Two's Company

Husband and Wife Team


Ka borrowed Nikki's helmet and suit and I dragged her down to Paragon Rider Training to review the cheaper end Buffalo "starter" bike gear in there and the HJC helmet like mine, but in pink. Purchased, this was one part of my Christmas shopping wrapped up!

I'm not sure who was more nervous!?

Back we returned and closed a loop of about 14-miles. I got told off for overtaking in a built up area (fair cop) and questioned about some aggressive-feeling-to-a novice-pinion filtering out of town but otherwise the wind noise jammed out most other commentary. An intercom was mentioned.

It wasn't a bad ride and if I'm honest it was a pleasure to share this other side of my life with Ka; otherwise it will get a little more lonely, I expect.

That night Ka went on about my planning a trip to Spain in the Spring. This started off with me asking to go alone to Bilbao and then touring as far as Gibraltar and back up via Madrid to the Pyrenees before either traversing the Western coast of France or returning via Bilbao. Ka thinks she'd enjoy the trip, too. I'm not sure I would have any space left in the panniers or intended top-box for even a spare pair of grots.

Whatever, it's nice she's so keen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Picking up Sherbert

Image
To recap, we'd been awake and travelling to Offenburg, Germany since 2:30 am. Bikemoto's offer of a free coffee felt overwhelmingly generous while we waited for Sherbert's paperwork to be readied. There was a hire agreement to cover our ride back to Ireland, the ownership documentation, Certificate of Compliance, manuals, sales agreements, and more. It all took time. All the time I was taking stock of the enormity of the day and second-guessing the plan. Self doubt I'd not ridden for nearly 5 years since fixing Arod's speedometer sensor and finding his fork seals were leaking. COVID 19 and working from home were little motivation to set things right. Now I am about to ride a new-to-me model of bike I've not ridden before. Sherbert is heavier than an ST1300, a weightier insurance liability, and has a dual clutch transmission (DCT). He's extra expensive to buy and more-so to fix. I'm riding on the right side of the road in Europe and with my wife rid
Read more

28 February - Jammed Screen Blues

Head Trauma The LHS winder for the screen is jammed. I’ve had the screen at a medium-high stetting for the cold and rain but this really gives some buffeting in some conditions – especially at speed on the M-ways. It was so bad on the way to Stoke I had to stop and hand-force the screen all the way down for some relief. It needs either another overhaul (gave it a good oiling when symptoms first appeared) or replacement, which is just so expensive. Even a knackered one from a ‘brakers seems to command an inflated £100+ tag. Daft greedy b’stards. Anyway – the jobs waiting for a quieter moment. Too much going on to rip the plastics off Shadowfax just now. We both have a job to do.
Read more

To Offenburg from beyond

Image
Offenburg is a couple of hours south of Frankfurt.  Initial plans were to fly to Frankfurt, catch a train to Offenburg, and then a taxi to the bike shop. Unfortunately, RyanAir fly to Frankfurt Hahn airport and don't hint at the fact Hahn is two hours west of Frankfurt. We discovered that gem after booking the flights. No plan survives first contact, right? So we adapted and hired a car to drive the 3 hours to Offenburg. Adapt or fail We learned that RyanAir will only allow helmets on spare seats–one helmet per seat by the read of it. Otherwise your life-saving equipment needs to go in the hold to be crushed, battered, and invisibly compromised by damage. Our new Shuberth C5s had arrived only a couple of days ahead of the flight in two smart boxes within a single purpose sized box. Mrs G called RyanAir and confirmed a 'suitcase' can be a box and what the maximum dimensions can be.  The box fitted the bill. Into Hahn Typically, the Friday flight out was at around 6am and w
Read more