France - Day 4

Today's the day! The start of the Coupes Moto Legende.

We were up early for the short ride to the Dijon-Prenois racetrack. Although the racetrack wasn't listed in any of our Satellite Navigators, the town of Prenois was so that's where we headed. As we approached, we had no doubts as to how to get to the racetrack – just follow the dozens of other bikes.

We were guided to spaces in the huge parking area, locked out jackets and boots in our panniers, and locked our helmets to our bikes, and in we went. Having bought our tickets in advance meant that we didn't have to queue to get in.

Once inside, it isn't apparent just how huge the event is. The riders have a huge pits area, the invited teams have garages at the trackside, there is a clubs section, a 'market', and numerous food and drink outlet. Going by previous years, there would have been about 20,000 people there but it never felt crowded.

As for the bikes – what can you say. Simply thousands of bikes 'classic' bikes from 25 to 100 years old, plus many former racers – Phil Read, Jim Redman, Giacomo Agostini, and Kork Ballngton to name a few.

I took over 200 photos plus some video, I've posted the photos on flickr, and I'll upload the videos later (if they are any good).

What really surprised me was the number of bikes I'd never heard of before. I would like to think I was knowledgeable when it came to bikes, but there were numerous, mostly French, manufacturers that I'd never heard of before.

And we've got it all to do again tomorrow........

Day 5 

France - Day 3

We'd decided to have a day off the bikes and spent some time playing at tourists. Dijon is a very historic city with plenty of interesting buildings and very ornate architecture. Our hotel is right in the city centre, which is fairly compact, so there was a lot to see on our doorstep.

The road outside the hotel was having a tram line laid, and occasionally 'test trams' went past.

Beat that, Edinburgh!

Even at 09:00 it was fairly warm and we soon found a large street market where a patisserie stall supplied our breakfast. We spent the day wandering about looking at things and taking photos. We had a lunchtime break for a drink, followed by some superb (and fairly cheap) sandwiches from one of the numerous food shops.

As the day wore on, it got a lot hotter and I spotted this sign outside a pharmacy.

Scorchio!

The afternoon was spent with more sightseeing and wandering about, until we had to go back to the hotel for a rest. Around 18:00 I went out for another wander and to buy postcards, and I was aware of lots of bikes starting to appear outside hotels. Many from other areas of France, and I saw some from the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. No doubt they were in town for this weekend's event!

I've copied today's photos to flickr and mr combo has posted on his blog. Here's a couple of photos to give you a taster.

One bit of sad news however. We got a message from Terry about his breakdown. He EVENTUALLY was relayed home, arriving in the early hours of the morning. After a few hours sleep, he set to work tracing the electrical fault. It turned out to be an intermittently bad earth connection, but by the time he'd found and fixed it, it would mean that he would have to get the ferry on Friday, meaning he wouldn't arrive in Dijon until Saturday evening, thereby missing half of the Coupes Moto Legende. As this was the main reason for the trip, he decided on not travelling.

We can all imagine just how gutted he must feel at missing a trip he'd been looking forward to for so long.

Day 4

France - Day 2

Had a reasonable sleep in my cabin on the very smooth crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge. The problem was the amount of light from the corridor coming under the door. Every time I rolled over the light woke me, I could have got up and put my jacket across the bottom of the door, but I couldn't be bothered getting up.
I eventually woke after hearing a tannoy anouncement about breakfast being served. Had a quick breakfast, tidied my luggage, and it was soon time to head down to the car deck. We were quickly unloaded, and it was out into a rather misty Belgium. After an hour or so we had crossed into France and as we made out way inland, the mist cleared and the temperature started to get a lot warmer. The road was fairly clear and we made good time, and it wasn't long before at one fuel stop I could take the liner out of my suit (first time I'd ever done that), change to light gloves, and put my sunglasses on.
We stopped every 100 miles/160km or so due to Gareth's bike's small fuel range, and we both filled up as well. Each time I used just over 8 litres, so someone who's more interested than me can work out my fuel consumption.

One of our stops

Despite being almost entirely on Autoroutes, the journey was very pleasant and most of the route is through countryside. As the day went on it got hotter and hotter, and the highest I saw was 29.7 C - I was 'willing' it to reach 30, but it didn't quite get there.

