signs. That type of road most learners can and do access. Roads such as the A9 has slip road type access to get used to that part of the process. There are dual carriageway sections where the limit is 70mph. The step from that kind of road to a motorway is small since motorway slip roads tend to be longer and the lanes are often wider than 70 mph A roads.

This year can be described as small, but perfectly formed. It was just brilliant talking to everyone who was there and the mix of bikes was great.

Large parts of England and most of Wales is also going to have issues

There is the issue of the majority of Scotland is no where near a motorway.

George and Dragon near Penrith The Lion, Bolton Rd, Atherton Queens Head, Buxton The Barley Mow, Bonsall All the pubs done. Plus, High Peak Bookshop & Cafe

Just got a new tent pole for £29 to replace the one that snapped. It was very windy at times.

This was my problem with the banshee in the most part. there is the tent you can fit inside with gear but changing is a pain and damp gear inside? no thanks.. Why i upgraded to the omega I'm interested in that dry bag though does it make it easier to pack then? Oh yes! You will get an Omega in a 44l dry bag no problem, with room for any extras like a tarp and poles.

Home about 20 mins ago. Must have passed Santa and the reindeer, as they passed me then pulled into Annandale Water services on the M74. That is the advantage of what I now know to a genuine 230 miles on a tank. One stop for fuel and one stop for a coffee. Sat nav took me back over the Cat and Fiddle, which was mobbed, as was parts of the motorway around Manchester. Bloody Sunday drivers.

I saw a bike being ratted and the guy used plastikote paint. It covers a multitude of sins.

I have a Vango Banshee 2 for trips where i stay 1 night in each place. But only if it is dry. There is no where for wet kit. It packs back into the bag ok and fits in my pannier. I have a Vango Stelvio for rallies and if it is wet. It is made for bikers with space for wet kit. I pack it back into a dry bag I got from Aldi. The dry bag packing also suggested above makes life on the road with a tent 100% easier. Just get a dry bag longer than the folded tent poles.

Arrived. Lovely and sunny. Sitting having a pint having eaten and put up tent. There is a mini festival on the Saturday in the barn. Local friends and bands and they like to dress up, apparently! They want us to camp in the part of the field away from the barn. Ride onto the site and past the row of big trees. My green tent is in the corner. I have procured a couple of picnic tables for us to use. I will also get to warm up Stu's bed for him and plump his pilows, so it will be all lovely for his arrival. One more pub to do and that is all the pub tags done for the first time. Did the Cat and Fiddle on the way here, brilliant fun.

Busy day today and then leaving early tomorrow to do some tags on the way down, so no more posts for a while. I will do a big update of the challenge scores next week. On Friday, I will be doing some more tags, but expect to be back at the site mid afternoon at the latest. See you soon!

I have had no major issues with sizes at the Motherwell and Glasgow stores. IME compared to motorcycle dealers, the range is huge.

I get a bit of extra noise and no drag from my intercom. But it is a lot smaller and closer to the helmet than a camera. The Go-pros look stupid http://www.mc-ams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/HelmetCamIMG.jpg

Fancy dress arrived. Pubs put onto sat nav to finish that challenge. Getting excited now. Will there be a rally t-shirt?

Are they not noisy and cause drag that you notice?

A bucket list bike for me, they look amazing.

As short as last year's? That was not optional.

Well that's definitely an option, but I don't want to cause a rift! I have tweaked the Glossop loop to start/finish at the pub; 76 miles/2hrs 20mins in total, including Winnat's Pass, Snake Pass and a ride-by of Chatsworth House: https://www.motogoloco.com/map?route=39755 It would also be easy to extend it from Rowsley, going down the B5056 to Fenny Bentley and back via Warslow and Longnor, making it 98 miles/3hours. So, about this drinking. Do you mostly bring your own and sit in the field, or do we prop up the pub's bar for the evening? I would like the option to do a shorter ride.

It will be odd being there all on my own, in the bar, in fancy dress, singing my heart out........

Halfords digital gauge, much easier to read and going by a comparison with the local garage's fancy machine, accurate.

That is me all sorted, cooking, camping, fancy dress, the final pub tags for the challenge and arriving on Thursday evening. Is anyone else going to be there Thursday?

I have found that I need one of these to get petrol station air pumps to fit onto the valve on the bike.