Birthday ride

As a special treat on my birthday I persuaded my better half to ride with me - being a virgin (on this bike at least) she was somewhat nervous but found the sedate cruising and the padded seat and back rest better than expected.

The spring weather was fabulous and after a stroll around Chartwell we decamped to the Little Brown Jug for a tasty lunch in the pub garden.

The day can only get better still, when I cash in the special 'voucher' that appeared in my birthday card this morning!!!

Day 8 Prague to Heilbronn, Germany

Friday 12 September 2011

Awoke late with a hangover of immense proportions and the mouth like the inside of a Gorilla's cage. Unsurprisingly breakfast passed me by, and as I ventured out into the bright sunshine Fatrat was already engaged in a close inspection of his sticky dipstick. We managed to walk the mile or so into the centre of Prague to see some of the sights by daylight for a change.

A light lunch stayed down and, suitably fortified we pointed the barge down motorway 5 in the direction of the Fatherland and its place of birth. We reached the German border and some beautiful rolling countryside after about an hour and a half. The old girl was bearing up well, although we did not push her past 85 mph. The only other British car sighted on our route was a 1993 Jag saloon totally covered in stickers which blasted past us at a rate of knots.

We had decided rather randomly to make for the town of Heilbronn, just north of Stuttgart. Luck was with us, for the first hotel we came across (the Ringhotel) had vacancies at a reasonable rate and came with an underground car park for the Beast.

Luck stayed with us as it turned out we were in Heilbronn on the weekend of the town's annual wine festival - Fatrat being an expert on El vino, at least in quantity if not in quality, perked up considerably at the thought of another evening imbibing plonk of dubious provenance. So after an inexpensive Italian washed down with some giant beers, we descended on the town's main square. It was a hoot, totally packed with happy Germans sampling the many wines on offer at a Euro a glass. We strolled around doing a fair bit of sampling ourselves, soaking up the atmosphere and listening to the hilarious 'Big Band'. Their specialism being renditions of 80's and 90's pop and rock anthems (in English), sung along to by the entire crowd!

Total distance travelled so far 2,381 miles, 289 in the day.

Abbeville May bank holiday sortie

After an absence from track days last year, I have booked up with LOT to return to the tight and forgiving (just like a like a French virgin) Abbeville circuit in Northern France. Being on the May Day bank holiday Monday it is bound to rain of course which will make for interesting handling in the polished black beauty.

Ramshackle - Munich here we come!

Seb and I have bitten the bullet and entered one of the infamous Ramshackle Banger Rallies - This one is down to Munich for the Oktoberfest in a jalopy costing no more than £200. We have yet to decide a theme but have chosen the provisional team name of the Rogue Rutters - The long suffering SWMBO thought that this was very apt give our track records. Our choice was made somewhat easier by the enticing photos of the beer fest appearing on the website such as this one with the lovely pair of large...beers!:

Less is More!

Time for a spring clear out so the spare set of S1 wheels were put up for sale on Pistonheads. Not a bite for a week and then I had an email from a very nice French S1 owner who ended up coming all the way from Normandy to buy the wheels. He turned up in an immaculate Mini pick-up and with his broken English and iPhone pictures showed me the Mini City and Mini Cooper that he also owns (both immaculate).

Armed with some extra cash I purchased a lovely set of Compomotive matte black alloys. Cast specifically for the S1 they look great. To go with these are some "summer tyres". A set of just legal Toyo 888's. This is where the less is more title comes from, as despite being wider at the rear they do have significantly less tread! My man (mechanic) said to go easy for the first 200 miles to give them a chance to scrub in. Apparently they need some abuse to get up to temperature (hooray!) but when you get there the grip is legendary. Will be interesting to see how long they last!

The black wheels give the car a "stealth" look and I'm looking forward to some spirited driving and track days this year to test the 888's to the limit.

I also had some up-rated toe-links fitted. Apparently this can be a weak part if there is significantly more grip being generated and it does not look very cool to exit a corner with the bottom of the wheel hanging off! Finally, I had all the settings laser-tracked so the balance is perfect. All we need now is some decent weather!