Champagne & Flowers

Champagne and Flowers

I booked the ferry crossing this week from Rotterdam to Hull with P&O ferries. The online system couldn’t cope with two passengers and two motorcycles so I had to actually speak to someone. That someone turned out to be a very nice lady who quickly established that we were two guys on a bike trip. She realised too that we probably needed twin beds in our cabin and I was happy to confirm that was correct. We discussed meals and rooms with or without windows, check in times and all the other details of the reservation. Finally, she said “Ok, I know you and Tim will be good friends especially after two weeks of rooming together on your bike trip but would I be right in assuming that you do not wish champagne and flowers to be left in the cabin?”

You don’t get that type of insightful service when you buy online!

Tax free donations

Dear friends

Following the media interest, I have had some questions regarding the charity giving link. As very much an amateur blogger, I can't seem to enter a working link into the text of blog entries but you can find the link to the left of each blog page under "MY LINKS": donate to our supported charity. That link works!!

If you donate via that route, the charity can claim back the tax you have paid (you are donating out of your taxable income) which means of course we can raise more money for the charity courtesy of the Chancellor! This is for UK tax payers only but all others can use still the same link.

Many thanks for your generous support.

Ian

Media coverage

The story has been published in the Hull Daily Mail and you can read the news at:

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/Adventure-lives-s-good-cause/article-2058826-detail/article.html

Dove House Hospice

Now we all know that Tim and I are going to really enjoy this trip no matter what happens. It could be freezing that far north; the weather might be bad; we might breakdown or get punctures; we may get lost. For certain, we will be shattered most of the time! But we will enjoy it whatever.

But it would be really good if we could help others and somehow mix pleasure with fund raising so here goes:

http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/ride-to-the-nordkapp

Please donate via this web address or call in at MilesKing Sport on Witham in Hull. A link to charity giving page is also on the bottom left corner of the webpage. Alternatively, see the page on this blog relating to Dove House Hospice for more details on how to donate.

Thanks very much.

Ian and Tim

Ferries

These are a necessary evil. I say that because at the end of the day, this is a motorcycle trip and I don't really want to spend hours on ferries. However, living in the UK really means getting a ferry and being close to Hull, P&O ferries have been our choice for past trips. It's a real shame though that there are no ferries to Norway from the UK. Hull to Rotterdam makes it a long trip to the Nordkapp so we have elected to use Harwich to Esbjerg. It's a long trip leaving at 1700 and arriving at 1230 the next day.

But checking the "small print", this ferry only sales every other day. It works for our outbound trip but the day selected for the return trip was the "wrong" day. Oh well, ride slower or ride faster? Let's check the prices first.

Incredibly it turns out that the inbound leg is TWICE as expensive as the outbound! That makes it for one rider and one bike a staggering GBP544 ! So after a couple of beers and chat, we have elected to use Harwich to Esbjerg for the outbound trip and Rotterdam to Hull for the return trip. This saves over GBP 200 per rider in ferry costs. It means more miles through Europe but avoids the long drag from Harwich to Hull on our way home. So we can chill out after +4000 miles on North Sea Ferries and cruise home in 30 minutes after disembarking. Its a no brainer.

But what about the price difference? Twice as much to sail home from Denmark as to sail to Denmark? Ferry company please note - you never sell this concept to a Yorkshireman!!!

Bike trade-in and the Last Ride

Its April. Not long to go. Traded in the VFR for a Transalp so getting prepared! I've added crash bars and an 12v socket for charging the phone.

I have also traded in the CB1000R for a Sprint so today I thought I go for one last ride on it. A few miles from home I cruised past a camera van (its Easter weekend so I guess the boys in blue will be vigilant). Half a mile past the van, I spotted what looked like a police bike in my mirrors so continued to cruise. He followed me in the heavy traffic about 10 cars back for 3 miles, then caught me up and followed me in my blind spot (directly behind me) for another three miles. In the next village he pulled me over. I felt fairly smug as I was certain I had done nothing wrong. He explained that he had pulled me over as the rear number plate light was too bright!! I kid you not.

He said that even in this bright daylight, it was dazzling him. He said he must give a ticket requiring me to sort it. I explained I was trading the bike in and from tomorrow it would not be my bike so he decided not to give me a ticket. Now I ask you, how can a number plate light on a one year old Honda be too bright?! He tried really hard to nick me for something. I guess its par for the course as bikers. We are just easy targets as by default we must be doing something wrong, right? But the worst he could find was a tiny neon numberplate light which was dangerously dazzling motorists in broad daylight! Oh, I am bad, real bad, ha ha