Look how little luggage Gareth brought! (middle)

We eventually got off the Autoroute on the outskirts of Dijon, where Gareth was 'robbed' by the automated toll machine. He put his card in, it told him how much to pay (12.10 euros), he started putting coins in but the screen blanked after he'd put in 8 euros. He pressed the 'help' button and the girl told him he would have to put in the whole 12.10!
Riding the last bit into Dijon was 'interesting' - very busy traffic, very hot, lots of roadworks due to the tram system, suicidal pedestrians, and my 'overheating' light was on almost all of the time! However we eventually found our hotel Kyriad Dijon Gare which is where I'm typing this from using their free Wi-Fi. Room is very nice, if a bit small, and the hotel has the luxury of an underground carpark. I usually costs 12 euros a day, but as we'll be able to get all 4 bikes into one car space, so it doesn't work out too bad. As the alternative is parking on the pavement outside, then 3 euros each a day is worth it from a security angle.
We've tried phoning Terry, but have got no reply. Hopefully this means that he's on his way and we'll see him tomorrow.

Day 3

France - Day 1

At long last, our trip to France for the Coupes Moto Legende started today. Rather than travel together, we decided to meet at a supermarket in Hull. This would give us a chance to fill up with petrol, buy anything that we'd forgotten, and get something to eat that would cost a LOT less than buying a meal on the ferry. We had arranged to meet at 15:00, and although it was only a five hour ride, I left at 07:30 as I was up and ready and I hate 'hanging about' before going anywhere.
The ride down was uneventful, and I stopped for about an hour in Carlisle as I was making such good time. I headed cross country on the A66 towards Scotch Corner, which is neither a corner nor is it anywhere near Scotland!
On the A66 I stopped at the Warcop Army base to take a photo of one of my favourite roadsigns:

This is where tanks cross the road

I headed on to Hull and was the first of our group to arrive at the supermarket. mr combo arrived soon after, followed by Gareth and Terry. Terry had had a few problems on the way there with the main fuse blowing on his Skorpion. He suspected a short circuit somewhere, so had a good look round the bike for any possible problems and bought a number of spare fuses, 'just in case'.
Suitably fed and fueled, we made our way on the short journey to the docks, but Terry quickly dropped out. I headed back to see if I could help, but he suspected a regulator fault and had phoned the breakdown service. I had to leave him as time was running out and I would miss the ferry. I got to the docks just before they closed the booking in, and waited in the car park with a couple of other riders until we could board. Mr combo and Gareth had already boarded and I found them once I got on board.

 The ferry

 Waiting to board

We phoned Terry, and his plan was to be taken home by the breakdown service, replace the regualtor with one from his other Skorpion, then ride down the following day to get the ferry, and catch up with us in Dijon.
Today's mileage was about 300 miles/500km, mostly in clear weather that got warmer as the day went on. Highest temperature I saw on the cheap thermomer I've stuck to the handlebars was 24 C.

Day 2

Norman Rides a Bike

Thanks to my friend Mo for finding this:

Stolen Skorpion

Was sent details of a black Skorpion stolen in Brighton.

As there aren't that many Skorpions in Britain, could you keep an eye out for it and be wary if you're offered spares from a (non standard) matt black bike.
Owner posted on 'The Rev Counter' e-group: post

Spread the word - it could be your bike next!

Coupes Moto Legende - not long now!

After all the planning, our trip to France is nearly upon us. On Wednesday, me, mr combo, Terry, and Gareth will be heading off to the Coupes Moto Legende near Dijon. I'll be going on my Traveller, mr combo on his Triumph Sprint ST, Terry on his Skorpion Tour and Gareth on his Derbi Mulhacén Café 659.

 This means that 3 of the 4 of us will, in keeping with the title of this blog, be 'Touring on Singles'.
 I had a 'test pack' of my luggage and found that I ended up with plenty of room left. This means that either am I very disciplined, or I've forgotten something! Knowing how paranoid I am, I'll spend the next couple of days racking my brain trying to think about 'the forgotten thing'!

I've had a look on the Web, and the weather for the time we'll be there doesn't look too bad.

Looks like I'll be packing my lightweight kilt and my Borat style mankini!!!

My plan is to try and update the blog and my Facebook page from my netbook while I'm away. Whether or not I manage to do this is another question!
Will take LOTS of photos and videos and will post them when I get back.